Kawi2strokes.com Forum

I can relate. When I cut the O-ring grooves in my H2 heads and did the squish bands, I also pinned them to the cylinders. I believe it was first suggested to me by Ja-Moo, but it was clear that something had to be done to keep the heads from shifting, which could allow the Viton O-rings to get exposed to the combustion chambers. It's amazing how much the head "bolts" don't locate the heads.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

Wad-eye-mizz, wad-eye-mizz? Bloomin censorship again.

On the H series stuff, as with most of the iron sleeve, aluminum barrel, I do the O ring groove in the top of the cylinder, and, half of it in the aluminum, other half into the sleeve top.

On my factory TZ liquid cooled top ends, they are factory doweled, and use the O rings simply to seal off the liquid into its cavities, NOT to hold compression. Compression is held by the flat, square machining of the cylinder top and head interfaces. On those top ends, the head "nuts" are sealed with a copper flat gasket, bolt head flat, to cylinder head flat bolt boss, no O rings on the head bolt bosses between cylinder and head.

Agreed that the groove in the cylinder has a couple advantages, Dave. In my case, it was easier to cut the grooves into the heads since I had already set them up in the lathe to work on the chambers, so I did it that way. Even if the O-ring grooves were in the cylinders, it would still be necessary to pin the heads in place as you mentioned above, if one cares about chamber alignment with the cylinders.

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If it surges, that's normal, upshift.

Fully agree with the doweling, pinning, factory should have done that all along. Anything reasonable to keep stuff in alignment is a bonus deal all the way around.

Not a problem, but, more stable for the O ring in the cylinder if possible, more heat dissipation, usually, larger support face, than in the head, BOTH WAYS WORK, THOUGH.

On the factory H1R top ends, they didn't use a pantogram head gasket the shape of a street bike, they had a sleeve that protruded above the aluminum cylinder body. The head had a reverse cut, a recess, for a round, flat, copper head gasket, literally, a big, flat washer type gasket. This male/female cut to both parts, did two things, hold the round head gasket square on the assembly, AND fully locate the head to the barrel. I would have liked it a lot better if they had also done something to align the barrels to the cases, but, that is wishful reverse engineering think, at best.

H2RTuner, Jim, Ja-Moo, mraxl, JRD. Your knowledge into these triples and beyond, is staggering to me. This is the s___ that keeps me up later than I should be, but I couldn't stop reading this thread till I got the end. The fact that nothing but the head bolts align the cylinders to the cases blows me away. I can only imagine the movement when the head bolts are loosened without an alignment method such as pins or dowels. What do you do? Just move it side to side, front to back and guesstimate the center of the slop? The heads on my Chevy V8 engines have dowels and assure alignment, so I can relate to the carb pin and throttle linkage adjustment Tuner spoke about. Never gave a thought to the triple engines having nothing for that. I guess I just assumed. That's why I read as many threads as I can in here. It may not have to do with something I need to know for the task at hand, but somewhere down the road, it will come into play in my life, concerning my triple or not.

Last week at our house, the 50 gallon water heater took a dump. A GE unit and it's only two years old. Mad after her cold shower, the wife said to call a plumber, but I knew it would be a minimum of a $250 visit. Did some research and found out it was a failing thermocouple. Home Depot actually sold the part that cost us 11 bucks. With my new found courage as a triple owner and from committing to several maintenance repairs, namely an oil system service including banjos, washers, new check valve springs and balls in the lines, a petcock rebuild and at least five carburetor disassembly/assembly procedures, fooling with jetting settings, cable adjustments, etc., I tore into the water heater against my best judgment and came out on top. After a hot shower, I called my wife and told her it was fixed for around 10 bucks. Her reply, "I knew you would fix it". I told her it was from all this recent tinkering with the H1 that gave me the courage to attempt the repair myself. In mraxls words, can't quote him though, if you're going to own one of these bikes, you better learn how to fix and maintain it on your own, or something to that nature. I've looked for a mechanic in my area fearing making a mistake and damaging my bike, but there's nothing better than referring to this site and the knowledge you guys have and going at it myself. The one mechanic that came highly recommended wanted me to pull the oil pump and use premix. Right there, I knew he wasn't the right guy for me. Some may disagree, I like the pump and tank.

I'm tired now and not sure where I was going with this, other than stating that you guys know what you are talking about when it comes to these bikes. I enjoy and learn with every thread I read. This thread was deep for me and my minimal knowledge. It was great reading. I want my bike to run at it's best and it appears I may have to send some work out when it comes to the engine. At least I have confidence in being pointed in the right direction to a competent person to perform the tasks needed. I need rest, but I look forward to the next thread that keeps me up tomorrow. Good night all and thanks for the good reading as always.

And if you ever need to learn how to work on toilets, get a Honda!.........

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Twist the throttle, tilt the horizon, and have a great time. What triples are all about...........

Have a great weekend guys.

'I told her it was from all this recent tinkering with the H1 that gave me the courage to attempt the repair myself.'

Beautiful pitch; well done!

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There are only two types of motor sport racing:
Nitro and everything else
(Sometimes referred to as fast and slow)

Jess how about sharing your jetting setup here: viewtopic.php?f=14&t=131&start=10