Looked normal to me, you'll get a lot more if the rings are bad.

https://imgur.com/gallery/zUE45
A closer view of the cylinder and the rotor. Can't quite check the flywheel nut because of the silly woodruff key. Ill work more on getting that out tonite before or after work.

Did you end up renting the tools for the fly wheel? Or did you just buy some? I need to check this out on my bike.

This is the 3rd engine on this forum that had a knock for a loose flywheel nut.

Mine was the 1st and it started making a ticking noise at 400 miles, I tore is down at 1,000 miles as the noise was horrendous.

The 2nd one was listed as a "parts bike" with an engine knock....he didn't discover the loose flywheel nut until he tore the engine apart to sell in pieces.

Clean the oil off the threads on the shaft and the nut, install the curved washer with the inside edge bowing out, apply permanent thread locker to the nut and torque it down to the recommended torque value....then put the rest of the engine back together.  Then go riding and don't worry about it anymore....I have 9,000 miles since I did mine, and I took it apart to put a lighter flywheel on a few months ago....and the nut was still tight and holding fine.

This was the first time I rented out the tools - as I suspected the cheapest the tools can be mailed is the Medium USPS Flat Rate box.....and it is currently $ 13.60 each way!  Trying to mail it in a smaller more compact box resulted in a cost of more than $20 each way!

sandmanred wrote on 11/09/17 at 02:52:12:


That does not sound like a loose flywheel to me.  The loose flywheel sound is loudest at low rpm (idle) where the power pulses are the most erratic......and the sound diminishes as the rpm builds.  When cruising along down the highway at 4,000 rpm the sound pretty much goes away.  The loose flywheel sound is not affected by hard acceleration - it is most severe at low rpm.

The sound you are describing sounds more like pre-ignition or detonation.  It occurs most often at full throttle and can be a sign of poor fuel, a lean fuel mixture, excessive carbon deposits in the cylinder....or using full throttle at low rpm (lugging the engine).

You might try running some Chevron Techron though the bike to reduce the amount of carbon in the cylinder.  You can buy it at most places that sell auto products - including Big Box stores.
http://www.techron.com/

Steph wrote on 11/05/17 at 15:50:57:


How in the hell did you get the woodruff key out? Ive tried tapping on it with a screwdriver/hammer, grabbing it with pliers, and heating it and letting it cool multiple times and it just will not come out.

https://imgur.com/gallery/MwQEn

Alright so this is probably the last post I'll put in this thread until it is running all nice and pretty again, but I need to be sure. I took the cylinder off in preparation of installing the new piston from Lancer and I got a little concerned. The piston itself seems fine, although from what I'm reading in the manual I'm not positive.  It slides back and forth on the pin, but it doesn't slide off at least.

The top of the crankshaft halves seem to be heavily worn. It looks like they were rubbing up against something, but for the life of me I can't see or imagine what. The picture in the manual has a similar set of marks on the two halves, but I'm not positive if it's supposed to be like that and all of the pictures I find online are too low quality to confirm. Does it look fine or is that excessive and should be investigated? It just looks so concerning.

The crankshaft does have all kinds of weird colors and marks on it....they come that way.  One half of the crank is always much darker than the other side.  If you are in doubt.....go to eBay and look at the photos of the cranks that are for sale.

The piston pin is held in by very small spring clips that are made of thin wire (lightness is a benefit in the piston).  You have to get a small screwdriver in there to get them out.....and you can rotate them so the wire is over the small groove.  These thingys really like to fly.....so do your best to block the trajectory!