I have deleted to retract all assumed references I have made to the cause of this failure. Pending the conclusion of further analysis, to protect the integrity of all parties involved; I will make no further comments on the matter.

Ruttly wrote on 12/06/17 at 06:17:34:


Lol! The suspense just eating at you?

I will fully update once all data voids have been filled and a resolution is reached.

Ok....


We are all Human.
Inevitably at some point, we are all bound for making mistakes. Perfection is a figment.  

I made a mistake when I disregarded the red flags raised by ring gaps being over Wiseco call out for my application. For any application really...
I should have checked the bore before assembling, but didn't... My mistake was to trust.

Bill's was as well. After the length of time he has spent in his amazing career of keeping performance motorcycles on the street and track... He trusts his cuts. It is an easy trap to fall into. I have done it... My better half has done it (She is also a machinist)... After cutting 100,000 of the exact same part, out of the exact same material - One can learn to tell the difference between a nominal part off the machine... and a part with measurements getting close to tolerance threshold by the sound the cutter makes while its chipping away material. The problem is that you can not always count on the conditions to repeat part after part after part. Temperature variations, developing machine problems, material variations between heat numbers... many many MANY factors contribute to repeatability.

Now take into account all the differences in material used to make cylinders from the inception of the engine driven bike. It is almost impossible to know how any given cylinder is going to machine until you actually start cutting metal. It could cut dreamy like biscuit wheels on the gravy train until you get to the finish pass... then deflect, or dig in... Weird stuff just happens.

The only explanation I can come up with is that Bill trusted his cuts, needed to make one final pass... forgot to devide by 2, ran the full depth cut which blew it out by double. Expecting the cut to have taken what he intended it to, didn't measure?

The other issue was likely from how it was set up in the machine. There is taper in the bore. smaller I.D. at the top, widest at the bottom. The top is under the target number for a 97mm bore.
the bottom is wide. If he measured from only one side in the machine, and it has developed taper... or something on the face of the fixture set the bore out of square... You just wouldn't see it unless you ran a dial bore indicator all the way through the bore.

So there is a pretty good hypothesis of why this happened.
The how part is again as simple as... We are all Human.

Bill is an absolute stand up guy. I do not want in any way for what happened with my cylinder to reflect negatively on the amazing career this man has lived.
He did not hesitate to take full responsibility for ensuring that I will get a good cylinder mated to another new piston. He is replacing my sleeve, re-boring to 95mm this time, coating and honing at no charge.

I was finally able to get the replacement piston for the replacement piston ordered a couple days ago. I have just been too busy or tired from being busy to get on here and update.

I was just blessed with the position of general foreman and sales consultant for a rapidly blossoming construction company specializing in disaster recovery. I have been on my Thundercat for at least 300 miles per day all week. We are working in Rockport, Tx picking up the pieces scattered and shattered by Hurricane Harvey. You just wouldn't believe the devastation that storm unleashed on our beautiful coast. I feel very honored to be in the position to do something to help.

As soon as the new piston arrives, it is going in a box with the cylinder and being sent to Bill. I have no doubt that this time there will be absolutely no issues. I will update again when I get it sent off.

That's what we used to call customer service.
Had similar pleasant exchanges with RCBS over a few items... one of them being an old Uniflow powder measure that had been terribly neglected and had horribly oxidized. They sent me a brand new one free of charge and they paid shipping. Same with decapping pins. Lee customer service is just as pleasant. Had a problem with a loadmaster refusing to index after a thorough cleaning... I fought with it for days until giving up and calling them up. They emailed me a shipping label... went through the press... and sent it back all on their dime. It was like a brand new press again. It came with a note... it read simply... "Clean press, but you don't have to tighten the shellplate so tight!" lol.

I blew a priming arm in half on the same press. A primer got out of whack somewhere and *Kablooey*! They sent me a brand new one, no charge.

Values extend past the dollar still in some companies.

Don't forget to check your piston ring end gaps , take your time.
Glad you got it all sorted out !

Killjoy...

You mean to tell me that there are consequences for irresponsible behavior?

The reason I said to check end gaps is it's the easiest way to see if it was over or under bored and can be checked with feeler gauge no fancy bore gauges needed.