I thought I had a bit of a problem with the bike running badly - took the heads off and found the top ring on the rear cylinder had gone awol, leaving plenty of signs of it's exit.

Bore is in a pretty bad state, I doubt it can be rebored as I believe the largest oversize available is .020"

Can anyone recommend an engineering firm in the London area who can advise, and rebore or reline the barrels as necessary?

Or would I be better off going for something like this, seems very cheap on ebay http://r.ebay.com/ib83kv

I would be asking; What is the head like? What is the front cylinder like? Why did it fail?

What bike is it?

I would steer clear of big bore kits, the last one I looked at was questionable quality. That isn't to say there are good ones, but standard kit lasts 1000s of miles...

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08 Specialized Langster

Make sure they use compression plates when they bore.

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If your dreams don't scare you, they are not big enough.

It's a 1999 X1, all stock internals as far as I know

Head looks bad but should clean up ok. No damage to valve seats. I'd say it overheated due to me letting the oil get low - I didn't appreciate how important it is to keep it topped up.
Front pot is ok, the bike was burning oil before this happened and I was thinking I needed to replace the rings and/or guide seals. It's only showing 15,000 miles but the odometer may have been tampered with - or the bike may just have been thrashed to death by previous owners.

The 1250cc kit on ebay is made by a company called hammer performance, there's quite a few mentions of them on xlforum.net. I know all about poor quality big bore kits tho, I've got a dunstall alloy block on my Commando.

There's an engineering firm local to me who've done good work for me in the past so I'll call them tomorrow but I'm not trusting it to someone who hasn't done Harley or Buell before

Nick

Could try Matts Machine Shop, they are supposed to be THE place to go. Many dealerships and independants use them.

Another place of note is Powerglides.

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08 Specialized Langster

Nick, I can't see the e-bay ad at work, but you can't go wrong with a kit from Hammer performance. The materials and engineering in the design of the cylinders, pistons and headwork is second to none.

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Bob Krzeszkiewicz
2012 XR1200X - 2011 Kawasaki Z1000SX - 1999 Buell X1

All good advice so far......

Glad someone else is daft enough to have a Commando and a Buell (presuming you mean a Norton Commando....).

Oh, damn, I sold the Commando last year, 1972 Mk II, used to race it with the CRMC. Still have another two Nortons though, a 1940 16H and a rotary thing, Interpol II.

Hope you get the X1 sorted soon......

Pat

Thanks guys that is all incredibly helpful - and I'm leaning in favour of the 1250 kit, it'll probably be cheaper and quicker (or at least, no slower or more expensive) than getting the original barrels relined.

Lol tired overtuned engine fails due to being overstressed so I tune it even further - what could possibly go wrong?

Cheers Pat, I've had the Commando since 1985, it's always been my first love, I intended the X1 as a modern replacement. So far things are going exactly as expected ...

Nick

I'll sell you a 6000 mile pair of Thunderstorm barrels and pistons off a 2001 model.

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08 Specialized Langster

ive got a cyclone and a firebolt and a commando which has been in bits for thirty years. when i think about rebuilding it i realise im skint from trying to keep the buells on th road.lol

except i have a m2 on the road and a 73 commando in bits after a commodore didnt see me one morning it will get rebuilt if the buell stops grabbing my money

i brought my commando in gibraltar and road it back to the uk ( fantastic trip)before bringing it to oz

i`m interested in how the 1250 kit works out. i was looking at getting mine rebored sometime but the 1250 kit sound good

Dammit Pash I already ordered the 1250 kit .. £541 with shipping and there'll be duty & vat on top of that. You wouldn't have a pair of thunderstorm heads would you? I've cleaned mine up and I'm going to keep using them for the time being but they're not in great shape so I'll be looking for replacements

I'd make an offer on one of those commandos (you know you want to sell them) but looks like I'd better keep my savings for the buell. There seems to be a bit of a theme there, good job I got mine sorted before I bought the X1

looking at the kits theres a few options. what did you go for ? it looks like the 15 degree pistons but did you go for the big fin barrels ? let us know how it works out.

Big fin barrels for better cooling. And I kind of like that those who know, will know I've fucked with it. Yes I think they're the 15degree pistons, I'll post a photo before the lids go back on.
Should get the heads reworked really but I just want to be riding it ..
Barrels are at the post office, due to be delivered on Wednesday. £135 in VAT and duty which is bearable I suppose

Anyone got an opinion on re-using the metal rocker box gaskets? I fitted them a little over a year ago, they look in good shape

PITA if they leak, just for saving a few quid...

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08 Specialized Langster