Yep, that was a long couple of days leading up to real disappointment. Needless to say, I've been grinding on everything we experienced in the process - I suppose that if there's an upside to this, it's the amount of stuff that we learned. If you ever want to tackle a long project, dCarver is the guy to do it with. Fairlaner's help was huge, but he left Tea and Crumpets at home. Bastid.
One big thing is you need a third hand at several points. And a few hemostats.
KrZy8 did us all a favor back in 07, (was it 08?) by removing a forest rat. The bike was rebuilt using non-California plastic - meaning that the plastic did not have the fitments necessary to support that wonderful charcoal cannister.
The shop rebuilding the bike had to deal with the evap control lines. And this is key to the compression readings we had.
In the CA specification throttle body assemblies, there are two line nipples under throttle bodies #1 and #4. The design intent is to evacuate gasoline fumes from the charcoal cannister so they don't escape into the atmosphere. When the bike is runnning, vacuum from the TBA sucks the fumes out of the cannister. In 49 state bikes the TBA does not have these nipples.
The evac lines were left in place, and the line that used to drop down to the cannister was routed down and out, like a vent line. Problem is, it was sucking in unfiltered air into the throat of #1 and #4 TB. All the time.
There is a evac line that attached to a nipple on the bottom of the airbox. This was also designed to evac gas fumes from the cannister. This line was routed down behind the swingarm in front of the rear tire, just as are the tank vent lines. Problem is, it too was inhaling unfiltered air.
The Honderosa is a fantastic place. And as with many fantastic places access is not the easiest. It seems that it's at the end of 3 miles of dirt road.
Figure about 100K miles of trips, each beginning and ending with 3 miles of dirt road. (dCarver, correct me if I'm wrong - not sure of the distance.)
Ergo the compression readings:
#1 - 40 psi (cracked head)
#2 - 150 psi
#3 - 150 psi
#4 - 70-90 psi
So - not only is the head cracked, but it would seem that there's been a wee bit of wear in the jugs and a strong likelyhood of bottom end wear.
A different head at this point doesn't make sense. A different engine? Yes, that makes sense. Bought at the right price it could resurrect the girl. Hmmm..... a weekend engine swap at the Honderosa? That would be fun. Just have to make sure that Fairlaner brings Tea and Crumpets.
