Good Head??

pieter.oneill

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Ok so the title doesn't give the who storey but you clicked. I had a bit of a deflating trip to overland and classic today top blokes Charlie and Mike and nice setting where they work from they are a fountain of knowledge, however i was left saddened and not sure my next step.
So i have a 1995 R100gs just clicked over to 120k runs great starts every time a little bit ticky but no more then others ive heard, anyway i love the bike (strange as it brought it on a whim cheap as a winter hack years ago) yet its often my first choice in the garage to jump on.
So when brought it i whipped the head covers off to check valve clearance a long while back and when i did noticed previous owner had stripped the cover threads and sort of cold welded a bit back on anyway i drilled through into the head and rigged up a all thread clamp system that did the job, couple of fractures on the other lugs too. so over the years i keep my eye out for some heads (good Head at that) so few months ago an old boy sold me some for £60 for the pair spot on aside for a few rusty exhaust lugs (mine are totally knackered on the bike). so i thought id get these re lugged and cleaned and checked over then when ready i can swap all the gear from one to the other and do a few other bits while in there.
So i took the heads to Charlie and mike and they said yeah we can get the lugs out and put new one in, but you will need to replace the valves as they may be worn or probably will be with the millage, anyway mike popped on Motorworks £65.00 each bloody hell need 8 i didnt expect that, then it followed with we dont know if the guides are worn in the heads so you might need to replace them but its a massive job that can break the head so not worth doing. plus you will want to change other bits while in there which is an additional cost fair enough.
Then i was put forward might be cheaper to get a low milage engine and replace with that mmmm ok i thought fair enough but then it was mentioned that can add a whole heap of issues getting it out and things breaking as you do it for a bike that not worth much.
So i arrived happy on my bike that runs great and i use all the time and enjoy fettling with and left sort of riding home saying goodbye to my good friend and a bit unsure on what i can do next.
I was thinking just ride untill something breaks but ive always been a fan off keeping the bike in good working order dont want to set out not knowing if ill come back.
I could get the studs done as planned and then when i take my heads off the bike get the valves out and actually measure the wear and tolerance and see if they can be re used.
Any others on here had any experience with swapping parts or wear on the valve guides or swapped heads and had any issues.
I do need to ultimately need to swap the heads if the bike is kept running as i can never do valve clearances or every remove the exhaust without it.

Advice or opinion always welcome cheers
 
I think it's a typo and should be R1100GS. 8 valves were mentioned somewhere in the post.
 
Valves and valve guides

There is a machining process of knurling the valve guides rather than replacing them. I had it done on my BMW car back in the 80’s.

They pass a tool down the guide and off set the metal in the guide which reduces the size of the hole. The hole is then reamed back to size.

Depending on the amount of valve stem wear, they might be able to regrind them.

Clearly the two processing would need to be done at the same time.

This work has to be done by a machine shop and might be more expensive than replacements. But an option worth exploring.

Ian
 
I think Mikeyboy is covering his arse by saying it “ may “ need other work doing before it gets stripped down. His work is impeccable. I certainly don’t see him creating work where it’s not needed unlike the majority of main dealers.
It wouldn’t come back out of his workshop unless it was 100% either.
Him and Charlie did a LOT of work on my old 1150 and it’s been absolutely faultless ever since.
It may seem expensive at first but it’s definitely worth the investment if you plan on keeping the bike any length of time. You’ll spend a lot more fixing other garages work to get to the same standard.
Just my experience anyway. :thumb2
 
Yeah, i was never calling the advice or work into question from them the work looks spot on, i just have to apply a bit of logic to it i do have other bikes that i ride so this is more just the fact i really enjoy this bike, it wouldnt be so bad.if the bike was fecked but its running and riding great. I could i spose take my heada apart and go from there, i was trying to get the seperate heads done and ready first so i didnt have the bike down for months and months but that may just have to be what it is. 👍
 
Thats spooky, whats worse is i knew a gordie bird whos second name was storey....if her first nanes Rebecca we might have riden more then just similar bikes 🤣
 
I went through the same frustrations when I took my 1150 to Roy Gardner (RGM) and we settled on replacing the valve guides but keeping the valves. The softer guides were worn but the valve stems were still ok and it reduced the oil consumption effectively.

The whole thread is making me feel good about picking up a pair of very low mileage cylinder heads some years ago, though. They come off an 1100S so have a different exhaust stud pattern, but I also have a set of headers and a link pipe that means the swap is pretty straightforward when the day comes.
 
With our older shite the saying really is "If it ain't broke don't fix it".Mikey recently did the valveson my old Airhead just in case but oilheads are worth way less and are pretty strong... When a courier if I thought I could hear something I just rode harder and nothing ever broke...😆
 
With our older shite the saying really is "If it ain't broke don't fix it".Mikey recently did the valveson my old Airhead just in case but oilheads are worth way less and are pretty strong... When a courier if I thought I could hear something I just rode harder and nothing ever broke...😆
haha yeah i tend to turn the music up if i notice it ticking to much, works wonders. Its funny about value though like the bikes financially isnt worth much but my enjoyment of it is of massive value, ive had lots of bikes newer and older and every now and then one just sticks and fits like a glove so to speak.
 
haha yeah i tend to turn the music up if i notice it ticking to much, works wonders. Its funny about value though like the bikes financially isnt worth much but my enjoyment of it is of massive value, ive had lots of bikes newer and older and every now and then one just sticks and fits like a glove so to speak.
I've had 511GSs and every time I think it's the last one...🤣 And sold every one with everything I had for it...!🤣🤣
 


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