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On the hunt for a replacement engine.

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plskthompson1

plskthompson1

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Goodspring, TN
Ok, most of you know, I just finished rebuilding "Phoenix" a couple of weeks ago, and have had some pretty good runs from her since. Last Friday, she and I got caught in a rain storm, and I'm not sure if I washed a jug down and spun a rod bearing or what has happened, I just know that the sound the engine is making is not normal unless you're using a jack hammer. So, now the hunt is on for a replacement engine for her. The catch is, I have little to no money to spend on her right now. Any help I could get would be greatly appreciated. I'm not opposed to traveling to pick one up, I just can't do a cross country thing right now.
 
A weak cylinder by carburation or ignition will cause loud knocking, a loose stator bolt will sound like the engine is coming to pieces. What I mean to say is other things can cause these noises.
 
My plan is to take the one I have out and be able to replace it immediately, but to go through to see exactly what has happened. The weird part about the whole thing is that it started on the way to work Friday night in the rain, and you could only hear it when I got on the throttle. Saturday morning on the way home, it sounded like a metal to metal screech and then the jack hammer sound came into play.
 
:eek: :head bang:
Man...that's a bummer!!! :Awe: It would be nice if it was something external, or even something else that could be fixed easily, without replacing the engine...
You didn't have an exhaust leak before, did you? Maybe if it did, it could have sucked some water up thru the head/exhaust junction? I just can't see any way to get enough water in the engine by just riding like that. I've been caught out in some serious storms on mine, and haven't had any problems with water intrusion anywhere(knock on wood). :cry:
Sure wish I could help...
 
Just had the exhaust fixed the Tuesday before at a reputable exhaust shop. I think I just tried to force to much fuel into the engine while the coils weren't firing due to the rain.
 
I have the '81 engine still together! It has a lot of miles on it and I know it makes noise, but it never let me down! Starts instantly and runs well otherwise (just loud). You can listen to it here:


and here is the noise:


For the record, it has sounded like this since I got it in 2008 and I have put over 7,000 miles on it running like that. Because of the gearing in the '81 and my '82 final drive and wheel, it would run at 5400 rpm at 70 mph. I didn't hesitate to run her up to 6500 rpm on the highway, just noisy. This summer, my daughters and I were going to open it up and take a look inside, but it is still ready to be popped into a bike.
 
That's pretty much what mine sounded like before the rain, but I'd bet you've got an issue with the oil pump in that one, judging by that oil pressure gauge. What was that high pitch whistle in the upper RPM's?
 
We don't know, it has always sounded like that. I checked the pump, sump screen and oil flow and it gets plenty of oil. Watch this:

 
Yep, appears to be pumping plenty. Is the whistle noise what prompted you to change it out? If so, how many miles does it have on it, and how much do you want for it if I come pick it up?
 
The noise and the high rpm on the highway. I put in the '83 engine with the '82 rear and really like the lower rpm at 70 mph, but now it takes a little more to get going at slower speeds. (The '81 jumped pretty quick from the start with the '82 rear).

If you come pick it up how does $150 sound? The '83 cost me about $250 to have it shipped here.

Mileage is a guess. The PO said it had 44,937 when he sold it to me, but the title said 147,688 on the frame. (It was a parts bike when I got it). The engine did not belong to the frame so I never could be sure of the actual mileage. The frame was an '81 and the engine serial number was an '81 but there was other evidence that the engine was changed out before. Compression tests always shows 150's hot WOT. It does not smoke.
 
gee guys if gerry motor was anything but a wing motor it would not go ten miles in that condition...i know were all trying to help but there is somting in gerry engine that when it gets warm up is loosing it oil flow and hammering period im sorry this is no answer....

thomas when you discribe what was going on when your bike got wet a missing iknew it was bad news ....to be blunt wings have no counter wieghts on the crankshaft because they dont need them they work in a perfect sphere of rotatation as rpm gose up they get better but when they are reved up out of balance as in missing coil gone bad wires what ever its probably not going to come apart but stress on the firing cylinders is going to spin a bearing or somthing and jerrys motor is right there to

ive seen them run a long time like that but the issue is major in my opinion im not trying to make anybody mad this just not whorth it in any way

gerry ithink you sould take it apart to see whats up so we can till how bad a wing can be and still take it ....there are lots of good parts in both of you guys motors to be
used and sold but as whole motors there not ....
 
mcgovern61":m33nxfae said:
PM me if you need to. My family and I are headed to Florida June 10-13.
Click to expand...

Oh yea? What part of florida? I guess if your bringing your family your not bringing your bike
 
Thanks for that input. I didn't hear a knock in his engine, but I may not have been listening well enough. That drop in oil pressure did worry me some though.
 
dont limit yourself to just 1100 motors....if you like touring type gearing the 1000 motor is a great upgrade to your bike and the motor bolts right up and if the 1000 motor has no carbs your 1100 carbs will work on it and realy has some advantages over 1000 carbs not in power but in smoothness ....my 79 1000 has this this upgrade in reverse ive got 1100 swingarm and finaldrive modified to fit my 1000 this was a lot of work .....but your 1100 will take the 1000 motor and bolt right up and the only mod you have to do is ignition and its not hard at all and is better than 1100 ignition as in more flexable timing adjustment and more parts availibility and after market electronic ignition and coils and wires will not let you down in the rain like what happen to you.....my bike turns about 3400 rpm at 70 mph ....and i just love the gearing....i know your a big guy and frist gear is a little tall but idont think this would be a problem.....

just something i thought you sould know in your situation......joedrum ......oh ithink the 78-79 1000 motor is the best for this mod but all 1000 work and i might be over thinking here....
 
My only worry with a 1000 is the rpm's at highway speeds. I'm not sure what putting an 1100 final drive behind a 1000 would do as far as gearing, but I worry about the way I travel and pulling a trailer as well.

Although, the idea has crossed my mind in the past week.
 
Joe, no hard feelings! This is the place to have open discussions and pass on our experiences. When I did the oil pressure drop test, I was doing it to see if that is what was causing the high pitch tapping. It was an observation primarily. I asked other Honda guys about it and they said that no one has ever asked if the OP drops when the bike is put on the side stand so I had nothing else to go by. The point of that video is so that I can honestly present the sounds that the engine makes.

Before the crash, we had a fairly long thread on the tapping/knocking sound and we never did draw any final conclusions other than my opinion that I thought the bearings might be loose? Either way, I kept riding the bike and a year after the videos were made (and another 3000 miles) the engine was still running the same, still has power, still starts instantly and still has that tapping/knocking at 3000ish rpm when hot. I had purchased the '83 engine from ebay, but it took 1 year before I had a chance to swap them out and kept on riding right up until the swap.

I have these videos on youtube and the comments that I have gotten range from "that sounds just like my engine" to "oohh man"! As I posted earlier, we were going to open up the engine this summer to finally see if we could determine what causes that sound (and not sure we would have absolute success finding it). But, it is still in one piece and operational right now and I am trying to present it honestly.

I still have some of the blown '82 engine parts and after we opened up the '81 if it was easy to correct I was going to install the '82 transmission to change the gearing to match the bike and have a spare engine.
 
BigAndrew":l1t6pspl said:
mcgovern61":l1t6pspl said:
PM me if you need to. My family and I are headed to Florida June 10-13.
Click to expand...

Oh yea? What part of florida? I guess if your bringing your family your not bringing your bike
Click to expand...
Fort Lauderdale Andrew! We will wave as we fly overhead! :smilie_happy:
 

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