I don't know what to do...

[petesmeats]

My bike has just started playing up a bit...
It seems that my spark plugs are starting to foul pretty quickly so that often i am only running on three cylinders...
I have been told that it is probably the valve seals and that oil is leaking down into the cylinder and sitting there over night and when i start the bike up in the morning it takes a fair decent rev to clear it...

Now my problem is this...
I could fix the valve seals with not too much difficulty (take it into the shop...)
but i don't know how much this will cost...

Alternatively i have recently been told of someone in christchurch who has a '89 CBR600 motor that they want to sell which has had some work done on it which will slot straight into my machine.

The motor will cost me $800

The motor that is currently in the bike is pretty old (125k old) but it seems to have been looked after pretty well... A few rattles (It is a honda after all) and apart from the valve seals seems to be fine...

What i want to know is

a) How much it would cost me to get the valve seals done

b) What other people would be inclined to do.

c) Whether people would pay extra when buying a bike if it had a spare motor...

Thanks in advance for any comments.
Pete

[vifferman]

You sure it's not just fuelling? I had problems with my VFR750 a few years back, where I ignored advice and stuck some 95 octane in it, instead of 91. The symptoms were similar to what you described....

[petesmeats]

yeah i am pretty sure... I took the spark plugs out and they were really oily then i cleaned them and it ran sweet... for a while. It currently has brand spankers in them so it is running better but still not the best.

[Macktheknife]

If the K's on the other motor are significantly less than yours I would get it and then rebuild your original to mint, learn heaps while you do it.

[scracha]

If you're gonna be paying for new valve seals and gaskets, then whilst the head's off I'd be having a damn good look at the valves themselves before putting it back together.

If you have time then I'd say order up the gaskets (if it's an old one then Econohonda, David Silver or CMS in Holland) and then once they arrive take the head off yourself and have a look. Have fun grinding valves.

Actually, fuggit. Strip the motor and fit oversize pistons too.

If you don't have the time then stick it in LBS and say bye bye to a few weeks wages.

Motor's never "slot" right into bikes BTW :-)

[petesmeats]

If you're gonna be paying for new valve seals and gaskets, then whilst the head's off I'd be having a damn good look at the valves themselves before putting it back together.

If you have time then I'd say order up the gaskets (if it's an old one then Econohonda, David Silver or CMS in Holland) and then once they arrive take the head off yourself and have a look. Have fun grinding valves.

Actually, fuggit. Strip the motor and fit oversize pistons too.

If you don't have the time then stick it in LBS and say bye bye to a few weeks wages.

Motor's never "slot" right into bikes BTW :-)

Yeah i know that they never slot into bikes but it will be fun trying...

And yeah i was thinking along the same lines as you mack... It will be a great tool to learn the internals of engines with...

My motorbikes have always been my only form of transport so i have never been keen to muck round with the engines because i needed to ride them. With this i could take my time and fix the old motor up well... gaskets, cam chain, valves and anything else i can think of.

I am leaning heavily towards buying the new one at the moment...
Cheers