NC30 rings/piston kits

**motorbyclist** · 12th July 2008, 16:57

false alarm, she's not burning oil and has good compression

Does anyone know where i can find/buy new piston kits for an NC30 without taking out a mortgage? i've been hunting all day and can't find anything - afraid to ask at the shop for a price.

i likely need rings, and will do the pistons anyway seeing as i'm opening her up. don't expect to be able to afford a rebore/resleeve if it's required.

piston part no. 13101-MR8-010
rings set part no. 13011-MR8-000

top end gasket kit, including valve seals (could be losing oil via those)

will be inspecting the clutch too....

I got my vfr at the start of 2007 when i got my full, and have been ringing her most weekends until march this year and thrashing it for 40-60km commuting every weekday since purchase. clock reads almost 60,oookm. i know it should be atleast 5oookm over that from when the cable speedo snapped, plus any time the dodgy previous owners also had the cable unplugged.

lately i've noticed alot of smoke from the beloved viffer when i've started her in the mornings, and always just told myself it's steam.... which it mostly is; not blue, doesn't smell like oil.....

but lately she's been losing a bit of oil, enough to go from top mark on dipstick when i leave in the morning to not on the dipstick upon my return from the coro loop - and it was only a half loop with the whole tirau to kopu section done at a snails pace due to rain/fog/dark.

EDIT: just checked again now, and she's got full oil. perhaps when i checked the hot engine for oil it was all hiding up in the heads

so, my NC30 has either begun to burn oil, or has a nasty leak that i can't find and only leaks while engine is running.

so a top end rebuild can't hurt, high compression pistons would be nice too...

or if the cylinders are that bad i'll bore her out to 450cc

**scracha** · 12th July 2008, 17:39

Originally Posted by motorbyclist

i likely need rings, and will do the pistons anyway seeing as i'm opening her up. don't expect to be able to afford a rebore/resleeve if it's required.
:

Compared to the price of honda parts you'll find the rebore cost pretty inexpensive. Maybe you just need new rings and valve seals? Never heard of anyone shelling out on pistons and not buying new rings.

Why bother though?

**Coyote** · 12th July 2008, 18:01

I've been told they burn oil from new and you should be topping them up regularly. Mine's been smoking badly on start up, then is fine once warm. I've been told it's probably a stuck valve.

Best try get everything else sorted before messing with the engine like that. Mine is up to 75000kms and the engine still runs hard. Just the rest of it is getting worn out. Should be back on the road once I have enough money for a new front tyres and I get the electrics sorted (think I just need a new headlight relay, roughly $40, but I haven't even got that

).

Hopefully take the bike into Weltec this week so the students there can play around with my bike. Sort out the rough idle and suchlike. I'll let you know what problems they come across so you can expect them in the next 15000kms.

**Coyote** · 12th July 2008, 18:04

You're in engineering aren't you? Can you design some upgrades? 500cc heads, stronger crank, turbo, fuel injection, etc.

I'm keen to go to uni if you're able to do that in an engineering course.

**motorbyclist** · 12th July 2008, 18:57

Originally Posted by scracha

Compared to the price of honda parts you'll find the rebore cost pretty inexpensive. Maybe you just need new rings and valve seals? Never heard of anyone shelling out on pistons and not buying new rings.

nor have i, that's why i'm looking for a piston/rings kit - doing the pistons because i'm doing the rings, not the other way round

Originally Posted by scracha

Why bother though?

to save me a seizure half way thru a ride cause i burnt all my oil

and if it's losing compression that i can recover, MOAR POWER!

Originally Posted by Coyote

You're in engineering aren't you? Can you design some upgrades? 500cc heads, stronger crank, turbo, fuel injection, etc.

I'm keen to go to uni if you're able to do that in an engineering course.

short answer: yes, but that's ALOT of work, made less by getting job experience in that feild and/or buying parts from a catalouge and designing the system from there

long answer:
once i'm finished, in theory, yes. i'm only just half way through 2nd year (4 year degree) and already covered all the inner mechanical, electrical, and chemical workings of stuff i mostly understood anyway, but now have the maths behind it. next semester is thermofluids among other things, so i could actually understand what the gasses are doing on their way thru the system. 4th year we do aero/hydrodynamics, so could even do a custom set of fairings.

already capable of designing a chassis etc, but would need alot of specific knowledge about motorcycle dynamics to really do it well, and next year they're going to pump even more "mechanics of materials" and design into us

as for turbo/injector: for cost/time/effort reasons i'd simply buy a turbo/injector from another bike/vehicle and fit it. actually i'm hoping to eventually develop an injector kit for the vfr.
doing mechatronics means i can design the mechanical part AND the electronics to run them, but for cost reasons i'd likely just fit suitable parts/controllers and set it up from there.

it's just a case of not having the means to manufacture alot of stuff, nor having the money to have one off precision parts made to order. when i'm rich and famous i could of course manufacture my own fuel injector - but i'd likely still just buy one

**motorbyclist** · 12th July 2008, 19:02

Originally Posted by Coyote

I've been told they burn oil from new and you should be topping them up regularly.

really?

sweet.

still want to find cheap, new parts anyway - just in case

i've been looking for an excuse not to crack open the viffer, and that just might be it

seen the diagrams for those things? it would appear all 4 cylinders are set into one casting that is part of the top of the crankcase

as with all mechanical issues on this bike it looks like a nightmare, but good thing they're mechanically bomb-proof

shame bout the honda electrics though....

**Coyote** · 12th July 2008, 19:22

Originally Posted by motorbyclist

etc.

Fair point. I would probably go for manufactured parts on the whole, but it's the parts you can't get or can't find one that suits I'd love to be able to make.

Originally Posted by motorbyclist

really?

sweet.

still want to find cheap, new parts anyway - just in case

i've been looking for an excuse not to crack open the viffer, and that just might be it

seen the diagrams for those things? it would appear all 4 cylinders are set into one casting that is part of the top of the crankcase

as with all mechanical issues on this bike it looks like a nightmare, but good thing they're mechanically bomb-proof

shame bout the honda electrics though....

Most highly strung sprotsbikes do burn oil. At the rate of knots they're spinning a bit will get through. Apparently the new Daytona 675 is quite bad for that since it's piston speed is higher than the other 600's (to make as much power as the inline 4's).

I haven't touched the inside of the VFR. I'd wouldn't want to hurt it.

**vagrant** · 13th July 2008, 15:08

450cc kit plus Ti rods

http://www.akhara.com/nc30/pistonrod1/index.html

**vagrant** · 13th July 2008, 15:13

Just found these for you. $216 Aus

http://global.ebay.com/gbh/viItem?ItemId=230245563978

**motorbyclist** · 13th July 2008, 15:20

Originally Posted by vagrant

450cc kit plus Ti rods

http://www.akhara.com/nc30/pistonrod1/index.html

haha yeah i saw those, unfortunately that page is dated 2003 and in 2006 the company that made em shut down

Originally Posted by vagrant

Just found these for you. $216 Aus

http://global.ebay.com/gbh/viItem?ItemId=230245563978

awesome! cheers

but now i def don't need them. had a little oopsie today, and if i'm keeping what's left of the bike, new pistons are last on my list

**vagrant** · 13th July 2008, 19:21

The company might have officially shutdown, but the guys who worked thru it are still making the bits to order.
They are still selling bits to the guys on the UK 400cc grey forums.

**motorbyclist** · 13th July 2008, 23:48

really?

will keep that in mind

**mark247** · 14th July 2008, 04:18

Originally Posted by motorbyclist

but now i def don't need them. had a little oopsie today, and if i'm keeping what's left of the bike, new pistons are last on my list

ah oh. What happened?

Originally Posted by Coyote

I've been told they burn oil from new and you should be topping them up regularly. Mine's been smoking badly on start up, then is fine once warm. I've been told it's probably a stuck valve.

My VFR is at 53,000km and it doesnt burn a drop of oil. I change the oil myself every 5000km and between changes it looses none, or at the most VERY little.

When i turn mine on on a cold morning it blows condensation out of the exhaust. Sometimes it's amazing how much comes out. But it's not loosing any water or oil so it cant be anything wrong.

**Coyote** · 14th July 2008, 18:12

Originally Posted by mark247

My VFR is at 53,000km and it doesnt burn a drop of oil. I change the oil myself every 5000km and between changes it looses none, or at the most VERY little.

When i turn mine on on a cold morning it blows condensation out of the exhaust. Sometimes it's amazing how much comes out. But it's not loosing any water or oil so it cant be anything wrong.

Just going by what I've been told. It's a sportsbike thing, not a specific NC30 thing. I got this from a mechanic who seems to know what he's talking about, or is at least very convincing

**Chrislost** · 14th July 2008, 18:52

Originally Posted by vagrant

The company might have officially shutdown, but the guys who worked thru it are still making the bits to order.
They are still selling bits to the guys on the UK 400cc grey forums.

would you like to buy my left kidney for $12000

then i could afford a 450cc vfr with (aparently) 88HP at the wheel