Valves looking slightly worse for wear
So my trusty Bullet decided to eat a piston for dinner. Coming up the M1 after work, I was hammering along at the breathtaking speed of 65mph, when all of a sudden an horrific bang followed by lots of crunching and a complete loss of power alerted me to the fact that the engine had just destroyed itself. I had to push the bike home to Watford, which was fun. I was nearly on the exit slip road so it wasn’t too bad. What follows is some photos of the insides of the engine after dismantling it. Abhay and I eventually had to replace the piston and valves, with the useful result that I now know how to grind valves (using paste, etc) and am not afraid of taking the head off an engine! Thankfully the cylinder did not need a re-bore. Although it took a long time, most of that was getting hold of the parts and applying much blowtorch and rubber mallet to get the cylinder out. Abhay is a resourceful type, and is exactly the sort of mechanic you need to get these kind of repairs done.
Remains of the piston
Bore (Unscathed, thankfully!)
The piston again, showing how the crown has completely separated