So,

On Thursday I had a complete power failure and it turns out that a gasket went and let my engine lose all of its oil. The end result is that I need to have my top-end rebuilt since my piston seized, so the question is: do I rebuild it stock, or do I pick up the Malossi 290cc big bore kit and have that thrown in? It also looks like my cam has some wear, so while it is apart, should I consider the Malossi Performance Cam?

My inclination is to do the 290cc kit and keep everything else Honda, but want to see what everyone else thinks in here. I know I have been quite dormant, but I decided to enter the world of home-ownership and got distracted for the past while.

Thanks for any advice you may have.

that kit is very well put together... for the price of eom i would rather go malossi.. serialy nice stuff.

No one here has done a big bore conversion yet, so I'm not sure what to tell you?

You will be on the bleeding edge of BR technology!

On one hand I'd sure like to hear all about the conversion and see how it goes and what you gain.......
On the other hand, I'd hate to give you bad advice!

sooooo..........let's try this!

if you have the spare money to spend and are really leaning towards the Malossi 290, go for it.
Keep good records, take pictures and post everything here!


now the disclaimer part........

So far I've only read about 3 Reflex 290cc conversions and none of them ended well, but there's bound to be a few of them out there that held together??

if you have (or are?) a good mechanic and are willing to do a nice slow easy break-in, it could work!



any details on recent history that could explain the blown gasket??
Which gasket?
Actually conditions and speed when it happened?

You're the second rider in the past month to report this type of failure.....

gasket goes, oil goes, engine goes!!

What goes?

not Honda specific but a big bore review page........

http://www.majland.org/leo/tuning.html

Thanks for the advice.

Going to make the final decision once I see the finalized parts list (and cost list), and even though my mechanic (finally found a really good one) advises against big-bore kits in general I am still considering it.

Guess the thing I really want a second (or third or fourth) is whether to go for the Malossi Cam or stick with Honda?

The conditions under which I lost oil (none is on the ground where I usually park) were such:

First, it appears to from the head gasket (based on where the oil mess was concentrated) not sure if that is the proper name but its the same relative location where a head gasket would be on a car engine I think.

The majority of my commute is probably not ideal: an 8 mile drive first half stop/go at 40mph and second half full out at 75, reversed for coming home. The destruction occurred about 2 miles into the way home at about 65mph.

I had parked my bike all day in the parking lot, which definitely cooked it at 105 degrees here in a parking lot in Texas. It is worth noting that day I did not park in my usual spot in partial shade, so it was cooking in full sun for 8 hours prior. Bike started just like usual and let me drive out and get up to speed for about maybe .5-1 mile before I lost all power and my piston was seized and all hope was lost.

In searching my memory for indications that this may have been forming before this:

A day or two before, I did notice that I caught a whiff of my exhaust and it was pretty stinky, I was probably burning oil at that time, at the time I blamed it at a nearby car, but in hindsight it was probably me.

I can assure you that from now on, I will be much more obsessive about oil checking and changes. I went the first 10k changing my oil at least every 1k, and then recently went to about 2k and my mileage was not racking up as much as a light-rail opened so I have been taking that at least a few days a week, so I was racking up the mileage as quickly, so not checking on things as often. It was totally my fault and it is with a degree of shame I face my mechanic as I do love this machine and my neglect did contribute to killing it.

Engine bearings rely on a thin film of pressurized oil between them and the rotating mass, absent that film for any period of time they are toast. While the piston may have siezed up in the bore, the bearings and journals on the crankshaft and camshaft are likely fused as well.

Well,

I pulled the trigger, ordered the Malossi BB kit and the Cam. Figured I at least have to try since someone has to do it someday. Worst case scenario I need another top-end rebuild in the future.

if you tak e your time on install and make sure you have a repair manual and pre-read anyinfo that helps install it than it should last you a long time.. im stoked to see it.. i was going to get awhile ago but found out its only for the horizontal 250's

Finally. Somebody did it. All Hail!

What was the total bill?

So far I'm in for under $600 in parts (my valves, rockers, and cam were in pretty bad shape), my mechanic is guessing 2-300 in labor depending on how easy of a job it is. With my piston, cylinder and cam already hosed, it appears I am only spending a premium of about 200~250ish to go for the aftermarket parts versus stock.

Try to get your mechanic to do an "autopsy" as he tears down the old block......
maybe he can see what caused the failure?

I'm excited for you......
Be sure to start a "Big Ruckus Big Bore Conversion" thread under the Performance section!
I'm curious to see how much custom fitting and parts prep is required to this.

The fact that your mechanic advised against this is a very good sign, in my opinion.....
it just means he's a cautious guy and that's the kind of mechanic you want to do this sort of upgrade.

Maybe they might let you get in there and take a few pics of the engine as it comes apart??.....I'm thinking a 'cautious mechanic' will want to tear-down the bottom-end too, to have a look at the condition of the crank, etc.... ....if he suggests doing that,...and it costs alittle more,...IMHO, do it.

Unfortunately my Mechanic's schedule and my schedule did not line up for any picture taking. But, I did just talk to him and he has the bike all buttoned up and running. He indicated that the piston and bore have an exceptionally tight clearance so it will be a long break-in (approx 500mi) so it'll be a little while before I can give any real performance assessment. Labor is likely to be around $400 based on his current estimate, but he has not added it all up yet.

So about $1000 and a month without my bike will leave me with possibly the only 290cc BR with the performance cam shaft.

Now to figure out how to rack up 500 miles gently, I think I am going to have many "riding" lunch brakes at work wandering the nearby neighborhoods.