To Hone or Not to Hone, that is the question...

[kb0nly]

So while i was gathering parts for my own top end rebuild on my 200ES a friend of mine said hey if your going to fix your leak, mine weeps a bit of oil at the head to cylinder, fix mine to...

He has a 200E, 83 i believe, it runs perfect, no smoke, no noise, no problems at all really. He put in a timing chain and guides a few years ago but the shop that did the work must not have got something sealed up right because after a few years use its leaking oil where the head meets the cylinder by the exhaust and also the oil seal on the decompression lever is leaking as well. Come to think of it mine does a bit too, but anyway...

He bought a top end gasket kit and wants me to go through it and get it sealed up. He wants the base gasket done as well just for peace of mind, now since that means pulling the jug...

To hone or not to hone?

Seems to be a lot of argument on this subject, some say if you have to pull the piston from the bore you should hone it and put on new rings, some say if its not smoking and has good compression to leave it alone. What is your guys opinion?

I have done both.. I have replaced gaskets and tossed it back together not to have any problems, but on one i did it started smoking about three months after replacing. Ended up tearing it down again and doing a hone and ring job on it.

He doesn't want to, nor can he afford, to spend any more on it right now and i borrowed out my ball hone about a year ago and never got it back cause the idiot lost it. So i would have to go borrow or buy a hone at least and he would need to go buy new rings, about $45 a set locally.

Chime in please!

[fabiodriven]

If it's running fine then you could just take it apart and put it back together. There's obviously no need to hone or replace rings so why would you?

If it were mine I would take it apart, hone it, keep the old rings, and re-assemble. Why would you replace the rings if the trike runs fine?

[tri again]

Great question.
If it was me, I'd make the wrong decision no matter what.

On the other hand, lots of older British stuff actually recommends
"decarbonizing" and 'glazebreaking', pulling heads etc after a few thousand miles,
on general principals.
Seems to be more prevalent when leaded gas was the norm.

What's the risk of a quick hone with used rings?

How much are new rings? 20 bucks?
New hone's aren't cheap.

Great question, for sure.

[yaegerb]

How i do it...my opinion obviously...

If installing new rings: If there are no deep gouges, 1mil or greater, I always ball hone my cylinders prior to putting them back together. I think my 200x ball hone cost me 30 bucks. I like the security of putting new rings and a quick hone on a cylinder. The hone job allows new rings to create there own seat.

If not installing new rings: If you are not putting new rings in it and there are no significant scuffs then just put it back together.

[kb0nly]

Thanks for the posts guys... I always like to hear others input, and the owner does as well.

Of course the true decision will have to be made once we see the bore, but i can't expect anything bad as good as it is running right now. I think the one that started smoking after i repaired the top end was due to operator error, they might have changed the oil and not filled it correctly so it was run low on oil, can't prove it but i think thats what happened after seeing the aluminum smeared in the bore. Thankfully they didn't run it long after it started smoking so some time with the flex hone and oil and it cleaned right up, was within the service range of the stock piston and rings after measuring so i just tossed it back together with new rings.

Hoping my rebuild goes smoothly also. Now i have two 200's that i have to strip down and put back together this month! Although his 83 will be a one day job as long as i don't run into any issues, just tear it apart, put it back together, done.

Mine will be a bit more extensive as i am going to replace the timing chain, guide and tensioner, all the gaskets, lap the valves and clean up the head, etc. Though mine might not need rings either, will inspect and measure and hone and re-ring if i have to.

[shortline10]

A honeing will show the scratches and indifferences on the cylinder wall that you wouldnt see by just looking at it with out a hone . Also look at the piston close to see if you have black carbon below the top ring , if so its got blow by and thats a true sign on needing new rings or a bore .

[El Camexican]

If all else looks fine just measure the ring gap and decide. If they are within tolerance and there are no signs of scratches, varnish or blow by I’d just put it back together. However, if the rings are worn you’d be a fool not to replace them at this point. Keep in mind that for the most part the life of the piston is determined by the condition of the rings. Loose rings lead to piston slap which leads to accelerated cylinder wear which leads to bore jobs and expensive new parts. If it's still together you should consider doing a leak-down test before you open the motor up, that way you’ll have a good idea what you need to do from the get go. It might be just fine as it sits.

[kb0nly]

I can and have done a leakdown on mine, no problems detected. On the other one it has already been partially torn down t.o diagnose the oil leak anyway so i will just have to do some measuring and visuals on that one for now, but it had zero issues other than the oil leak before it was opened up.

I plan on doing a full photo session with mine when i do the teardown and rebuild, not just for the forum but to keep track myself as i go and i will share what i find. Both machines have no smoking or compression problems as tested with a compression tester however. He thought his had a leaky head gasket so i did a compression check quick one day, it was well within spec. It just appears to be the o-ring thats leaking on his and the oil is coming out by the exhaust between the head and cylinder.