Do I need new piston rings?
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Road Warrior
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,898
Likes: 67
From: Saint Amant, Acadiana
Do I need new piston rings?
I'm doing some engine work, so I pulled the cylinders while there, for inspection. This engine has 20k miles on it.
I'm wondering if I should get new rings or assemble it as it is, with old ones. They look OK.
I'm wondering if I should get new rings or assemble it as it is, with old ones. They look OK.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Mar 2009
Posts: 24,733
Likes: 9,242
From: Snow Hill, NC
Talk to the folks at fuel moto...Not sure of this but you might have to hone your cylinders also??? You can probably get rings at the dealer of a local Indy for not that expensive...
HDF Community Team
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 12,779
Likes: 2,609
From: san antonio
Unless you are inspecting the rings under magnification, you can't really judge their condition. Did you check compression before you pulled the top end?
Road Warrior
Joined: Mar 2007
Posts: 1,396
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From:
A guy I know bought a set of used cams, barrels and pistons from a friend. Probably 20,000 miles on the parts. He had a Harley dealership do the install. They reused the old rings. I couldn't believe it! That's just bad form in my book. The guy went on a 3000 mile trip with us and the bike ran fine and didn't use oil either.
Still I would have installed new rings and honed the cylinders like my ol' grandpa told me to do when I was a kid.
Still I would have installed new rings and honed the cylinders like my ol' grandpa told me to do when I was a kid.
If you're going to buy new rings and hone cylinders, why not buy new pistons also and bore to 107? Why did you pull it apart? Seems a little odd to me to disassemble just to look and see if there were no problems and everything was working OK and there isn't a lot of miles on it. I'm not trying to sound rude, I just think that going to a 107 may be the best option with the circumstances presented.
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Road Warrior
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,898
Likes: 67
From: Saint Amant, Acadiana
Well, it's a Sporty, 1200 stock. I pulled the heads and sent them in for headwork (to match my cams). While there I wanted to see if my pistons/cylinders look good. There was a questionable moment with overheating in past, the motor almost seized. Surprisingly enough I did not find any damage from that moment, it was about 18k miles ago. The cylinders have no wear signs at all, they look like just honed, I've been using Amsoil from very beginning, maybe it really is a very good oil. When I said rings look OK then I meant there is no noticeable increase in gap.
I may get a set of HD rings anyway.
Thanks everybody.
I may get a set of HD rings anyway.
Thanks everybody.
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From: Honah Lee
I would think if you went that far, since rings do not normally wear out, the groove in the piston gets too wide, so truly the only way to inspect would be to visual inspect all. Measure piston at proper area and groove width. Measure pin bore. Measure cylinder bore. Break glaze in cylinder and install piston with new rings. If you knew engine was overheated they should be for sure since they may not even show in your inspection. Truly engine should have been given a compression test and a leak down test before being torn down. If they were OK I would have never pulled pistons. Rings are just like your front slider seals. They are never going to go back same place and would just have to re-seat again which may not happen without new seals or the glaze broken..at least for a while anyway..just my engineered opinion