tear down rebuild 955i motor

[haggis95]

OK here's the scoop.

Long story short - I blew a valve on my 2000 Sprint RS.

The dealer want to charge me $3,600!!!
A second hand motor from ebay is 800-1600
A rebuilt from Sandy at Triumphant in Wales is 1600 plus shipping and import tax.

So I'm going to tear down and rebuild the motor - and hopefully spend less than $1,600. There's only 8000 miles on the motor.

Where should I begin, and while I'm at it, is there anythig else I should be working on: eg., should I replace piston rings, bushings, bearing etc?

I'm a novice at this - I've done bolt-on mods on my bonne but that's about it.

[haggis95]

Will I need any special tools?
I'll need new gaskets, and probably new valves.
Is it worth getting the head ported and polished. Can I get 80% of the way there with a dremel?

[Midnight]

well Haggis just follow the steps in your workshop manual that says R&R CYLINDER HEAD. the main things to remember are to be spotlesly clean and dont overtension or forcce anything together, and obviousely use a tension wrench on assembly.
if its only valves and guides just farm the head out to an engine reco place that has a good rep . that should not be overly expensive, those bikes go well stock so chasing extra ponies with head work ect may be a waste of money ?
if you reasemble it and you find that you need to do the barrels and pistons the head will have been already done and you will have valuable experience and cofidence to take it further..

[davidc]

I think Ron dispensed good advice.

[canuck]

WOW Haggis I admire your courage to step up to this task.
As I also have limited wrenching skills This is something I hope you document and post.
This type of information on these forums is invaluable.
Good luck and if you need an extra hand or any help let me know, worse I can do is bring beer and offer support......go haggis go.....chug chug....burp, you da man....haggis........wait let me get a video this.......chug.....burp........your doing good.....atta boy!!!
Cheers.......

[Lake]

Ron's advice is good. May I add something else? Work out how long it will take, then double it, and double it again. And just to be sure, add a few more day's onto the answer, so when you finish ahead of schedule it'll feel great - and celebrate with a cold beer!

Do as little as you need to, anything you're not too confident about, get someone else to do it.

[UraniumC]

so, haggis, how did this turn out??