Piston Rings (where to buy)

[Crazcnuk]

Need to buy some piston rings, std, was wondering where they can be bought these days?

[TopCatGr58]

Just like many other OEM parts, either Bike Bandit, or Zannottis, or even your local "dealer"!
T.C.

[Crazcnuk]

Just like any part, if it was that easy, wouldn't need the website!

Don't have a local dealer, closest is over 50 miles away, and if I have to pay thier prices, this XS will be parted out on Ebay.

As for those other 2, they in US, Australia, GB or south Africa! lol


I took a look at Bike Bandit, they want $43/set for rings?

[petejw]

piston rings

Can you still buy standard rings
for the 1100? I thought they didnt
exist and thats y everyone went to the
larger wisco kits, also if u go up 1 size on the
rings can u get away with the standard pistons
and a hone.

thanx in advance

pete

[Crazcnuk]

That's kind of my question too. I have 1 set std rings and 2 sets 1st over.

The 1st over sets are too big for the bore right now, but can I 'adjust' the rings to fit by filing off the ends?

If so, I would only have to buy 1 set.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Pete and Patrick,

Ken Talbot rebuilt his SWMBO's machine in just the way I described, bored to the next oversize, used the OEM pistons, and fitted the OS rings onto them.

The Original and 1st oversize rings are available, but with wear on the cylinder walls, it's hard to use the OEM rings, a hone usually won't get it back into spec. And others wanted the increased power of the Big Bore kits vs. using the 1st OS rings on OEM pistons, or their amount of wear/out of round was too much for the 1st oversize to get rid of.

As for BikeBandit, I would think that the "SET" is a set of 4 for the entire engine, not just a 'set' of 3 rings for each piston, but you may need to contact BB and inquire as to what they mean by a "SET" !?
T.C.

[Crazcnuk]

According to Yamaha, the part number is for 4 sets of rings, but on Bike Bandit the part of the part look up that shows the quantity is not there.

I will send them and email to find out.

[Geezer]

Originally posted by Crazcnuk
That's kind of my question too. I have 1 set std rings and 2 sets 1st over.

The 1st over sets are too big for the bore right now, but can I 'adjust' the rings to fit by filing off the ends?

If so, I would only have to buy 1 set.

Hand fitting rings is an old time fix and I've done it a couple times. If you have the right tools and can grind the ends of the rings square, there's not reason not to make them fit.

Geezer

[Crazcnuk]

I've done it a couple times too, in the 'old' days. But I've never done it on a motorcycle.

What gets me is I've never heard of oversize rings w/o oversize pistons?

In cars, there are std rings for std pistons, then 1st over rings for 1st over pistons, etc. From what I read here, Yamaha makes oversize rings that fit on the std pistons?

I can't see where you would ever want to do that. It would mean your wall clearances are getting too big for std re-ring?

On my Shadow 1100 the minimum piston/bore clearance was .00010!! as opposed to cars where around .002-.004 is the norm.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Patrick,

I totally understand the concern with looser fitting OEM pistons with the OS rings, possible more chance for piston slap??

Ken Talbot must be on vacation or such, surprised he hasn't chimed in here again about it.

The OS pistons are NOT available from Yamaha anymore, that's why many people have decided to do the WiseCo route, to ensure that they have snug fitting pistons and rings to match!
T.C.

[DiverRay]

Pistons can be "knurled" to expand the skirt area. I remember we used to do that with the bikes long ago. You can go up 1 oversize that way, put in the 1 over rings, and get another 50K out of the old air cooled engines.
Ray

[Crazcnuk]

My issue is, i would like to be able to use the 3 sets of rings I have, if I can. I know I can use the std set.

It's the 2 sets of 1st over that I am concerned with. If they are designed for a larger piston, I don't think using them would be advisable, even if I can make them fit, end-gap wise.

If I buy 3(4) sets of std rings, I will still have 2(3) sets of rings hanging around for the next 20 years!

[Crazcnuk]

Got a reply back from Bike Bandit. the price is $43.17 per set, meaning a r-ring job will cost nearly $200 by the time you get gaskets to go with the rings.

This is what I was afraid of when I took the head off. The cost is starting to get beyond what I was willing to spend, just to get the bike going, let alone the cosmetic stuff it needs.

I MAY have to shove this one in the back with the GT, and keep on riding the 750.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey CrazCnuk,

A Wiseco big bore is about $400, includes Pistons, ring sets, wrist pins, clips, and Head Gasket!!!! With OS rings you were looking at getting the jugs bored anyways. Had you already micrometered the jugs to verify that just a HONE and OEM ring set would work? Aside from the cam cover, and I've even made that one, you can make your own gaskets from sheet material!

Don't give up on the 11, the difference between it and the 750 is no comparison!
T.C.

[Crazcnuk]

I already have a complete engine gasket set, Cam chain and masterlink. I bought a used head that came with cams, extra valves, 3 sets of rings, etc. I wasn't going to touch the rings, but the engine had a bad case of blowing blue, so I thought I had better check them.

If I can't afford $120 for rings, $400 is right out.

I have the jugs over at a friends who was supposed to measure it up for me, but he left on holidays now.

He tried the rings in the head, and said the std one was ok, and the over size were too big. Big whoopie I could have done that myself. I needed him to tell me if I needed a bore or not BEFORE he left.

he also has my head, as he is doing the valves for me. But we discovered my head has bad cam galling, and the used head I bought has some broken exhaust studs, haven't pulled the cams out of it yet, as the idiot left for vacation with my stuff in his garage.