R69S restoration

schrader7032 · Post by **schrader7032** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 8:15 am

Cycleworks used to do crankshafts back when Ed Korn owned the business. He was bought out and Dan now runs it. You might check with Dan to see if he still does that or if he has other sources. Dan's a very knowledgeable guy...he posts on the Yahoo /2 Forum with some good information.

http://www.cycleworks.net/

The services page mentions crankshaft rebuilding:

http://www.cycleworks.net/services.htm

Kurt in S.A.

808Airhead · Post by **808Airhead** » Sun Nov 08, 2009 1:41 pm

Thanks for the link,I have bought a bunch of cycleworks tools and am aware he does them.
I just want to get a good rebuild,since I read on this forum about a crankshaft on a R69S that was rebuilt by a experienced,reputable company,but it had snapped at a low mileage.In the same thread,there was reported some other failures with this same company.There was no name given,but I just want to avoid a catastrophe....
Has anybody here had their crank rebuilt? I know Vech uses a specialist crank rebuilder guy for his.I am going to contact Barrington as well and see what they say.
I only want to rebuild this engine once,and have it work correctly the first time.
I was debating between getting a low mileage bike (cheaper) or restoring this one.
Since this bike ios already here in Hawaii,I decided to go all out and go for a resto.
This will take more time & money in the long run,but will be a learning experience,and I still have my 60/2 to ride while restoring the 69S.So there will be no rush.Wish me luck!

808Airhead · Post by **808Airhead** » Sun Nov 15, 2009 12:34 am

Here are pictures of my next obsession.....Really happy the motor is free,the carb slides look very good,and relatively low mileage.This is a 1966 R69S,and the speedo back reads "8-65" so I am assuming the speedo is original.It reads 33k miles and when I open up this motor,I hope that is actual mileage!
Hopefully the barrels are on the original bore size (crosses fingers)the heads look good,no broken fins on them or the barrells.....I cannot wait to ride her when I am done 8) (years from now)

Carb slide pegs show minimal wear

I removed the headlight to take out the speedo

Here you can see the sticker on the BRAND NEW exhaust installed in 1983,and left to sit and rust!! These mufflers have never even had exhaust run through them!

Here is the speedo,date on the bottom corresponds to the year,so hoping this is the mileage!

The paint has been sprayed over and plastic pinstriping done...sometime in the 70's-80's....

808Airhead · Post by **808Airhead** » Sun Nov 15, 2009 9:23 pm

Well..........got the left side cylinder/head off,and the head is STUCK to the barrel!! Any tips on seperating these?I have tried rubber ma;l;et,but no go.........I may have to use a hydraulic press!Some water got in the cylinder while sitting,the cylinder looks great,however the head will not come off!

schrader7032 · Post by **schrader7032** » Sun Nov 15, 2009 10:28 pm

I had the same problems separate the head from the cylinder on my R69S. First I tried Kroil or PB Blaster along with heat while still bolted to the bike. I tried the "rope in the chamber" trick and tried using the kick starter to push the rope and the head off. Later, I pulled the stuck combo off the block and built a press affair that pushed a rounded 1x1 inch piece of wood into the combustion chamber. I used deadblow hammers, etc. Nada...zip.

I was having the slingers cleaned by a mechanic, so I took the stuck pair to him. He had the thing apart in about 2 minutes, if that. It happened so fast, I'm not sure I know exactly what he did.

Here's what I believe he did. He took the four head bolts and screwed them back into their holes. I'm pretty sure it was the head bolts...but using hex head bolts of the same pitch might even be better. He engaged quite a few threads. Then, he use a hammer (regular, I believe) and hit the end of the bolts. The shock of the force was enough to separate the head from the cylinder.

Kurt in S.A.

808Airhead · Post by **808Airhead** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 1:24 pm

Schraeder,you are a good man for taking your time to post that suggestion!! I cannot believe the obviuous escaping me!I never thought about that.It worked great,a couple whacks with a brass mallet and "pop" came off the head.Thank you sir!

schrader7032 · Post by **schrader7032** » Mon Nov 16, 2009 3:49 pm

Great! I'm glad that worked. If and when I acquire my next project, a 1952 R25/2, I'll have to remember what worked and go straight to that method.

Kurt in S.A.

808Airhead · Post by **808Airhead** » Wed Nov 18, 2009 11:01 pm

OK,I cleaned the piston off,and there are no "+" marks on the crown,just "71 92" on top of a different # which is "10 72"...........this is making me think this is standard bore size piston (?)
Anyone have any input on this? If this is a standard size piston,that is pretty good news,meaning I can still use the barrels!
Do these #'s indicate standard bore? Thanks!

schrader7032 · Post by **schrader7032** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 7:11 am

Yes, "71 92" is the bore size in mm and that represents the standard size. Here's a picture of my piston crown when I got into my R69S:

Notice it also says the forging date "1/68" and the triangular shape is the stamp from the Nural company. I never could figure out what the "H" stood for. There were also numbers inside the piston skirt which were mold numbers and dates for the mold.

Not sure what the "10 72" is...it looks like a date but that doesn't make sense as your bike was built way before that...unless these are placement pistons for some reason.

I was also looking for some kind of mark to tell me which is forward in order to get the piston back on properly. I believe the /5-on bikes have the word "vorn" and an arrow showing the forward direction. It turns out there's no offset in the wrist pins on the R69S so the pistons can go back in either way. I ended up putting them back in so the lettering was readable.

Be sure and check the dimensions of the bore and also look at the ring gaps. I put each ring back into the bore and used the piston to square it up. Then I measured the gap on the rings with a feeler gage. My gap was at or over the tolerances but the bore measurements were pretty good and slightly over stock. So I just put standard rings back in. My bike has a little less than 30K on it when I went through it.

Kurt in S.A.

808Airhead · Post by **808Airhead** » Thu Nov 19, 2009 8:48 pm

Thanks AGAIN schraeder.......is it only you and I on this forum???

I want to know,is your bike a "1969",would that correspond to the piston date?
Maybe someone replaced the pistons & possibly barrels??
Either way,I am pretty stoked the barrels are only on the standard bore (still have to verify with a machinist).This,along with the good condition of the carbs is making me think that someone may have either replaced all this stuff,or the bike is really 33k miles with just a paint job on her.The crank has no play at the big end,but will verify with a dial gauge when possible.
Some good news,instaead of spending $300.00 -$400.00 on new carb inlet tubes,I am getting mine re-chromed for about 100 bux...... 8)