Dammit!!

[tacomajoe]

Well... I was out ridin my 79 FXEF and she started running bad and blowin smoke... and oil out the tail pipes, I pulled the heads and the jugs and both top rings on each piston are broke.. pistons hammered... the jugs dont look to bad so it looks like I will beable to get away with useing them again after some machine work. I will know for sure this week Ill be dropping them off at an INDY shop after the holiday weekend.

I figure as long as I have it torn apart as might as well paint it and do some of the things I was plannin to do this winter..

Here are some pics of what Im working with.

[RidingJerry]

Sorry you had trouble. Wrong time of the year.
I'm just putting mine back together. Got my rocker
box back from the Indy last week and hope to have
it running by this weekend.

[newultraclassic]

Broken piston rings are a symptom of extremely loose pistons. A good bore job, assuming you have enough "meat" left should do the trick. Whoever does it, they should be using torque plates and you should try to get the clearance very tight and then break the engine in carefully.

You didn't say what size engine. If 80" you can bore .030 O/S and then the cylinders are finished. A 74" can go to .070 but if you go to the max, you can have overheating problems.

S&S and others make replacement cylinders.

I would also recommend straight 60 wt. oil in your bike. That's what I run and it's doing the job.

Don't forget the cylinder heads, too. Nice new guides and valves and seals as a minimum.

Goo luck.