Harley Sportster Stripping - Part 9
Life's a bitch... Thank God there's Harleys...
On 28 May 2008 we removed the front and rear cylinders of the Ironhead engine of our Harley XLH Sportster .
While last week we found no damage to the rear cylinder wall, this week we got a bit of a nasty surprise when we found that at some point during the running life of this Harley engine the front piston must have thrown out one or both retaining rings that lock the piston shaft in place.
On the photos below we show you the piston damage and the damage to the front cylinder wall.
Harley Ironhead 1000cc pistons and connecting rods sticking out of the
engine housing after removal of the cylinders.
Here you see how the damaged front piston must have lost the retaining ring
that locks the piston shaft in place.
The inside cylinder wall of the front cylinder shows a wide and deep groove on the side where we think the
piston shaft retainer ring was forced in between the piston and the cylinder wall.
Shit happens, deal with it. Looks like we are going to have to give this baby a bit more horsepower...
Jan's 1976 Zundapp GTS50 Moped
Frans and his 1970 Jaguar XJ 4.2