XL 600R Motor Pulled Apart...and Whaaaa???

[slashfan7964]

203619


It ran....

[250r kid]

ARE you sure :wondering looks like a 2 smoker to me:)

[slashfan7964]

ARE you sure :wondering looks like a 2 smoker to me:)

EDIT:

XL 600R, totally different machine

[El Camexican]

Low octane fuel = knock on wood?

[Red Rider]

The Honda XL & XR series have always been low-tech bikes. These bikes came from the factory with wooden pistons, but most owners' would switch to a cast or forged piston on the first rebuild, if not sooner. :rolleyes: So, it seems you've found yourself an unmolested example. Nice score!

[coolpool]

The Honda XL & XR series have always been low-tech bikes. These bikes came from the factory with wooden pistons, but most owners' would switch to a cast or forged piston on the first rebuild, if not sooner. :rolleyes: So, it seems you've found yourself an unmolested example. Nice score!

Please tell me you're not serious....... wooden pistons? Am I just taking the bait here?

[Xfile]

I have heard rumors of super-hack motorcycle/auto builders using wooden pistons to make a quick sale years ago....but this is the first example I have ever seen. Unreal!

[slashfan7964]

Wood can't hold up under the stress that steel can. I would think after the wood carbonizes, it would't burn, but no doubt under stress it would cause severe cracking and ultimately piston failure.

[jakep53]

wow wooden pistons wtf that piston looks midget how is it a 600cc engine?? looks like a 50cc lol

[just ben]

looks like hickory, it probably smelled like a bbq at a racetrack when it was running.

[briano]

Never needs a rebuild. When the compression gets low pour some water in the cylinder to swell the wood back up. Lol

[manbearpig]

wait... WTF.. what just happened there?

if it walk like a duck and talks like a duck... but theres NO WAY a wooden piston would work... right?

[just ben]

wait... WTF.. what just happened there?

if it walk like a duck and talks like a duck... but theres NO WAY a wooden piston would work... right?certainly not with the wrist pin out past the piston. definetly not an xl 600 either. slash may have assumed that because the picture came from the xl 600 group on facebook. It is some type of 2 stroke note the oiling holes above the crank bearing and lack of a cam chain.

[250r kid]

certainly not with the wrist pin out past the piston. Definetly not an xl 600 either. Slash may have assumed that because the picture came from the xl 600 group on facebook. It is some type of 2 stroke note the oiling holes above the crank bearing and lack of a cam chain.


( ding ding ) we have a winner ,..

[Red Rider]

looks like hickory, it probably smelled like a bbq at a racetrack when it was running.Possibly. The oldest XL's & XR's did come with pistons made from hickory, but Honda switched to ash a year or 2 later. Why the switch to ash you may ask? Because ash is lighter than hickory, yet just as robust. The switch to ash also earned these bikes the nickname, "Louisville Sluggers" because baseball bats are made from the same stuff. ;)

[Scootertrash]

So crabby guys that rode these were ash holes?

[DohcBikes]

I'm fascinated. I'm gonna try it.

[Billy Golightly]

Piston is way too small for a 600cc. Maybe a 60 or 80.

Pretty funny though, looks like it might have ran for a bit. I bet the piston slap was quiet :)

[coolpool]

Piston is way too small for a 600cc. Maybe a 60 or 80.

Pretty funny though, looks like it might have ran for a bit. I bet the piston slap was quiet :)

Probably sounded like a woodpecker on steroids.

[atc300r]

Thats Pinocchios race bike.lol

[Ghostv2]

Someone send this photo in to Mythbusters.

[Billy Golightly]

I'm sure it would work - just how well and how long is the question. Maybe we will have a trikefest experiment! 2 stroke has a better chance of working I think, only need compression rings.

[El Camexican]

I'm sure it would work - just how well and how long is the question. Maybe we will have a trikefest experiment! 2 stroke has a better chance of working I think, only need compression rings.

If it's a piston port engine you'll need to find a long with a woodpecker hole in it.

[El Camexican]

I guess you can tell which bore the cylinder is on by counting the rings in the piston?

[just ben]

It never ran.... Look just below the wrist pin, it is not one piece of wood. With a glue joint there it would pull apart on the first stroke.it looks like an old wood peppermill that someone got creative with.

[DohcBikes]

I'm sure it would workI'm also sure it woodwork.

[Billy Golightly]

I see what you did there :shiftyeyes:

[fordnut79@hotma]

"Ipe" wood has a steel like hardness

[DohcBikes]

After doing a little surfing on the net this seems entirely feasible. I asked Eric if he'd turn me a piston on our lathe for an experimental wooden piston engine. He said sure. I have an atc200 engine that is planned for a rebuild.

There's a ton of top end rebuild questions posed here so for a while I've been wondering if it might be popular for entertainment or education if I and anyone that would like to join in did like a top-end clinic of sorts at trikefest. Maybe it wouldn't work with the format, maybe it would. I have never been so I don't know.

Anyway, if we used the wooden piston for the demonstration we could go ride it and see how long it lasts, then tear it back down and record the results. I think it might run all day.....

Just a thought. Either way I'm going to try it for fun. Thanks for sharing slash!

[coolpool]

That's a novel idea guys, kind of like those oil additive commercials where they dump the oil after a short time and run the engine again. Could sell raffle squares at Trikefest based on run time.

For the record I have wood that acts like steel......sometimes :-(

[redsox]

the builder once worked for honda, but he splintered off to open his own shop. he undercut the competition with his low prices and really carved out a lucrative business. racers in the area would pine over the builds. unfortunatly, he branched off into other areas and lost touch with his roots. guess he couldnt see the forrest for the trees.

sorry

[Red Rider]

For the record I have wood that acts like steel...So do I. The scientific term for it is "morning wood." :lol:

[Scootertrash]

the builder once worked for honda, but he splintered off to open his own shop. he undercut the competition with his low prices and really carved out a lucrative business. racers in the area would pine over the builds. unfortunatly, he branched off into other areas and lost touch with his roots. guess he couldnt see the forrest for the trees.

sorry

Maybe it was just time fir him to leave?

[250rRoostmaster]

Maybe it was just time fir him to leave?

Only a sap would branch off and leaf...