Proper break in is important...& thanks Jeffycakes!

Scorched & broken.

 On the way home from last years Bastard Bash the Ironhead was not quite right. A little smoke coming from the exhaust on deceleration...got home & did a compression check, 120lbs in front & 72lbs in rear, yikes! So I pulled her apart, I could tell I had some bad valve guides..but also one of the pistons(rear) had a real light brown color to the carbon build up. Typically that's from running lean. I pulled the cylinders, & thank god my dad taught me to always get a rag stuffed in the case before cylinder came completely off the piston. The ring landing on the rear piston had cracked & in some places completely seperated from the piston. All of this was because I was in a hurry to get the top end together before I left for the Bash. I didn't double check ring gap spacing or placement. I think I also had a manifold leak at the rear cylinder. On top of all of this I didn't do any heat cycling to the new top end. Pretty much slapped it all together & took off. Never again. I am doing a proper break in on my top end now...I have around 600mi on it, all good for now(knock on wood). I did the heat cycles, made sure I had proper ring gaps, new valves & guides, changing the oil often. Anyway, if you want it to run right, build it right. Oh, & my man Kustom Jeff sent me some cool stickers. Thanks Jeffycakes!

Left lean, Right balanced.

Pieces of the ring landing.

Front piston wasn't in to bad shape.

Another shot of where the landing seperated.

Jeff is quite the artist.