Hey all iv got some questions on the state of my head... chekout the pics below, the no.3 bore looks slightly rusted and the chamber&valves are caked,to be expected tho cos its been running so rich since i got it.. Is the rust normal?and does this need to be honed off? How bad are these valves?

That is pretty mingin but nothing a good scrub would not solve.

No idea on the rusty bore !! When was it last run?

If it was a car and I saw the bore and valves looking like that I would say that your head gasket had gone, there for letting water from your cooling system get in to the bore and being burnt........white smoke is really steam.

But I don't know how the water is channelled through the NC30 block for cooling, but I would go for head gasket.

I'd say head gasket too but i might wanna check the head see if its warped, re fit with fit new gaskets then you might wanna pressure test it

the rust in the bore looks like very light surface rust, some very very fine wet and dry would be my plan, anything thats eaten into it proper would be a specialist job, though if your planning to have it sitting about for days on end, lather it in oil to prevent it getting worse.

monkeywithaplan wrote:the rust in the bore looks like very light surface rust, some very very fine wet and dry would be my plan

But that won't solve the cause. Doesn't look really good, but as CMS says, it must have been lying around for a while - surface rust in a running bike's bore shouldn't occur.

Cheers for the help! As suggested, white smoke was comin out exhaust, on cool days it was most noticeable, and obviously the bikes been running since i got it, running quite well except for a light knock when it heats up, the cause of which i expect to find in the front head when taken off. Iv checked both mating surfaces with a steel ruler and both appear square and unwarped, but as simon suggested a pressure test might be needed with new gasket, another question:old gasket left bleck rubber-like residue on surfaces, new gasket is just aluminium, do i need to spray somethin on? Also iv seen a relatively cheap honing tool at hardware store with 3stones and it rotates in the bore, is this a dodgy idea to clean the bores up?

superlite wrote:

monkeywithaplan wrote:the rust in the bore looks like very light surface rust, some very very fine wet and dry would be my plan

But that won't solve the cause. Doesn't look really good, but as CMS says, it must have been lying around for a while - surface rust in a running bike's bore shouldn't occur.

i wasnt suggesting on combating the cause. the rest o you had that covered in other posts. just giving a suggestion on taking the first steps on looking after the bore/preventing it from getting worse from lying around

Right this is what the valves now look like afer 4 hours of cleaning with wire brush bit in a drill press, exhaust valves had extremely strong carbon buildup, as can be seen from above photo.. prob gona have bores honed& install new rings while the heads are off cos the head gaskets cost a fortune..

as has been said, looks like a HG failure ..

just get the barrel's re-honed professionally.. (last time i had a bike engine done it was only about 20 quid, so cheaper than a crappy DIY job) fit new rings, and it's all good.