124" build...I'll let the cat out of the bag

[JohnCA58]

The piston in the pic with the marks is the rear, right?

would have to be,  there is no push rod relief on the backside of cyl.   

[No Cents]

crank run out without the cam plate seems to be acceptable.

https://youtu.be/WdWahZ9A3r8

Ray

[Ohio HD]

Ray, haven't heard back from Bill. But I think these guys are right, lack of aluminum behind the stud holes to act as a heat sink. But I've not seen this myself. Evo or TC. 

[No Cents]

 It scared me when I first seen it Brian. I didn't know what to think so I had Randy come over and look. We were both not sure what we were seeing and why it did it. The cylinders cross hatching looks excellent. It was just those ghost images following the studs and oil galleys.
Now here is the funny part. I cleaned the carbon off the tops of the pistons and now I can't see where they were making contact.

[attach=0]

[attach=1]

[Ohio HD]

I wonder if the valve reliefs in the pistons are the size they're supposed to be?

[No Cents]

 I will have to try to measure them.
Here is a picture of them when they were new to compare with.

[attach=0]

[mike jesse]

IIRC the piston has an intake relief for a 2.160 in. diameter valve.
The manufacture has no way of knowing what cam timing events the customer will use.
As always it is the responsibility of the end user to check for clearance.

Ray what did you use to clean the piston top with?

[Ohio HD]

IIRC the piston has an intake relief for a 2.160 in. diameter valve.
The manufacture has no way of knowing what cam timing events the customer will use.
As always it is the responsibility of the end user to check for clearance.

Ray what did you use to clean the piston top with?

I understand that, but what I asked, are they the radius they should be. Just another thing to look at when things don't fit.

[mike jesse]

Read sentence 3 again.

[Ohio HD]

Read sentence 3 again.

I don't need to.

[No Cents]

 I use brake cleaner Mike sprayed on a lint free paper towel and I let it soak in good. Before I start I tape off the rest of the top of the cylinder when I clean them. It's time consuming...because I make sure nothing gets down in the ring land.
In the morning I plan on claying the pistons and seeing what I can find.

[Clayster]

Ray what did you use to clean the piston top with?

Yeah, that.  They look so clean I t's hard to believe they've been run.  I thought you were showing a pic from initial assembly. 

It's always fun to follow along with your excellent adventures.

[kd]

If you can't see witness marks on the pistons from the steel valves (or in the carbon of the valve rims) by using heavy magnification like a jewelers loop or printers proofing lens then it couldn't have made contact. That would be a simple fact. If there's a sound related to contact the steel should leave a mark in the aluminum. You won't be happy until you clay it and find out what you actually have there but I think if you can't see it .......it's as I said above.   

[Don D]

f there's a sound related to contact the steel should leave a mark in the aluminum.

True plus the noise would not just be at high rpm

[Smarty]

Could it be that the tolerances are so tight, that with the carbon build up it was just clearing the carbon off when it hit? Sounds like that might be what happened.

[harleytuner]

So after all this we are back to spark knock LMAO.   

[mike jesse]

I for one am glad that Ray is so anal about how his bike runs.
Every time he spins the wrenches I usually pick up a bit of information that I can use down the road.

[rbabos]

That stud hole ghosting is fairly common. More so on cyls that have seen more heat then usual which amplify the colour (color) variations.
Ron

[harleytuner]

That stud hole ghosting is fairly common. More so on cyls that have seen more heat then usual which amplify the colour (color) variations.
Ron

Out of 10 sets of take off cylinders I have they all show signs of it, some worse than others.  No big deal.

[Don D]

How does the head deck look clean.

[wfolarry]

Look at the valves. If it was making contact they will have a mark on them too.

[No Cents]

 I clayed the pistons today. All is good.
It was not touching...close...but not touching.

Ray

[kd]

Maybe it's the velocity of the intake air coming off the tip of the valve rim.  I expect it's moving pretty good so soot and carbon wouldn't likely build there. (much the same as the squish zone seems to stay relatively clean when it's tight)  If the clearance is close the effect may be maximised. The air would pile up at the top of the tulip and be dense as well as fast and cooler.    Just tryin to figure out the reason for the shiny brow on the intake only.

[No Cents]

 I can't answer that kd...I don't know the answer.
When I pulled the t/body off the rear intake seal was cracked in half and had been leaking for some time looking at the stains on the outside of the flange. I don't know if this would of made the ticking sound I was hearing or not. It's a good possibility.
Funny thing is the bike didn't seem down on power. You would think with an intake leak like that the bike would run like  ...but it wasn't. 

flange & seals
[attach=0]

valves
[attach=1]

Ray

[harleytuner]

If the intake was leaking when it was tuned, if that's the case you might not see the symptoms. How big a difference are the VE tables from each other.