TIG WELDING DAMAGED ENGINE?? PROBABLY NOT!!!

[darklancer]

For the latest installment..

Went to BB yesterday to see how Bruce is doing, The old engine is out and the replacement engine is in, he also has to do some changes to the rear, it seems the original design was "flawed",.....

Anyway, while there I had a look at the damaged engine and discussed TIG welding the crack, after Bruce showed me the REST of the DAMAGE we agreed it probably isnt worthwhile....

So, here is a pic of the damage which couldnt be seen while the engine was mounted!!

Does anyone have any view on what caused this?  

[terry t]

It looks like you dropped a big end or the the piston broken up. looking in the manual all that's under those cracks is the conrod. can you see into the block

[Manky Monkey]

"what caused this?"

-a sledgehammer?

[steven brock]

Could fill it with metal compound putty

[darklancer]

Wish it was that simple MM!

Was caused by (we think) over-rev'ing the engine,,,,,, due to the fact that the rear axle ratios on my trike were dramatically wrong meaning the engine screamed while going very slowly....

Probably best if I give you some background.....

I got her last year from the widow of the guy who built her, he was a left leg amputee, I am a right leg amputee, SO, I couldnt ride her.

She was brought back down south on a trailer and then went by trailer to the bike shop for the work to be done. When I got her i was told that all the trike work had been done and all that was needed was for the engine to be checked over and a left brake to be fitted (no right leg, remember??). I emailed a couple of local bike shops and got a reply from the one she ended up at.

The work on her was done as and when the workshop had time (this was the agreement when they took the job on and it was winter at the time so I thought it was fine).

she went to be checked by DVLA on a trailer and was only test ridden a couple of times locally to where she was being worked on by the mechanics and other workers as necessary, this included 2 aborted trips to the MOT station, both of which ended up with her not actually arriving, the first was due to a failed fuel pump, the second was because of the engine blowing. What happened with the engine blowing was that one of the employees rode her down for MOT, on the way he found all of a sudden that he couldnt engage 3rd gear and then the engine blew.

The first time I heard about there being ANY issue regarding the engine running at very high rev's was after I organised Bruce from BB Custom Trikes to go to where she was and check her over, I did this because I was starting to have a confidence issue with the owner of the bike shop. THIS WAS AFTER THE ENGINE HAD BLOWN. Bruce was the one who mentioned that the engine must have been rev'ing very high due to the rear axle having the wrong ratios, it was from a Suzuki SJ410. When he said this the reaction was "yeah we noticed that", the thing is though that I was NEVER told this by them until after Bruces visit! The owner of the bike shop was more than happy to see her go to Bruce for completion, his view was that they were "twitchy" about working on her because they know very little about trikes!!!

I cant say how she ran before they did any work on her because I have NEVER ridden her, the left foot brake was the last bit of work finished (and this was obviously needed by me to ride her).

So, what are my options? i really dont know gents. I could go after them but a part of me is thinking "sod it, life is too short so move on," but another part of me is thinking "***!! they have cost me thousands and they should pay!!"

I guess the reality is its down to IF I can prove that the damage was caused as a direct result of their negligence, and I dont know if anyone could ever prove this beyond a shadow of a doubt!

So, thats the whole sorry story, opinions please gents.

[steven brock]

You could change the axle to a 413 I think this lowers the ratio but not by much..

[darklancer]

Not really necessary now, my Trike is at BB Custom Trikes being finished and when I get her back she will have a proper axle for her engine and drive with the correct ratios..............

My issue is what to do about the bastards who killed my trike!!!   

[morrag]

Very difficult I know, but in the field of "Home-Brewed" trikes, it would seem that 'Caveat Emptor' are the watch words!. The original builder is no longer around so that a non starter with regard to recompense. The motorcycle establishment you first put it into seem to have been given very much an open ended brief, after all they never seemed to imply they were trike builders! and I'm even a little dubious that the "over revving" you were indicating would have been sufficiently high, even with a relatively low ratio axle like the Suzuki, to "Blow" a sound engine, so......................maybe time to write it off to experience, with a salutary warning to others, if your unfamiliar with what your purchasing, then get hold of someone who is! you know it makes sense!not a deal of comfort here, I know, but.................. :'(Morrag

[ROD]

I'm inclined to agree with Morrag.On the over revving issue,I dont know the ratio of the axle that is fitted,but there must've been some serious over revving to do that damage and/or the engine had dodgy internals to cause it.

[darklancer]

Apparently the engine WAS good, although that could be taken with a pinch of salt I guess....

What you need to consider though is that the engine was run a number of times with no problem, in fact she ran really well, but not when in gear and rolling of course!

Personally I think this is a case of someone getting on her and revv'ing the guts out of her because they could, not because they should and its because of that I will be going to have a chat with the shop owner!

[fifer]

All different gearing does is to alter the speeds in each gear .
For example you might normally attain 30mph in 2nd gear at 5000 revs but with a drastic reduction might only achieve 10 mph at 5000 revs .
Anyone who has driven an old British bike will know that you could alter the gearing on the engine sprocket { choice of between 16 and 25 teeth } , gearbox sprocket and rear wheel sprocket .
That was for sidecar gearing which reduced the top speed or for high speed but slower acceleration .
The safe max revs were still the same .
With the  higher gearing pulling away in 1st was like pulling away in 2nd .
Problem caused by folk who have no mechanical ear or feel for an engine and used to rev limiters on modern bikes
.

[morrag]

Yup, thats about right....................

[ROD]

Yes,seconded!

[steven brock]

May of dropped it down a gear or two at speed to break it maybe .. Ummm 

[terry t]

You took you trike the a company that repairs bikes. they took the job on knowing what work had to be done was on a trike. but you  said. 
(The owner of the bike shop was more than happy to see her go to Bruce for completion, his view was that they were "twitchy" about working on her because they know very little about trikes!!!)
So why did they take it on in the first place. these bike have a rev band of 8000 rpm.