Car and Bike Talk

[Lineandinitial]

1995 Buell S2 swallowed a disintegrated piston at 130ish...

 

[rod]

My happy place, that’s my wife in the mirror. It took me many years to get her to ride across the Mackinaw Bridge. Been a gear head all my life, if it makes noise, burns fossil fuel and goes fast I’m into it.View attachment 368333

I went across that thing 3 times one night looking for a motel room. I've had enough of that bridge.

 

[rod]

1995 Buell S2 swallowed a disintegrated piston at 130ish...

View attachment 368342
View attachment 368343

A compression check would have showed a problem.

 

[BSWALKS]

View attachment 366856

Fabjanski motorcycle Co.

 

[BSWALKS]

Come on...
Do you want to do your own laundry and make your own sandwiches?

And homemade snickerdoodle cookies

 

[brownelf]

No fun riding a bike across that bridge in bad weather. I did it in the rain and was white knuckle time.

Those grates get slick when it’s wet, the last time we crossed in a high wind warning. I stopped at the first exit and let my wife settle down for a few minutes. It reminded me of the time I rode out of the keys as a tropical storm was coming in, had a sportster back then.

 

[rod]

Those grates get slick when it’s wet, the last time we crossed in a high wind warning. I stopped at the first exit and let my wife settle down for a few minutes. It reminded me of the time I rode out of the keys as a tropical storm was coming in, had a sportster back then.

A Sportster isn't a touring bike to begin with.

 

[Lineandinitial]

A compression check would have showed a problem.

We did one that morning.
This was like the 10th pass after 4 days of racing at Bonneville.
Female rider who’s pretty tech savvy never indicated a potential problem up until it came apart.
The case and head were salvaged.

 

[rod]

]
Mn Street Rod

 

[Lineandinitial]

Rack and (probably a ) pinion...

 

[rod]

Rack and (probably a ) pinion...
View attachment 368683

Them have to be down to her knees by now.

 

[oldngray]

 

[rod]

 

[UnionStrong]

View attachment 369165

Studded race tires?

 

[quad decade guy]

1995 Buell S2 swallowed a disintegrated piston at 130ish...

View attachment 368342
View attachment 368343

Did the bike end up in the ocean after the failure?

Why is the rod so corroded?

Was the rod like that during the failure?

 

[Lineandinitial]

Did the bike end up in the ocean after the failure?

Why is the rod so corroded?

Was the rod like that during the failure?

Buell used high carbon steel for the casting, plus the seams were removed and the rods polished.
The head was pulled off at Bonneville to see WTF happened and this was a few days later.
The bike is in work and is primarily for speed on the salt, so it’ll run again probably for years to come.
Buell made them like tanks.

 

[rod]

 

[rod]

 

[quad decade guy]

Buell used high carbon steel for the casting, plus the seams were removed and the rods polished.
The head was pulled off at Bonneville to see WTF happened and this was a few days later.
The bike is in work and is primarily for speed on the salt, so it’ll run again probably for years to come.
Buell made them like tanks.

That much rust in a few days?

What actually failed and what caused it to fail?

Broken rings take the piston out? Broken piston take the rings out?

So material was removed from the rods? How much time on the piston at failure?

 

[Lineandinitial]

That much rust in a few days?

Yes. Pretty normal. The pictures make it look worse, but the rod was covered with rust.

What actually failed and what caused it to fail?

The piston failed due to heat from nitrous. The pistons were cast and we’re out in last year. We use forged Kibblewhites now.

Broken rings take the piston out? Broken piston take the rings out?

The latter. The engine was making about 8k before the traps so she was on it.

So material was removed from the rods? How much time on the piston at failure?

It’s typical to polish parts before install. Especially cast parts unless you buy to your spec.

Probably a few years on the pistons. Not really sure.