OEM honda pison+rings is honing required?

[ktroy]

I have 8.5k miles on my 1994 SR50, and I think it's about time for a rebuild. It has had ring rattle for the entire time.
It runs amazing and has tons of power, but enough is enough.

I want to replace with stock Honda Piston+rings kit. I am wondering if honing is required, and if so, can I use the stock bore piston+rings after honing or do I need to bore it to .25 over?

I am reading many mixed opinions, some people never hone and some use soap and water. Some hone but only with a Aluminum oxide ball hone, and others use diluted muratic acid to deglaze.. yet others just slap it on.

Just looking for some advice on the good ol spree forum. Thanks

[eliteguy50]

Aether to hone or bore is decided by your cylinder diameter. Measure the cylinder for wear and spec it against the service limits in the manual. You only need to hone enough to remove the glaze and cross-hatch the cylinder. Do not reuse your rings and piston, buy a new set.

[ktroy]

Thanks for the reply! I guess I was hoping I could buy the new parts first and have everything ready to put back together. But your right, it's best to measure the wear first and see if an overbore is required.

I was referring to reusing the stock size rings, new parts, not the old ones. In other words, if I honed the cylinder, would the new piston/rings fit even though they are not over sized.

Thanks

[eliteguy50]

If the cylinder specs out to stock, yes, new stock parts will fit.

[noiseguy]

If you can't see the cross-hatching on the bore anymore, you need to ball-hone the bore. The cross-hatching is what holds the oil to the cylinder walls during operation... without it, your ring life is significantly reduced.

[breaze]

I've always been told (and read in here) that new rings require honing and break-in. I've also been told not to use the 3-stone brake cylinder hones because they can damage the ports (thus, Noiseguy mentions ball hone).

I would be skeptical that the noise you are hearing is ring rattle. If it has been going on the whole time and yet, it still runs well, hard to believe you've had a ring problem for that many miles with no effect. Are you certain the noise is from the cylinder?

[ktroy]

Actually the bike has 10k miles... perfect time to rebuild because the odometer is going back to 0000.

I am 100% positive it is ring rattle its been there since I bought it with 400 miles on it. The stock gearing on these Hondas are very high and I bet the original owner wanting to go over 35 and just wound it out down a hill and popped the bottom ring. I heard it was common. I put 9.8's in it to help the problem.

Thanks for the advice on the ball-hone. I will make sure to do that before new rings if it hasn't wore the cylinder down too much already.

[Pete M]

Why not do a compression test and see if you really need to replace the rings if it runs so good? If you had a broken ring it would have been toast a long time ago.