From:Steve Marks
E-Mail:<steve@microdesign.ltd.uk>
Subject:RE: KJ Davenport adventure
Response to:762
Date:Wed Sep 8 05:05:13 2004
Hi Ian
What bad luck for a failure of this kind to cut the trip
short - not something you could foresee and prepare for I
guess. What caught my eye in your report was the comment re
the orifice plugs. I've seen the original service bulletin
advising that they be fitted and can understand the reasons
for doing so but see that you have now removed all but one
of yours. Is this current thinking? What size drill did you
use for the cross drilling? Have you uprated the pump? What
oil do you use? How many miles between oil changes? Any
other mods done to the lube system - filter and/or cooler
perhaps? Sorry for the barrage of questions but whatever
you've done seems to work so I for one would appreciate your
comments. I reckon anyone covering best part of 2 1/2
thousand miles in a month without a (lubrication) problem
must know what they're doing - that's pretty good going -
well done!
Thanks and best regards - Steve

----- ORIGINAL MESSAGE FOLLOWS -----
The trip thru the western US to the davenport meet was great
ad it not been for a wayward valve that cut my trip 500
miles short of my destination.Riding along with that
beautiful WAH sound that only us KJ riders are blessed
with.By Gothenburg Nebraska I dropped a cylinder. I thought
it was a fouled plug and as the trucks were blasting by me
at 85 + I couldn,t hear a damn thing to make me believe
otherwise.I cleaned the plugs and restarted the KJ but still
o #4.With the sun going down and me 10 miles from my stop
for the night and in a dangerous place I limped the KJ into
gothenberg.The next morning I found what the problem was.
The intake valve on #4 had broken above the keeper.The
collar with the keys still firmly seated laying on top of
the spring.the valve had fallen into the pocket and I
believe broken a side off my exhaust tappet. Very
disappointing indeed as the KJ with crossdrilled crank had
me sticking my chest out before this untimely calamity.On
Aug 1st I had taken my motor down and took all the babbit
out and replaced it with 850,cross drilled the crank and
pulled all the orifice plugs but the one in the
tailshaft,put 800 miles on before I left Washington,then
another 1800 out on the road so this was very unexpected.Oh
well there,s alway,s next year.   Ian>>>>>>>>