What a mess..!!

Hi,
I am Hellrider and i have a ZMA(2006) that has gone twice the cyclinder kit replacement due to worn out piston rings.
What actually happens is that the piston rings break initially(dunno how that happens but its the biggest cause of this problem... senior members could give some gyan on this). It never happpens that the rings are completely damaged .... you would find just a small crack on the ring once your have it with you(the broken one). When the piston moves in the cyclinder.. the edge of the piston ring(kona..hehe) drills the iron casing of the cyclinder kit with the line/lines that are visible to you in the broken part.
I gues that explains one thing .

THe gap where the ring of the piston is broken from gives out the engine oil into the combustin chamber and gets burnt and comes out of the exhaust.

My experience was like this!!!!!
I too had same dropping in amount of engine oil after small timeframes(2-3 weeks always)
so i went to Castrol bikezone and asked the cause of the problem and they .. .. ***holes started revving the bike really hard in front of me.. to my anger i shouted at the mangar what he was upto... but then he showed me that on revving the bike small amount of fumes were visible ... whitish smoke!!
ti which he said was the engine oil burning and then went my dear .. 6000 rs/- out of which 2000 was replacement of cyclinder kit and 200 for pistonm and 600 for semi engine overhauling as the bike didnt suffer any damage which required a complete overhaul.

Please let me know if you have any question.
Hellrider

p.s. :: first cyclinder kit replacement - complete engine overhaul
second time : semi engine overhaul

One of the mechanics told me this(breaking of piston rings) could also happen
since i am not using stock filter but standard K&N filter. As its a free flow filter which can cause this damage. and this problem till now has happened at regular intervals (once every 18 months).. which makes me believe he's correct.
I drive with accurate gear shifts and controlled revving at constant 60-70 kph mark.
correct me if I or what the mechanics are saying is wrong.

hi folks,

i have been facing the same problem since past 4 months. Got it checked by authorised Bajaj showroom folks and they told me that as my bike had done 22k kms it needs a piston bore replacement. Asked them the cost and they quoted something near 10,000/-.

Engin oil consumption has been huge in last few months, though there is no leak of oil or smoke from exhaust( well i havent checked on top speeds)....

Finally spoke to a local mechanic he told me that piston needs to be changed and some bearing noise is there so engine work has to be done.

Again i consulted showroom folks and they told that bore too needs to be replaced as engine is consuming excess engine oil.

Now finally tomorrow i am going to give my bike to the local mechanic but i have informed him that if bore needs to be replaced, replace it rather than trying to fix it. Also i am getting K&N R1060 air filter and Iridium spark plug fitted.

But as per hellrider is it true that K&N filter cause damage to piston rings? I am getting it fitted on P180 UG3. Can any one please throw some light on this?

Please advice as the mechanic is gonna open engine tomorrow?

Does These Bike's Engine can get sleeved with std piston or rebored with oversize piston?This way the Expenses are low?During Old Times ,This is how I did with 2 stroker's.

I too had big 2 line score marks on the bore. I just polished and re-seated with fresh rings. I know it will not give the lost performance but its acceptable. Now again its drinking oil but no problems with chennai - bangy trip. I am planning to add Nulon engine treatment lets see how good the compression holds.
You get local ones for oversize .25, .5, .75 rings