125-200cc brake & head oring questions

just a coupla quickies folks:

1. how much play should be in the rear brake clevis/plunger bolt thingy? no probs with mine but has heaps of play around the ball joint. normal?

2. had a few drops of coolant leaking around head(between cyl/head in several spots). head bolts tight. noticed it before last ride(before taking off ute) so started it & warmed it up on ute. nothing more leaked other than a few drops & once warm didn't lose a drop. im guessing once warmed up the cylinder & head expanded & took up the gap? did fairly hard ride of around 100km just monitoring it. bike ran sweet, didn't run hot & didn't lose any coolant for rest of day(checked after ride when warm & cool). ordered new ones anyway but just wondering what thoughts are on keeping an eye on it & just leaving it til top ends due(30 hours or so for 50 total). didn't burn any coolant either-no sickly sweet smell or white smoke so guess its just the outer oring?! don't remember if I vaselined the orings when did 165 conversion but was super careful not to pinch them(so I thought). head oring fails not very common on these bikes it would seem. surely head or cylinder wouldn't be warped?! bikes never been boiled or even close to it(unlike my 300 haha) & strikes me as odd that it would happen after 20 hours hard use leading to me thinking the oring just crapped out not head/cylinder issue(complete 165 top end only 20 hours from new!). cheers

Here's something related to your first question. In short, it will fail unexpectedly and might almost kill you. Replace it.

http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/has-anyone-else-worn-this-out-or-am-i-just-lucky.45076/

If you replace it before it fails, you won't loose the little threaded rod that the balljoint attaches to.

hmm thanks marc interesting that your bike had 61 hours on it in your post-mine has 60 & noticed it a couple of rides ago! so you just replaced the round bit that goes over the ball joint or the whole thing including plunger(basically everything below the rubber bit that the plunger touched against)? did yours jam up or fail to actuate?

Mine separated in the heat of battle and left the ball and bolt still attached to the pedal, while the piece that houses the ball and the rod that screws into it jettisoned onto the track never to be seen again. I had no warning, my brake was fine the corner before the obstacle. I approached a 10 ft steep sharp hill intended to check your speed which I normally drag both brakes up and then do my "old man scrub" off the top to stay low. When I felt nothing there, I froze up, checked no speed, did no scrub, and "boner aired" off the ridge into orbit. The landing jarred my teeth, spine, and jacked my wrists so bad I feared a fracture initially.

I strongly recommend you replace it immediately. Hall's should have it. If you do it before it fails, you won't loose the hard-to-find rod. Not to mention you won't compromise control of the bike which could be catastrophic. Things like these don't fail as you pull up to the truck, they fail as you haul up to a corner with a cliff after it,or a field of cacti, or a huge oak tree! MURPHY'S LAW

I think the o rings are more prone to expansion due to heat on the 165. I ve had issues with mine too and had trouble getting the outer one back in place
I'd pull th heed off and check its only a half hour job Replace both o rings at the same time
You can also check squish band if you want

yeh Ash I ordered a set from R&D husky then realised I still had a spare set of orings. also ordered the SS wheel spacers like ones I already had for 300 & Stefan threw in a SS front spacer as well-what a champion. oh well extra orings wont go astray just means im good for the next top end I spose! should check squish I spose too as I just whacked the 0.8mm base gasket in there on Kelly's & Walt's advice. I do have another 0.8mm & 0.5mm base gasket but im too lazy to swap them plus bike runs hard so im happy!

Marc is it a complete 'kit' as in the plunger thingamajig that houses the ball & the ball/bolt itself?

I've gone to two .5mm base gaskets. And use the original head i got from Walt
Which was detonating with .8mm gasket
I did get some detonation with both heads anyway. With pump gas

I like the slightly thicker squish band and the flatter shape of the head cut
Seems to run better with it

I think maybe the tighter 1 mm. Squish may be causing additional heat too

I think mine is now around 1.15mm
The gaskets compress. When I measured the .8mm one it was down to around .6mm after use

I've got quick at doing cylinder removals Lol
I check squish the lazy way
Ie put the solder ( apprx1.5mm) in through the plug hole and feel for side of cylinder and turn the motor over

nope, just the ball heim joint.

just looking at this set up today could one not use a large flat washer under head of bolt to prevent said heim joint from disappearing? just thinking out loud & being cheap