monkeyodeath
VIP MEMBER
- Joined
- Dec 10, 2025
- Messages
- 12
Came back from vacation and inspected underneath the valve covers.
All Thackeray washers appear to be in good shape -- at the very least, they all had spring tension and were tight enough that I wasn't able to spin them in place for a full inspection.
However, I did see some evidence that one of the washers may have broken at some point:
You'll see a little bit of damage to the head on the lower left-hand side just next to the valve spring. My guess is that at some point the Thackeray washer broke, and then got caught in the valve spring and hammered against the head to create that divot. Or otherwise the piece just sat there and fretted away at the head.
That being said, I didn't see any other pieces of washer in the rocker area nor did I see any signs of metal trauma like shavings in that area. The spring tension of the washer on that side seemed equivalent with that on the other exhaust rocker so I'm inclined to think that the washer -- at least the one that is in the head now -- is fine.
I also spoke with the previous owner of the bike and got an important tidbit of information: when he would change the oil he did not also empty the sump at the same time. So it's entirely plausible that this little metal piece I found has been stuck to that sump magnet for quite a while, perhaps even as far back as the rebuild. I imagine that it could just be a piece of the old, exploded washer that wasn't flushed out. Maybe it was hidden in the pushrod tunnel for a while?
So I have to say that at this point, while I am generally cautious in nature, I don't really feel like fixing what doesn't appear to be broken. I think I'll just ride the bike for a while and keep a close eye on the oil, mesh, and filter at shorter intervals to see if any more signs of trauma crop up.
All Thackeray washers appear to be in good shape -- at the very least, they all had spring tension and were tight enough that I wasn't able to spin them in place for a full inspection.
However, I did see some evidence that one of the washers may have broken at some point:
You'll see a little bit of damage to the head on the lower left-hand side just next to the valve spring. My guess is that at some point the Thackeray washer broke, and then got caught in the valve spring and hammered against the head to create that divot. Or otherwise the piece just sat there and fretted away at the head.
That being said, I didn't see any other pieces of washer in the rocker area nor did I see any signs of metal trauma like shavings in that area. The spring tension of the washer on that side seemed equivalent with that on the other exhaust rocker so I'm inclined to think that the washer -- at least the one that is in the head now -- is fine.
I also spoke with the previous owner of the bike and got an important tidbit of information: when he would change the oil he did not also empty the sump at the same time. So it's entirely plausible that this little metal piece I found has been stuck to that sump magnet for quite a while, perhaps even as far back as the rebuild. I imagine that it could just be a piece of the old, exploded washer that wasn't flushed out. Maybe it was hidden in the pushrod tunnel for a while?
So I have to say that at this point, while I am generally cautious in nature, I don't really feel like fixing what doesn't appear to be broken. I think I'll just ride the bike for a while and keep a close eye on the oil, mesh, and filter at shorter intervals to see if any more signs of trauma crop up.
