Hi everybody,hope you've all had a good year & have a good new year.Right down to buisness i'm goin to strip my Scorpa sy 2001 for a service. I was wondering how much a piston & rings are as i think mine has got a bit of slap,all my mates who i ride with say it sounds fine but i think it sounds a bit ratley.The bike starts 2nd kick every time from cold & still has loads of power,but i think its time to pamper her after giving me a good years riding with just a few hickups,like a sheard woodruffkey & tempremntal rear brake ( new banjos job sorted) & cracked my tank where kick start sits, fixed with areldite & fiberglass. Not bad for a years riding.Also how much for a set of bearings for the swingarm & shocker. Will phone Birketts for prices but thought you guys might have done these jobs & give me some ideas as to how much.Cheers and have a good years riding.

Happy New Year slack,

Just done this exact SY piston job 3 days ago on a friends bike - not so straight forward if you want to keep the motor in the frame.

Try Birketts for a piston, pin, circlips, little end bearing, base gasket, and a set of rings. They all come separate.

Drain coolant.

Remove the airbox, carb, reed block hose, radiator and exhaust system.

Remove head nuts then, using two nuts locked together on each of the 6 head studs, remove all studs and the head steady bolt of course.

Very carefully, slide the head forward without damaging the special head gasket - these are very pricey, you should be ok to re-use the old one if your motor has not boiled over.

For ease of servicing later on, you can replace the 6 head studs with 8x1.25mm x 35mm long allen bolts. Getting the studs out takes some time.

To remove the cylinder, undo the 4 nuts and rock the cylinder off the cases, tilt the cylinder forward to remove from between the front frame tubes, it's a tight fit. Have some clean rag ready to pack into the crankcases.

TFT came up with the good idea of fitting the ringed piston into the cylinder before fitting the cylinder onto the cases, then carefully inserting the gudgeon pin and then the final circlip into the piston before fully sliding the cylinder into position - you'll know what I mean when you come to do it. The circlips are easily bent! Be careful. Then remove the rag from the cases.

Note that the rings go in one way round, they have a letter "T" stamped for top, this faces the head.

Piston fits in with the arrow facing foreward.

Use new O ring seals on the exhaust and replace the exhaust compression seal on the cylinder.

Have fun, PeterB.

Hi Peter,all the best to you & thanks for your reply,so i take it its not a straight forward piston change, every thing a tight squeeze then. Was the piston kit expensive then.I'd heard the head gasket wasn't cheap,now just got to find the time to strip her down what with work commitments.Once again thanks.