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What altitude do you typically ride at there in Colorado? Has to be at least 5000 feet because you're in Denver.
With the plug should I go up a notch to bring a little more heat? I got a BR8EG in right now. Maybe I will try a 7.
Yep. Definitely a high hour piston. Half the time I estimate from previous owners was fairly easy running and since I have had it the bike stayed in the lower rpms on technical trails so its had a pretty easy life. Probably how it was able to go so far and stay in good shape. I rode as far as I dared to see how the piston fared at high hours. It was definitely time for a new piston. It may have been starting to slap the past few rides but not much and it may have just been the tune causing the rattle to some extent. Either way that piston was long in the tooth with the high hours.
I am riding primarily between 8000 at 10000 feet with this bike. All slow and go technical trail. That is leading to some of the rich conditions I think as the bike spends a lot of time rolling just above idle or coasting with a closed throttle. Last time I was out the last hour of the ride was in the rain with cooler temps which probably pushed the tune a little cool too as the engine temp was so low which may have effected the look of the piston.
The Shop
I would also state, hours are a good indicator but they are by no means a standardized measurement. Engine wear is more based on revolutions spun, how hard the engine is pushed and the conditions of the environment being ridden in. If an engine is pushed hard and revved high a piston kit could easily be needed in 10-12 hours. The same engine though could see an easy life at mostly at low rpms and go for 50 to 100 hours no problem regardless of whether the piston is cast or forged. The pics above prove this. That piston looks near new as some have noted yet definitely has over 60 hours.
The guy up thread that replaces pistons every ten hours probably rides pretty hard and isn't wrong. In a perfect world ten hours is a good time to replace a piston pushed hard. I have seen both sides of the spectrum with my bikes as to piston replacement. This piston here is the longest I have ever gone but its also my lightest used bike as its for slow trail riding and occasional bursts of speed. I have also replaced pistons in ten hour increments with a 125 I rode hard almost exclusively at a hillside track. The throttle was either pinned accelerating and climbing or closed decelerating. The bike was well maintained and in tune. The hard use and high rpms though would just wear the pistons and rings out quick.
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