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Advice on piston substitution

Hi all
Slightly off topic. Have an M21 (1950) motor under repair.... previous owner has bored the cylinder out to 86mm. Now it needs another re bore which will take it out to 86.5mm. What are my options? Is there a known replacement pistion of sufficient diameter that could easily substitute ( ie AJS or something?) or should I really replace with new liner and bring it back to Nominal size and a new BSA piston? Bike is never going to be back to original so not too worried in that regard... just looking for solid advice and best solution to get the motor rebuilt
mnay thanks in advance

email (option): d.holden@shackletoncapital.com

Re: Advice on piston substitution

In M21 I have previously used pistons from an old bevel-drive 860 Ducati, from memory std Duke is 86mm, oversizes are available (up to 90mm), gudgeon pin is slightly bigger. Weight of original cast Duke piston is pretty close to M21, but forged pistons heavier and require re-balancing of flywheels.

You may need to machine off the very slight dome of Duke piston.
I just ignored the redundant valve pockets.
Give plenty of clearance, the only time a BSA SV barrel is round is when its bored, hot they resemble eggs.

Ducati enthusiasts often have odd pistons, the result of damage to one piston and replaced as pairs.

If you go to 90mm you must be very careful to determine cylinder is sound, and inspect it regularly, cylinder can crack off above base flange, very expensive and potentially lethal if it locks up.

Its your wallet and your neck.
If you play, you have to pay.

email (option): n.gentner@bigpond.com

Re: Advice on piston substitution

Hi Dave..You can use a 'long conrod' pre 1954 B33 piston..A +.060" one is 86.5mm and will give you 658cc with the M21 stroke.
I have bored these barrels to 90mm quite a few times now and haven't encountered any problems. There is a fair bit of 'meat' in the casting and the cylinder is also supported and strengthened by the tappet chest casting.
I've been running my own 720cc (90.5) engine for about 8 years now, maybe more and up till quite recently had two bikes in this format. I have also built a number for other people. I ran a 47 M21 with a B33 piston for around 7 years as a daily hack..The only thing you will need to do is fit a solid copper head gasket and cut it back to the bore diameter to avoid any possibility of piston to gasket contact at TDC. As Neale says Ducati pistons are worth a look, the 916 has varying pin sizes for different years (19/20mm) but they will all go into a SV small end bush (but not into the OHV one). However, you will have to check the deck hieght. Some of the current batch of big singles also have large bores, but the pistons are usually very short and frequently only have two rings. With a short skirt in such a long stroke engine they can be noisy when running. With a modern forged 90mm piston, which has a much lower expansion rate than the original cast ones, I bore and finish hone them to .004" skirt clearance (.0035" in my own engines as I tend to run them in very carefully)..With a B33 piston you can go with std B33 clearances and you'll be OK (I make those recommendations on the basis you will follow normal running in procedures).....Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Re: Advice on piston substitution

Brilliant.. thanks heaps for the advice...

email (option): d.holden@shackletoncapital.com

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