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Mitaka pistons - OK now or not?

Posted: Tue Mar 07, 2017 6:41 pm
by DeadHammer
OK - I thought I'd bagged a pair of genuine N.O.S. Kawasaki pistons, rings etc. for my KR1 only to find out that (yet again) 'in stock' doesn't actually mean that .. :evil:

So I now have to find an alternative and I'm reading lots of old threads about the unreliability (because of a manufacturing fault?) of the Mitaka pistons - is this still the case or is anyone using these successfully?

Thanks again

Dave

Re: Mitaka pistons - OK now or not?

Posted: Mon Mar 20, 2017 3:13 pm
by dave32
Hi Dave,
There fine provided you do a couple of things first,
Check the rear boost port and rear transfer have not been widened from stock as the ring ends can catch the corners of the ports and eventually wear the coating on the barrel off.
Add a nice 1mm chamfer with a fine file to the front and rear skirt to aid oil lubrication,if th edge is square it will tend to scrape the oil away.
Don't fit the oil control ring under the bottom ring,there not worth the risk as there quite brittle.
Clean the crown up with emery paper if it's rough and file the raised section that points towards the exhaust port,this can cause pre ignition if not done.
Apart from that there fine,I use them and have done for years,the quality is lower than they used to be but there still more than up to the job.
Hope this helps
Dave

Re: Mitaka pistons - OK now or not?

Posted: Wed Apr 19, 2017 8:14 am
by DeadHammer
Great stuff - thanks Dave...