How to Anneal Copper Washers

Annealing copper washers makes them soft again so they can do their job.  Some people even recommend annealing copper washers before the first time they are used, as storage can cause oxidation hardening.

Annealing makes copper washers seal properly.  Copper washers can be reused virtually forever when they are annealed before each tightening. Copper washers get hard over time so simply putting them back in after a rebuild can lead to leaks.  It is a drag to have a fresh engine leak from the head nuts.

The process is simple, heat until it glows red, then let it cool slowly in the air.  Some confused people advocate "quenching" the washer.  Quenching, immersing in liquid, is a way to make hot metal harder.  We want our copper washers to be soft so they can form a good seal.  That's why we let them cool gradually in the air.

Here's a YouTube showing how it's done.

RG500 Transmission Oil Philosophy

The RG500 is the only 2Smoke motorcycle I know of which uses gear oil to lube some of its crank bearings.  The four center main bearings are lubed with oil from the gearbox.  The mains are all ball bearings, as are the transmission shaft bearings.  So oil which works for the tranny bearings will also work for the crank bearings.

The tranny also has lubrication requirements for the gear teeth.  After all, wherever there are moving metal surfaces lubrication is required.  Millions of 4Stroke motorcycles which share engine and transmission oil have demonstrated that engine oil can also work for transmissions.

Suzuki recommends using 4Stroke engine oil in RG500 transmissions.

The problem with using engine oil in trannys is the meshing action of the gear teeth shears the engine oil molecules into little pieces.  Think of oil molecules as being strands of spaghetti which get between the gears so they never directly touch each other.  Cut the "spaghetti" into short bits and the gears have more likelihood of direct contact with each other.  That is why gear oil was invented.  Gear oil has stuff in which allows the long molecules to survive the gear teeth shearing action.

As far as Gammas go the problem with gear oil is the stuff which prevents molecular shearing of the gear oil also limits the oil's lubricity with respect to the ball type bearings in the crankshaft.  Oil which is really good for gear teeth is not so good for the ball type bearings used in the RG500 crankshaft.

RG500 crankshaft bearings are expensive to replace.  Also lots of work splitting the cases just to get to them.

I used to think only of the tranny's requirements.  Especially with respect to the dreaded 2nd gear clunk Gammas are famous for.  Putting really heavy gear oil into a Gamma can make the clunk go away.  However, the crank bearings pay the price by being under-lubricated.  Heavy gear oil just cannot flow around ball bearings in a crank spinning 10,000 RPM.

Meanwhile, oil which is really good for the crank can also be really good for the tranny.  For a while.  Using engine oil in an RG500's tranny means the gears will merrily shear the long molecules in fairly short order.  The solution to that is to change the oil frequently.

Changing tranny oil frequently is less work than replacing crank main bearings.  My experience with using heavy gear oil is I have to replace my center crank bearings every time I have to replace pistons.  I know of  other Gammas which have had frequent tranny oil changes which have the crank bearings last through multiple sets of pistons.

So here's what I've come to about Gamma tranny oil: use straight 40wt engine oil and change it every 800 miles.

Lance Gamma RG500 Big Bore Kit First Impression

5th gear jumps off a wave in the pavement!  Same wave that used to make the front end light when I was getting it on caused both ends to skip off the ground for an instant.  It was accelerating so hard it didn't have time to lift the front before the back hit it so the whole bike got a little air.  No matter how hard I ride my Speed Triple it just soaks up this pavement wave and progresses forward.  The Lance Gamma Big Bore Kit has moved my Gamma into another realm of performance.

It also starts easier.  I've started this bike many times since I got it on 1985.  It has been through three sets of heads in the search for more performance.  Four sets of heads total, as the Big Bore Kit comes with o-ring heads having reshaped combustion chambers.  The bike now starts with less effort and more gusto than it ever has.   Here's a video of starting it after installing the Big Bore Kit. It is easy to see the engine is happy and wants to run with this setup.

It is more mellow when riding around imitating a normal bike with the Big Bore Kit than before.  The exhaust note isn't quite as abrasive.  The throttle isn't as picky at low around-town revs as it used to be.  It's almost 4Stroke-like now at legal speeds.

So, it starts easier, putt-putts in a more relaxed manner, while feeding steroids to the beast when given the stick.  When I get on it the Big Bore Kit it takes off with more gusto than anything I've ever ridden.  This is the most satisfying engine upgrade I've ever done.

There will be a whole series of posts detailing various assembly steps.  Closeup images of parts will be included, as in the RG500 Crankcase Splitting post I made a while ago.  For today I'm just going to post the bottom line: Lance Gamma Big Bore Kit Rocks!!!