Chrome Bores Part 2...

I wrote earlier about the 850T Guzzi with the original chrome lined cylinder bores (Chrome Bores 12/16/19). Never realized this was an issue until I read about it on the forum wildguzzi.com, that talked about the chrome flaking off and destroying the engine. So now of course it dominates my thoughts. It was with some trepidation that I dumped the oil this fall, but it looked fine. Also pulled the valve covers but nothing up there either. One of the comments I got when I posted a question about this on the forum was to get the oil analyzed. Unfortunately, I had already disposed of the oil, but dropped the oil pan (sump) and was able to pour off enough oil to fill the sample bottle. The results just came back. While the chrome was slightly elevated, it wasn't especially high (8 vs 4 ppm) while the iron and lead were higher and silicon was the highest of all. They suggested this could be due to a leak in the air filter. So will have to check that, but still not sure what to do about the chrome problem. One of the few positive comments I got on the forum was: " if there isn't a bunch of chrome in the oil, and you are not putting tons of miles on it, then why tear apart a fine running motor?" So I guess that's my current thought, since I'm not planning a trip to Tierra del Fuego  anytime soon, I guess I'll just put'er back together and check the oil a lot.

Here's how the valves look after pulling off the covers. No sign of any chrome flakes or rubber shavings from the cam chain adjuster, the other part likely to fail.

Then there's the 650 motor, just found out (on the forum again) that the exhaust valves are prone to failure, anytime after about 20,000 miles. Since this one has 30.000 and one of the valves was way out adjustment, well I guess it's time to lift the head and take a peek. Might be time for a valve job. Too much fun!

Out and About...

Now in a normal January, it's usually too cold to do much outside. In the past, I'd mainly split wood, cause it almost explodes when struck with an axe at twenty below or colder. But now I mostly use the hydraulic splitter in the spring and fall, so don't  do that anymore. Now when it's too cold to run dogs, I've just been taking walks to get outside for some exercise.

You get to see a lot of decent sunsets in January, since the low angle of the sun keeps it setting for quite a while in mid-afternoon.

And when it does warm up a bit, like it did today, you can get the dogs out for a short run. That's because it's been quite a bit warmer east of town, where we live, maybe around ten below, as opposed to twenty to thirty below at the airport. It's likely due to a slight wind moving through, so that the extreme cold air that settles into the valley is getting mixed with warmer upper air in our area, but not quite reaching into town. Sometimes an ill wind does blow good!

Warming Up...

Finally had a weather front push through and get rid of some of this cold air. While it didn't quite get up to zero, it was warm enough to run the dogs.

The dogs really took off out of the yard after being off ten days.  It sure gave'em lots of energy, and they sprinted most the way down to the valley.

Stopped for a break on the way back with the snow really coming down. Only in Alaska does it warm up to snow!
Update: We got about 4 " of snow overnite, hard to believe it can snow that much when it's still below zero!

December Weather, Updated...

According to the NWS, December 2019 was cooler and drier than normal in the Fairbanks area. The average temperature was -5.3 degrees F, which was 1.3 degrees lower than the normal temperature of 4.0 below. The highest temperature was 31 degrees above, which occurred on the 9th. The lowest temperature was 40 below which occurred on the 27th and is the coldest temperature recorded at the Fairbanks Airport this winter.

6.9 inches of snow fell at the Fairbanks Airport, which is 5.1 inches below the normal monthly snowfall of 12 inches. The total water equivalent from this snowfall was 0.38 inches. The heaviest daily snowfall was 2.0 inches and occurred on the 2nd.

The Alaska Climate Center has yet to publish their comprehensive summary chart for Dec. This is the USGS monthly data from the Little Chena River station, just down the road from our place.

Update: Alaska experienced its warmest year on record, according to NWS's 2019  climate report. Alaska had a statewide average temperature of 32.2 degrees (0.11 Celsius). That was 6.2 degrees (4.4 Celsius) above the long-term average. According to NOAA, four of the last six years in Alaska have been record warm years. Ten cities, including Fairbanks, experienced their warmest years ever. Alaska set the record despite a December where most temperatures were below average,

Finally, the climate center posted their December summary graph. Better late than never!

Updated the selfie at -30. More manly mug shot and now you can see the ice in the beard, even with the white hair! January has continued the trend to colder weather and we've not been above zero this month. Hopefully things will warm up soon.