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!