Well folks, some news on this ongoing saga.
The original gasket arrived from Italy, and a copper copy will be made(in the process)
This is the situation :
. 36mm material was shaved off.
I could not find an exact thickness of copper sheeting, and engineering the thickness seems to be problematic and not very accurate(according to one engineering company)
I can get .8mm , 1mm and 1.5mm.
During discussions with the bike shop, the barrel gasket split apart into two gaskets while handling and measuring its thickness.
gasket thickness for reference:
head=0.8mm at inner cylinder edge(thickest)
barrel=0.5mm
I checked with two bike shops, and they both stated that the barrel would only have one gasket, so the extra gasket was a mistake by the shipper(Kymco)
cool, right?
It is cool because that takes care of 0.25mm,leaving 0.11mm still to be covered.
According to the bike shops(2),the copper will expand when it is annealed.
I cant get figures on degree of expansion, but it at least whittles away at that 0.11mm
Furthermore,the mechanic where my bike is , and the other shop(where I am double checking everything), both are of the opinion that 0.11mm will still be workable in that no valves will hit the piston. The piston does have valve recesses.
The compression will increase slightly.
That last sentence does concern me, as these 500's do battle to start in the cold, but I have actually got that problem sorted, but still, I am still concerned.
So now, the decisions have been made, and it is just to wait to see what happens on assembly.
No, I am not buying another bike.
I might consider a new barrel if I don't have to sell my house to get it.
My stomach is all in knots whether this work out.
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