Honing cylinders

Can't believe the different opinions on this. Some say "don't do it!" others say "it needs done."

Intend to reuse the rings, cylinders look okay, will hone with a 320 grit ball hone.

I have done single cylinder bikes like this with success,,, wondering if anyone has done this.

2005 K1000P

I checked the rings, pistons and cylinders. All were within spec so I put them back together the way they came apart and did not hone the cylinders. I noticed on the cylinder walls scoring from the original honing back in the day. Bike has 34k miles. You can see the honing in this photo.

I’m not an engine builder but common sense would be as HRM refers to and check the bores for spec. Make sure they are neither tapered or out of round. Then to me I’d invest in new rings, taking a chance on a future tear down for a less than $120.00 isn’t worth it.

83,000 on this bike. Cannot see the original hone but the cylinders are not scored and look good. From what I can determine the cylinder, pistons and rings are at maximum tolerance. IF I had the cash,,, Probably would not hurt to go .50 over but hard to find piston and ring sets. OEM will cost $600. Boring $100 a hole. E x p e n s i v e!
I am old school but willing to update. I read many posts that say do not hone and they have reasonable reasons.

Do not hone unless you are fitting new rings.
If using the old rings then just re-assemble.

No eBay APP ID and/or Cert ID defined in Kunena configurationI think you could find a local shop to bore way cheaper than $400. I’d say $150-$180 is more likely

Decided to replace the rings. Bought a ball hone and it done a great job,,, better than the adjustables I used in the past. The only drawback is it is a one trick poney... and somewhat messy,,, and can only be used on 70mm bores. BUT,,, at a $30 cost it would have cost that or more having it done at a shop.

Did you check the bores for round and taper. A hone will not correct out of round, actually it will exaggerate it. Just don’t want to see you go thru all this and not get all your money’s worth.

For what it’s worth Pit Stop Performance is currently (December 2020) selling 4-cylinder boring (up to 5mm removal) for about $180 via their account on eBay. Listed as “pickup only”; not sure if that means he’s completely unwilling to ship or if that just means shipping is not included. Seems like a very reasonable price and I believe he’s got a good reputation.

Replying to my own post. I now have first hand experience with Pit Stop Performance and I regret that I cannot recommend them. Joe reports that he is sick again. The work performed on my cylinder head probably rendered it trash, or at least unusable.  I’ve never seen anyone crack eight valve guide bosses during guide replacement and call it “normal”. Pictures available upon request. I did the same task myself on a different KZ900 head several years ago and it was simple and straightforward. 

There is a lengthy, locked thread that describes two other peoples experiences, and I recommend that folks considering using PSP read it. I wish I didn’t have to bring this up again but I feel like I need to caution KZR folks. 

Here's another.  

www.kawasakimotorcycle.org/threads/what-...-performance.155423/