Risk Man
Well-Known Member
Not trying to impress you with a stat of some people who have not had the valve seat issue in the short run. I can only speculate that many of the early failures were from trying to get blood out of a turnip.... my understanding was that the early bikes origin was a lo speed, low power ride with the capability to be modified for higher performance and then early failure due to the inherent design flaws. Like you said, as the warranty repairs came in the early days, they decided they needed to improve the design or bail out before they really gave it a real go in the market. I think by now everyone is well aware of the WC1 limitations and ultimate demise with the ability to upgrade and continue to maintain a reliable ride like yours. As you have unselfishly shared with all of us here over the years how much time and effort and great mods you have done to go the 40K miles you have gone on your perfected NE5, We know with that knowledge and your experience we can also get that level of performance.Saying a WC-1 has 1K miles in over 19 - 23 years really don't impress me.
I was putting 3K miles per year on my NE-5 cyl
Good luck I hope your WC-1 lasts forever
What's important is you got the bike and know how to upgrade the top end if ya want WIN WIN
My goal with the opportunity to work with a WC1 side-by-side with my modified NE5, will be to if nothing else, to contribute some ideas and information that may allow the average owner to enjoy a WC1 around the neighborhood without it failing at 500 mles or having to be, or hire, a machinist to keep their bike on the road. That is what I am doing now....riding the neighborhood for an hour at a time to cool off, enjoy the 90 degree end of day breezes here in Southwest Florida (LOL) and have some fun.!
I will wait until it fails before I put an NE5 cylinder on it sooner or later.....I hope.