Hi, for once a tale and no question. A work mate had a Honda XL350 -84 brake down last year. Being busy with other things, it has taken him a year to dismantle the engine but last week he brought the oil pump to work and we had an opportunity to do the post mortem examination. The inner rotor part was mangled and split in two, the outer rotor was mangled and a part of it broken off and the oil pump housing was cracked. In between the rotor parts there was a small bit of wire. As far as we can reconstruct events all this started with a previous ham fisted owner who stripped the oil drain hole threads. The little wire piece looked familiar, the only thing with that shape and profile is the little straight bit on a helicoil insert. Probably the previous owner installed the insert but did not brake off and remove this bit, instead it was broken off by the oil plug, then lay at the bottom of the engine until one day it decided to take a ride in the lubrication system. A bad idea. As far as has been seen yet, the cylinder is scarred, the piston is totalled, both ends of the con rod are toast and the condition of the crank bearings is dubious. The bike is not worth the repair cost and effort and will probably be broken for spares. Even small jobs deserve attention.
