Vintage Dirt Bike Q & A

MR175 Std rings are completely gone from planet Earth! Does anyone have a suggestion.

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77 MR175, 89 HD Sportster
74 CR125, 00 Kawasaki ZG1000
79 XR185, 56 Cushman Eagle
03 XR650L, 79 Vespa P200E
72 Vespa Super150,
74 HD Z90

That bore is somewhat common. If you have a wiseco piston, you could probably run some from another 175 with same bore. If you have Art Honda piston, you have a bit more of a problem, but might be worth seeing if other rings from another 175 will fit.

Good luck

Don't give up! You do have some options.

1-If you can find oversize OE type rings, you can grind and reshape the gap back to the OE bore.

2- You can try finding an oversize piston with rings and bore the cylinder oversized.

Note that the OE rings are of keystone type. Many Wiseco and other aftermarket are "L" or "Dykes" type rings and they do not interchange.

I've got 2 cyl.'s. One is Std. with a good bore & the other is 2nd over but needs rebored. I finally won a new std piston on Ebay but i'm stuck with an old set of rings. I could use a 3rd size over on my other cyl. but even those parts are scarce. Are CR parts this scarce?

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77 MR175, 89 HD Sportster
74 CR125, 00 Kawasaki ZG1000
79 XR185, 56 Cushman Eagle
03 XR650L, 79 Vespa P200E
72 Vespa Super150,
74 HD Z90

In general CR parts for 1973-4 CRs are much harder to find and extremely pricey when you do find them. 1975-1976 or for that matter any year after initial models are much easier to find parts for and cost much less.

FWIW: I think I am running Yamaha rings that I cut down in my Kawasaki KS125. One of my bikes anyway. You just have to make sure the thickness is really close and the diameter is just slightly larger. You then file/grind the ends for the proper gap.

Rick

I'm afraid you will find oversize piston/rings for 175 are the holy grail of elsinore shopping. They can be found, but it takes patience and ebay.

No kidding!!! I wish there was a website that had generic rings listed by dia. & thickness. I'm using Stihl chainsaw rings in a H-D Z 90 that worked just fine, but some one else found that they would work..

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77 MR175, 89 HD Sportster
74 CR125, 00 Kawasaki ZG1000
79 XR185, 56 Cushman Eagle
03 XR650L, 79 Vespa P200E
72 Vespa Super150,
74 HD Z90

Have you tried WesternHillsHonda. They may have 1st over rings which you can make work. You can also send the piston and cylinder to some shops that can make a total seal ring from scratch on the std piston. Contact me at mailto:elsinorestuff@qwest.net and maybe I can help.

I found a set !!!!! Whoopi !! $80 though..Bought them..

_________________
77 MR175, 89 HD Sportster
74 CR125, 00 Kawasaki ZG1000
79 XR185, 56 Cushman Eagle
03 XR650L, 79 Vespa P200E
72 Vespa Super150,
74 HD Z90