Any recs for London motorcycle repairs?

[ffutures]

My motorbike's out of action again, and it looks like fixing it will involve going fairly deep into the engine - not sure what happened, but it lost a lot of power very suddenly, oil is leaking into one of the cylinders, the spark plug seemed to be smashed, smoke is coming out (I think the gasket is leaking) and I think the piston and rings may possibly be damaged. The AA couldn't get it to run, even just to get me home, and it's definitely not going to be something I can fix myself.

A few years ago someone gave me a couple of recommendations for servicing in London, but I can't now find the entry, and I think it may be beyond the people I usually use for minor stuff like tyres etc.

It's a BMW R80 monoshock model, no fairing, so hopefully relatively easy to get inside the engine if you have the right tools. Any suggestions on someone who can service this?

Exactly what I didn't need on top of my other financial woes!

Comments

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thanks - if we're talking that sort of money it's going to have to wait, I REALLY can't afford it right now. Maybe in a few weeks...

[w00hoo.livejournal.com]

It's unlikely to be cheap, it sounds like valve is the only option for your symptoms as Ixion likes nothing more than to bicker among itself so if another problem were likely I think someone would have mentioned it (I'll update if someone does.)

As you know the sparkplug was trashed it sounds like it's been removed. I don't know how the angles work but it might be possible to have a look with a torch (or even just a gentle poke around with a screwdriver) to work out what state the piston is in as that would give you a better idea of what has happened.

There was a suggestion that engines are going on eBay for around £250 and I guess it's half a days work to swap one out (that is a seriously finger in the air guess mind) a phone call to any of the mechanics you've had suggested and a quick chat should get you some more concrete information to work from.

[ffutures.livejournal.com]

Thanks - as I said, it's going to have to wait until I've cleared off my other debts, but this is very helpful.