Try to let it warm up (no longer say COLD) before you set off. I bet many of these recent failures are because of repeated riding with a cold engine.
These have aluminum cylinder walls and of course the casing is aluminum as well. That means they both have similar expansion characteristics. When the cylinder walls get hot while the casings are cold, pressure is increased on the walls from the outside. Combine that with the significant pressure increase inside the cylinder from the amount of combustion it takes to move you and the bike and it's basically like squeezing the walls in a kind of 360° vise. Think about it.
This is much less of an issue with steel cylinder walls but nonetheless a good idea not just for the walls but for all the internals.
Now I'm not saying these motors aren't on their limits in stock form and of course a few are defective, but you can't argue with logic.
I know some of you that had failures will probably post something saying that you did this and yeah yeah okay fine. Just thought I'd drop it here and make myself feel better.
Have a nice day.
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