I seem to spend a lot of my time thinking about mechanical problems on my bikes and of course the oil burning that's currently happening periodically on the Huntmaster is a case in point.
I'm pretty sure that this is a valve guide problem but one thing I have learned and didn't check - because I didn't know - is "Are the rings upside down?"
There is a forum post about it here:
https://forum.arielownersmcc.com/viewtopic.php?t=13532
This is what it says:
The IMD letters and size marked on both compression rings go to the top. The darker coloured ring is the second down and the tiny recess on the OD faces downwards, this surprised me when I first unpacked the rings I thought it was a ridge dodger top ring which we used to get years ago.
The lighter coloured ring (chrome plated) is the top ring and the tiny chamfer on the ID is at the top which creates some form of twist to give a better seal.
This is the drive side piston, as fitted. At least the rings are the right way round with the darker coloured one on the bottom. I think I can see letters on the top of the top ring?
Both pistons (drive side in foreground) after 550 miles. Again I think we can see that the darker coloured ring is on the bottom, but who knows if they're the right way around.
