XR Burning Oil - How does my head/bore look?

Hey All,

I recently bought a 2000 XR650R supermoto that the owner claimed was recently rebuilt. The thing was/is spotless. I asked him what all he replaced/inspected, and he says that he inspected the bore/piston, and they were fine so he left them as is. Well, the thing is burning oil at a decent clip (though it's only really visible if you engine brake down to a stop, then crack the throttle, which gives off a small blueish white cloud) so I pulled the head to check it out for myself.

First thing I noticed was a fair amount of buildup on the exhaust valves. Doesn't really look like just carbon deposits either. Almost looks like corrosion or something? I've rebuilt quite a few F4i's, but those all had pretty pristine heads. Here's a pic:


Next thing I noticed was some wear on the cylinder wall. It almost looks like a very thin layer of metal has flaked off from the surface of the bore. You can feel the edges of this mark:

What do you guys think I should do? Pull the piston and check the rings? Do I need a new sleeve?

As far as the oil burning goes, the only thing else I could think of would be bad valve seals (but even then, I wouldn't think it would burn as much as it does). Is it common for those to need to be replaced?

Thanks in advance for any info. Hoping I can get this thing back on the road soon...

Poor show double posting on another forum
http://www.thumpertalk.com/forum/showthread.php?t=999153

Kevlar,

that 'peeling' may be the nicasil plating coming off. This can be re-done, ditto for the head. As soon as the jug is off I'd scrutinize the bottom end too, better be safe then sorry later.