'87 XL600V engine knock

[tomtwix]

I have an '87 XL600V with 75,000 kms on clock, only recently in my possession, which has developed a severe knocking noise in engine which doesnt sound at all good. Power is way down and blue smoke on revving up and I am fearful that engine has reached end of useful life.

My question is would it be economically viable to strip & rebuild this engine
myself? I am pretty handy with tools etc. but have never taken on anything as major as this.

What is the availability of spare parts for this engine?

Would I be better off trying to buy another XL600V cheap and swop out engines or would this be throwing good money after bad?

Rest of the bike is in excellent condition and am thinking maybe better sell off for parts and start again.

I am so disappointed as I loved this bike!!

However the good news is it is not my only bike so I am not off the road

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

Thanks in advance

[StumpyFingers]

You may just need to change the shells and rings.
Without a strip down it is impossible to say exactly what has gone.
Make it a project and rebuild it.

[btbloke]

do a compression test,could be a broken ring,not such a hard job.