[Cobram]

With all due respect to your uncle, he knows nothing of CX engines. What he says holds VERY true for about 95% of the bikes that were circulating when the CX was new. On my old BSA I was lucky if I didn't have to do piston rings and head gasket between oil change intervals.



The bottom end of a CX is a very robust, long lived and forgiving thing, just leave it alone if it ain't broke.

 

[Cobram]

Well, if you can get a shop to lap them for $40.00 I would jump at it. I have a mechanic who is a good friend, and they normally charge about $200-$300 (whihc I could get for 1/2 price, but im cheap too lol).

With friends like that..... No honest machine shop would charge more than 50 bucks to lap the valves. If there is a major rework needed, such as re-grinding, new seats, whatever, they'll usually charge the hourly shop rate (around $100 an hour here.) There's not much to it and not much specialized knowledge involved, if you can sweep a floor, you have the necessary skill set to lap some valves.