Brought in by a customer. 1998 CR80R. Burnt a hole in the piston, and tried to fix it instead of replacing it. Why, yes, that is a bolt through the piston.
Why, yes, it did, somewhat. Bike would crank up and idle, but would start pinging once the bolt got hot.
The kid wanted to ride is the most likely scenario. Probably a single piston bike so not quite as crazy as it first seems. Chuck Graves made an upper triple clamp out of wood for a bike he was riding when he was a kid. That didn't work out too well for him though.
That's freakin awesome. After 15 years working in a bike shop (In Alabama, mind you) i've never seen any crap like that! Forwarding to the service dept. now....
He took that piston to his grandaddy and he fixed it up OLD SCHOOL...like WW2 old school. That, or he was from Cuba.