EDIT: July 2017. Photobucket changed their policy about third party posting and I lost all of the pictures in this thread. I ended up signing up with Smugbug for my picture posting site. Over the course of two days I deleted the PB pictures and reloaded the pictures from Smugbug. At this time this thread had been viewed over 187,000 times and I wasn't about to let this thread die. OK for all of you folks that haven't delved into the deep inner workings of your XR650l or for that matter XR600 engine here is a by the numbers engine reassembly. Hell, anyone can take an engine apart. It's putting it back together correctly that's the bitch. Here's the story on this poor engine. The person that I am building it for got the bike for free in a well, well done (cooked) condition. This is the most severely cooked engine I have encountered. I saw a post from the current owner in the ADV flea market looking for a XRL engine. I recognized her avatar and sent her a PM inquiring as to why she needed a engine. Seems that she took this lump to a shop and was given a VERY high repair estimate. I told her that no matter what condition the engine was in, it could be saved. As she didn't know me from a hole in the ground I suggested that she call my machinist, Mike, at Engine Dynamics in Petaluma for references. Upon getting a glowing recommendation from the shop she decided to bring me the engine. I wasn't home when she dropped the engine off but upon my return later I took a quick peek and sent her an e-mail with what I saw. I looked on the computer for some parts at Cheapcycleparts and made up a list which I sent her. She placed the order and I waited for the parts to arrive. In the mean time I took the crank assy, cylinder and head to the machine shop. She ordered a Pro-X rod and a Wiseco 101mm 10.5cr and gaskets from E-bay that were sent to the machine shop. Upon the parts arrival the machine work began. While we were waiting for the machine work to be completed she decided to replace all of the bearings in the engine. Another Cheapcycleparts order and the wait for them to arrive. I picked up the machine work last Wednesday (which coincided with a small local brewery that has $3.00 pint day) and the bearings came in Thursday. Today, Saturday 8/6 I started the rebuild. Can you say TOAST Oil? What oil??? By the way. Here is my garage. Someone asked to see the tools for the disassembly. These should get the motor apart but by the time I'm done putting it back together I'm sure there will be a whole bunch more on the bench. New OE parts Some of the bearings The dead rod The new rod The repaired cam center journal Flip side of the head. Valve job completed The new bore The new Wiseco piston. 101mm, 10.1 cr Look what they ship the pistons in. Ain't it cute. The naked left side case Right side Loaded with the new bearings Let's warm up the case to accept the crank assy Lay down here it comes Line up the dot's The crank and counter-balancer dropped right in Splines? What splines. 16,000 miles New shaft Swapping out the counter-shaft So when you assemble the transmission into the left case there is a washer on the end of the counter-shaft. I put grease on the gear to hold the washer from falling off. Trick #1 Putting the two transmission shafts and the shift fork assy in at one time. Trick #2 All in A little wiggling and the shift drum goes in The crank and transmission in place Right side engine case drops into place I have this thing about putting steel bolts in aluminum cases. I oil the bolts. All of them. Trick #3 The star part on the end of the shift drum Trim off the excess case gasket The bottom end together NOTE: At this point I manually turn the shift drum with a socket and extension while rotating the countershaft and/or the main shaft to insure that the transmission shifts through all of the gears. Priming the oil pump Don't forget the dowel for the pump Oil pump in place. The dowel that goes between the oil pump and the clutch cover gets grease to keep it from jumping ship. Trick #4 Gunning on the cam drive and clutch drive sprockets along with the pulse generator trigger. New clutch Don't forget to oil the friction plates. I cut the blister off of the package to oil the plates in. Trick #5 Gun on the new clutch hub. Who ever disassembled the engine broke one of the spring posts off. Doh Clutch hub holder. With all of the plates in place you hold the hub like this as you gun the nut on. Easy Peasy. Trick #6 Outer clutch hub. Don't forget the bearing and push rod cap. What's missing here?? ^^^ I forgot to put the cam chain tensioner guide in. Off comes the clutch assy. The clutch side done. I leave the clutch cover off until I have the cam in place as it makes getting the cam chain onto the drive sprocket much easier. trick #7
OK, the bottom end is done. Now for the top end. Make sure the cylinder is really clean. Yes, there was some black stuff on the cloth after I wiped down the cylinder. Put a ring in the cylinder and push it down 1" with the piston Checking ring end gap. With Wiseco piston sets it seems like I never have to file fit the rings. Ring end gap. Top ring .008/.016 Second ring .014/.022 Oil ring .01/.03 Put one of the wrist pin keeper clips on and apply some assembly lube Lube the rod Pin in place and the other pin keeper clip in Ring compressor with a couple of pieces of 3/4" ply to hold the piston still while I install the cylinder EDIT *** My new ring compressor With this tool the cylinder usually goes on at the first attempt And it did Oil them bolts And the washers, per the factory service manual Torquing down the cylinder. 36lbs in 2 steps
My cam chain tensioner holder. Install the tensioner and hold it all of the way back Place the screw driver like this and tap it with the hammer Tensioner held in place EDIT*** Above was one way to hold the cam chain tensioner in place. Some years ago I relented and actually bought the factory tool. Dowels and head gasket in place. Don't forget to install the forward cam chain guide before you install the head. Be sure the bottom of the chain guide is in it's pocket or it will cause huge problems. EDIT *** Something I started to do was put some sealant on the exhaust ports Torquing the cylinder head. 25 lbs in 3 steps. I do 15 lbs, 20 lbs and 26 lbs Starter ring gear goes on. There are two washers. A thick and a thin one. The thick one goes on the crank first. Ring gear and then the thin washer. Don't forget the clutch push rod. Goop up the stator wire grommet Starter reduction gears go on. Don't forget the double ended gear and shaft that goes on before the stator cover. Stator cover on NOTE: The stator wires are routed incorrectly Don't forget to route the wires through here Starter on EDIT: I now install the starter LAST after the cam, rocker cover and valves have been adjusted Starter gear cover on. Notice I had the stator wires routed incorrectly here The neutral switch has a really small thread. Be very careful that you don't over tighten the nut or you'll be buying a new switch. Ask me how I know this. Thanks son... On to the cam installation. Don't forget this little fella. Part of the cam auto decompressor assy. Make sure that the plunger can go all of the way in and come out freely. If not then it will cause issues with the decom on start up. The cam center journal gets a dollop of assembly lube and the cam goes in Piston at TDC, cam drive sprocket marks aligned. Now if the forward mark is above the edge of the head and the rear mark is below the edge of the head this tells you that the cam chain has stretched. Sprocket bolts get blue Locktite. On to the rocker cover. The rockers were TOAST The cam hardly had any wear but it was bad none the less Reusing the steel, laminated rocker cover gasket. Wipe it down with lacquer thinner and place it on a piece of cardboard. Smear a thin coat of Hondabond on the bottom side of it. A thin coat on the head The top of the gasket And the rocker cover. Notice the new rocker arms Apply assembly lube to the cam lobes and center journal Seal the rocker arm shafts. The rubber bands hold the rocker arms up in position. Trick #8 Trick. It's a good idea to check the shafts after a couple rides to make sure they are still tight.
The rocker cover in place. This is where I called it for the day Adjust the valves to .004 intake and .005 exhaust. Install the head oil feed line. The black banjo bolt has a larger hole in it. This is at the bottom of the feed line at the clutch cover. The end results. Time for a BEER .
You puttin in the NX 2nd aren`t you Steve......... That center journal repair looks odd......is it smooth where the cam sits???? it looks rough.also rough where the gasket goes too.could just be the pics though,just wondering.......good job... B
The NX650 gear is in the picture of all the OE parts. The cam journal looks weird but is smooth. There is a couple of pimples where the gasket goes but it is of no matter. The sealant will take care of that.
Yup i thought you were puttin in the NX gear,,i saw it in the photo...Steve what do they charge to repair the center journal,,just for my records B
B, I forget how much he charged for the journal repair. The bill has all of the labor lumped together. Clayjars I used one of my spare OE cams. I'll probably keep the damaged one for a Mega Cycle core if I do one some day. No sense in using a perfectly good cam if I have a damaged one.
Hummmmmm........what would you charge me for that cam Steve,,after it`s been welded up by Mega Cycle....i`m thinkin of goin into the motor again this winter for a cam upgrade B
Between the regrind cam and the rocker arms it's about $500.00. I think it's $214.00 or so for the cam and $62.00 for each rocker arm.
So the machine shop did what exactly I'm asking and guessing , correct me if i'm wrong Bore Hole , 4 valve , valve job , Weld and grind cam journal , Split crank weights to put rod and rod bearing on and pressed new crank bearings on did I miss anything , or have to much on list. so whats machine shop cost for what was done .
Grand total came to $592.68 including supplied valve guide seals. The owner supplied the piston and rod. I tried to buy the parts from the machine shop but it's hard to beat E-Bay prices. Money is money.
Wow, amazing write up/photo essay!!!!! But what happened to the part where you press the crank apart, install the new connecting rod, then press it back together and dial indicate it back to zero?
