750 Interceptor cam timing

[Tdog]

Hello All,
'85 VF750F cam timing. All my index marks appear correct per my Clymer but the front exh cam still opens the valves allowing contact with the piston. Does anyone have a "sure fire"(scuze the pun) method? Any better manuals? I'm stumped and ready to retime the front cam for clearance and see where the indexes line up. Any tips would be appreciated.
Thanks,
Tdog

[Tdog]

timed

I fixed 'er. I took the front head off again, checked for damage, gas tested the valves then started the procedure over again. All marks lined up, valves adjusted and engine reassembled with no problems. It should be rideable tomorrow. I am attributing the whole fiasco to a fuzzy brain after too much o/t at my day job.
Tdog

[fredintoon]

Clymer's tells lies

Hi Tdog,
talk to Dave Dodge for VF750 stuff
http://www.drp123.com/
I found the same front bank mis-timing
on assembling an '83 according to Clymer's book.
Book sez, for each pair of pistons align cam-gear dash-marks with head top face with pistons at tdc.
Works for rear but front valves hit.
Option 1) Leave rear pistons at tdc and align front cam-gear dashes.
Option 2) Set front pistons at tdc and align
the dots that are several teeth around from the dashes.
Option 3) Use Dave Dodge's complicatedly accurate procedure that he'll e-mail you.
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[Tdog]

Thanks for the reply. I thought it was a dead thread because it was just my late night frustration ramblings. Here's what happened. first try: followed manual to the letter, checked and rechecked- valves hit. Second try: no manual- used firing order, visual on cam lobe location etc. etc. worked it out and did not turn eng. to 2-4 pos. untill checking (not installing)-valves OK.
I then rec'd an e-mail response to my question of timing from Steve through www.vf750fd.com. He told me that paragraph 2 on pg 88 of the Clymer manual is incorrect (it should be deleted).
All is good now, bike runs great.
Thanks for the follow-up
Tdog

[fredintoon]

VF750F maintenence

Hi Tdog,
Both my sons went against my advice and bought those bikes. OK they go like smoke when they run but they are a stone bitch to work on. You tried changing out the transmission sprocket oil seals?
First you have to take off the waterpump fer chrissake and the whole engine is like that. Everything is behind something else.
Back when they were racebikes and had a bunch of factory mechanics to rebuild the engine between races, fine. When they were new and the defective cam drives were covered by the secret warranty, OK. These days, a quarter century down the road you have to be dead lucky or a masochist to run one.
But you know that, right?
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[Tdog]

Hi Fred
I remember these bikes from "back in the day" and I bought this one for the memories. She's a 3 dressed up as a 9, blacked out now with charcoal grey highlights. Every time I work on it, it's never something easy, this bike beats me up like Chuvalo did to Mohommad but I come back for one last round and beat it. First reasonable offer at the end of the summer takes it. Thank goodness for my low maintenance XS11!
Tom