xs gods i call apon you for advice

[Ivan]

But just like an uncontrolled intersection, nobody puts up a stop sign till someone gets hurt or killed at it!?
T.C.

Yes, I get that. I really do. I just feel really bad for the guys that get bit without knowing. I know that people get excited and want to dive in as well, and don't read anything first.

Maybe I just got over concerned. At least there are people willing to help sort it all out, that's what counts.

[79XS11F]

Hey Ivan,

Regrettably, many/most of the requests for help do come from folks like Freak, who didn't realize how complicated some of these procedures are, and didn't thoroughly read the manual (he says so himself) to be sure he was familiar with the procedure before attempting it. SO...even if we did have a big RED FLAG warning in the tech tips on the cam chain tensioner adjustment, not sure if it would help very many?

Granted, some folks come here FIRST, before they get their bike, to do research, and they DO read the ALL of the tips, do searches, etc., and they aren't the ones that get into trouble.

But what the hey, I'll see about EDITTING the STICKY thread at the top of this forum that asks folks to READ IT before posting, which directs them to the various forums and such.

But just like an uncontrolled intersection, nobody puts up a stop sign till someone gets hurt or killed at it!?
T.C.

I have to agree with this. If The MODs "red flagged" every potential issue that could go wrong and cause injury or cost dollars to repair so that new owners would use greater care. Well, most of the first page of each forum would be sticky notes and red flags. I think that because the bike is old or because the user is new to wrenching or both at the same time, he / she should know to exercise even more care. One must sometimes step back and say to themselves, I need to research this first before I break something. You can bet your whole wallet that if these bikes were selling for 5 or more thousand dollars in stead of a few hundred, as is the case in many cases, people would take more care. It's NOT A LAWN MOWER even if it was cheap to buy.
Rob

[Rocknroll90]

Move closer

To us newbies so we can drag u down to the garage feed u beer and burgers and then SHOW us how its done.

[freak_leg]

ha ha ha wow guys didnt mean to start a war here. Turns out the problem was 2 things, 1) your right i didnt really know what i was doing in read the manual and went at it, again live and learn 2) the tensioner was locked up so it wasnt putting any tension on the chain. And yes now I'm tracking down either a new head or i got a line on a couple well running complete motors

[petejw]

Ive had my bike now 4 5 years, and the 1st month i had
it i bent 4 intake valves by over tightening that lock bolt,
theres nothing wrong with the design of the adj, only that they
used an alluminium body with a steel lock bolt, ive sinced stripped another
one recently, after removing the adj with the bolt tightened up i could
compress the plunger in my hand in and out a mm, enough to make it noisy but not jump teeth, after retensioning again, the thread stripped, ive sinced drilled and tapped the center of the adj and placed a bolt in it, pushing up against the plunger, no way it can slip now.

like this

[TomRodgers]

my $.02...

Anyone close by, that has the knowledge i need, has to do nothing more than sit in a very comfortable chair, listen to whatever music they like, sipping a cold beverage of choice, and simply tell me when im about to @#$@!_(#&* something up!!!! Thats the way i have always been. same with all of my friends!!!

[cywelchjr]

my $.02...

Anyone close by, that has the knowledge i need, has to do nothing more than sit in a very comfortable chair, listen to whatever music they like, sipping a cold beverage of choice, and simply tell me when im about to @#$@!_(#&* something up!!!! Thats the way i have always been. same with all of my friends!!!

Same here, if there was someone near by. That and maybe help with any parts of the job that take two to do. But other than that, I really prefer to actually do the work myself, even if/when I say not very nice things to the bike while doing them. That said, the only thing I have have trouble with have been putting the stupid clutch back together right, and with having to swap the primary wires on the coils after changing the engine (and I really don't understand that one, I used the same ignition components and I'm 99.9% sure I put the plug wires on the same plugs (literally, I moved the plugs from the old engine to the new) but I had to swap them). Other than that, so far a good read of both the shop manual (both the Yamaha and Clymer) and checking the tech tips here and so far nothing have been something I couldn't handle. Of course, my next thing is going to be checking the valves on that sweet blacked out engine I got and putting a Venturer CCA on it, who knows, I might mess that up, but I WILL do it the way it's recommended. Just gotta finish sanding and polishing the edges of the fins and the fins on the valve cover (and fix the oil leak there) and maybe do the same to the oil filter cup (I'm not doing the oil pan though, nobody is going to be able to see that without lying on the ground).

[freak_leg]

Good work sir, I love it! I'm pretty sure I got my plunger fixed, it moves pretty freely now. I'll giver it a nice coat of anti-seize before she goes back in just to be sure!

Ive had my bike now 4 5 years, and the 1st month i had
it i bent 4 intake valves by over tightening that lock bolt,
theres nothing wrong with the design of the adj, only that they
used an alluminium body with a steel lock bolt, ive sinced stripped another
one recently, after removing the adj with the bolt tightened up i could
compress the plunger in my hand in and out a mm, enough to make it noisy but not jump teeth, after retensioning again, the thread stripped, ive sinced drilled and tapped the center of the adj and placed a bolt in it, pushing up against the plunger, no way it can slip now.

like this

[freak_leg]

lesson learned, now for some forward progress

parts are here and some progress has been made. Front end has been re-assembled, and i got the new head on. Thats it for today (damn dinner plans) so all i have left to do is put the cams in, double check to make sure I'm not off on the cam timing again. If i toast another head and my wife will be sure you see the rest of the bike in the for sale section. Put the cover on, oil pipe back on, hook the wires back up, bolt the drive shaft, carbs back on, say many prayers, oil gas and press the starter button.