shift fork shaft shafting me

[trbig]

Stay with the conversation.. Maybe get a beer? The motor is out already and on the bench. How were the bearings, starter clutch, cam shims, and cam chain while you were in there?

It's not that big a deal to split the cases, and it gives you eyes into what's going on in the motor if you choose to go that way. It's only scary if you've never done it. Once you realize how simple it is, it's a no-brainer. So like I said, I think your way is aggrevating as #$^& and I'd rather take a beating than try to fish those forks/gears back up into there again. You like your way, I like my way.

[BA80]

Ha ha ha.....I think it's time for either your Xanax or you Midol Tod, maybe both. And please, don't talk in punctuation to me.

[DGXSER]

Well, splitting the cases gets more complicated the more you look. Only in that this model has the no tamper screws on the timing assembly, so now I will need to drill those out. Had not thought about needing to remove the middle drive, there is a gasket I need to purchase then. Of course, I just know if I skip it and reassemble, 2nd will skip like a 10 year old first trip around the block.

Honestly, I do not know that I see how removing the shift drum will help. I can wiggle the gears and the shaft side to side, its just the kickstart gear stops the shaft and gears moving enough to that side for the shaft to go out the slot in the rim that is in the case. And the gear on the main shaft stops second from sliding forward any further, stopping the shaft from sliding forward.

[DGXSER]

Will RTV work for the middle drive to engine seal? I would think so, but just checking. Guess I would need to get triple bond for resealing the case as well.

[XS11UFO]

When I split mine (both the original and the doanner) both middle drive gaskets came out in one piece, the only gaskets that did. My kick start assembly was also giving me fits. Good luck!

[trbig]

Yes, you can do away with the gasket there at the middle drive. You might try something a little thicker than the tri-bond/Yamabond stuff. It flows pretty flat. I've been using it on just the case halves lately and using "The right stuff" instead of gaskets everywhere else. It's kind of expensive, but about the same price as a single valve cover gasket and will do the whole motor at least. Works well and comes off easily when the parts are seperated. The head gasket (Of course) and base gasket are the only places I have actual gaskets on the motor any more.

And yeah, forgot about the XS timing stuff with those screws. The XJ just has phillips screws.

[DGXSER]

I had planned to only use the tri-bond on the case halves. I have black RTV for the other gaskets. I use it for all the engine covers.

I also had not thought about the cam chain. But I should not need to pull it, the crank will stay with the upper half, as will the hyvo chain, correct? I just checked all the valve lashes and replaced shims, the chain is pretty tight really.

[DGXSER]

It would also appear the starter needs to be removed, a couple case bolts under it.

[trbig]

Yeah, if you don't plan on replacing the cam chain, then no need to remove it. Do you know how many miles are on the motor? Just because it's tight doesn't mean a thing.. Just that it isn't out of adjustment yet. If the cam dots line up well with the arrows on the cam caps, then it's probably fine, but you'll see the dots start growing apart as the chain stretches. Lining up one of the dots on the cam with its cap will have the other cam past it's timing mark.. meaning the chain has stretched even between the two cams.

Most of the hyvo chains on the motors I've done doesn't give you enough room to pull the crank all the way out, but if you don't remove the cam chain, it's for sure you won't be able to replace any crank bearings if needed. If you see any copper color on them on the bottom shell... no good. And yes.. the three starter bolts need to come out also.

[DGXSER]

Thanks Tod, The dots were pretty dang spot on as I recall. The motor has around 34,000 miles on it, but the PO told me (Note I said told me) that he had just had about $600 worth of work done on the bike in 2007 when he parked it. It is possible the cam chain was part of that work.

I will take a peak at the bearings. If it turns out they need to be replaced, I can get the cam chain and such then.

[DGXSER]

So I finally got some time to work on the bike today. Been out of town for a few. Got the cases split, and I have to say that getting the gears out and in with the cases split is as simple as life gets, that is for sure. No hassling with giggling, shaking, looking and trying for hours on end. Simple as can be.

And splitting the cases, over all is not that difficult. I am hoping the seals on the crank line up well when I reassemble. It is impossible to see behind the rotor. However, I did have one hitch in the giddy-up. Bolt number 15, second from the right at the front of the engine snapped off. Not much sticking up, so I may have to drill it out. Hoping not, got it soaking in Liquid Wrench for now. I was surprised that the Yamabond did not seem to leave anything on the case halves to clean off. So once I get the stuck bolt out, I am ready to reassemble the case halves. The tip to number the bolts in a sheet of cardboard is a great one. Lots of different lengths, some have wire harness holders on them, some have washers.

It was a good thing I did open it up though. I have never seen first gear dogs this worn!! I got some very fuzzy pics, but I will post one of the gears later, going to try to retake the photos of the cases. It was worn so far, it looked like someone back cut the dogs in the wrong direction for about 1/3 the height of the dogs. And at about a 15 deg angle. I took care to only slightly back cut them so as not to thin the dogs to much. I did go ahead and grind the 5th gear dogs, and swapped the washer on 2nd gear.

[Schming]

It was a good thing I did open it up though. I have never seen first gear dogs this worn!! I got some very fuzzy pics, but I will post one of the gears later, going to try to retake the photos of the cases. It was worn so far, it looked like someone back cut the dogs in the wrong direction for about 1/3 the height of the dogs. And at about a 15 deg angle. I took care to only slightly back cut them so as not to thin the dogs to much. I did go ahead and grind the 5th gear dogs, and swapped the washer on 2nd gear.

Hi Don, good on you making progress on the project bike, but after all the work involved up to this point, do you think it's a good idea to use such used gears IMHO I would see if Andreas had some better used ones but that's JMO YMMV

[DGXSER]

Here is my thought on it. I have over 10k miles on the gears in my SH after similar work on them, and they seem to be holding up just fine. With the dremel work, these are better than when they were new, perhaps minus the hardened shell, if there is one.

I can honestly say I paid attention to how quickly the grinding wheel took the metal away, be it blackened or not, and did not notice any increase in speed as I went into the material. Granted it certainly wasn't a Rockwell approved testing methodology, but none the less.

[skids]

Hope you can get that broken bolt out with no troubles.

[DGXSER]

I got the bolt drilled out most of the dia. Time to go to a tap. Anyone know for certain the thread? I think its 6mm not sure thread count.