Big Al's Thread

[crazy steve]

...I can live with a little front end dive as long as I can figure out why it keeps puttering out at red lights!!!

Make sure your idle speed is high enough; it should be at least 1000 rpm, 1100 is better (and recommended). Go below that and they will die at idle.....

Yep, the '78s were the fastest of all the XS11s...

[alaskey2]

Got my idle speed set right, I know it's probably dirty carbs, or a synch. Waiting for the motion pro tool to come and some digital calipers so I can just do the valves too. What harm can a tuneup do?

Yesterday I got some spacers and nylon locknuts for my seat, since I lost one of the large nuts. I also put on the XS850 kick starter I bought from Andreas last year, what a fun bike to kick!!!

No pictures this time, I forgot to take any.

[alaskey2]

My tools came! Now... Is there a thread on how to use this motion pro tool? All I can find are people complaing and people saying it works fine.

[motoman]

My tools came! Now... Is there a thread on how to use this motion pro tool? All I can find are people complaing and people saying it works fine.

Pretty simple, follow directions that came with it. And yes, there is issues with it compared to the old syle that used mercury. Apparently, the liquid used tends to hang on sides of tubes, which changes tube liquid level. Some have resolved that by 'snap-tapping' the the tube with your finger. I eventually gave away my MP mercury manometer and got a MorganCarbtune manometer. Prior to donating the MP to my favorite local private bike shop, I compared the Morgan for accuracy, as a mercury manometer, being the standard that ALL other types of manometers SHOULD match up to, and found the Morgan manometer is spot-on. Another plus of the MorganCarbtune, is it comes in a heavy nylon pouch which allows you to tranport it anywhere without liquid spilling.(It doesn't use liquid) MorganCarbtune.com.......and from the UK, comparible price of the funky MP even with the few bucks shipping.

[alaskey2]

I was asking about the motion pro valve adjustment tool. There were no instructions.

[jetmechmarty]

Here's a link with pictures. It's a Radian, but the procedure is the same.
http://slagheapcycles.blogspot.com/2...ment-tips.html

The valve shim tool can be positioned anywhere along the circumference of the valve bucket away from the recess
The tip of the tool is not designed to be inserted into the recess of the valve bucket
The recess is to allow the shim to be pried up when the bucket is depressed

[alaskey2]

So one more question. Can I take multiple shims out at once? Or do I need to mark all valves that need attention, pull the shim, note the size, re-install shim, and then move to the next one?

[jetmechmarty]

Yes, but you would be pulling the cams. It's one at a time. Still, once you figure out how to do it, it's easy.

[alaskey2]

Thanks! The article made it seem like I could pull multiple at a time,

In other news, my pick up wires are DEFINITELY broken, gonna grab some shrink wrap and fix those up and hopefully I can idle.

Lastly, what the heck is this tool for? It's in my tool kit, but I have no idea what it does.

Untitled by alaske2, on Flickr

[jetmechmarty]

Thanks! The article made it seem like I could pull multiple at a time,

The link may be correct. I have never done it. Maybe someone else will chime in on that.

I can't help with the tool.

[3Phase]

Alaskey, the tool in your picture is for hooking up the cable assembly to remove the rear wheel. It's not necessary but it might be useful if you have it. I have the cable but I've never had or used one of the tools so it's all theoretical to me.

You put the tool in the extension handle and use it as a lever to compress the shocks while sliding the end of the cable over the small hook next to the axle on the right-hand side of the swingarm.

For the Motion Pro valve shim tool the explanation is more difficult to do than the actual work.

The tutorial says that it's alright to do more than one shim at a time but you are not supposed to let the cam lobes touch anything except the valve shims. If you damage the cams you didn't save any time changing the shims all at once.

The tutorial at the link didn't mention that after you have rotated the valve bucket until the notch is visible so you can get the shim out, you have to turn the crankshaft clockwise until the cam lobe has pressed the valve bucket all the way down. Don't try to use the tool and its bolt to depress the bucket, let the cam do the work.

With the cam lobe holding the bucket down, put the tool on the cylinder head, center the little tang over the edge of the bucket and tighten the bolt to 1m-kg (7.2ft-lb) to hold the tool in place. Don't let the tang move out of place and don't tighten the bolt any more than the valve cover bolts or you'll strip/deform the aluminum threads.

Slowly turn the crankshaft counterclockwise and back off the cam lobe until the tang touches the edge of the bucket. Sometimes the tang won't meet the edge of the bucket correctly and it'll slip off the edge and onto the shim. If that happens you have to turn the crankshaft clockwise and try to line up the tool again because you're not going to get the shim out with the tool holding it in the bucket. Keep watching while you turn the crankshaft until the cam lobe is clear of the bucket and you can lift out the old shim.

Put in the new shim, then slowly turn the crankshaft clockwise again until the cam lobe pushes the bucket down far enough to release the tension on the tool. Don't try to remove the bolt from the tool until the tension has been removed by the cam lobe.

Remove the tool and move on to the next valve that needs a new shim.

After you've finished changing the shims, turn the crankshaft clockwise by hand a few more times to work the valve train, then recheck the valve clearances before you put the valve cover back on.

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[alaskey2]

Thanks Scott! It's good to know I can rotate the engine backwards. I was pretty confused how to get through all the steps while only rotating the engine clockwise.

As for the wheel removal tool, I don't have the cable in my kit so, I guess I'll just label this and toss it in my tool chest. Save some weight (LOL).

[3Phase]

Adjust the cam chain tensioner

Thanks Scott! It's good to know I can rotate the engine backwards. I was pretty confused how to get through all the steps while only rotating the engine clockwise.

As for the wheel removal tool, I don't have the cable in my kit so, I guess I'll just label this and toss it in my tool chest. Save some weight (LOL).

Eh, keep the tire tool handy and try to find a cable assembly to go with it. The cable holds up the swingarm while you remove the back tire and with the tool you don't have to unbolt the rear shocks to fit the cable. I'm still looking for one but I keep forgetting about it until the next time I have to take off the rear wheel.

One thing you should do before you start to work on the valve clearances is adjust the cam chain tensioner to remove any slack in the cam chain. If there's too much slack in the cam chain it's possible for the engine to jump out of time when you're turning the crankshaft forward and backward. The XS1100 is a '"crunchy" engine and you can end up replacing valves if it jumps too far.

Put the bike on the centerstand to adjust the tensioner, don't do it on the sidestand. If the cam chain is loose or worn it can fall off to one side of the crankshaft gear and it won't go back in place correctly when you set the tensioner. If the cam chain is off to one side of the crankshaft gear then the engine will eat the valves when you try to turn the crankshaft. Don't do that.

When you remove the valve cover, turn the crankshaft clockwise to TDC for the #1 cylinder and check the camshaft timing dots before you dive in and start changing shims. The dots on the cams should line up with the arrows cast in the middle cam journal caps. If the dots don't line up with the arrows then the engine's mechanically out of time and you'll have a lot of fun trying to tune it. Depending on how far out of time it is and why, you'll have to reset the cams to align the dots with the arrows or replace the stretched cam chain.

After you've made sure the engine is mechanically timed, go ahead and change the shims. Check the cam timing dots again while you're double-checking the valve clearances before you put the valve cover back on.

.

[alaskey2]

Well, after a 7 hour ride around IL, IN, and MI my bike wouldn't pull past 3500 RPMs. Luckily I was only 1 block from home so I limped home, took a nap and started poking around. Well, 3 of the pickup wires were broken so I fixed those and it fired up. I hit the throttle for a little bit just to watch the vacuum advance move while I had the cover off. Then it was time to call it a night.

Say I wanted to replace the wires entirely, is there a thread for that? Just wondering whats under the black cover.

This week I'll get into the valves.

Untitled by alaske2, on Flickr

[3Phase]

I don't think there's a thread that specifically addresses replacing the entire pick-up coil wire set, just the Tech Tip about repairing broken wires but it does get mentioned here and there.

The Orange, Blue, and White pick-up coil wires go into the Black plastic sheath and they run down by the Shift Lever cover where they're crimped -- not soldered -- to the harness wires that run from there up to the TCI.

If the pick-up coil wires are shredded or too short to repair, you'll have to splice in some more wire or replace the entire pick-up coil set.

To splice in some extra wire, open up the Black plastic sheath and add the wire you need down where it's crimped next to the Shift Lever cover. That will let you make a neat, one-point repair with the flexible OEM wire up at the pick-up coils and you can use almost any kind of wire you can find for the splices inside the sheath.

I wouldn't do it myself but if you decide to replace all of the pick-up wires, you can use multimeter probe wire because it's flexible enough to move with the Timing Plate. If you splurge and get good ones they'll have the roughly same type of insulation and wire gauge as the OEM pick-up wires instead of the cheap, thin ones from Radio Shack with the melty-plastic insulation that starts to harden after it's been heated a few times.

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