Engine rebuild

[e30 gangsta]

Its rings, I put oil in the cylinder and it jumped to 150+ And yes I would be taking the pistons and jugs to a machine shop so that they can bore accordingly. I am not just going to guesstimate the bore lol. I am sure they will know more than I how far to bore.

[ViperRon]

By this evening I will send the final bore spec. And just do not trust anyone to do it right some just do it within spec and considering the money you will spend do it right do it once.

[Prisoner6]

... I normally would direct you to Catatonic Bug's website to ensure that you've downloaded the service manuals he provides, but his site currently is down, not sure if it's due to the extreme weather in that part of the country or what??

... I guess now I need that FSM and the torque specs and I can jump into this rebuild ...

Hey, gangsta -

It appears C-Bug's site is working now ... here is the link to his page where you can download the Service Manual:

Marshall Ringler's Website

Look under the "Resources for riders" section on the right side of the page.

[ViperRon]

final bore on 1198 kit

Sorry for the delay been a bad couple of days the final bore for the 1198 kit is 2.9330 inches

[e30 gangsta]

Alright guys I'm gearing up to get this rebuild underway and so far I have ordered the 1196cc piston big bore kit, and the valve stem seals, and acct.

What other seals and or parts should I be replacing while I am in there? The half moons, and vc gasket is new.

Also I currently am at 45 pilots, and 137.5 mains. I assume I am going to have to rejet. Any recommendations as to how big I need to go? Thanks.

[ViperRon]

get the Orings for the bottom of the Jugs and the bottom gasket as it does not come with the Big bore kit only the head gasket.

[motoman]

Alright guys I'm gearing up to get this rebuild underway and so far I have ordered the 1196cc piston big bore kit, and the valve stem seals, and acct.

What other seals and or parts should I be replacing while I am in there? The half moons, and vc gasket is new.

Also I currently am at 45 pilots, and 137.5 mains. I assume I am going to have to rejet. Any recommendations as to how big I need to go? Thanks.

Leave stock jetting and check plug burn FIRST. That small an over-bore is likely irrelative to jetting.

[Loch]

head removal

the proceedure for on frame head removal is in the service manual.

[trbig]

Alright guys I'm gearing up to get this rebuild underway and so far I have ordered the 1196cc piston big bore kit, and the valve stem seals, and acct.

What other seals and or parts should I be replacing while I am in there? The half moons, and vc gasket is new.

Also I currently am at 45 pilots, and 137.5 mains. I assume I am going to have to rejet. Any recommendations as to how big I need to go? Thanks.

If going that far, you'd better replace the crank bearings and crank seals also.

Although I only bored mine to the 1179, I ended up with everything stock jetting on the carbs except I went up one size on the main jets.

[e30 gangsta]

Id rather not pull the crank out. Once the crank comes out then thats complete disassembly spilting the cases etc. No need for all that. Just a rebore and go.

[trbig]

lol.. OK.

[TopCatGr58]

lol.. OK.

Hey Tod,

Try not to snicker too much! He did say that his bike was quite clean, but he didn't say how many miles were on the engine?? Remember, these things can run 100+K or even 200+ K miles without rebuilds when cared for properly. SO...if his engine has relatively low miles, < 50K miles, then I don't see the harm in doing just the top end and not messing with the crank bearings.

This is what I did with my bike at around 50k miles, and have put on ~25K miles so far, and no signs of problems. I know that I can't tell without plastigauging them, but the bike was cared for fairly well otherwise, oil changes and such, and so I don't have any reason to doubt that it's not still in good condition. The bearing shells are getting quite hard to find and $$ anyways. IF my bottom end ever gives out, I figure I can just get another otherwise low mileage bottom end and transplant the top ends.

T.C.

[kboehringer]

Fabricate some piston holders(4) - Highly Recommend!

SNIP.....IF my bottom end ever gives out, I figure I can just get another otherwise low mileage bottom end and transplant the top ends. T.C.

TC,
I think the same way! I've pulled three donor motors completely apart and didn't find even a mild sign of wear only any of the main or rod bearing. Granted, I had no idea of the mileage on any of those donors but it is absolutely amazing how well (over built) these bottom ends are constructed on the XS11.

E30,
I did a ring change on one of my XS11's a couple months ago and plan on performing the same on another one of my 11's soon. Like you, I may perform the big bore on my favorite 11! . Performing the rebuild with the motor in the bike was relatively simple and much easier in many ways than pulling the motor out. I needed an extra set of hands to help hold off the cylinders while I compressed the rings and slowly dropped the cylinders over the pistons.

I Highly Highly Highly recommend cutting some piston holders are seen here:

The Clymer manual recommended making these and I am SOOOOO glad I did. Exact dimensions are in a Clymer manual and if you don't have one let me know I can either scan or photo the page. The sizes are perfect for holding the piston square, providing support around the skirts, and helping avoid damage to the rings or pistons when you are dropping the cylinder back on. The only thing I would do differently is to have FOUR(4) of these ready not just two!! Really Really Helpful and only took a couple minutes to cut out of some scrap plywood!

Sincerely,
Kurt

[e30 gangsta]

That's a genius idea! Yea if you could post a photo of the page or scan it and post it here. I'm sure that's extremely helpful when trying to get the pistons into the jugs. Thanks so much for the tip! And my xs has less than 50k on it

I appreciate all the help. I should start tearing her down next week to see how bad the damage is on cyl #2.

[trbig]

Hey Tod,

Try not to snicker too much! He did say that his bike was quite clean, but he didn't say how many miles were on the engine??

The thought of going this far into the motor and spending the money on it he's going to spend to make it fresh, and knowing how easy it is to pull the motor and split cases... heck they even number every bolt for us to make it idiot proof... makes absolutely no sense to me. It's like taking a shower and only washing from your stomach up, then putting on your same pair of dirty underwear and socks. A few more minutes spent could have gotten everything fresh/clean.

Crank bearings are still pretty easily obtained. I pick them up off of ebay fairly regularly in pairs and have a couple sets+ now and avg @ 80-90 bucks for the complete set. Crank seals are $5 or less a piece.

So the bike has less than 50k miles. So in those 30+ years, was it thousands Bohn Fraser miles where he goes 5 under the speed limit everywhere or 30+ years of a PO like me riding and romping on it every chance possible? If the bike was allowed to sit for extended times and corrosion set in before start ups, that's even worse than riding a lot of miles. You don't know, I don't know, and doubtful he even does. A clean exterior means nothing internally. Your bike didn't have 35 years of PO's to wonder about. Why would one assume the bottom end is completely fine when the top end was crap? I mean, those last hundreds of thousands of miles as well, right?

The first major problem I had on one of these motors with "Low mileage" was a spun crank bearing. That crank and block became garbage and I barely limped it home. So though you may agree with doing something half-assed, I happen to disagree with your scoffing of people disagreeing with this method. In the end, it's his bike and his decision. He asked for opinions on what we thought he should replace, I gave them. He didn't agree with that so I said ok... with a laugh because I thought it pretty ridiculous, which again is only my opinion.