HELP! Can't get cam chain back on

[crawdad]

I had the head off of my bike to replace the head gasket. Following the book exactly, I went to put everything back together and, for the life of me, I can't get the cam chain back on. I've got the cams torqued down properly, and the cam chain sprocket turned just right to line up the bolt holes, but I can't get the sprocket to slip back onto the shoulder of the cam, it's just too tight. Is there a trick to this, or am I maybe not doing something correctly? Would appreciate any help.

[TopCatGr58]

IS your cam chain tensioner out, or the piston pushed back in the away from the engine position to allow a bit more slack in your chain??
T.C.

[crawdad]

Going out to the shop to take a look. I don't remember taking it out...................No, I didn't take it out. It's too late to mess with it right now, but I'll take it out tomorrow. It looked like I only needed just a smidgen of slack to get it back on. You think taking the tensioner out will give me the slack I need?

[TopCatGr58]

It should give you more than enough slack to get the sprockets back onto the cam shoulders. Be very careful NOT to turn the crank. It will sometimes try to turn if you pull to much on the chain. After pulling the tensioner out, depress the plunger and reset the locknut/bolt, then put it back on, align the cam sprockets and get them mounted with 1 bolt that holds the sprockets on. Then loosen the cam chain tensioner adjusting nut and let it snap into place. Then lock it down, then you should be able to safely rotate the crank and the cams together to get access to the other bolts that hold the sprockets on. Once you have torqued them down to the required 10ft/lbs IIRC, then do the cam chain tensioner adjustment procedure again! Then check your cam dots with the timing mark, they should be right on!
T.C.

[crawdad]

Thanks for the help T.C., really appreciate it.

[skids]

It is a tight fit. Supposed to be. If I remember correctly, you put the intake sprocket on first, and then you lift the chain over the exhaust sprocket and slide it onto the shoulder. It is a tight fit. Do yourself a big favor an do all of this on the center stand. If she slides off of the crank sprocket, it is not fun at all!

[crawdad]

I'll do that. Thanks for the advice.

[crawdad]

Now I went and done it!!!

Took the chain adjuster off and the cam chain went right on, no problems. Went to bolt down the sprocket and... I dropped one of the sprocket bolts down inside of the motor. I know, I know, I should have stuck a rag down in that opening, but I got in a hurry. I'm taking the head back off today to see if I can see it down in there anywhere. If I can see it maybe I can use a magnet to get it out. Other than that, does anyone have any ideas on how to recover the bolt? It looks like I may be opening up this motor after all. Rats!!!

[ratbyk]

I would certainly spend a good amount of time fishing with a long handled magnet. I cannot be so far down in there that you can't retrieve with a magnet. If it is all the way to the bottom then take the oil pan/sump cover off. Much easier than head and barrels.
Ken/Sooke

[prometheus578]

Or you can mount large magnets on the oilpan cover to hold the bolt from floating around, like I did when I dropped a cam cap nut down the hole. Helps with those pesky intersections that don't detect motorcycles, too!

[Ken Talbot]

I did this a couple of years back on another XSives bike. We dropped the oilpan and the bolt was just sitting there nicely in from the front edge of the opening.

[skids]

I wonder if you could pull it through the drain plug hole with a magnet device?

Originally posted by Ken Talbot
I did this a couple of years back on another XSives bike. We dropped the oilpan and the bolt was just sitting there nicely in from the front edge of the opening.

[Ken Talbot]

From my personal experience, I would not have been able to get at the bolt without dopping the pan.....

[crawdad]

Haven't had a chance to work on it yet, but will be dropping the pan this weekend to try and round that rascal up. Thanks for all the tips and suggestions.

[MartyA]

I don't see any other way. If you don't have it, don't forget to buy the gasket in advance, just in case you need it. I find the waiting time for a part you don't need is much shorter than the waiting time for the part that is keeping the bike from running.