I thought I may as well start a thread, since I'm going to be asking a few numpty questions along the way.

Don't expect a "how to" or a lovely write up though, for one - I'll probably be doing it wrong, and two - I'll probably lose interest at some point, either in working on the bike, or writing about it.

I will be taking lots of pictures though, but mostly just so I have a record of how it looked before I fucked it up.

The list as it stands:

1. strip bike
2. drain coolant
3. remove top rad
4. valve clearances
5. replace rad
6. flush coolant system
7. fill coolant system with water
8. run bike
9. drain oil
10. drain coolant/well, water...
11. remove and inspect water pump
12. replace water pump
13. replace oil
14. replace coolant
15. replace chain and sprockets
16. check pad wear
17. replace brake fluid
18. fit new front tyre (?)
19. MOT !!!

I've had the bike about a year and a half now, and so far only changed oil and plugs and adjusted the chain. 8000 km on, it's about time I did some proper maintenance.

So I'm at point 4 - dun, dun, dun!

I've had the rocker cover off the rear cylinders before, but the front looks a right PITA, hence removing the top rad (I was intending to drain the coolant anyway). However, I think I can get to it without removing the carbs now, which is nice.

Right. I'd better get on with it then.

Checking valve clearances, and measuring shims, is not a bad job, if you've got little hands, is it?

I've measured all the clearances on the rear, and some are a little out of spec, so it looks like I'm going to be moving shims around. I'm just waiting for my new micrometer to arrive to get definite measurements of the shims, because I don't think doing it with vernier callipers is going to be accurate at all... I can't even correlate readings on the vernier with the marks on the shims.

So my first question - is it ok to turn the engine over by hand with no shims in place? I guess it is, as the valves just won't open?

Sounds like some well deserved tlc well done

missis sumner wrote:Checking valve clearances, and measuring shims, is not a bad job, if you've got little hands, is it?

I've measured all the clearances on the rear, and some are a little out of spec, so it looks like I'm going to be moving shims around. I'm just waiting for my new micrometer to arrive to get definite measurements of the shims, because I don't think doing it with vernier callipers is going to be accurate at all... I can't even correlate readings on the vernier with the marks on the shims.

So my first question - is it ok to turn the engine over by hand with no shims in place? I guess it is, as the valves just won't open?

No - the cams still turn and the ringers still push on the valves..and without a nice little shim there they can get stuck in the hole - not a good idea.

Ah, ok. In that case I'm going to have to have a think about it, and I may need some spare shims.

I'm nearly there with measuring the valve clearances, just a bit pissed off today that I spent an hour looking for a shim that had made a bid for freedom. Thankfully I found it, after giving up for the day, I decided to tidy up the towel I'd used to block the cam gear holes, so I could put the rocker cover back on just to stop dust getting in over night, and there it was. I'm so glad to have found it.

The front two cylinders are a bit more of a PITA than the rears. And that is all I have to say about that.

Only one shim to measure now...

So all clearances measured - four just out of spec, and one shim on order. I reckon I can sort it out by moving some around.

But whilst working on the bike today, I noticed this:



What is it, and where should it be?

Oh, and do I really need a new timing inspection cover O-ring? Really?

That is a clip that sits in a groove on the forks so that the top brace sits at the correct height.

Delboy wrote:That is a clip that sits in a groove on the forks so that the top brace sits at the correct height.

So if my bike has been lowered at the front, that clip won't sit where it's supposed to?