Stuck in gear?

[mjc506]

Back to the [s:2elxbneu]workshop[/s:2elxbneu] garden today
The electrical problems may have been due to a weird flaky earth connection up by the dash. Likely to have been that solenoid stuck too though, but to be fair, it had sat in the garden in bits for a while...

Tank, airbox, plastics, throttlebodies, etc off, valve covers open


At this point, I dropped a bolt down the back of the engine, and in the process of fishing it out, I saw the rear exhaust bolt (the clamp between the rear cylinder and main exhaust) was loose. That'll be the hissing I could hear then (thank you bolt) I'd forgotten to tighten it during installation.

Took the front header off too.


and here we have our problem... I'd fitted the rear cams 180deg out of sync! I must have turned the engine over once too many when swapping from the front to rear cylinder Still, at least it was 180deg out, rather than 90deg out...

If the engine was on the bench, fixing this would be a 5 minute job. On the bike however, the rear cam chain tensioner is an arse to get to. The easier solution would be to change the front cylinder timings, but I didn't think of that. Here's my solution:

This monstrosity actually worked!
(side question - how does the ECM know when to spark/inject fuel? It has a crankshaft position sensor, but for any particular crank position, the cams could be in either of two positions, for example, compression or exhaust, intake or power. How does the ECM know which is which? )

Next, I put it all back together No video, sorry. But it starts easy, and runs really well especially considering everything's tight in there!

And here's two dodgy photos showing this fantastic machine back to its normal self (and a sexy engine )







WoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[Fat Rat]

                           

(where are those stickers)?

[mjc506]

Crap, I forgot to put those on! (Thanks, by the way:) ) I'll get them 'fitted' tomorrow morning

[Brockett]

Marvellous.
Bloody marvellous.
Still plenty of good riding weather.

[Fat Rat]

Crap, I forgot to put those on! (Thanks, by the way:) ) I'll get them 'fitted' tomorrow morning

I question your priorities....

 

[Locky]

Well done mjc506      I knew you'd get it sorted  

[mjc506]

Thanks all Needless to say, the plan for tomorrow is fit those stickers , get the mot done, then run it all in (with a few oil changes thrown in for good measure) haha

[Descolada]

Damned, what a brilliant and steep leaning curve you have been on. Great news that she is running again and running well. Best of all, you were good enough to take us all along with you for the ride. I think everyone who has followed this thread has learnt so much from your efforts

         

[mr_diver]

well mate, that's an ambitious job done very well and methodically.

when you started this post I thought it was going to be another, look my bike wasn't 100% and I broke it more, anyone want to buy the bits, type of thing.

But you have made it an interesting, informative and inspiring thread to read. I'm sure now some will be saying "hell if he can do that in his garden with no shed/garage to work in then I can damn well change the oil and filter next week!"

Well done mate and I'm glad she's all better.

PS Don't fancy doing my valve clearance anytime soon... I really can't be arsed, it was such a faff I haven't done it since 14.5k Joking

[mjc506]

Well, I do have some spares to sell

I was considering writing it up into a neat little document, but I'm sort of tempted just to leave this thread as it is... I'd hope that no-one else has to go through all of that, and the various comments along the way are more helpful to a googler than would be imagined

What I will do is work out what special tools I had/used/needed and set up a 'lending library' of sorts. I'm thinking the owner keeps the tool, and anyone who needs it pays postage both ways plus a refundable deposit to discourage losses...

I'd also be happy to assist how I can if any strommer is facing disassembling their engine.  Give me a PM, I'll see what I can do!

[Juvecu]

For the record, I had no doubts you'll get it fixed and running again. Glad the cam timing oversight didn't cause problems. Getting it 180 degrees out is something that can easily happen, I did that myself setting valve clearances.

Are you doing Mototune style break in?

[mjc506]

Aww, thanks for the vote of confidence Yup, I'm glad it was 180deg! At least that way there's no metal/metal contact

Erm, probably. It does make sense to me. It essentially boils down to normal riding after the first ~200 miles really, so that suits me

[Juvecu]

The crucial bit is the first 20 miles. Mineral oil only, up and down through the rev range using engine braking and then drop the oil. No pootling around or screaming the ears off it, but don't take it too easy either. You get the idea anyway

[mjc506]

Yup. And from here to my prefeered MOT place is 25 miles. That's close enough I reckon

[Juvecu]

Just try to get them not to run it during MOT, have them test the lights off the battery. You don't want it idling and getting hot.

[mjc506]

Yeah, they're well aware of the bike's history Good bike garage in Aylesbury: DWR Motorcycles

[MartinW]

x100

Well done. I had the same thought as Mr Diver at first, that you would end up with a box of bits (Pressures on you now Juv!).

Question is, will reading this give me the courage to go and adjust my chain this afternoon or will I just ride it round to Bike Treads and get them to check it? I've done several electrical upgrades on my bike, but I'm still scared to break the mechanicals.

You deserve those stars.

         

[iansoady]

(side question - how does the ECM know when to spark/inject fuel? It has a crankshaft position sensor, but for any particular crank position, the cams could be in either of two positions, for example, compression or exhaust, intake or power. How does the ECM know which is which? )

I remember asking this question on the Tiger forum and the answer I was given was that the ECU actually saw the crank speeding up and slowing down as it reached compression and was able to deduce which cylinder was reaching compression from this. This was cited as the reason why most triples actually turn over a couple of times before firing.

I have to say it didn't convince me then either.......

[JRS81]

Fantastic work! Great to hear it's up and running again! If this had been my project, it would almost certainly have become a box of bits on ebay by now!

[greywolf]

I suspect the ECM doesn't "know" but supplies a wasted spark on the exhaust stroke. A wasted spark was used on all the old Honda fours and many other engines.

This isn't about using one coil to fire more than one cylinder, but rather an electronic control module using the crankshaft position sensor along with other sensors to time a spark. If there is no sensor to differentiate between compression and exhaust stroke, the ECM may fire the plug at both cycles.