Engine Removal / Reinstallation

[Donkey Hotey]

I'm still surprised that after 15 years, there isn't more of this knowledge archived on the various boards. There are almost 2000 bikes out there. That's why I'm committed to this one. I've looked for discussions I know I participated in on the Yahoo message boards and can't find most of them. Yes, I searched all the splinter groups as well. I had a lot of posts. Yahoo's search engine must think it's all just archived banter.

I seem to remember that the Resource Board and one other were the main repository of service and technical information. I am almost positive that I posted the night 1525 blew the spark plug hole and came home on the tow truck. I was looking for that post so I could figure out how long it's been since she moved under her own power. The renewal date on the plate is still Aug 2001.

Now that I'm in this deep, I'm pulling the transmission. I figure it only costs me a primary gasket and the two seals to inspect it. If I find anything wrong, I can fix it and may have saved myself future damage. If I find nothing wrong, I can update the circlips and call it good.

[Donkey Hotey]

This is what the scream of having made an epic mistake looks like:



Just to the lower left, you can see the allen head of the manufacturing plug where that oil galley was drilled at the factory.

[ChadeArndt]

You know a good welder to repair that hole Greg?  I might be able to find someone skilled enough to do the metallurgy required to fix that boo boo.

[Donkey Hotey]

No, not taking the chance on welding that. Too close to too many things. It got cleaned really well, a blob of JB Weld dropped in and tamped into the bottom, and it's done. It's going back together as soon as the transmission parts from Atlantic show up. While the bike was apart, I figured it was time to do the transmission and oil pickup tube.

I took delivery of the bike in the crate in July of 2000.


I prepped her myself.


It's my bike and I'm keeping it until I die. No other hands have touched this bike since it left Belle Plaine. I wanted to keep it that way. I have the tools and there really was no excuse to not do the transmission bushings myself.




The five split bushings that came out of the gears on the right, two blanks pressed into their gears and waiting for final sizing and one gear waiting for the blank to be pressed in.


Final sizing of one of the gears.


Even owning my own machines, I'm not sure the job was worth doing on my own. Doing only two bikes, I didn't invest in permanent workholding for the gears. Each one was a time consuming setup to get it right. Multiply that by five gears and I spent a lot of time tapping gears into plane and setting the center of the chuck with a test indicator. After that, I burned through maybe $50 of bronze to make the bearings. The job is worth every dime of paying Atlantic's machine shop to do it.

But no other hands have touched my bike since it left the factory. 

[Jumper]

Might as well do all 8 head bolt holes since your there...
 

Jumper

[Donkey Hotey]

Already ahead of you. Who would only do the stripped ones? Never mind. Atlantic's picture gallery said enough. That's not how I roll. 

The inserts are long since done. The transmission bearings were done over a week ago. I was just waiting for the circlips and shift kit parts to come from Atlantic. Then work intruded and tied me up for seven solid days. Off to the Westec tradeshow for the next 2-3 days, then back to reassembly.

I have not verified this yet but, the starter motor seems to be the keystone to getting the engine in and out of the frame. Remove the starter and it allows the engine to move forward enough to clear everything in the back and on top.

[Donkey Hotey]

A little tidbit that other owners may be interested in. I just weighed the assembled engine. It's complete, except for the throttle body. Complete engine weight is approximately 235 pounds and the fore-aft center of gravity seems to be right at crank centerline.

That's vaguely important because I plan to use a hoist to hold the engine as it's guided back into the frame. Knowing to lift straight above the V in between the cylinders will simplify the job. I was originally worried that the CG was further back and it would be hard to balance and still clear the frame.

Based on the cam boxes being taller on the right side and that the intake ports are skewed to the same side, I'm going to guess that the engine should be hoisted from the intake port screws and guided in from the right side of the frame.

[Donkey Hotey]

1525's engine is back in the frame and soon to be restarted. As promised, here is the information for the knowledge banks of future owners:

The engine is supposed to be installed and removed from the right side of the motorcycle.

To do this, the battery box needs to be disassembled and removed from the left side of the bike. The shroud below the fuses and above the battery also comes out at this point. It allows some up-down movement of the engine. The right side electrical box can be left in the bike but, you'll end up taking a bunch of the connectors apart to make clearance anyway.

After all the connections are taken off the engine, it would also make sense to wrap all the frame rails with pipe insulation as I've done in this photo. They were all zip-tied in place to keep them from moving.

Finally: the keystone: remove the two bolts holding the starter motor and remove it from the engine. That little bit allows the engine to move forward in the frame and to hug the right downtube as it's tilted and removed.

The engine drops down slightly in the frame, then tilts to the right so the cam boxes clear the top tube. From there, you lift upward and toward the right of the bike, while still hugging the right downtube with the cylinder. The front and rear of the engine WILL come out and you can do it without damaging anything if you pad the frame ahead of time.



Reinstallation is obviously the reverse. I steered the front cylinder into the frame at an angle. Once it bumped against the padded downtube, I swung the back of the engine into the frame opening. Once in the frame space, drop it down between the two cradle tubes. It will sit down low enough for the heads to tip into place. From there, the engine needs to be raised to final position and the mounts reinstalled.