First start up after top end rebuild

[azr]

Ya a had a motorcycle mechanic that does my tires, and I trust, honed the cylinders for me with his bottle brush, was great to see how it's supposed to be done. Well that's some pressure of my mind, thanks guys. Hey one more odd question. I went to check the Dyna S timing with my timing light. So #1-4 was bang on and I went to check 2-3 but there is no line to check to. There is a line to the 'far' left of 2-3 but it's marked with a "T", so I'm figuring that must have something to to with TDC. Of course 1-4 has a line directly to the left and the right and also the TDC line marked with a "T" to the far left. So, how the heck to I know where the 2-3 module goes exactly? A little searching answered it for me...there are not marks on the 2-3 other than TDC. So I took off the ignitions components from a 79 850 engine that do have marks for timing and advanced timing for 2-3 and transferred them over to the 80 1000G components and BANG, I now have everything perfectly set. Pulled off the carbs and airbox and redoing the cam tensioner. The other thing I found while in the ignition is the seal for the crank shaft is leaking...arrrrr. Hopefully I can fix that from the outside. And again after a minute of searching it looks like it's an easy fix. I'll order a couple of seals Tuesday.

[Nessism]

As long as you bottle brush honed the cylinders well then I wouldn't worry about compression for now. Put 500 miles on the engine and then check again with a calibrated gauge.

[azr]

Ya, that sounds like the easiest thing to do first. I've never ran a bike that had that low of compression, I really thought it would run a lot worse. I'm soooooo hoping I don't have to go back into the engine again

[Agemax]

Anybody have any thoughts on the compression numbers?

i would try another compression tester to make sure. the numbers are pretty even across all cylinders so that is a good sign

[azr]

Anybody have any thoughts on the compression numbers?

[azr]

Ok, please someone explain this one to me. I took the bike out for maybe a 25KM run the other day, up to 6 grand or so, up and down with the rpms. Ran not too bad, still need to work on the carb adjustment a bit and resynch the carbs again. Did it already and got it 'close enough' knowing I would do it again. She pulls hard enough that's for sure, I throttled it on one road and was like "wow, that's what a fresh top end feels like". She idles pretty as well. So..today I thought I might as well do a compression check. 90-100 across all four!! I even took her out for a quick spin to get a hot reading and the same thing! the throttle was wide open with all four plugs out to do compression. AARRRRRRRR...... the thing that I don't understand is how decent the bikes running. I 'guess' it could be my compression gauge but I doubt it. And again, when trying to start the bike it turns over like everything in there is 'tight', slow, stiff like even though I've got full charge at the battery. I can hear a 'clanging' noise in the top end as well but I'm hoping it's coming from the cam chain as I think I installed the tensioner wrong, turning out the screw too much.

[Nessism]

I read a bunch of threads about seating new rings and most seem to say ride it hard. Interested in your thoughts on the matter Ed.

As mentioned previously, just take the bike out and ride around town (or simulate), using the throttle liberally, about 1/2 of the range at first, and keep the revs down to about 1/2 of redline. Accelerate briskly, then down shift and let engine breaking slow you down. Repeat that cycle again and again, then progressively add more throttle and more rpm's. By the time you are up to 50 miles or so, you can do some full throttle, high rpm bursts. The idea here is to progressively add more throttle and more rpm's. Worst thing you can do is ride the bike slowly with a steady throttle load.

Good luck

[Charlie G]

Look forward to seeing it in person someday.

cg

[azr]

Not trying to start something, but you don't need to keep it over 6000 rpm, nor should you in my opinion. Just ride it like you would though the city. Use the throttle aggressively, but don't rev the snot out of it either.

I read a bunch of threads about seating new rings and most seem to say ride it hard. Interested in your thoughts on the matter Ed.

[Nessism]

Not trying to start something, but you don't need to keep it over 6000 rpm, nor should you in my opinion. Just ride it like you would though the city. Use the throttle aggressively, but don't rev the snot out of it either.

[azr]

Ok, because I hate threads that are not followed up to their resolution. The bike is up and running. Turns out the no gear indicator lights wasn't a problem with the clutch area but rather the neutral switch, the pin to be exact, but that's in another thread. The bikes running 'fairly' well, the fine tunning will happen over the next few weeks. It's still hard to turn over though. I've checked the voltage each time and it's fine. It's as if the cylinders are tight but maybe this is totally normal for new rings??? I've only ridden it a mile or so, I did ride it as hard as I could considering where I was but tried to keep it up above 6 grand. The next chance I get to take her out though I'll definitely be running her like a 'stolen mule' as a friend says. I'm hoping she'll run better as I ride her more. Thanks for the help everyone.

[azr]

Well the heads back together 'again'. The shop was able to get the snapped bolt out. I went to slap the valve cover back on and realized the gasket I had put on before was the wrong one! good thing the bike didn't start up or I would have had oil everywhere One thing that is ticking me off, I have no neutral light or gear lights. I then realized that the clutch is still not working. I can change gears with the shifter but when the bike is in gear pulling the clutch in does nothing . I remember when I was mucking around with it last time and got it all to work, I had all the lights coming on until I put it into gear, then no lights anymore. I didn't think there was anything in the basket side to do with electrics. arrrrr........guess I had better pull the clutch basket out and have a good look in there. I suppose I should probably measure the clutch pads anyways.......

[1980GS1000E]

One thing you may want to check is how tight the engine is to turn by hand, no spark plugs, wrench it over using the 19 mm bolt on the ignitor side. It should turn over without too much effort.

[azr]

Sorry for the bad luck.

Before you undo the cam cap bolts it's best to get some vice grips and clamp the cams down into the head like it shows in the factory service manual. Much less stress on the bolts and bolt threads that way.

As for that broken bolt, a lot of the time they will just turn out by hand after they break. Try using a pointy drift or similar and hit the nub on the outer circumference and try to spin it out. Fingers crossed.

Anti-seize is highly recommended on those bolts. Keeps them from sticking like you experienced.

Good luck

That's the dang thing, I had the cams clamped with vice grips, the bolts that I just took out, I was the one that put them in there a few weeks ago. Retaped the threads gentle to make sure they were good and clean, antisieze on every bolt, and nothing more than OEM torque spec. And then the engine hasn't been run as I haven't been able to start it. It doesn't make sense that the bolt snapped. I think I'm going to at least buy some new bolts in case these ones are past their day. I'll give idea to get the snapped bolt out a go for sure, I'm not holding my breath but it's worth a try.

[Charlie G]

I hope to never feel your pain