GS1100 Crank turns 180* then catches

[DFWSpeedster]

The head was just in case something was inside of a cylinder (highly unlikely) but still a possibility

[DFWSpeedster]

His idea, there's no reason to pull the head. I never got an answer to the question about if he did anything with the cam chain tensioner, if he did it's possible the chain slipped a few teeth.

I never touched the cam tensioner IIRC. I checked the timing and everything looks to be in order, as well as the tension in the chain. I guess I'll play around with an extendable mini mirror and see what happens.

[blowerbike]

ok you bought a billet basket that had the wrong primary gear.
you now have the correct straight cut gear/basket?
is this a freshly assembled engine or has it been ran before?
detail details details

[DFWSpeedster]

ok you bought a billet basket that had the wrong primary gear.
you now have the correct straight cut gear/basket?
is this a freshly assembled engine or has it been ran before?
detail details details

Bought the bike back in January off a college student who got it as a gift from his uncle. Hasn't been started since 99. I brought it home, got it running with just a carb cleaning, to discover the infamous clutch basket rattle. Sent the basket in to be repaired, learned it was damaged beyond any repair. I then bought a straight cut basket on accident, never even tried to install it, and just now got a correct basket in today with the helical gear. The bike has 20k miles and idled very well even with that worn basket.

[blowerbike]

hmmmm
have you tried to rotate it from both sides?
forward and backwards?
the ignition side is weak and the ears will break off if not careful while turning it.
plugs out?
can you get a helper to rotate while you look down each hole to see the pistons move?

[DFWSpeedster]

hmmmm
have you tried to rotate it from both sides?
forward and backwards?
the ignition side is weak and the ears will break off if not careful while turning it.
plugs out?
can you get a helper to rotate while you look down each hole to see the pistons move?

When I said it only rotated 180 degrees, it's more like 320. I can turn it both ways and it still catches on the same point. I'm looking in the cylinders while my buddy does it and I can't see anything wrong.

[blowerbike]

ok maybe...
have you looked at every rocker arm and made sure every adjuster and nut is on them?
sounds like something sitting on the crank pin where the timing chain goes around..
have a look.

[blowerbike]

with the stator cover off and the clutch basket not installed..
we could figure this out in a few minutes if your working on it right now.
let me know...i'm free for the next hour and i'm not as big an a$$ as i come off.

[DFWSpeedster]

with the stator cover off and the clutch basket not installed..
we could figure this out in a few minutes if your working on it right now.
let me know...i'm free for the next hour and i'm not as big an a$$ as i come off.

Stator cover off, clutch basket out as well. Any help is appreciated! I'm a broke engineering student so this is really the only thing that keeps me sane!

[DFWSpeedster]

ok maybe...
have you looked at every rocker arm and made sure every adjuster and nut is on them?
sounds like something sitting on the crank pin where the timing chain goes around..
have a look.

Yeah every rocker arm has a nut and adjuster! Let's say I start the wrench at 0*, I can rotate it ccw to roughly 340* where it catches on something. I can return it to 0* it's catching in the exact same place every single time.

[blowerbike]

pm me your # and i'll call in a few if your still working on it.

[DFWSpeedster]

Well I pulled the head off this morning, and man am I feeling stupid! There was a ball bearing that had fallen into cylinder #2!


I suppose upon doing my front end swap a bearing had fallen in the open plug hole!

Anyways, A HUGE thank you to @blowerbike for calling me late last night and talking me through the troubleshooting process for an hour. What an awesome guy! Next time you're in Dallas I'll buy you a beer!

[GS1150Pilot]

It fell straight into the cylinder?

[blowerbike]

what happened to the magnetic wand??????????????
damnit jim!

[DFWSpeedster]

what happened to the magnetic wand??????????????
damnit jim!

I couldn't get anything with the wand! Either the bearing wasn't magnetic or the wand was too weak to pick it up! Either way, at least it gave me a chance to change out the head gasket!