Noob OWNER '82 gs650GL - Austin, TX

[rukusmaximus]

Coil Routing / Valve cover removal/ Extra Filter oil

One thing I forgot to mention that I found BEFORE I started pulling my carbs was that I noticed the PO had the following coil/fire configuration:
1-2 3-4 or what is 1-3 2-4 ??..damn.. I can't remember which--- at any rate--it wasn't spec..
I thought to myself, "This might be why he was getting cold pipes?"

So I swapped for new plugs and re-routed:
1-4 2-3 (I think thats right) -- my question is: Aside from sloppy routing, why would someone change the coil config?? is there an electrical work-around I've missed?

Anyway--
Cold started fine.
White "smoke" seemed to be coming from exhaust (at the head and tail).
It wasn't heavy smoke--so I let her idle to see if it was just condensation from burning out whatever moisture was retained from the pistons that weren't firing before..
I let her idle for about 5 minutes and it cleared.
And I had 4 hot pipes instead of 2/3 (ish)

But being that I didn't have a compression gauge, all I could do was cross my fingers and hope I didn't cause bad wear.

Cool.. At least I know things are moving in there, I guess.

• Carbs have been dipped, brushed, blown. Spic and Span... (still crossing my figures my JB Weld on #4 holds)
• New o-rings all around.
• new boots are in
• Still waiting on replacement floats

My assembly table currently looks like this:





On a side note:
I ordered some No-Toil Air Filter Cleaner/Oil : http://www.bikebandit.com/manuals-to...er-oil-cleaner
And I was sent a WHOLE case instead!!!

I cross-checked my order, payment, and their inventory code---sure enough--all was right!
Customer Service didn't really seem to care or even want to trace where the mistake happened -
So now I have a case of this stuff -- i'll push it out cheap if you want some.

--
CURRENT STATE
Took my valve cover off yesterday (after lots of sweating and wiggling and cursing)
Gasket for cover and breather are toast (I wasn't hoping to keep them anyway)

VALVE COVER INSPECTION

• Bolts that came from the front side of cover showed heat damage/rust (see photos below)
• Bolts that come from Left Rear side of cover had oil on threads. (see photos)
• Pools of oil on intake side of uh.under the uh..camshaft? (I'm not sure what that area is called)

Should I be concerned about the little oil pool?
And should I swapped these OEM bolts for some SS allens?

**I'm sure I'm due for new seals and lapping but I'm not sure I want to get into that can of worms right now.
I know, I know-- might as well if I'm almost halfway into the cylinder...but I really just want to get things back to together for a compression check

**Any advice? She was running one-legged before...could have done some damage..I'm gonna replace seals and lap eventually-- But I don't want to if it isn't vital at this stage.
But I'm willing to hear any experiences and tips. Please and thank you.

Also chiseled out the old exhaust gaskets at the head -- had interesting indentations from heat/pressure I'm assuming. They look drastically different than the replacements I got...which were smooth.



Heat damaged bolt from valve cover



small pool of oil, intake side





I'm guessing I need to end plugs too?

I know I'm going to stick to paper-type gaskets..
But I don't know a thing about plugs -- is there anything I need to watch out for?

Next up is Valve Clearance -- I'm at the edge of my seat.


Thanks for all the suggestions and the support folks!

--Michael

[Brendan W]

Firing order. Never attribute to intent that which can adequately be explained by stupidity.
Pools of oil in the corners is quite normal.
I have reused the endcaps with a bit of sealer three or four times. Pushing my luck a bit. Probably going to need new next time. I reversed them last time. Someone said it could reduce the cam walk noise a bit.

[rukusmaximus]

Valve Shim Clearance Results

Due to a recent promotion at work, I haven't had much time to work on my bike during the last couple weeks.
My schedule was thrown for a loop and it took a bit of time to get it smoothed out.
It came at good time anyway - I was at a stopping point -- was waiting for gaskets and new tools to arrive.

Today I finally had some time to fiddle around so valve clearances were checked.
And re-checked-
Then rechecked.

All looks good on the Exhaust side, but on the intake side #2,3,&4 had clearances below .02mm
Clearances and Shim size are as follows: () indicates caliper measurement

EXHAUST | SHIM SIZE
.05 .05 .07 .05 | 2.60x 2.65 2.65 2.65
.05 .02 .02 .02 | 2.65 2.75 2.7? (2.77) 2.75x
INTAKE

I'll admit, it took me something like an hour just to figure out how to remove the shims!!
I used the worksheet graciously provided by Steve and I entered the numbers indicated on the shim.
**I also used digital calipers to verify and all came within +/-.01 mm of the stated number on the shim.

I calculated moving shims around to see if I could make something happen but I don't have enough variation in terms of sizes.
No way am I order a whole shim kit--seems like overkill right now since I only have one bike and don't plan on building another for a couple years..
So at this point, I need to order, trade for 3 shims
2.70 x 1
2.72 x 2

I remember reading about a GSR Forum member that made shims?? I could be wrong.
I'll surely shop around for a decent deal online but if anyone has a pointer or two, I'd love to hear it.

Depending on when I can get said shims--I may or may not dig deeper into the head to check things out -- but I'd rather wait until it gets cold (December/Jan)..It'll give me something to do..

That's all for now.
Thanks in advance for any scoops for shims

[rukusmaximus]

I found the Shim Club - I guess I'll be good on shims -- so disregard my inquiries.

To save tedious entries, I'll update after I get my first compression readings.