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1981 GS450E Rebuild

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Bugger sorry Charlie! I knew it was someone who had posted regularly on here... damn short term memory loss :rolleyes:

Post number 25 on that thread is exactly what I was thinking of... how embarrassment... :oops:

Bloody hell, Pete. You're on the move now.

Nice progress too.
I feel like going back out and having another go at making the bike shinier.

Well I'm getting somewhere that's for sure... one day I hope to be on my bike while getting there too :D

Speaking of progress... how are those completed pic's coming along? I seem to recall they're a little overdue now... :cool:
 
Bugger sorry Charlie! I knew it was someone who had posted regularly on here... damn short term memory loss :rolleyes:

Post number 25 on that thread is exactly what I was thinking of... how embarrassment... :oops:


I welcome the chance to harrass someone many time zones away.;) Keep plugging away and stay dry!

cg
 
Speaking of progress... how are those completed pic's coming along? I seem to recall they're a little overdue now... :cool:

Yeah. Umm. I got nothing.

As soon as I can get out of the Christmas/New Year Twilight Zone, I promise I'll get some sunny outdoor shots
38 on saturday. I might get to roll it out then. Maybe
 
Yeah. Umm. I got nothing.

As soon as I can get out of the Christmas/New Year Twilight Zone, I promise I'll get some sunny outdoor shots
38 on saturday. I might get to roll it out then. Maybe

Well that's just slack :p

I know what you mean though. Walked back into the office on Tuesday and had to do two back to back interviews from 10am for a new team member... yeah that worked well :rolleyes:

38 on Saturday hey? The only 38 I've heard lately was 38mm... of rain... bloody Queensland weather!
 
Got a huge amount of progress done last night... not.



That's it. Wow.

Oh, I did spend half an hour on the gasket remnants on the right case cover this time, but still heaps on there yet. I hate 30 year old gaskets.

I still need to drift that oil seal in properly but it was a bit late for the hammer last night, so will have to do that later on some time.

The oil pressure switch went in with some threebond on the thread to seal it up.

I have a feeling tonight will be just as productive as last night, but if for some reason it's not, then I might be able to get a start on the head which would be nice.
 
Fireban days in Melbourne..
Queensland under water..

It must be summer.

May I make a suggestion for a small modification to your rebuild?
wetbike2.GIF
 
Well... lots of good stuff tonight, and one very frustrating thing.

Got a call today that the 4 piece spray gun set had arrived at Super Cheap, and the house mate just happened to be right near there, so he picked it up:





Looks like they should do the trick for my spraying down the track, but I'll more than likely have to have a few trial runs first as this will be my first attempt at proper spray painting.

So, I got some time tonight to lap the valves finally, first time for this also!

The seats as they were, and sorry but I couldn't get the camera to focus right tonight, so they're not spectacular pic's:



After the first lapping effort, and sorry these are just as bad:



And popped both valves in with the old crappy spark plug ready for a leak test:

 
I'm using some kero for the leak test as I have no fuel handy. Should do the job nicely from everything I've read along the way so far.

On a bucket ready:



And kero in:



Left it there for about 5 minutes or so and not one drop, so I must say I'm pretty stoked with that for my first ever lapping effort!

Now for the right side:



And same deal, left it for about 5 minutes and not one drop, so lapping is all good and done and the valves seal nicely.

So, next stop install new valve stem seals:



And bugger:



The fourth one just didn't seem to want to sit right, so I did what the Clymer suggested and pop a 10mm socket on and give it a few taps.

Unfortunately, something just wasn't right and it busted the rubber on the seal.

It's a bit hard to explain, but looking closely inside shows me the rubber just doesn't seem to be moulded all that well and I think it was more that than me that made it sit wrong and get busted, but I can't swear 100% to that. Of course these are the Athena after market ones so quality is always going to be a question, but mind you the first three went on well and certainly seemed to sit in place well and felt like a good fit.

Anyway, I'll have to hope like hell the dealer has one in stock so I can pick it up Saturday, otherwise I won't be able to get it until the following Saturday.

So, one final bit of good news... I left the bandaid off my thumb for the first time today and that made a huge improvement.

Turned out all the dark greasy scabby looking badness was just dead skin held on by scabs which all pealed off over the course of the day to reveal a nice soft shiny bit of skin underneath, meaning my thumb's all nice and healed. Bargain. Still a little soft and tender, but I expect that:



So that's where I'm at now. Frustrating to get so far and bust that seal, but that's how it goes.

I at least have some more gasket remnants to remove in the meantime, and oh isn't that just a barrel of fun!
 
Pete, you inspire me. I need to get out in the garage and change my fork oil and put in the new throttle cable. Nothing compared to what you are doing of course :)
 
Success!!

All very good.
Even the Frankenthumb.

Hahahaha... Frankenthumb... I like it!

Pete, you inspire me. I need to get out in the garage and change my fork oil and put in the new throttle cable. Nothing compared to what you are doing of course :)

Cheers David! I'm really happy with how things are progressing now finally, although not busting stem seals would make it even better... :rolleyes:

Best part is I called the dealer this morning and apparently they have plenty of them in stock, so if all goes to plan I should have one in my hand tomorrow morning, although I may get two if they're not too expensive.
 
One of those nights with nothing done today. I was all set to go and at least get the signal generator cleaned up and mounted in the right case cover, but then I remembered that I still need to drift the right hand crank case oil seal in yet, but of course it's night so no banging to get that done.

Thought maybe I could still get a socket in there with the generator on, but no, the sockets that will fit will be too small and will damage the oil seal, so no go.

Then I thought I'd tackle some more gasket remnants, but to be honest I just didn't want to. A bit tired and really didn't want something tedious like that tonight.

Oh well, at least I should hopefully have the replacement valve stem seal tomorrow and I might try and sneak 5 minutes to drift that seal home during the day.
 
..but of course it's night so no banging...
*s*******

I know your pain Pete.
All I did today was pick up a new fridge and paint it.
That meant opening the shed and trying not to break down looking at my poor bike..
 
Yeah I didn't do any work on my bike today either, rode 120 miles and hooked up with the Norton boys at Windsor/Richmond for coffee though.

I've got 800 miles on this motor now, reckon I need to do some checks on it soon, You know; check torque on head nuts, check valve clearance, replace the clutch basket with new one from the States, etc.

My next twilight run with the boys is in two weeks, so that should be enough time to do all that.

Then I need to drop the clutch basket I've pulled out of the motor over to my machinist to have it welded up after he provides me with some hardened steel washers to compress the springs a bit.

I also need to check the metal tabs on the EBC fibre plates that I am running, I think they might be a bit tight in the basket slots and I may need to take a smiggin off them with a file for a looser fit to make gear changes a bit smoother.

Sorry Pete (for hijacking a bit)
 
*s*******

I know your pain Pete.
All I did today was pick up a new fridge and paint it.
That meant opening the shed and trying not to break down looking at my poor bike..

Aaaaah but think positively!

If you wished, you could've popped the key in the ignition, given it a twist, pushed the button, and given it a few rev's or just listened to it purr away... see that's not so bad now is it? :p

Oh, and what colour's the fridge now? Matte black? Fire engine red? Dayglow orange?

Yeah I didn't do any work on my bike today either, rode 120 miles and hooked up with the Norton boys at Windsor/Richmond for coffee though.

I've got 800 miles on this motor now, reckon I need to do some checks on it soon, You know; check torque on head nuts, check valve clearance, replace the clutch basket with new one from the States, etc.

My next twilight run with the boys is in two weeks, so that should be enough time to do all that.

Then I need to drop the clutch basket I've pulled out of the motor over to my machinist to have it welded up after he provides me with some hardened steel washers to compress the springs a bit.

I also need to check the metal tabs on the EBC fibre plates that I am running, I think they might be a bit tight in the basket slots and I may need to take a smiggin off them with a file for a looser fit to make gear changes a bit smoother.

Sorry Pete (for hijacking a bit)

No apology needed for hijacking Don, hijacking is a welcome distraction at times :)

I already replied to your other thread, but yeah, definitely sounds like time for a check up. I planned on 1000 km's for mine but may do it sooner, although that's a long way away yet.

Are you gonna do an oil change while you're at it?

And I'm jealous of your twilight runs for two reasons... firstly we don't get twilight... secondly because if we had twilight, the only running I'd be doing would involve two feet and far too much energy for my lazy body... :rolleyes:
 
So a little progress today, and I really mean a little... although little is better than none :D

Picked up the new valve stem seal:



And I also snuck a couple of minutes to drift the right hand crankshaft oil seal into place properly:



So, tonight I got the new stem seal in place and have for now just sat the exhaust valves in place to make sure they're nice and snug, which they are:



One thing of note is that I couldn't tell the difference between the OEM valve stem seal and the Athena valve stem seals, which I take to be a very good thing.

As I've had a few wines tonight and I'm a little tired, I elected not to try any assembly of springs etc.

Instead, I cleaned up the signal generator:



Definitely needed a clean!



So that's now ready to go in once I get the case cover on, although I must admit to dodging the gasket remnant clean up again tonight. I really must do that soon though.

If I get some time tomorrow night, I expect I'll start on getting the rest of the valves and valve springs etc. in so I can get the cylinders and head on.

I'll probably be able to get the alternator and right case covers on before I get the opportunity to get the engine in the frame as that'll have to be a Saturday or Sunday job with the help of my house mate.

Once I'm up to that point, it'll be time for valve adjustments, final assembly of the engine, then onto cleaning up the wiring loom and coils and things ready to fire it up for the first time. That's something I'm really keenly looking forward to but am a little anxious about as I just hope I've done a good enough job that it fires up and sounds like it used to.
 
All I have to say right now is... yeehaa! Valves are in! I never want to do that again if I can avoid it though, and I'm glad I only have four valves... fiddly and tedious, although it does get easier as you get into the swing of it. My guess is if you have a 16 valver, on valve number 16 of 16, you may only utter one curse word instead of 16 or more...

Anyways, the bits you most likely want to see...

First pair of springs in:



Bit of moly lube on the valve:



Valve inserted:



Top spring retainer on:



And now to highlight our very own and infamous Steve's ultra cheap but incredibly well designed valve spring compressor tool:



And it's done:



I didn't do the tedious photo sequence of every valve (boring and camera batteries going flat yet again), so here they all are:

 
Unfortunately the flash refused to go off at the end for the bottom of the head shot:



So, that means I'm now ready to put the cylinders and head on. Awesome stuff!

That also means the engine should definitely be able to go into the frame next weekend with the help of the house mate. Even better :D

Tomorrow night I hope to tackle getting the cylinders on, not sure if I'll get as far as the head yet though, just want to take it slow and careful and do it right.
 
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