Timing chain guides

Shipper

Shipper

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Have heard from some pretty well respected authorities on this site that the front timing chain guide for a 1975 650xs sold by MikesXS is a bad fit. Different from the rear guide which is the one tasked with adjustment, the front guide bolt holes are apparently milled incorrectly or at least slightly off the mark. Having said that, anyone out there sitting on a front chain guide with lots of meat left on it?

If so, please advise. Thanks mates.
 
Melnic said:
Answer at Post 223 with some conversation starting a before that.
https://www.xs650.com/threads/1978-xs650-special-project.65053/page-12

Short answer is the casting is a bit off, but the machining is good IMO.
I emailed MikeXS and they said they sell hundreds a year w/o complaints if you can take their word for it.
Click to expand...
Thanks for this Melnic. Have heard the same from the supplier north of the border here in Canada who accessed it from the same supplier but was looking to avoid risk of poor fit after spending the money. Probably pretty rare that a tear down somewhere has one functional. Probably roll the dice.
 
At this point I would trust what I put in from Mikes XS than an original one this old which would more than likely delaminate
 
The Mikes guide isn't just machined wrong, it's cast wrong.
Mikes Chinese crap on top, the original on the bottom.



1706388021404.png
 
I did not find the machining off
The machining on mine seemed to match the original. The bosses on the casting was off.

If someone has an alternative, post it.
 
Well that's unfortunate. Matter of fact I think it was you Jim that set me straight on these last I enquired some time ago. Even ordered the '500 piece referenced for the build your own (see pic) but hey, really was looking for an easier way out.
 
Deal is, I obviously have operating guides in the current engine in my '75 but, I am without the guide base for my rebuild. I have the rear no problem but never got the front with parts.
 

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I found pics in my camera of the machining angle and mine is pretty much perpendicular with the face.
To avoid any distortion from the camera, I tried to take the photo as far away as I could, then zoom in and then cropped. This gives a better representation of the angles than if you take a photo just a foot or two away.
You can see how the casting is off though as stated before. I'll post this also to the other thread.
For the sake of information, The Mikes XS guide I purchased was from Late November 2023

Machining angle is correct for New MikesXS Front Guide
IMG_7945.jpg

Original (top) and MikesXS (bottom). You can see the casting was done wrong for the bosses even though it was machined at the correct angle.

IMG_8018.jpg

Original (left) and MikesXS (Right) Note the A0147 in the casting between the 2 threaded holes..
On the lower right, you can see the plastic that FULLY de-laminated off the original. I caught it in time before the chain dissentigrated the plastic.
IMG_8020.jpg
 
Mike G said:
Good memory 5T…I paid just over $25 for one from Partzilla in 2019.
Click to expand...
I'd be curious how many guys are running the SR/XS Frankenguide. I've got about 5k on mine now with no issues.
Be nice to get some data on how they're holding up.
 
I haven’t installed mine yet. I bought it because I found some black plastic bits in the filter of Dad’s Bike. I found a used guide in his parts bins and figured it would be good to have the SR guide when the existing guide finally gave up the ghost. So far, no additional black bits have shown up.
 
Melnic said:
I found pics in my camera of the machining angle and mine is pretty much perpendicular with the face.
To avoid any distortion from the camera, I tried to take the photo as far away as I could, then zoom in and then cropped. This gives a better representation of the angles than if you take a photo just a foot or two away.
You can see how the casting is off though as stated before. I'll post this also to the other thread.
For the sake of information, The Mikes XS guide I purchased was from Late November 2023

Machining angle is correct for New MikesXS Front Guide
View attachment 260766
Original (top) and MikesXS (bottom). You can see the casting was done wrong for the bosses even though it was machined at the correct angle.

View attachment 260767
Original (left) and MikesXS (Right) Note the A0147 in the casting between the 2 threaded holes..
On the lower right, you can see the plastic that FULLY de-laminated off the original. I caught it in time before the chain dissentigrated the plastic.
View attachment 260768
Click to expand...
 
Back to the original question. You said previous the angle is correct for the New MikesXS front guide. Again, I have no casting at all form this rebuild. Am I understanding this correctly? Use the rubber guide from the 500 on a Mikes front guide? So for the confusion mates but ya, I'm confused.
 

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