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If you get back in there quick enough, it may not hurt the gaskets. I simply measure from both sides of the tunnel to the sides of the guide. But, you need to do this top and bottom. With the cylinders in place, obviously you can only check the top. That's why the guide should get installed while the cylinders are still off, just before you're going to install them.
JTD1989
XS650 Enthusiast
Gotcha, thanks for the detailed picture and instructions. Maybe I can find a way to make sure the guide is straight without taking the jugs out. Would it make sense to square it to the flat mating surface on both sides of the guide maybe? Next time I rebuild one of these I will install the guide before the jugs haha
JTD1989
XS650 Enthusiast
Are you pretty confident that the guide is on crooked 5twins? Because I realized I will have to re-torque my head nuts, re-adjust my cam chain tension, re-adjust my valve clearance etc. and it's going to take quite awhile. I want to do it right before putting the motor back in though. Would the engine still hand-crank with no noise or resistance if the guide is crooked? I'm also attaching all the photos that show my guide for more clarity. I appreciate your insight on this.
To my untrained eye in some of these pictures it looks like it could be straight and in others it looks like it could be crooked
To my untrained eye in some of these pictures it looks like it could be straight and in others it looks like it could be crooked
if you don't think it's straight enough and you want to fix it without opening, you might loosen it, turn the engine a few times, and let the chain push it to where it's centered enough? or if you moved it side to side with the bolts lose, you might feel it hit the chain on each side, and could judge centered that way?
Honestly, I don't think there's any other way to tell for sure other than measuring it. It won't make any extra noise turning it over by hand. But, it will wear the side lip off the guide rather quickly I'll bet once you start running it if it's crooked.
Don't feel bad, from the amount of obviously uncentered originals I've seen, I don't think the factory even bothered to do it, lol. But, we can do better, right?
Don't feel bad, from the amount of obviously uncentered originals I've seen, I don't think the factory even bothered to do it, lol. But, we can do better, right?
JTD1989
XS650 Enthusiast
Haha yeah apparently. That’s crazy how on some of the finer details the factor did such a poor job.
JTD1989
XS650 Enthusiast
I don’t understand why they designed it with play between the guide nut and the guide bolt. If they had made the bolt fit firmly in the nut wouldn’t it have held the guide centered and straight?
Yes, they should have designed it with shouldered bolts to keep it centered.
If you loosened both bolts enough so you could move them side to side, you could get a pretty good idea where "centered" is. That's the route I'd go.
You'd want to loosen the tensioner first though...
JTD1989
XS650 Enthusiast
Okay, well thanks for the input everyone. I will start by loosening the tensioner and seeing what I can do by loosening the bolts and if that doesn't work I will take the head off. In theory if I found a spacer that fit between the guide nuts and the guide bolt to hold it right in the center then the guide would be straight and centered, right?
In theory... yes. Just don't remove both bolts at the same time.
JTD1989
XS650 Enthusiast
Right, so I just took the tensioner off and tried to peek through the tensioner opening with a flashlight to see the guide but the chain tensioner mechanism was in the way so I removed my oil feed and loosened the bolts on the guide slightly. I moved them back and forth and it feels like there is only a mm or two of play total. So I split the difference and tensioned them back down one at a time. The cam chain is in place so I am thinking maybe The guide could be centered now, but my next question is what happens if I fire her up in a few days and it turns out the guide was not in its place?
The bike will run. If you start getting black plastic pieces in you oil then you will know you have a problem. Ride the bike change oil in 4 to 5 hundred miles and check the sump filter. IMHO the better centered it is the better, but it's not crucial.
Depends on how bad it's out of alignment.... your guide will eventually look like the ones 5t put up in 10-20...30,000 miles. If you got it close, it should have a long happy life.
JTD1989
XS650 Enthusiast
Okay, well thanks everyone for the advice and I have a completely unrelated question. Does anyone know what the fitting is called that holds the clutch line stationary on the clutch lever? Or where I could find this? Do I have to just buy a new clutch lever assembly?
You're missing the adjuster and lock nut.
JTD1989
XS650 Enthusiast
I couldn't find just that adjuster/nut but I just bought a new universal clutch lever assembly for $15. Mine was already non-OEM, bent, and all the paint was flaking off so might as well replace the whole thing.
that sort of stuff is because the only stuff precision machined is stuff they couldn't avoid. not conducive to a production line in the slightest, so very expensive.
btst if you haven't noticed, there's an important madness and method to centering the cam sprocket too
JTD1989
XS650 Enthusiast
Any suggestions for a battery? Space is not really a concern because I have a good sized battery box welded onto my frame. It also provides an upright place for the battery to sit so that is not a concern. I have read a lot of different opinions on this and I am trying to keep the budget to a minimum for now because of everything else I have had to replace. Oh and I am keeping my e-start for now at least.
