Engine Rebuildable?

[BattleBorn]

Hello, I just bought a XS special but it's all in pieces. even the motor was taken apart.
I'm even wondering if the motor is rebuildable. I'm wondering what signs I should look for in the engine to know if it's even worth trying. The must be a reason why the previous owner took everything apart and just gave up.

I can post pictures of the motor and pieces soon.

 

[5twins]

No, there doesn't have to be a reason. Some people just tear things apart. It's not a bad thing though. Most of these motors do need the topend gone through.

 

[member3480]

Well its a good thing being apart. You can check the crank and the trans . These are 30 year old motors and all were not taken care of. I bought a motor turned fine and really didn't hear any noise but when I broke it down Crank was bad too much play in it. So I think you got a good thing if all there.

 

[Airwolfie]

This is how I got mine..........

And this is where I'm at...........

Engine not built yet, but I almost have all the bits to do so. Be prepared to spend a few $ on parts for the motor. Definately get a full gasket kit, possibly new rings, make sure you lap your valves, and check ALL bearings for play/gritty feeling/bustedness.

Get your piston sleeves shimmed and possibly get new piston rings or even pistons(then you will definately need new piston rings!)

Clean the engine shell inside and out, you may as well while it's apart! Glass blasting or soda blasting is a good way of doing this. Read up about it,VERY IMPORTANT!

Get the Haynes and Clymer manual, and also a parts list so you can see what yo need to do, they also give an exploded view on everything on the bike.

Go to the tech bit on the forum and read, read, read. And then read some more.

If you have spare cash, now is the time to think about upgrades like rephased crank, PMA, fifth overdrive, PAMCO, etc.

Do some searching, and if you can't find an answer, give us a shout, a lot of knowledgeable people on here!!

Good luck, and start a build thread WITH PICTURES!!!

Oh yes, welcome to the forum!!

 

[XSLeo]

See as this is your first post, I'd like to say Welcome to our little slice of the XS650 life.
Now about your engine, Yes, it can be rebuilt.
You already have some good advice. On biker.net there are factory repair manuals for down load.
One thing I would suggest is taking the pistons and cylinders to a machine shop and get them measured. They know how and have the tools to do it right. Now with these measurements you can figure out the clearance between the pistons and cylinders. You need to know this to decide if you can reuse what you have or get new pistons and rebore.
There is a clear description of how the determine clearance in the repair manuals.
There is also a clear description of how to check the crank. Run out, rod clearances. Piston to rod fit.
Your repair manual has these procedures too.
Go through the checks and if you have any questions about the procedures feel free to ask.
Up near the top of the page you will find the XS650 TECH button. Reading through the engine section you will find plenty of tips on rebuilding an engine.
At this point reading all you can will be your best next step.
Leo

 

[Paulrxs650]

Welcome - very nice build you have there.

What are the front forks and yokes from? What did you need to do to get them to fit?

 

[Airwolfie]

Welcome - very nice build you have there.

What are the front forks and yokes from? What did you need to do to get them to fit?

You asking me Paul??

Thanks for the welcome lol, been here a while already!

My build thread: http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=26888

The forks are off a YZF R1, details about it here: http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=30130

Took a bit of work, but it was pretty straightforward!

 

[gggGary]

Battleborn. We need a little more info; Is the bottom end apart? What is your skill, persistence level? Is this a hobby, passion, or damn I need to get to work next week bike? The short version is if you have time and search skills you can find a "ready to run" engine for less than you will spend on piecing together a basket of engine parts. At the very least, a second assembled engine will shorten the build, find every little bit that was lost, how does this go together? time considerably. If the bike is stock, matching engine and frame numbers is a big deal to the market and your satisfaction of ownership.

 

[TwoJugs]

gggGary says it right. Depends on your goal and skills. The XS is a great bike to tinker and learn with. Very forgiving in many places and will usually run even in poor condition. Too much info online that sometimes strays you from your initial direction...

Consider your budget too. You might find a complete running motor for $500 or spend $1500 + rebuilding yours. If lucky a complete gasket set, some tools and the shop manual will get it going for less than $100.

 

[Paulrxs650]

Sorry Airwolfie, yes I meant you
Punctuation error!
Thanks and welcome to Battleborn

 

[member3480]

I just rebuilt 4 motors in the last month and I have the tools so if you are going to do it once do it right. If you have a very low mile motor Rings can just be replaced if you don't have the means to have it bored and cylinders cleaned up. SEAL and GASKETS a must. Valve seals have to be done also. New Cam Chain Cam guides also. The other things that while you got it apart replace Filters/Clutch/Springs/ Up grand charging system and Ignition and if you do all that you are close to $1500.00 but you got a new running motor. I build and sell motors not just XS and you would be surprised of what people think is a rebuild. If your not a motor guy find someone local to help. Do it right first time. Leaving bottom end together and doing top end is not a motor rebuild and people think so. I had a guy bring me a motor that he did that had new rings and top end and it smoked more than it should. After some talking two things he did wrong but he tried. One he used sandpaper to clean up cylinders and two he thought that you had to line up the ring gaps in a line. So I had a stock set of Cylinders and ball honed them set the rig gap correct and away he went NO SMOKE.
So I think its great that young guys what to do there own work and on here you got some good guys that can walk you threw your build. But if you don't have the time or the cash to do a complete build work it with your budget and just do what you can first.