Idaho rephase rebuild

[Gem State Outlaw]

Glad to post a few pic's when I muster the patients to mess with the damn computer.

1975 xs650 basket case; hard tail on the frame without cross members welded.
engine taken down, cleaned, enameled, lots of new rubber stuff, skipped the 5th gear (cause the beemer's a good range cruiser), rephase from the master of disaster in North Carolina (Huge props to Hugh's Handbuilt), ported/polished lapped and seated, top end bored over wiseco's...frame stuff to come.

Huge thanks to the guru's and true bike freaks who can really nerd out on the kick ass nature of motorcycle as a form. I'm getting tons of info from all of these posts. I'm sure I'll be waiving the white flag for info from many of you in time. Till then fellers.
Starting tear down

Box-o-parts came with it

Top end stuff

Cases apart

Cleaned; tapped; chased

Started polishing side covers

Stage 2 polishing

New rockers installed

bored over wiseco's

ported and polished; lapped and seated

More to come....now beer.

 

[Makr]

Beer is better.

 

[Gem State Outlaw]

Cases masked and ready for enamel. Did a ton a post review about spray bomb enamel and there was always one fella who kept chiming in saying that no matter what the paint runs when exposed to gas/break fluid/other crap. I've had similar problems both with "high tem" BBQ pain and enamel products. I'll be using a product made by Bill Hirsch. A little pricey but product should be nice (hope).

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

Watching with keen interest - I'm at about the same spot on my engine.

Nice BMW - I've got an R75/6 in the same black/white. My right front turn signal is even cockeyed the same way!

How big of a bore did you go to on the cylinders?

 

[KentMoney]

did you just do the porting with a die grinder?

 

[Rexxis]

How did you get the phillips head plugs out of the head? The ones that cover the rocker shafts. Mine wouldnt budge, even with penetrant left on for a day I thought I was about to strip the phillips slots so I stopped.

 

[7m-gtte]

Something like this is really usefully for getting stuck Phillips out without messing them up .

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

You should never try to remove a phillips head bolt from your engine without an impact driver like the one linked to above. I have 4 of the darn things. Always have one close at hand.

 

[Gem State Outlaw]

Like the fine folks above have noted, it's a tool that doesn't get put away much. Make sure you've got a couple varieties of phillips head sizes cause a tight fit's the best kind o' fit. Just beat the holy hell out of em' with the impact screw driver set....seems like I remember having the rocker head cover on the work bench and had to smack it pretty good but they finally gave in.

For porting the "middle guts". I've gotta say that I farmed it out. Started with die grinder but the casting was so bad that the bit jumped around quite a bit on me. Machinist in town gave me a pretty good deal and figures it increased functional flow by 50% or better...Can't wait till she starts breathing.

Wiseco piston bore over 5mm from 75 to 80mm total. Supposed to bring it up from 650-750...

 

[Gem State Outlaw]

Well fellers...I'm stuck waiting for one single oil seal cause my yama shop didn't include it in my order. Not much more will bring such a let down when you're just about to get the cases together. In the mean time I'm waiting not only for the seal but also for frame stuff for welding. Cleaned up parts in the mean time and thought I'd post a couple. Things should go together quickly now. Funny cause I kept thinking of the movie Full Metal Jacket and the scene when Leonard (Vincent D'nofrio) starts freaking the fuck out cleaning gun parts....."so that every thing....is clean....and your action is smooth".
Frame shaving and such with the broseph

Polishing stages 1, 2, 3 of 5; from left to right.

Engine enamel (Two weeks to cure, but they say it's the "only" paint resistant to gas)

Tap covers done

Front end

Frame ground and stripped for welding and paint.

Final polish of side covers

Question, really more an opinion type thing....
1) Those of you folks who took out the starter cross over shaft and gear. Do you ever wish you would have left it later down the road? Cause putting it back ain't gonna be an option. Also, doesn't oil dribble out of the hole where the shaft penetrates the case (shaft and penetrate in the same sentence..Ha)
2) Starter coil mounting. Did you guys use the old mounting system or did you use something else? I'm putting two of those big green coils from pamco kit. If you're working that set up. Did your coils fit side by side and what did you use to mount it. I saw a killer mount by Joker Machine, but it ain't cheep $$

 

[hotdog]

Made up my own mounts for the green coils. - no room under the tank as I'm running the wassell reproduction from lowbrow.
What starter hole are you referring too..??

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

You did an 80mm bore on the stock cylinders? Thought you had to re-sleeve for that.

 

[Gem State Outlaw]

There was still plenty of meat, the sleeves in the cylinder head are pretty stout (at least in my mind)

Starter cross over shaft slides through the lower case right side. Picture below is starter shaft in place with both outer and inner gears on.

Outer gear comes off along with inner gear to release rod.

Starter shaft slides out leaving a hole as shown with starter rod at the base of the hole.

I'm hoping that I'm not just overlooking something obvious, but that wouldn't be the first time.

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

The thing you're overlooking is that entire side of the engine is bathed in oil, so the hole isn't an issue. If it was there would be a seal around the shaft etc.

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

I've been contemplating leaving mine out, but might just slide it in just in case. It's not enough weight to be concerned about.

One thing that has puzzled me is the fact that the big gear on the inside end of the shaft just sits on the end of the rod. I know it doesn't get turned much given it's just the starter motor, but it seemed odd that it could easily slide towards the case interior and rub against it.

 

[Gem State Outlaw]

Totally spaced the oil bath factor, brain's firing real good today. Completely agree I can just see the gear sliding off and having a good rumble o destruction on the inside. I was under the assumption that the rest of the gearing system would hold it in place once finally assembled. I'm leaning on leaving it just incase I feel like putting a starter into it later....still thinking on it a bit though.

 

[Tim of DO THE TON]

Well the gear can't fall off - there is a retaining clip on the small gear that keeps it and the shaft in place, and there isn't enough free space on the other end for the big gear to actually fall off, but it is odd that it just floats there.

Yeah, I'd leave it in place so adding an electric start doesn't require splitting the cases. Might leave the bendix gears off though, as they just go on the spindle and can be added back on anytime.

I'm just waiting on a shim before getting my engine back together. Double check behind each of the small roller bearings on the transmission shafts for a thin washer - somehow I'm missing one of them and they're not available from Yamaha any longer.

Did you swap in the taller 5th gear from MikesXS? Most say it's very worthwhile and takes 30 seconds to do.

 

[Gem State Outlaw]

Didn't change the gearing for the optional 5th. Would have to get a newer trany to do the switch. I'm thinking this will be mainly a town bike, and the BMW would be the distance runner. I've also read about folks changing the front and rear sprocket sizes to improve highway driving. Trying to make all the right choices before closing the cases, and now that I'm committed to the build my cash allowance is slowly reaching it's high mark