Oi TOG, a word about XS650's

When a cam end oilseal on an XS650 starts leaking, look closely.

I had the old one out today having been supplied with a superior double lip
item by the local Bearing Factor. I had a few choice words about you when I
saw the state of the old one:
"JHC I know he's not a pro mechanic but WTF did he put this seal in with, a
lump hammer?"
Having a suspicious mind I started to look more closely, I suspect *even
you* couldn't be that ham fisted ;o)

Yup, the cam end ball bearing is well and truly Kerry Packered, 2mm vertical
play in the race. Easy job thinks me, split the head, new bearing, might not
even have to break the cam chain, SHIT **** PISS **** SHIT

OK XS650 experts, do you have to take the engine right out of the frame to
remove the cylinder head??
Yes the crash bars were a **** to remove. Yes the exhaust is also a ****, no
chance of the link pipe separating without breaking. If the dreaded answer
is YES then I suppose I'm doing the chrome and frame paint reconditioning a
year early.

I had a nice new rear Bridgestone fitted this morning ready for the weekend
run to Dublin.....
I suppose I need to find a complete fucking gasket set somewhere now too.

 

Dont think any of the "classic" bike fans on here should be termed as
"experts".......... unless you were asking about buying overpriced
shitters from Ebay of course..............lol


k

 

Erk. Mine dew, for a bike with a nadgered head bearing, it was running
remarkably quietly.

Yes, you do. It's actually a simple job. The camchain is secured by a
soft link, which makes head removal nice and easy.

On the positive side, you should have the new silencers by now - I send
them over with Richard because he's attending his Grandma's funeral.

They're easily available. But you shouldn't need one because you're not
removing the head, are you? Just the cam cover. The bearings - there are
four- two perside - simply slide easily onto the cam.

I suppose the box of bits I posted has never shown up either? I'll send
a cheque back to you. Fukkit. The one time I send a parcel by ordinary
uninsured post and it goes AWOL.

 

Oh, and the new rear brake shoes are stuffed inside one of the boxes.

 

The Older Gentleman said...
I've never had to break a camchain yet to remove the head. Surely you
just unbolt the cam sprocket from the cam and out it comes leaving the
head clear for removal. Cable-tie the sprocket and the chain before you
start to ensure it's properly timed up on reassembly and away you go.

 

Camshaft sprocket is integral with the cam on the XS650, so this won't
work.

That said, I'm sure there's enough clearance to remove the nearings if
you just slacken off the tensioner. That'll allow the cam some play and
you can just pull the bearings off the ends of the cam. You certainly
don't need to remove the head.

 

Is there no base gasket though? bound to be disturbed when the head
studs are loosened?
The rocker covers could do with new o-rings and I see there are o-rings
on the studs too

 

The head and base gaskets tend to form quite a tight seal to barrel and
cases and shouldn't leak unless you actually disturb them. They've been
there for 25 years, after all.

There are rubber washers on the studs, yes, IIRC. And I'd replace
these. If you're careful when removing the cam cover, you shouldn't
need to replace head and base gaskets. If you want to be 100% sure then
yes, go ahead. As it's only a parallel twin it's a piece of piss to do.

Has Richard called you re the silencers? I think the funeral is today,
so he's prolly got other things on his mind.

 

There is no need whatsoever to split the chain to remove the head on
one of these motors! Just another example of someone who hasnt a clue
as to what he is doing, posting nonsense that really should be ignored!

k

 

I'm 99% sure you can remove the cam bearings without splitting the
chain. The last three XS650s I worked on, I was reboring them so I had
to remove the head anyway, and I was also replacing the camchain.

Once you've got the cam bearings off, there will be enough clearance to
allow you to wiggle the cam out.

If you want to replace the camchain, like I said, it's a soft link
jobbie and you simply attach the new chain to the old and roll it on.
It's a piece of piss.

In addition to the main cylinder head bolts, there are some others that
hold the head to the barrels (three, IIRC) and these don't need to be
disturbed unless you want to remove the barrels. Thus you should be OK
in not having to change head and base gaskets.

 

When will you lot finally realise the obvious fact that TOG dont know
WTF he is talking about......................lol

k

 

This job is made a lot easier if you remove engine mounting bolts which
allow the engine to sit a little lower in the chassis, which makes it
far easier to remove and replace the rocker cover. The advice from TOG
concerning needing to spilt the cam chain is complete bollocks and
should be ignored!

k

 

Champ wrote:

They are. The XS runs its camshaft in four separate ball races, two per
end. Like I say, the ball races can be removed with chain in situ.

<Googles>

Yup, I'm absolutely right and what I posted earlier was accurate too
)

http://www.bikerworld.co.uk/tech/XS650engine/stripdown/index.html

and

http://www.bikerworld.co.uk/tech/XS650engine/stripdown/page3.html

 

It depends - if the oil leak was really bad before I got it (the
previous owner had sealed the points housing/cover joint with gunge to
disguise it, then who knows how long it had been running with not
enough lube getting to the bearings? I didn't check the bearing because
I know the seals have a reputation for failing and so I just bunged a
new one in. But obviously, if the end of the cam is wobbling in the
bearing, it'll destroy a new seal fairly quickly.

Fair comment.

 

re-arrnange the following words into a well-known phrase or saying:

"smartarse, a, loves, nobody"

 

Austin Shackles wrote:

"Everyone thinks Ken's a twat?"

 

Maybe the person who posts utter bollocks in response to a pretty
reasonable question from the OP of this thread, is rather more of a
twat than I.........................lol

k

 

You're getting very tedious.

 

your using far too many letters there.

 

Interesting and slightly amusing that TOG who sets himself up as some
sort of authority (lol), has so little knowledge about bikes he thinks
you need to split the cam chain to remove the cam from an XS650!

Seems to me there are a few knowledgable posters on here, but they have
to play secong fiddle to pricks like TOG and Wegg, who seemingly know
only how to sign cheques in payment for others working on their dubious
collection of "classic" bikes.........................lol

k