feliks

There's also keenserts too...which have little tangs you can smash into the surrounding metal, could work. Hopefully they can do something with it! Doubt shops will be open or willing to work tomorrow lol so this stuff will be waiting till the new year. Going to get my parts ordered from Yamaha tomorrow though.... fack, no way I'm telling the wife how much this shit is costing.... hahaha

Got all of the pistons off and the bottom half of the engine prepped and ready for the machine shop now. I'm a little worried about the hole they need to put an insert in though, because you can see through it, to the crankcase cavity.... this means when they drill, metal shavings are probably going to fall in there, and that's not good!! I'll snap some pics tomorrow of the progress, going to remove the old piston rings, clean up the pistons, remove any and all traces of old gaskets, and if I have time which I probably won't tomorrow....clean the valves and head! Phew!!! Lots of work! But this is going to be soooo worth it.

So, I was given some advice to pick up a copy of "Twist of the Wrist II" - I have to say, it's one of the most informative and inspiring books about riding I've ever read! The way the book is written really speaks to you...it makes you go "oh shit, THAT'S WHY!!!" a lot...or at least, it did for me. I personally can't wait until springtime to try out all of the new techniques I've learned, like pivot steering (using your body as active suspension), keeping your arms bent (for more control), giving smooth and constant increasing throttle through a turn (for faster and safer turns), giving throttle in a turn as soon as possible (to transfer weight to the back tire for more grip)....finding and holding to a turn point, and that any turn point is better than no turn point, do one steering motion for each turn, not multiple, you should be able to flick into your turn, hold the line, and flick back, not turn, correct, turn, correct.... but don't take my word for it. PICK UP A COPY if you haven't already! There's also a video that I downloaded that goes with the book and demonstrates a lot of the techniques such as push steering (counter steering) and turning, throttle control, and more....it's great, the video is a little cheesy but the points get across. Now there's my recommendation....do any of you have any good suggestions for reading material for the winter months on riding tips and tricks?

So I've been doing some searching on cleaning the carbon off, some say use gasket remover, others oven cleaner, some say alcohol...other people just use water. Most of them ended up using a brass wire brush (like DT already told me to do!) so I think I'm going to go that route. Gasket remover to loosen up the deposits, then hit em with the brass brush on my dremel.

That's all I could think of too.... lol

Damn all that from the wind?? I dumped my bike going 20km/h around a corner with some sand on it and only bent the mirror...bent it right back into place too! I've also dropped it one other time (into the wifes car no less lol) and nothing happened. That sucks man!

Hahaha, I do what I can but if I get stuck I don't want to fuck it all up! Time to go clean the piston heads and valves! Is there any trick to getting the valves out other than the few videos I've seen on youtube of people with sockets, compressing the spring and then taking the retainer clip thing out?

$451 - I was close!

Ok called Yamaha dealership for part prices....they took my list and are going to call me back. Any guesses? We should start a contest... I'm thinking.... $400 for everything.

I picked up some scotch-brite pads with soap infused in them to clean the valves once I get them out, will be sure to be careful with them. I'll check out the valve seating paste, or I may even get Flip or Jeff to help me get the valves back in if I get into trouble lol....plus it's an excuse for them to come and work on motorcycle stuff and who doesn't love doing that?? Appreciate the info!

So you're saying just clean them up before I remove them, then remove them and clean them? What paste are you talking about... I've seen people clean the valves by removing them and then putting the valve in a drill and spinning it onto a scotch-brite pad, kind of like I do with my rifle brass....should be easy to do that, but I don't know what paste you speak of though... Found this nice how to remove valve springs without a spring compressor: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=es6raocApZQ

Here's a shot of the underside of the valves... I'm assuming I need new seals! Would I be correct in that assumption? valve 1 by feliks.ca, on Flickr valve 2 by feliks.ca, on Flickr valve 3 by feliks.ca, on Flickr valve 4 by feliks.ca, on Flickr Valves! by feliks.ca, on Flickr

I picked up some Alpinestars boots - slightly used - $50! Can't beat that! alpinestars by feliks.ca, on Flickr

Yup, same thing I did...soldering iron and zip ties! I heard ABS pipe works well too...or you can also use acetone to melt the ABS together. Another tip is to fill a jar with some ABS pipe shavings and some acetone so it makes a runny paste and then put that in the crack after you notch it into a v-shape. I need to re-do some of my fix-up jobs though, didn't use enough heat to melt the zip ties, and then I made the mistake of using spot putty on the outside, which cracked.

All great advice, thanks guys! Flip (DT) - I don't mind shelling out for the parts at this point, already took it apart, no way I want to do this again right away, I want to fix it RIGHT! So new rings it is, I was just curious how to tell, and now I know! I just wasn't sure if that was blow-by I was looking at or what....good to know! There is no stamp on the pistons other than an arrow pointing towards the front of the engine. Painting I can do, I've done lots of it! POR15 makes a brush on engine paint that I may try if I can find it here in Canada, then I don't have to mask everything off to paint. Yeah, the base gasket is fucked, tried to pick at it a little last night before bed and it just kept breaking into pieces...going to take some work. I have some permatex gasket remover but I don't want to get it into the bottom end of the engine, who knows what it'll do down there....so I guess a scraper and a rag it is! I have no idea who is doing the valve seals. Who SHOULD do them? Jeff (rz) - no scoring in the bores! So since I don't have a tool to measure my bores...I should just get the machine shop to do it while I'm there getting some other work done. Would you advise honing the bores yourself or having the shop do that?

First things first.... I'll be taking the bottom end into a machine shop to get the hole fixed up. I also have a stripped hole for the exhaust bolt so I'll get that fixed as well in the top end. While I'm there... I'll get them to hone the cylinders, and then measure them, and then order parts to get this thing back together!

Here are some pictures of the progress and the pistons & rings! engine out by feliks.ca, on Flickr piston1 by feliks.ca, on Flickr piston2 by feliks.ca, on Flickr piston3 by feliks.ca, on Flickr piston4 by feliks.ca, on Flickr

Got it! I had the oil soaking while I went for dinner at the in-laws.... came back, stuck a 2x4 at the back where there was more material and not just coolings fins, gave it a couple whacks with a hammer and boom, came loose! Got it off. Now...how the heck do I tell if i need new rings? I mean..they "look" good....how does one tell?

Welcome to YOC!

Got some penetrating oil soaking on the head bolts.... I think they're just stuck on the one side. I'm gently easing it off....would really suck to break something at this point!

Flip gave me some tips via txt....we'll see how I make out after dinner at the in-laws.

I can't get the cylinder housing off...gah! Tried every position of the cylinders too....top/bottom....middle....bottom/top..... dang it. Got one side nice and loose but the other is stuck good! I think I need to invest in a rubber mallet.

I get them from McKee Motorsports in Delhi - they're a yama dealership.

The machine shop should have all the helicoils they need to do the job, right? As for engine paint.... should I get a brush on or spray, and if I get a spray...would we paint after or before we put it together? And thanks for all the help! I owe everyone at least a beer now!

So far I need: Crankcase Cover Gasket (on the left side of the engine) Valve Cover Gasket Head Gasket Crankcase Gasket Piston Rings (OEM specs?) should measure first?