I havnt read all the posts but ill put my say in.

If your replacing head and/or base gaskets, they will only go one way so you cant get it wrong. DO NOT use goo or gasket paste here. It simply is not nessessary and leads to problems.

Ensure the mating surfaces are immaculately clean and all the old gasket is removed. It can be a pain so use a blunt razor blade to remove any baked on old gasket. BE VERY CAREFUL not to nick or put notches in the mating surfaces.

For the rocker cover, you can use expensive yam bond or any other high temp gasket sealant. Its not under high pressure and a cheaper gasket paste will surfice.

For alternator and clutch covers, use the Yamaha paper gaskets. Again, no goo or paste is required.

To set the timing, remove the 2 caps from the left hand side alternator cover. Rotate the alternator with a socket until the timing mark is at TDC.

TDC on the rotor can either mean the piston is at TDC or BDC. You need to ensure the piston is at the TOP of the barrel. Put a long screw driver etc down the spark plug hole to feel where the piston is.

When you are sure the rotor and piston are in TDC position, line up the cam shaft so all the valves are closed and put the camshaft gear on with the two timing lines horizontal to the head.

Cam chain tensioner goes in last. Once you install the tensioner, make sure all the lines mark up again.

Turn over the engine by hand a few times to make sure all is well..

P.S Buy a QUALITY torque wrench and use it !!!!

If you need anymore help im happy for you to PM me. Im a qualified Motorcycle Mechanic !

Questions and answers
 

Ted,
Thanks for that, all very useful, it answers my latest questions, and I do have a brand new torque wrench. Thanks also for the PM offer; I will bear it in mind if things go off the rails.

Auke,
Have just checked the gasket, as Ted says, it does indeed fit only one way i.e. it is not symmetrical - my error!!

No more questions, for today at least, :thumbup1: so I must be getting there!! Will now get on with finishing off the cleaning of the mating surfaces.

Cheers,

Dave

Goo and timing
 

For the fluid gasket use black non-hardening stuff from Locktite or Wurtz. Apply thinly and evenly.

Timing, no need to take off the LH cover. There's the small inspection hole at approx. 10.30 (I mean North West) from the big crankshaft 'inspection hole'. On th flywheel there's the mark 'T' which coincides with TDC.

Auke

Looking good!
 

Thanks Auke,
Too late about the black stuff, I have blue instant gasket made by Solvol (also called Hymolar) which was sold to me with the gasket set. I am told that the very expensive Yam bond (1415 or something like that number) is no longer available and the blue is just as good - as per a previous post, it won't be used in a high oil pressure area.

Tonighy I've just got the timing set (and to my amateur eye it all looks OK as per all the earlier advice and the detail in my manual) and the rocker cover is now immaculate and ready to go on tomorrow. :thumbup1:

So far, so good,

Dave

gasket leaking from the LEFT side of the crackcase cover?
 

Hi,

I have a1983 XT Tenere (yes the very first one) and I am not sure if the leak comes from the cylinder gasket or the left side cover cover crakase.

I m looking for a helpfull mecanics in Melbourne australia.. if you have tips, let me know!

Thanks

Nearly there and now I have a problem!
 

On the last lap: I am trying to fit the 2 triangular plates that join the rocker cover to the frame above it - there are 2 bolts on the frame with one through the top of the rocker cover, but they don't line up.
I can get all 3 bolts through one of the plates and then the two on the frame into the second plate; at this point the bottom of the second plate is mis-aligned with it's bolt by about 1/2 of the bolt thickness.

I remember that these bolts were very tight (not just the nuts which have quite a high torque value anyway) when I removed them; it is as if the engine has moved a bit when they were released!!! :nono:

So, has anyone got any suggestions while I tear my hair out?!! :helpsmilie:

Ta,

Dave

Yep
 

The engine is part of the frame structure. So, if you remove the bolts and lean a bit on the bike the whole thing sags a bit. You´ll notice that when you lift the engine a bit, suddenly the holes align. Insert bolts and proceed as planned...

With the bolts removed, all stress is on the spine of the frame, the large tube over the engine. Step back, look, and you´ll see what I mean.

Auke

jack
 

Hi.

If I fit the engine alone I usualy have it sitting on a pice of 6" board suported by a regular carjack.Once the swing arm bolt is in it´s really easy to "fine tune" the engine position with the jack. and it takes the preassure of the bikeframe.

Tom.

Not bolted up yet!
 

Auke/Tom/Ted (via PM),
Thanks for all the replies - gives one hope!
Since my last post, I have tried slacking off the two bolts at the front lower that tie the engine to the frame at the front; unfortunately there is no obvious play in there (those bolts pass through both the frame and the engine without any backets to provide some "play") - I have not tried slacking off at the back because if I understand this right, the engine will pivot on that bolt along with the swingarm (and it will be released all together and end up dropping out?!)
There is no point in trying the triangular plates in any other way - the bolt spacings across the frame are slightly different to the spacings from those bolts to the one in the rocker cover.

I don't have a decent car jack, trolley or otherwise, so I will look into that, borrow one or whatever - is there any alternative? I have tried levering a long-handled screwdriver against the frame and passed through the hole in the middle of the triangular plate so that the plate is pulled downward- this gets the bolt nearly in line, but not quite, by using up the small amount of play in the 2 bolts that go through the frame.


As a completely separate thing, I am not sure that the kickstart is quite as free as it used to be - it does not seem to move through the full range of movement to the bottom of its stroke - is this possible, or am I now paranoid?!!


What do you all think?

Dave

Another thought, so another question (alt to a jack)............
 

.........about lifting the bike (which is around 140 Kg supposedly) - has anyone used a motocross type platform - the sort that gets both wheels off the ground for maintenance - if not, then what do you think? - if it can lift the whole bike for maintenance then it could lift the engine when that is not bolted tight to the frame???

Dave (brainstorming night!)

I use a motocross lift for my TTR's, not ideal as the bike is a bit heavier than an MX bike, but works OK. Not too stable though, one fell of when I was working on it, just missed me and the footpeg landed on a brand new can of chain lube-covering me and the bike!

Do not
 

make it more complicated than necessary.
There are two bolts on the back of the engine, the swingarm pivot and one below that. So, if you remove all bolts front down and the ones on top of the head, you can use the flexibility of the frame to get all bolts in. Jack is helpful, but not really necessary.
I recommend: loosen up all bolts front down, then use the flexibility of the frame upper member to get the bolts at the top in. If that does not give enough play, also loosen up the two two at the back.

Auke

Thanks again guys,
I have not seen the "extra" bolt at the lower rear (I haven't needed to look underneath and that far back up to now!!) - I thought the engine is on the same bolt as the swinging arm and I did not want to work on that so that the engine stays in place basically i.e. does not come out completely.

Anyway, I will take another look at this advice, but I am not sure how the engine can come back into line (for Auke) without some form of lifting/propping up, now that it is a bit lower - can't see from your description how that will happen, Auke, because the frame upper member looks as if it is very rigid, in itself that is. There are 4 bolts at the front, 2 holding the engine to the "stay at the front lower" (the ones that I have already slackened off) and two more holding this stay to the spine frame - I take it that these latter two should be slackened as well to give more play overall?

I have taken a look at the bit of the manual that deals with the chassis and I see that it refers to "place a suitable support under the engine" in order to work on the swinging arm, so it looks like a car type of jack or the motocross stand is pretty essential for potential future work - haven't got yet however. :rolleyes2:

Leigh,
That must have been a pain, literally and figuratively!!


Cheers,

Dave

ps Still not convinced that the bike is kicking over as "freely" as it used to before I started on this work; I don't think the travel on the kickstart is as great a range as previously - any suggestions on this? I am thinking of taking the rocker cover off again and checking the timing. Do the valves need to be adjusted after the type of work I have done? - not done up to now or checked (as I don't have the Yam special tool for the tiny adjuster at the top of the valves!!!)

Found a mistake!!
 

Me again,
Just been reading the section of the manual that deals with all adjustments (the bit I thought I knew inside out). For setting the valve clearances it shows the fixed mark in the little window on the left crankcase cover aligned with a single mark on the flywheel.

When I set up the timing, I aligned the fixed mark with a DIFFERENT mark on the flywheel - the one that is shown in the manual for the ignition timing strobe lamp testing (it looks like a letter H , which is what I thought it was, more or less - a letter T (for top!!) written sidewards against the mark itself, if you see what I mean).

Anyway, the point is that the timing would be out by some amount - is this enough to cause the kickstart not to operate easily through its complete stroke?


Bear with me on this! :funmeterno:

Dave

Aaaah
 

When all bolts are loose, just sit on the bikle and you´ll see how flexible the spine tube actually is. You could with one hand list teh engine a bit while using the other to put the bolts in. Alt: prop something under the engine and do the same.

Timing: should be at the T mark, so correct that.
Don't know that this can f*ck up the kicking, but it;s not that important now. First get things running, and then start worrying about perfect kickstarting.

Auke