Hi.
Just bought a 05 plate tt600re. Nice tidy unmolested bike, 15k kms on the clock, loads of service history, I'm very happy with it.
It smokes a little bit when starting fromcold, 5 or 10 seconds of blue smoke, then clean as a whistle after that. Classic valve stem seals symptom. It's definately not oil level related, I've checked it carefully and its definately not over filled.

Anyway, my question is this, is it possible to change valve stem seals without removing the head? I've done them before on my old 2kf xt, but that was part of a top end rebuild and the head was off anyway. Clearly if I need to take the head off its not really a problem, just wondering if there was an acceptable short cut.


I already have a 97 Belgrada, the plan is to swap the better suspension and wheels onto the re, I love the belgarda but it really needs an electric start to make it complete.Most of the time it starts fine on the kicker, but when it hot, or its been on its side, or when I'm knackered, it can be a right bastard to get going.

All advice gratefully received.

Cheers.

Removing they engine wont take much longer, and you get to inspect everything, lap the valves, and grease the swingarm bearings aswell.

Id do it "properly" or wait it out untill you feel you have the time to remove the motor.

I think the time consumed is about the same, as you will struggle way more with the engine in frame. Not much room to work with, and hard not to contaminate stuff because you struggle with the parts. A small chip of paint, a bit of dirt, or heaven forbid a lost bolt will play havoc inthere. Its also hard to get room to push down on the valves to even remove the stemseals when you get there. Fitting them is even worse without the right tool (which I dont think you'll have room for)

A friend made a "sparkplug" fitted with an airhose to hold the piston at TDC, so he could push down on the valves to remove the stem seals with the engine in frame. At the last one, the piston turned over, and the valve dropped into the cylinder. He also spent time to modify some sockets to use to push down on the valves. Much time spent, many frustrations, and still the motor had to be removed.

Unplug a few connectors, remove 10-15ish more bolts, and the engine is out. Motormounts, exhaust, swingarmbolt, and lower shock bolt will just about get you there. I loosened my airbox and pulled it back and removed the motor with carbs still in place in the intake rubbers.

Take this as an opportunity to clean the carbs, grease the swingarm, clean the startermotor from dust, ect, ect, ect.

Keep us updated with how you proceed, and how it works out for you. I hope you do well, however you wish to attack the problem.

Ok, that sounds about right. I suspected it might not be possible without taking the head off but thought I'd check first. I may not go as far as dropping the engine out, it definately looks like there's room to get the head off with it still in the frame, but I'll make that decision when I get round to starting the job.
The suspension swap looks to fairly straight forward. One slight problem is the mounting for the remote reservoir on the rear shock. The re doesn't have one, and so there is no mounting bracket on the frame to hold it. I suppose I could cut the one off the belgarda and weld it to the frame on the re, but that will involve a total strip down to get to it, and then probably have to get the frame powder coated after it is done. That's a lot more work than I was hoping to do. I think I will try to find somone who can make me a bracket that I can securely attach with jubilee clips. As long as its done properly it should be fine, its not a heavy item to hold in place.

It's going to be a week or 2 before I get the time to start on this, but I'll try and take some pictures as l go and stick them on here for those that are interested.

i can perfectly understand not waiting to drop the motor just to do the seals

valve seals is doable with engine in place and without danger of dropping valves into motor, just google: valve seals - "rope trick". used it in a few bikes and cars, no issues.

but do get yourself a valve seal puller, as they can be a bit of a bastard to pry out once you get to them.

and if you wan to make your life even easier, get also quick collet installer

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SjyrMXWnfoI

I've done a few in the bike , depending on the bike and specific room I by far prefer to do it there instead of of taking the whole motor out , that's a pain in the a**, IMHO , far more stuff to mess with plus the weight to deal with . I put the piston to TDC and put a T-bar or breaker bar and socket on the flywheel nut, zip tie the bar to the footpeg so the piston won't move , fill the chamber with air and with the correct compressor go to work . Some can be done in 20 min , again all depends on the bike and valve angle/arrangement in the head as to workable space. I have 4 different spring compressors to choose from .

You can also take a length of 1/4" nylon rope and shove it down the bore(tie a knot at the end so it can't go down the sparkplug hole) with the piston an inch or 2 below tdc then turn the motor over to really compress the rope , now your valves will stay put.

__________________
'86 XT600/3TB motor,,, '88 XT600, ,,'92 XT600e,,, '08 Husky TE510,,, '05 DRZ463,,, '95 KLX650 ,,,'96 KLX650

Ok, I googled the rope trick, seems like a reasonable option. In the dim and distant past, when chainsaws were the tool I earned my living with, I was taught to use the starter cord in the same way to lock the crank so you could undo the clutch.

Next question then, what sort of spring compressor do I need? The ones I've used in the past have gone on each end of the valve, if you know what I mean. Clearly this won't work with the rope trick.

Also, has anyone on here actually done this on this specific engine? I'd like somone to say there's definately enough space to do the job.