SlyDog's '82 GL1100 restoration project - MAKE IT NAKED!!

[SlyDogJeff77]

I yanked off the crash bars and foot rests tonight so i could get the Radiator out. Now i have a clear view of the timing belt covers. That's next.

[SlyDogJeff77]

got in and checked the water pump impeller. Seems tight. It spun less than 1/16 of an inch... and the antifreeze was bright green.
I had to take the nice shiney dipstick out to remove the radiator.. sooo when i drained the oil (which was fresh and ran for about 20-30 miles) it was dark. The oil filter was also black. So I'm actually glad I had to drain it to get the radiator out.

[SlyDogJeff77]

dead neutral light.
Ok so I read the shoptalk article and there aren't enough pictures...

So i took this one... I'm wondering what i'm looking at here.

What is the connection in the green circle?
what is the wire comming up behind the timing belt in the big red circle?
it's snaked behind the heat shield and joins the wire harness (small red circle) in the green circle?

[SlyDogJeff77]

OH AND YES..... i have some timing belt covers to shine up while they are off.
and yea.. the bottom of my engine is BLACK with junk, dirt, soot, oil, and god knows what else.
suggestions?

This whole project would be SO much easier if I had a LIFT!!!! working on the floor SUCKS..

Totally unrelated... You know what you call a dog with no legs? Who gives a S*|t, it's not going to come!

[brokentoe]

The green circled object is the temperature switch which tells the fan to come on. My guess is that the red circle is the wire that goes to your neutral switch, at least that's what it is on my bike.

[SlyDogJeff77]

Hey Guys.. Reading more I'm going to try and do the timing belt myself this weekend.
http://www.ngwclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=3544

1) Where is the Generator Bolt Cap?
2) Where is the Timing Mark Cap?
I'm trying to guess here, is it left side (sitting on the bike) under the petcock? someplace? Those are real noob questions! I'll probably find it some time today while I'm bored at work.

ok here are the real important questions.
3) Do I have to keep all of the timing gears and pulleys perfectly aligned throughout the WHOLE process?
for example: When I'm ready to loosen the first tension pulley (right side first) do I have to worry about the right timing gear moving slightly? Can I let it move a little and just turn it back by hand? Is there so much tension from the springs and cam shaft lobes to turn the gear hard enough to cause damage?

Because if I put a wrench on the center bolt of the right timing gear to keep it perfectly still and then zip tie it to the frame, how will i get the old belt off and the new belt on? Zip tie, wrench and frame will be in the way. I'll HAVE to remove the zip tie for a little while right? (hold it by hand maybe?) Or can I relax and let it turn and then put it back by hand?

4) I haven't seen anyone put a wrench on the left timing gear and zip tie it to the frame? Is that gear NOT under any stress when at the T-1 mark? will that gear stay put by itself?

I'm quoting Octanes shop talk thread..
Here's a nifty trick posted by Mooseheadm5 in another thread:
"..one thing that made it super easy (and reduced the anxiety level quite a bit) was that I loosened the tappet adjusters all the way ...... [snip] ... you do not have to fight the valve springs much, plus the cams do not want to snap back or forward so you do not necessarily need to use Octane's zip-tied wrench trick. ...."
5) Where are and what are the Tappet Adjusters? could someone elaborate on this quote please?

[brokentoe]

You are totally cracking me up since I recently did a belt change for the first time and wondered a lot of the same things. Octane's writeups are fantastic. I do practically memorize them before I start and still I make little mistakes.
The left timing gear on my bike moved a little bit, but I dinked around with it until I got it lined up again.
Moosehead's trick sounds great if you know what tappet adjusters are. I searched and searched for more information about tappet adjusters until I found where someone else asked where the tappet adjusters were. I think it was Octane who replied something like, "If you have to ask that, you need to get someone to help you." I took that as a challenge and ignored Moosehead's trick. I figured if Octane could change the belts prior to knowing Moosehead's trick then I'll just do it Octane's way.
I could say more but you probably want to hear from someone who actually knows something, plus I have a 75 and all my experience is exclusive with it.

[brokentoe]

Oh, I should have said, just put the timing belt loosely where it needs to go before you put the wrench and zip tie on.

[Roady]

I did my belts before Moosehead's comment was added so never did loosen up the valves all the way.

There was no problem with zip tying the wrench and holding everything in place while I slipped on the new belts. You need to put the belt around the wrench before tying it off. Then you pull the old one onto the wrench too, and work the new one into place.

You can find pics of the timing cap and gen bolt cover in the Valve Adjustment tutorial.

[tiny2383]

well if you want some extra money for parts and such. do what i did. i went to sport wheels in jordan mn (motorcycle salvage) with all my extra parts and such.( i didnt wanna mess with ebay or craig) they gave me a fair price after asking what they sell the stuff for. it was all store credit but i have used most of it on lil stuff that you dont think of when you start a project like this. good luck with yours. mine is almost done just a few minor things.

[SlyDogJeff77]

OK so it was a great day today. I had plenty of time to BREAK STUFF!!!! arrrrhhhh
I'm so frustrated. I haven't hit any road blocks yet but OH MY GOD I ready to throw a Philips head screwdriver threw my garage door!!! EVERYTHING on this bike is nice metric bolts... WHY ALL OF A SUDDEN IS EVERYTHING Phillips head screws!!

Almost 50% of the freaking screws I touched today were so tight they wouldn't budge! I ended up stripping so many!! I'm guessing they haven't been touched in almost 30 years!! THANK GOD I have a pair of "Grabit" bits!!!

AND WHAT ABOUT THE FREAKING STUPID HOSE CLAMPS!!?? This is the first time I've ever seen this style of hose clamps!! What's wrong with the good old fashioned ones?!?! I freaking snapped the nipple off the petcock trying to get the fuel hose off!!! Now I need to find a new pet cock!! and how do i change out the pet cock!!?? the tank still has fuel in it!!

LOOK AT THIS CRAP!!! This is what I delt with all day today!!

[SlyDogJeff77]

ok so now that I got that out of the way..
here is what I got done today.. very excited..

I got the timing belt covers off and saw that they look and feel really good.. No wear or ageing on the belts at all.
So since funds are low and I don't ride that many miles anyway, I'll put off the timing belts until this season is over.. I'm making a christmas list now and I'll add this to the winter project list of things to do to the bike.

So while I had the covers off, I decided to do a little scrubbing.. which quickly turned into wire brush. I'll obviously post pictures once then are back on the bike. But i'm considering painting them black.. Along with the Vacuum Chamber covers.. And possibly the valve covers too!! Accent color kind of thing. I'm already going to paint the radiator and brackets black with some high temp spray paint. I know some of you are already shaking your head going "Tisk tisk". I'm doing this whole project on the cheap! And black paint is way cheaper than CHROME! I'm not doing a professional restoration anyway. I JUST WANT TO RIDE ALREADY!! AHHHHH

[SlyDogJeff77]

OK so i used Roady's doc on how to get the carbs out and had at it!!
that's when i ran into my first hose clamp where i stripped a screw. I couldn't get anywhere near the hose clamp on the fuel line that connects to carb #3, so I ended up disconnecting the fuel line from the fuel pump instead. STRIIIIPppppp.
"GrabIt" to the rescue!
I took the vacuum line of the carbs.
then the choke cable. oh yea.. STRIPPED SCREW NUMBER TWO!!!!! and while i was using the grabit bit i BENT THE WHOLE METAL BRACKET that holds the choke cable!!! i ended up unscrewing the larger screw that holds the bracket onto the carbs, put the bracket in a vice to straighten it back up and get the stripped screw out. oh and then the grabit bit took hold of the screw so well that it shot out like a bat and then i lost the tiny little half of the clamp.. spent about 20 mins on my hands and knees!!! GO AHEAD AND LAUGH!!! I know I laughed when that guy was talking about doing stupid stuff like that when he was restoring "whinny"
Ok so I was able to loosen the throttle cables and get them out of the brackets before i got the end (pucks) out of their location. just thought i'd mention that i went out of order on the directions there. Also that I was able to get the carbs out from the left side of the bike by only removing vacuum chamber cover from carb number three...
OH YEA.. speaking of which.. STRIPPED SCREW NUMBER 3 AND 4 of the day!!! the freaking screws that held on the vacuum chamber felt like they were made of LEAD!!! they were so freaking soft!! grabit to the rescue again!! sigh.

So after I got the carbs out, i filled a bucket with water and Spic and Span! It was the closest house hold cleaner i could find, and then i SOAKED the whole assembly and went at it with a short paint brush. after i was satisfied that my bucket was full of dark ugly water, i hit it with some carb cleaner and scrubbed it again.. this is the final results. I forgot to take pics before when it was dirty.

OK so now I need to order Randakk's carb rebuild kit. Not much else i can do other than cleaning until then.
.. ok enough talk.. more pictures..

[SlyDogJeff77]

they came out pretty tee heee..
I also took pictures of all the linkages like you guys said. knowing i wouldn't be able to remember how they go back on.
No I didn't start taking anything apart yet!!! I'll wait for the guide and rebuild kit
for now i covered them up and put them in a pretty corner

[SlyDogJeff77]

while I was there, i popped off the valve cover to see what there was to see.
looks decent.. but then again, I don't really know what i'm looking at.. but i'll blast it out with some carb cleaner later and then some compressed air.