Permatex makes a good gasket remover. You should be able to get it at just about any decent auto parts store. Have a look at the link below, especially post # 44. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=415263&highlight=distech&page=3
Permatex gasket remover works excellent, but be careful of overspray because it will also remove your case clearcoat.
So the DR made it through the surgery with sucess! I haven't taken it on the road yet, I'll do that tomorrow. It took a while to start but I think that was due to the amount of oil I used during the installation. I took some videos and a ton of pictures during the installations process. I will do a write up soon. I'm going to edit the videos together and then put it on YouTube.
Holly sheep s@#t Planemanx 15 I live in the Grate White North of Canada on the Western side of the country. I feel bad that you folks are getting the hammer, but I'm glad it's not our turn this year. From Jeathrow Bowdean
Do you mean you live in the Great Wet North, near the lower rainland aka the wet coast, or the north of the north? Subscribed!!
I guess I'll start to do this write up now, please forgive me if I forget something, as there is a lot of information I would like to jot down and it's getting late. I started the project around 10am, and finished around 4:30pm, working straight through, no breaks. Before I begin, the first thing I would say is if you’re planning on doing this, it would be wise to get another person to help you out. I found myself in a few binds where another person’s hands or brains would be useful. After taking off the usual parts, I followed the service manual for engine removal and took off the parts it stated. As you can see laid out, I have the tank, air box, header, oil cooler, TONS of nuts and bolts, etc. I laid the carb on the frame. The engine stayed in the bike, a decision that I regretted. I should have taking It out for 2 reasons. 1) To clean it; and 2) For an easier install without the frame in my way. I had a hard time with a few bolts, namely the header bolts. I couldn’t get one of them off, and to make it worse it was the inside one. The inside hex head stripped to a circle. It was at this point I was getting scared that I couldn’t do this and it was a waste. After thinking and trying various tools, I ended up heating it with a torch, then WD-40, over and over. Then I used a vise grip and broke it free, turning it 1\8 of a turn each time. On the reinstallation I cut the bolt to use a large flat screwdriver and used that to install it. Before digging into the engine: I followed the manual to the letter as to what to order to take the cylinder head cover bolts off. I used a piece of cardboard to lay out the bolts and keep them organized for the installation: Nothing was too tight, that scared me, but when doing the reinstallation, again, I followed the manual’s tq specs. The tightest bolts in the whole setup were the head bolts. These are the long ones that go from the very top of the engine to the bottom. 2 of them are seen if you look next to your spark plugs. I’ve been having a small oil leak, either from my spark plug washer, or my header bolt. Either way everything was cleaned up to make sure it wouldn’t come back. Once all the bolts were off, I was able to get to the old piston: Cylinder head (normal to have this much oil??): Underside: I was able to pull the cam off, and SLOWLY remove the timing chain, making sure I did not drop it into the bottom end. The cam came out with ease, and I removed the gear from it. Procycle supplies the new lock for the bolts for the cam, this is installed later. The manual also does a really good job of explaining how to re-time the engine once you open everything up. With the cam chain tensioner rods: Once I was got the head off, all that was left was the 2 nuts that hold the jug onto the rest of the motor. I removed those, and was able to get to this: The old piston came off rather easy, and I was left with: Note: The rag in the bottom end saved me from having to dig a metal dowel and a circip from the gears… Be sure to cover it. Now for the size comparison: More to come…
Video: <iframe width="640" height="480" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/G8xE4ZwgbdQ" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
I amazed that more people don't do big bore projects like this. It's something that is doable by most with planning and attention. Big bore forged lighter weight pistons in an older thumper that's bulletproof to begin with. Cheaper than a new bike, gives you karma, confidence, and more the bike you want. You did a great service for those on the fence with the video.
Great job Mr. Planemanx. I was on-the-fence about the 790 kit. Not anymore. I'm going to get this kit sent my way, post-haste. Have you had a chance to ride it yet? Impressions? Did you have to let it high-idle for several minutes to get the cam to bed in? Gonna do the motoman break-in? How did you get the timing set after re-installing everything? Thanks
To remove gaskets, I recommend 3M yellow Roloc bristle brushes. These fit on a drill or die grinder and make short work of gaskets, without harming the case itself. I used them when I installed a kick starter kit on my XT225, and they worked amazingly well, literally removing all the gasket and leaving a polished surface in less than 5 minutes. You will need the brush and holder to fit the drill. Yellow is the proper grit for aluminum cases. They come in different sizes, I found the 2" worked well. http://www.ebay.com/itm/3m-7527-3-S...003?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item3ccee5a02b
Okay, so back to where I left off… After getting the old piston off I took a quick break and got back to work. I felt accomplished that I got this far, but I still had (what I believed) was the hardest parts coming up. I mounted the new piston. I put the rings on days earlier, while staring at its beauty. I also installed one of the circlips. I used plenty of oil and installed the wrist pin and the final circlips. Those little bastards were tough to get on, but I managed. Next was to get the cylinder on. I was trying to do this earlier in the week without oil, just to see how tough it might be once the piston is in place on the bike. It was pretty hard just to get that first ring in, but I didn’t push it too hard, because of the lack of oil. Once on the bike it would have been great to have a helper. The crank wanted to keep spinning as I pushed the cylinder on, and it was cause the timing chain to bunch up. I also had to put the gasket on, and the copper spray I has used was slightly wet and tacky, sticking to everything. I ended up getting some scrap wood and used it to keep the piston from going down. Once I had oil on the cylinder and piston it slid in pretty good; tight of course, as it should be. The final oil ring popped a little bit out right before I got it in, so I had to pull the cylinder up a bit and then back down. Once completely in, I used a lot of force with my hands, and a mallet to get the base of the cylinder to meet with the top of the bottom end of the engine. This whole process was scaring the crap out of me. I thought it all would be going smoother, and I didn’t think it would be this tight, surely something was wrong. I installed the head gasket and head, again careful not to drop the timing chain. Remember, everything was covered in oil, It was 40*F in the garage when all this was taking place, and I needed thin gloves to stay warm, but HATE working with gloves (old under armor gloves aren’t that bad, but still an added layer between me and the project at hand…Pun intended). I was working very slow and double checking everything to make sure that chain wouldn’t slip. I bolted the head down to 29 ft lbs as procycle’s directions said. I also oiled the bolts like he said as well. The long head bolts, dipping in fresh oil: Mess in the garage: https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-8Hj0o0rbHA4/US69gB8JJhI/AAAAAAAABJM/2mPrdLTSNo4/s512/1%2520%252837%2529.jpg/IMG] When the head was finally bolted up, I took the opportunity to try and turn the crank to make sure I didn’t do anything wrong. The crank turned and of course the piston moved up and down! Next was getting the engine to top dead center (TDC) as per the method in the manual. I turned the crank till the little “T” was visible in the window. Now I went to the manual to see what it says about timing. Pretty basic: Engine at TDC sit the cam in the head with the lines parallel to the top of the head, and the pin (holds the gear on the cam to the cam along with the bolts) at the 3 o’clock position. Put the timing chain on without moving the piston from TDC. Once on, I put the first bolt in, and then spun the engine to put the second. Procycle supplies the metal locking tab that covers the pin from falling out. Installed the new one, torqued the bolts, bend the tabs, and hoped all was well. [IMG]https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-EDMUB1ddBxc/US69hfyLyeI/AAAAAAAABJc/8q3o1X-NbRE/s512/1%2520%252838%2529.jpg Parts pile is getting smaller: I installed the head cover next, and followed the manual with regards to which order the bolts go in. I then installed all the rest of the parts; oil lines, oil cooler, header, carb, air box, oil cooler guard, and cam chain tensioner. The chain tensioner wasn't as much of a pain as I've heard. Just pull the bolt on the outside, use a small screw driver to hold the Mechanism back, and then hold it off with one hand and inserted into the cylinder. Once it's in use your other hand to put Hex bolts and then let go. Good as new! I put a piece of clean white paper under the engine to check for leaks:
As you guys saw in the video, my first start was unsuccessful. I believe this was a combo of a few things. First, there was a lot of oil and WD-40 I put into the cylinder when installing (which is why it smoked like crazy). My carb is set way lean to save gas, and I think it wasn’t putting enough fuel in. I also didn’t have the fuel tank installed; it was working with just what was in the carb bowl. The battery wasn’t on its tender, and it was cold. I let the battery charge a bit, installed the fuel tank, and tried again. It started when I pumped the throttle (I have a TM-40 with the accelerator pump), closed it, started and ripped it open to 2000rpm. Again it smoked a lot, and a bunch of burning oils were coming off the engine. After about 3 minutes, I was able to lower the throttle, and shut the choke off. I let the engine heat the oil to 190*F and shut it off. I restart it a few minutes later, and it started fine while hot. At 29215 miles, my dr650 became a DR790:
Today I went outside and checked on the oil paper: My washer was leaking oil from the oil plug. It is a very small leak; I bought a new washer and will fix it on the first oil change in a hundred miles. I also finally installed a fuel filter after 2+ years: I adjusted the valves, moved the needle clip down a notch, and finished patching up the bike. I also wrapped the exhaust with header wrap. I guess you’re all wondering how it rides??
After cleaning the garage, letting the bike idle at various RPM’s and installing everything else, it was time to ride. As I got on the bike, I was nervous about how this was going to feel. I pulled out of my driveway and just stayed on some local back roads. At first, it completely felt the same, no difference at all from the 650. I was thinking holy crap, did I just waste all that money to have the same bike!?!?! The only difference was a shutter when downshifting that went away after a few minutes. Maybe it was caused by the new clutch. Speaking of the clutch, the Barnett clutch is friggin tight! Harder pull (might be bad in traffic) but it picks up way faster than the stocker. Back to the engine: I got on a straight stretch and opened the throttle up to 5000rpm and held on… Holy torque Batman! Before I knew it I was doing 60, and had to brake. Since everything felt okay, I jumped on a local highway. My current gearing is 17-42. Usually at 74 mph, I’m at 4700 rpm. Now at 74 mph I’m at 4400 rpm. Nice decrease. Also has plenty of power to get away and it feels like it can just keep pulling. I didn't go faster than 76 and didn't want to push the rpm too high. I did plenty of down shifting. Now the sound… the sound is incredible. With the hayabusa muffler and the wrap, all the sound is this deep growling thump. I’ve never hear anything like it. I want to ride just to hear that sound again... Simply amazing! At one point I road through a wet patch before a turn (all that snow is finally melting) and I twisted the throttle as I normally after a turn. The rear wheel just started to spin and wouldn't grab. I can tell this is going to be a fun bike. I’m excited to go 2-up and see what that’s like. Once the break in is over, I’ll feel better about pushing it harder. When I got home, my father told me job well down (he wasn't fully on-board with the idea of breaking open a good stock bike). He then asked what I’m going to do next. “Ride, lots of riding” I am planning a trip to Toronto to see family, and I have no doubts this bike can handle it. Stay tuned… I’m going to keep riding it and reporting back here about anything I find. My next thing is to see how back my mileage suffered. I hope it didn’t drop below 45mpg. I also will be returning my cylinder back to procycle to get my core charge back. My bank account misses that $500 lol.