Xr650r tear down/regrease/paint/cleanup

This started out as a rebuild thread but has since morphed into an ongoing saga of life with my xr650r. It looks like this now.



It is known to wear dirt wheels too.


I'll leave the original post intact though.

So my bikes just a bit beat up and a bit dirty. I decided a tear down and general look see was in order. The main objectives are to check it over, loctite/torque everything I can get to and grease all the bearings I can get to. I do have a couple questions:

1. How do I get the lower head bearings off the stem? I'd like to clean them thoroughly and change the lower seal.

2 I've been getting a bit of a clunking at stoplights, only once or twice at a light, never moving or at speed. It sounds a lot like just kicking over the engine but the sound it makes when it clicks over. I'm thinking its detonation or maybe piston slap. I have been using low octane gas since it was at altitude, I've since used 93. I haven't run it enough to tell if thats it. Any thoughts?

Started out dirty




Cleaned it up a bit. Took the plastics off and cleaned it again.


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Took the subframe off and cleaned it again.



Took the wheels off and cleaned it agian lol



I started painting stuff and got the steering clamps off. The bearings hardly have any grease but they look pretty good. The races are in pretty good shape, there are some slight grooves but they aren't big enough to feel them so they should be fine.

Primer is on, paint tomorrow, and taking the swingarm off, painting it, and checking the bearings. I'd like to paint the frame but I doubt I will be able to get the motor out by myself. Maybe I'll use the engine hoist and pull it off.

One silly question...
Why do this now when riding season is here?

Now hurry up and put some clothes on the _itch and ride her like a dirty whore

You say the "clunking" is coming from the motor? Sitting at a light you shouldn't get detonation. Under load with low octane gas sure, but no load at idle it's not likely. Next time it's assembled enough to start try holding a rag on the muffler as if you were trying to stop the exhaust. The bike will continue to run but the exhaust noise will be so low you'll be able to hear the engine quite clearly. If she's a knockin' or a clunkin' you'll hear it.

Is it "clunking" or 'clicking"? If its clicking, a friend (ThorRex) had this same issue and it turned out to be worn cam chain guides - as identified by XRider.

the XRR is like a beautiful woman. The more you take off, the better she looks!

Ha, well it should only take a week or so, I'm not doing anything over the top just a little grease and clean. But the main reason is it was covered in snow all winter at my apartment, where as here i have a place to work and time on my hands. I'm taking a class online, so this is therapy/relaxation.

Its not a rpm sensitive click...just once or twice. If I rev it, it goes away. Its not a rod knock, or a deep solid thunk from something massive, its alot like just kicking the motor through. Wierd. I was thinking loose motor mount. When I adjust the valves, I'll pull it down a bit and check the cam chain guides. I don't think this bike had a lot of miles on it, but its looks like it got a lot of abuse then left to sit outside. I raced it in colorado, so I'm sure that didn't do it any favors.

Edit: it may have just been stalling. I never adjusted the idle when I came to Alabama(.5k ft) from tucson(1.8k ft). It never did it in Co at 8k ft. It has been a bit hard to start. I'm still torquing all the motor mounts anyway and checking the chain guide.

http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=462375


thread with the "clicking" issue

It probably is worn cam chain guides. You can't realy tell by looking at them if they are worn out or not but they don't cost that much ether.

Yeah thats probably it. Its this far apart so it won't be much more work to get to them. I don't think I'm going to take the motor out of the frame, its not scratched and looks pretty nice after I cleaned it the fourth time.

I'm going to rewind the stator, set up a dc regulator, install an hid kit, add plate lights, and maybe turn signals to make it look all legal-ish.

Front suspension is almost done. Pics after it goes back on. I talked to the dealer, they said there is no way to get the lower head bearing off without trashing it. So I'm going to slather a bunch of grease on it and see how it goes.

Ran out of beer so progress halted for a bit, but the beer has been restocked and work has resumed.

I've mostly just been painting/cleaning stuff. 90% of it is ready to go back together.



The swingarm bolt was a royal pain in the ass to get off, took cranking the compressor up, the impact, some pb blaster, and a lot of patience but it came off.





Swingarm went into the parts washer to remove tons of caked on crap.



And the cutoff wheel made quick work of whipping up some swingarm tools. thanks xr650r.us!





I hope to get finished painting it and get it ready for assembly tomorrow. I ordered a new countershaft seal, clutch bushing, rear cam guide and some other stuff. Hopefully that fixes all my little issues.

The swingarm bearings were nasty and notchy. Hopefully I can clean them up and save them. I wish somebody had torn this bike down and done this years ago. But they didn't and its the only reason I could afford the bike. Should be pretty nice when its done, and I can stop worrying if it will make it to the end of the ride without spitting something important off (like me!)

nice!
you should post up on SMJ some more

did you ever clean up that header pipe?

I can't tell if you removed it from the pictures but don't forget the strainer at the bottom of the frame oil tank. It's looking very sharp, hard to believe when you have it down to just a motor and frame that it builds back up to 300 pounds.

I haven't checked the strainer. I'll make sure to clean it before it goes back together.

The swingarm bearings were perma-fucked so those are going to need to be replaced. They were melted into one solid block. :huh I ordered some new bearings, and some bolts that were broken/stripped. It was nice to get all the jacked up old bolts out that have been annoying me.

It looks like this now. I've never liked silver frames and I think black frames look better. It may be too black, however it will definetly look menacing.

Primer


First couple coats

nice!
in reality how much more work would it of been to take out the engine?

by yourself i'd imagine it might be a chore. i think the engine is 90lbs?

It wouldn't have taken much more work, maybe 6-8 bolts and some oil lines. BUT then I would have to remember where all that stuff went, and had to mask off a bunch of small things instead of one big thing and a couple small things. Plus taking the engine out singlehanded, and trying not to scratch it putting it back in. I can pick it up like this, but it isn't easy so that didn't sound fun. I went back and forth on taking the engine out, and even just leaving the frame as is but I think this is the best compromise. I think the parts I can't paint because the engine is in will pretty much be covered up anyway.

When it goes back together it will get beaten on pretty hard so if I missed a bit oh well. It looked good in indirect light from 20 feet before, I'm just trying to make it look good in direct light from 5 feet.

Oh yeah...and I'm lazy and didn't feel like it.

Werd.

good thread, thanks.
Even in pieces it's a gorgeous bike

I finished painting the frame and I started putting stuff back on.

Looks good