!!! 1986 XL600R Adventure Bike Rebuild !!!

[Cafe Racer]

Excellent build thread.

Miguel

[crobox]

Originally Posted by Cafe Racer

Excellent build thread.

Thanks!

I am going with the consensus, and my gut.... I just ordered a cam chain from XRs Only.

I was excited to get the engine back into the frame soon, but I have plenty of other work to keep me busy on the bike till the chain arrives.

C

[crobox]

Originally Posted by homerb

i reckon a good doctor would be able to do something about those feet!!!

[crobox]

I found a few minutes to sneak to the shop and, knowing that I'm gonna replace the timing chain this coming week, I decided to pop off the clutch-side cover. Everything looked pretty good except for this:



That's the little tube which is, I think, one of two outlets from the oil pump. It obviously went in crooked during the last assembly of the engine (whenever that was...). The sort of amazing thing is that the seal between the cover and the pump was apparently good. All components in the cam and valve area, as previously noted, are in very good condition, so oil was definitely getting up there.

I am particularly nervous about this area... the way that the oil pump outflow goes into the side cover. When I was 19 or 20 years old, I replaced the clutch on my first XL600R (see page 1 for pix) and managed to forget an O-ring during reassembly. My head got fried in short order and I had to have an expensive repair done at Golden Gate Cycles (way back when it was on Van Ness).

For all you who have done this before... once I correct the little aluminum tube problem and replace the associated O-ring, does everything else here look to be in order? The larger hole in the background slightly to the right mates up with the other, larger output of the oil pump, but there does not seem to be a replaceable O-ring or other type of seal there... there is a seal there held in place by a circlip, but there's definitely no replacement for it in my "full engine rebuild gasket and seal kit". Anything I need to know? I don't want to make the same costly mistake again....

[davek181]

The seal behind the circlip in the picture is the passage for oil to the crankshaft. It is a seal since it mates to the rotating crank. If it is soft and pliable and not torn, it is still usable. Seals are cheap though, and if you are ordering the o-ring anyway....

[crobox]

I took a look at the engine again and determined that the big "port" in the background of the pic is not a second output from the oil pump, but rather seems to be a post-filter passage for pressurized oil to enter the crank, presumably to oil the crank and piston (?) and other parts.

So the "port" with the screwy angled aluminum tube appears to be the main output of the pump. I guess the fabled second output is that hard tube that disappears under the clutch....

[crobox]

Originally Posted by davek181

The seal behind the circlip in the picture is the passage for oil to the crankshaft. It is a seal since it mates to the rotating crank. If it is soft and pliable and not torn, it is still usable. Seals are cheap though, and if you are ordering the o-ring anyway....

Funny... I posted my realization of this as you were posting...

Thanks Dave!

[Homerb]

Originally Posted by davek181

The seal behind the circlip in the picture is the passage for oil to the crankshaft. It is a seal since it mates to the rotating crank. If it is soft and pliable and not torn, it is still usable. Seals are cheap though, and if you are ordering the o-ring anyway....

I replaced this seal last week and it cost me all of 5 bucks from my local bearing supplier! The size is 14 x 22 x 5mm.
Also, I reckon the o ring locator in your photo probably got partially dislodged and left at this angle when you were removing the clutch cover. If everything isnt perfectly inplace when fitting the clutch cover, it doesnt seal up and I actually cracked one once when tightening it up when something was out of place.

[crobox]

Originally Posted by Homerb

Also, I reckon the o ring locator in your photo probably got partially dislodged and left at this angle when you were removing the clutch cover.

No, definitely not. There are wear marks on the aluminum tube, small areas where it was flattened, which show clearly that it was sandwiched tightly against the oil pump outlet for some time. If I remember, I will take pix of it tomorrow and post them.

Originally Posted by Homerb

I replaced this seal last week and it cost me all of 5 bucks from my local bearing supplier! The size is 14 x 22 x 5mm.

OK, thanks. But... I wish I had a local bearing supplier! The town I live in, population 6000, doesn't even have a motorcycle store!! You can't buy stainless steel here! A bearing supplier would be a dream! Closest one I know of is 400 miles away in Denver. Everything is by mail order. But thanks for the size... it will help me mail order the right item if mine is shot.

[Homerb]

[QUOTE=crobox;20538804]No, definitely not. There are wear marks on the aluminum tube, small areas where it was flattened, which show clearly that it was sandwiched tightly against the oil pump outlet for some time. If I remember, I will take pix of it tomorrow and post them

No worries. Ive acually consided epoxying the tube into the oil pump to ensure it cant be dislodged while fitting the clutch cover.

[mcma111]

Grease is all you need to keep that little collar in place while you install the clutch cover.

[jonsvba]

Newbie just found this thread. Great build. Am looking fwd to next instalment.

[crobox]

Another view of the smashed tube....

[davek181]

The tube looks definitely pinched between the case halves, but still it looks like it sealed anyway luckily. I have found them that way too on case removal, apparently it is easy enough to do. Honda should have made that tube fit tighter in the case. As my memory serves me it is really kind of held in by the o-ring which is backwards in my mind.

[crobox]

Upon reassembly, should the tube and O-ring be held in the side-cover? Or in the pump outlet?

(The answer to this question may well be in my Clymer manual... but that is in the shop!)