Hey'o Just made one of the most basic mistakes in the book and not sure what to do... So, I'm up visiting my brother and just helped him buy his first bike - an '01 DR650. I offered to give it a once over, and bring it back to the "high seat" setting. So I had just about finished this morning when I decided to check the valves before putting it all back together. I was not paying attention when I pulled the plugs, and once I had removed them, I looked down and found a pile of dirt and gravel behind each plug cascading into the cyclinder. So, I've tried to vacum and blow the debris aout, but I turned the crank and could still hear stuff in there. I am sitting here at the end of the road in Tofino, BC - about 90 minutes to the nearest poorly stocked moto store. I've got a copy of the shop manual, a metric socket set, a torque wrench, and the few tools I brought on the R100GS i rode in on. I am trying to decide what to do. I would really like to just put it into a truck and drop it off at a mechanic with a full shop, but first I thought I should ask a couple of questions to see how big of a job doing a top end on these really is? - Can you pull the cylinder with the engine still in the frame? - Other than a ring compressor, any other special tools required - What parts need to be ordered? (Base Gasket, Head Gasket, Piston Rings...) Thanks in advance for any help! Cheers! JB
Why pull the cylinder? all the crud should be above the piston. Removing the head should suffice.. Personally i would just fill the combustion chamber with kerosene or diesel then suck it out, repeat a few times and hope for the best
Yeah, Good Point. Pull the head and see what happens.... I suppose I'll need to get a hold of a new head gasket then right? Many many thanks, JB
....after you KNEW shit dropped into the cylinder as it could have worked shit into the grooves/rings AND gouged the cylinder walls. I'd find a way to turn the bike upside down and use one plug hole to blow air in and the vacuum in the other hole to draw out the shit, or (as has been suggested) remove the head and check for cylinder scoring as well. You'll also be able to suck alongside the sides of the cylinder walls as well to get the contaminants out from around the rings better. Best of Luck to the both of you!
What I would do is to remove the rest of the crud in the area. Pour some diesel or mineral spirits, thinner or such in the cylinder and rock the bike side to side. Lean the bike to 1 side. Get a length of clear tubing that is long enough to get to the piston, make a loop in the tubing, apply lips and suck out the fluid. Repeat until you only get clear fluid out, no debris.
That is a sad story. You're not going to get that dirt out of there by any other means then to tear the head and cylinder down. Some of the dirt has undoubtedly worked its way between the piston and the cylinder wall (that's the noise you hear) siting on top of the rings, filling the cylinder with fluid and sucking it out will help but it won't get the dirt that is worked in there out and that's the stuff that's going to ruin the cylinder if left alone. unfortunately this is just a bad deal. If you remove just the head you may be able to remove most of the dirt but since the hard part is already done you should go ahead and remove the jug as well, and you will need new gaskets, if it were my bike I'd refresh the top-end while it was apart.
Thank you guys. I've taken a good look at the shop manual, and pulling the head and cyclinder is starting to look to be a little beyond my comfort level - especially given how far I am from any decetn stores and my garage/tools. I've pulled the Jugs on my airhead, but I've never gone deeper than adjusting the valves on a bike with a cam chain. Opening it up and keeping the cam chain, the little pins, tensioners, etc. in order and then putting them all back together correctly would take me some time to get my head around. I am probably being a total wimp, but given that I don't live here, I really don't want to be the cause of any ongoing issues for my brother. I am thinking about doing what I have sworn never to do: take it to a "real" mechanic. My self esteem ego's hit rock bottom. If it was mine and I had time, a good place to lay everything out, and another bike to ride in the meantime, then it would definately be a fun project and a good learning experience; but for now, I'm going to do my learning on my own bikes. Thank you all for your prompt and knowledgable input - it is much appreciated. Sorry for being such a panzie.
It's an 8 year-old DR650... how good could the compression be. Just get the big chunks out of there, toss some saw dust in there, and leave town.... quick. You might want to leave an extra case of motor oil for your brother. Aside from that, maybe this link would be helpful.
Why don't you find a vacuum cleaner that uses a hose and duct tape a straw or similar to it and try to suck the stuff out. That's what Red Green would do!!
Turn the motor over until the exhaust valve is fully open. Stick an open ended air compressor hose in the spark plug hole. Blow all the stuff out. I bet a few of us have changed plugs and had stuff fall in and never knew it. Its an 8 year old bike it not all rocket science.
Its a DR, dontworry about it. Pop the head off, clean everything out. New gasket, oil change and your gtg. The DR is the kalashnikov of the bike world dude, it takes significant abuse to really fuck up.
My solution would be to back off the valve adjusters so all the valves are closed. remove both spark plugs. . make an adapter so i could flush the chamber with a garden hose. clean water in one hole and out the other. reset valves and crank the water out the plugs holes and blow cylinder dry with compressed air. change oil 3 times and run it.
dont take the head off just flush it out with diesel . try to vac / blow it out then open up the case drain and flush it through. it'll be ok
You did it by accident, but the majority of bike owners do it everytime they check or change their spark plugs, not realizing how much dirt and grit gets trapped around the base of spark plugs. The DR650 traps some, but bikes with deep plug recesses like the KLR650 and others are even worse. Even bikes that are seldom taken off road still pick up and trap debris after they are washed and everything is carried into the plug recesses. A few smart manufacturers will put the old style rubber plug caps on some of their models that actually seal the top of the plug recess. I ALWAYS use my air compressor to blow out the debris before loosening and removing my plugs. If I have to remove a plug on the road or in the desert, I use the small vent hose off my IMS tank and blow through it (like a straw) to remove as much of the dirt as possible. You would be surprised at the number of people that never give this a second thought and even more surprised at the number of motorcycle shops that could care less. If you think you had quiet a bit of grit in the cylinder, then by all means remove the head. The oil already in the cylinder will catch and suspend most of the grit and by carefully (after the head is removed) moving the piston up and down a few stokes will see the debris on the cylinder wall above the piston edge. Carefully wipe it out and reinstall the head. Trying to blow it out with Air pressure or trying to "wash" it out with solvent will not be good enough. Take the time to do it right and the peace of mind will be worth it. Ride safe
+1 pour in disel or light oil. Make a reducer for the old shop vac and suck it out. A few treatments like that and it should be OK. A dumb dick bud of mine rode his KLR in the Big Bend desert for two days without an air filter. That was two years ago and it just now started to smoke a little. If you flush this one time deal out you'll be OK.