1973 XL175 Vitamin C Hell Ride

irk miller

irk miller

You've been mostly-dead all day.
DTT BOTM WINNER
I was looking for a small, vintage and street-able dirt bike when this thing kind'a fell into my lap.

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It's still up in the air as to what I'll do with it, but for now I'll just see what I can do to get it running. The first order of business is to deal with the kick starter shaft. They commonly broke at the set screw groove. A donor in Charleston came available on eBay, so the wife and I took the kid for the day to get the bike, see the aquarium and get some good Charleston vittles. I payed $100 for the donor bike, which seems like a steal considering kick starter shafts are often $150 when they rarely come up on eBay.

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Re: 1973 XL175 Orange Soda Hell Ride

Got the engine dismounted. Just about time to crack it open.

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Re: 1973 XL175 Orange Soda Hell Ride

I started tearing down the good bike's engine to pull the broken kick starter shaft. According to the Honda Service Manual, you have to completely tear down the top end and pull the top case off of the bottom case, and transmission, to get to the shaft. I recall a conversation with Murray(cxman) where he said you flip the engine and pull the bottom case off. For some reason I went by the service manual procedure, which is essentially a complete teardown. I suspect the conflict in approaches has something to do with how the transmission is set in the case and how it meets up with the engine. As I got it tore down to the point where I pulled the cam (valve springs were next), it occurred to me: I really never intended to tear this thing completely down (not now at least). Also, the parts bike engine will turn over. Why not try to use the parts bike engine in this frame? Genius, right? So, now to pulling the parts bike engine. If there's anyone out there that knows this bike, and knows if pulling the bottom case off the engine while leaving the top end in tact will work to get to the kick starter shaft, please let me know. Otherwise, it's strictly by the book... at least for now.
 
Re: 1973 XL175 Orange Soda Hell Ride

i will ask Steve today and get back to you he is the one that does the small engines

ps dont forget my gas cap lol i am starting assembly on that bike
 
Re: 1973 XL175 Orange Soda Hell Ride

cxman said:
i will ask Steve today and get back to you he is the one that does the small engines

ps dont forget my gas cap lol i am starting assembly on that bike
Click to expand...
Much appreciative, Murray. I can mail the cap to you this week. I found one for this bike.
 
Re: 1973 XL175 Orange Soda Hell Ride

steve says they come out with out pulling head barrel or crank

turn it upside down remove the side covers

split the case

the back layshaft for the trans will lift out so you can get at the kicker shaft
 
Re: 1973 XL175 Orange Soda Hell Ride

I'm interested in this, as I have a CB100 that needs a kick starter shaft.

So please post as many pictures as you can of the change out.
 
Re: 1973 XL175 Orange Soda Hell Ride

budlite282 said:
I'm interested in this, as I have a CB100 that needs a kick starter shaft.

So please post as many pictures as you can of the change out.
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totally different motors cb100 is vertically split crankcase, unfortunately you must entirelly disassemble the whole engine on yours :'(
 
Re: 1973 XL175 Orange Soda Hell Ride

what xb33bsa said sorry they are all diff
 
Re: 1973 XL175 Orange Soda Hell Ride

Pulled the motor from the donor bike. Took the side covers off. 15 case bolts (8 on top, 7 on bottom) later, a couple taps with the sledge and wedge, and she cracked right open to reveal the glorious kickstarter shaft. It really was that easy. No idea why the fuck the Honda Service Manual tells you to completely tear it down.

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On a side note: I must remind myself next time I buy a donor bike mostly for engine parts, to take the engine out first before I have bright ideas that involve taking the front end off the bike. Moving an otherwise complete bike around with no front end sucks.
 
Re: 1973 XL175 Orange Soda Hell Ride

thats good news
just remember putting that together is more a right side up deal
 
Re: 1973 XL175 Orange Soda Hell Ride

xb33bsa said:
totally different motors cb100 is vertically split crankcase, unfortunately you must entirelly disassemble the whole engine on yours :'(
Click to expand...


Awww......gotcha..........thanks.

I do have it apart, trying to find a place to bore it out .050 over for me.
 
Re: 1973 XL175 Orange Soda Hell Ride

The beauty of having the complete engine to pull the kickstarter shaft from is I have a complete engine to practice putting back together. Putting this thing back together is definitely an upside down job, mainly because you need the shift forks to hang free in order to line them up. I suppose there is a way to do it right side up, but I was advised by a Honda mechanic who has been doing it since the 60's that it needs to be done upside down. Granted, he has a case splitter to hold things and crank it apart or together while I had to improvise. Needless to say, It took me about an hour but I've been able to get the case together on the parts engine with the shift forks and timing chain tensioner in place. Because I practiced on an engine without a kickstarter shaft, I had a nice sight hole to check my work. Following are pictures showing how things need to fit together.

First, I took the spark plug out to prevent any vapor lock from having the engine upside down. I removed the points plate to prevent damage, then compressed the engine by the cooling fins on the cylinder into a vice. Those of you with a sensitive stomach might want to look away:

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Then, while holding the lower case over the upper case I set the two together while placing the shift forks on their right gears with a long screwdriver. In the images, I've labeled the seven points that all much match together.

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While I wait for shipment of replacement gaskets and some more Hondabond, I'll do a few more practice rounds.
 
Re: 1973 XL175 Orange Soda Hell Ride

:eek: dude do it right side up...........
put both trans shafts in the lower case then drop the top on holding by each end of the crank,pull off the crank drive gear so that is not an issue you will want to clean the centrif filter anyway
then you only have the crank bearing alignment pins to locate
 
Re: 1973 XL175 Orange Soda Hell Ride

xb33bsa said:
:eek: dude do it right side up...........
put both trans shafts in the lower case then drop the top on holding by each end of the crank,pull off the crank drive gear so that is not an issue you will want to clean the centrif filter anyway
then you only have the crank bearing alignment pins to locate
Click to expand...


I'm getting conflicting advice on the procedure, so I want to be sure I understand all that is involved. Also, I was able to get it together with everything in place, so I know upside down does work. I'll also fully recognize the advantage to cleaning the centrifuge filter, but that can be done whether I do it upside down or right side up. When you pull the inboard and outboard gears out, do you have to worry about any shifting? Or is it just a matter of getting the forks lined up onto their proper gears? Do the inboard and outboard assemblies come straight out independent of each other? Also, when you say crank drive gear, I assume you mean the primary gear behind the filter on the crank shaft?

So the procedure should be: 1. remove the filter and primary gear from the crankshaft. 2. remove the inboard and outboard gear assemblies from the upper case and install them into the lower case and into their proper shift fork. (in any order?) 3. While holding each end of the crank, drop the top end onto the lower case while aligning them to their crank bearing alignment pins. Sounds easy enough.
 
Re: 1973 XL175 Orange Soda Hell Ride

also with the 2 shaft assemblies and clutch all dropped into place you should be able to rotate shafts and shift gears providing an interesting look at how it works
 
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