Helping a kid near me CL450 questions.

[MotorbikeBruno]

Hey guys, I responded to a kid on CL that said he needed help with his CL450. He's a younger dude that got a basket case and got in a little over his head Not that we all haven't done something similar right? :-X

Anyways. He said he was having trouble with his kick starter. So I came over, pushed lightly on the lever and it was indeed "stuck." So I pulled the magneto cover, and attempted to rotate by hand. It didn't move in that direction, BUT it would move backwards. He had just put the cam chain back on, and said he lined up the marks perfectly, so he couldn't see why it would have any problems. I told him to pull his spark plugs so I could see inside the cylinders. He was correct that he put the LF mark on the magneto and had the left cylinder at TDC. So when I rotated the engine that side was fine. But the right piston made its way up the cylinder and then it showed why it was unhappy. The front right (while sitting on the bike) valve was contacting the piston. He said he didn't try to KICK it over, just moved it with his hand, so we may be ok with the condition of the valve I hope :-\

On to my question. The cams have a mark on them to show how they line up. The rear cam was easily seen, and lines up perfectly. The front cam (the one that controls this valve that is having the problem) has NO discernible marks like the rear did. He said it lined up with a mark, but from what I can see, it's a casting mark, as it goes all across the entire cam. Here's some pics. The manual says to line up the marks and that there are marks on the bearing too...didn't see EITHER of them. Any help would be greatly appreciated gents!

 

[milehighcj360t]

just tore down my entire motor as a result of the exact same scenario. Valves bend like butter cuts under a hot knife, so you might be screwed. I'd suggest re-setting the timing according to the following timing schedule,

You will recognize the proper cam marks when the cam lobes appear to be “pointing” to the following “clock” positions when they’re in the proper places (as viewed from the left side of the engine)

Left Exhaust - 3:00 (valve closed)
Right Exhaust - 5:30 (and almost completely open valve)
Left Intake -8:30 (valve closed)
Right Intake - 12:00 (valve getting tighter, but still closed)

the timing mark on the exhaust cam is a bit ambiguous as to the markings, and getting it wrong is much easier than getting it right. If you use the timing positions as explained above, you'll find the right timing mark...but you'll have to pop that chain again and try repositioning from there.

Hope that helps.

H

 

[chillinfellow]

Bruno, Awesome that you rolled over and helped him out, sweet Kz550 8) (the neighbor)

 

[MotorbikeBruno]

AWESOME Chillinfellow! Glad to see you on here. And thanks on the compliments! My wife loves her new ride! haha. He may need your help with this, as I'm swamped until next Wednesday. He doesn't have any metric tools....I was going to toss him one of the cheap 10 dollar sets I have laying around here to help him out.

Milehigh, you are a savior as always. 8) I'll start with that, because I swear there are NO markings on that cam, we looked for damn near half an hour! And we already decided to get a new master since we knew that was going to need to be done. Thanks again for the replies gents!

Bruno

 

[frogman]

The mark for the exhaust SHOULD be on the LEFT side of the engine as you would sit on the bike, and yes most are VERY hard to find but look like a CHISEL or a cut mark, not a a cast mark.

 

[chillinfellow]

Bruno, no problem, I have some metrics, worst case I'll buy him some cheapies if need be, so he has something to wrench with over the weekend. Just give him further instructions you think are correct to keep him moving in the right direction, I can check in with him to review & hopefully he can correct the problem he has by the time you can confirm the right setting with him. If I recall you told him he should probably pull motor from frame and pop the master link (and buy a new one) so he'll be able to reset the cam in the correct position once it's been determined on where it actually should be.

 

[MotorbikeBruno]

I figured it would be easier, but it seems he can do all that work with the engine in the frame (guys correct me if I'm wrong, as I have not wrenched on one of these personally) He should be on track, I emailed him this morning. He's got my feeler gauge that has the .003mm or whatever it was the book said for valve clearance, and he knows how to set it, with the right wrenches he'll be just fine I think. I'm out of town until next Wednesday.

Also, Frogman, the book almost yells at you saying they are both on the right side, we looked at the left side of the front cam and it didn't seem to have any real discernible marks either... :-\

Chillinfellow, you are good neighbor and we'll all have to go for a ride when he gets that thing completed. I'll bring the KZ.