Tim's XS project - 750cc rephased ported head titanium valve hot cam craziness

[JustinLonghorn]

Re: Tim's XS project - ENGINE UPGRADES COMING - AUG 2012 SALT FLATS OR BUST

Throw it on there, and take a pic man.

 

[Tim]

Re: Tim's XS project - ENGINE UPGRADES COMING - AUG 2012 SALT FLATS OR BUST

Will do. It will look fine, but would be racing only unless I went all the way and mounted some projector headlight under it discretely or through a small hole in the fairing.

 

[JustinLonghorn]

Re: Tim's XS project - ENGINE UPGRADES COMING - AUG 2012 SALT FLATS OR BUST

Yep. I like that idea.

 

[Tim]

Re: Tim's XS project - ENGINE UPGRADES COMING - AUG 2012 SALT FLATS OR BUST

See what I shoulda done is what I was going to do a while back when I got my SR. Was going to port over the tank / seat etc. from the XS to the SR for a truer 500cc Manx wanna-be. Can of course still do that whenever I feel like it as I think the front ends are swappable as are the swing arms etc. and the SR frame is all set to take the seat and tank (I'm 99% sure the tank would sit on the SR backbone, but might not go as far forward as I'd like due to the oil filler).

Anyhow - we'll see. Now that I have a 'race' motor in the XS, it really should remain my 'cafe racer'. Maybe one day I'll get bored and pimp-out the SR motor.

 

[Tim]

Re: Tim's XS project - ENGINE UPGRADES COMING - AUG 2012 SALT FLATS OR BUST

Sorry - pasted the link to the battery in by mistake.

I'm likely going with it though (12 cell Ballistic) as it offers the most cca - 410 for the size / weight vs. Shorai. Not sure what a 410cca lead acid or AGM battery would weigh, but this one is 2.5 pounds and more importantly is very small at 4.5 x 4.5 x 3.5 inches (give or take).

3 year warranty as well. Not cheap but good batteries of this capacity aren't inexpensive and my knee will thank me.

 

[Tim]

Re: Tim's XS project - ENGINE UPGRADES COMING - AUG 2012 SALT FLATS OR BUST

More like Wounded Knee. Getting too old for this shit, and my knee is still sore from last Thursday. That however was mainly caused by the kickstarter 'disengaging' and going into free fall, which is something I need to figure out when I open the side of the engine to re-install the starter bendix gears etc.

 

[Swagger]

Re: Tim's XS project - ENGINE UPGRADES COMING - AUG 2012 SALT FLATS OR BUST

Tim, what about adding a comprehension release or even a chainsaw pop-off valve to one cylinder? That's make kicking the brute over far less abusive, maybe enough so to make that electric leg a non-issue? The XV guys (notoriously shitty e-starters) seem pretty happy with one from one of the larger displacement chainsaws.
I'm supposed to put a pair into some buell heads for a 14-1 ally burner. Best thing is they are self resetting so once the bikes fires they pop closed and you have full comprehension.

Also, as someone with several knee surgeries passed.....extensions and hamstring curls will go the longest toward stengthening the support muscles, also think about some side lunges or pukers for whatever lateral bolstering you can add. Just a thought....

 

[Tim]

Re: Tim's XS project - ENGINE UPGRADES COMING - AUG 2012 SALT FLATS OR BUST

Frankly my legs and I are plenty strong / fit to kick the bike over - it was the 2x disengagement and hyper-extension of my knee that is causing the grief. That and the inconvenience of the bike stalling every once in a while at a light. The e-start will be a great help in those situations. With the stock engine I actually perfected a rolling kickstart - could start the bike while in motion. But couldn't do that with the current setup.

Battery, button, solenoid all on the way. Just need to fab up a box, hang it somewhere and wire it up. Will be adding maybe 5-7 pounds total to the bike so no big deal.

 

[two-smoker]

Re: Tim's XS project - ENGINE UPGRADES COMING - AUG 2012 SALT FLATS OR BUST

Ugh... I had something like that happen to me on my Suzuki... Went to take a full swing, and the kicker arm just snapped. Nothing I could do, I was in the air. Nice scar on my right shin.... Not a pleasant memory.

 

[Tim]

Re: Tim's XS project - ENGINE UPGRADES COMING - AUG 2012 SALT FLATS OR BUST

Yup sucks. And sometimes it lulls me into a false sense of security. Tonight I adjusted tappets, tightened engine mounts, checked timing, adjusted clutch after 150 or so miles on the new engine.

Kicked over no problems, 2 kicks in my sneakers. Easy. But I know better... it's just teasing me.

I'm thinking I can squeeze a battery box right below the swingarm, bolted with brackets to the inverted T of the downtube and cross tube between the bottom rails. Need to get the solenoid in there too so I don't have big gauge cables all over the place. Would be right behind the starter motor so all the cables would be short. Just one wire from the solenoid to the starter button on the handlebars.

Will take a while to get it all together, and then I have to take the clutch off the bike to install the gearing connecting the starter motor gears to the clutch gear. Will be time for an oil change soon anyhow.

 

[JustinLonghorn]

Rad.

 

[707racing]

The earlier XS's had a compression release on the left hand exhaust. You pull a small lever on the handle bar, which pulls a cable, which pivots a lever against a small tab on the rocker arm, thus opening the left exhaust valve. The pivot point was in the valve check cover, which is why that cover has 4 studs and all the others have three. I've seen slick set ups where the starter switch was wired into the compression release lever. You would have to get the rocker arm with the extra tab, as well as the rest of the compression release parts.

I've already got Harley pop-off valves on mine, but I think I am also going to put this on. I have to manually hold the pop-off open while trying to start the bike. I'll probably be the first person to have three compression releases on a two cylinder engine!

 

[Tim]

I have one of those release covers around, but would need the rocker and have to swap it out. It's really not bad when the engine is behaving and happy, but like I say, when it dies at a red light in Toronto traffic, kicking it over is a pain. So I'll sacrifice a few pounds and perhaps an ounce or two of dignity and put the e-start back on

Thanks to montessa172 (Graham) I've got an e-start motor for the bike, and my solenoid and battery arrived last week. Just waiting on the button for the bars and need to fab up a battery box.

 

[Cloyd]

What kind of solenoid and battery did you order?

 

[Tim]

Just the oem solenoid from mikesxs and a 12 cell Ballistic battery.

 

[Cloyd]

Nice I have been looking for a smaller solenoid that will fit under my seat better but I have not found the right one

 

[Tim]

I wanted a small one too, but couldn't really find anything specific and had no idea how big or small the original was - been 4 years since I binned it.

This one is quite small - total height would be about 1.6 inches if the little bracket holding the wires was bent down, which I plan on doing. You can just see it at the back of the photo.

To give you an idea of scale, the round cylinder part, not including the bracket that wraps around it, is 34mm across or 1.34 inches.

 

[Cloyd]

Thanks for the info. Wish I could order one but they are sold out.

 

[beekay]

Hey - This is my first post here - I like this site
I was referred here by 707 racing because I'm wanting to build an engine like this one... But 103 pages!!
What page shows the headwork?
Just thought I'd ask... Still haven't found it

Okey Dokey... Just spent 2 hrs on this thread... What a show!
The verdict's in: My bike is a rat

Thx - BK

 

[crazypj]

I've seen slick set ups where the starter switch was wired into the compression release lever.

That's the standard set up on early XS/TX.
There is no starter button