| Author | Message | ||
     Hemicbx |
So at the risk of looking like a fool here, I have to come to the board to ask a pretty basic question; but I don't come unarmed without facts. So I wanted to check the timing on my '07 XB12 today. I'm new to Buells, but not new to wrenching & building, so I figured this would be a quick little morning check. I have a shop manual & it was out & open. I had the bike up no the lift, jacked up the rear tire, and pulled the inspection plug out (the one down between the jugs). I could clearly look in and see the crank edge. I hooked the bike up to ECM spy & looked at the diagnostics page. As I turned the wheel, it would switch from a green zero to a red five as I rotated the rear wheel in fifth gear. I was watching for the timing mark, but never saw it come thru the inspection port. I even got to the point where I had a mirror hanging on the side of the bike so I could see in the inspection port and behind me to the PC monitor at the same time. I would rotate the rear tire and see the diagnostics page switch at the instant the fuel pump switched on, but I never saw the mark. I'm puzzled. How big is this mark supposed to be? I'm guessing it should be pretty obvious. How fast does it come thru the inspection port? Is it possible I could've missed it whipping by? Anyone seen (or not seen) anything like this before? Thanks, | ||
| Glitch |
Do a search for Davo timing He helped me a great deal when I was checking mine. It's pretty easy once you know how. | ||
| Firebolt1203 |
Finding that timing mark is like a needle in the haystack. The problem is right at top dead center everything is trying to push the piston down, so its easy to over shoot it. also I noticed with mine that ECM spy will switch a few times from green to red but not be at TDC yet I think because of how the sensor reads timing advance. Just keep trying, its there. Has anyone ever used a timing light with the little glass inspection plug? | ||
| Thatman |
I have not done this on a Buell before but as a former mechanic, if you are having trouble finding the mark, remove the spark plugs. This way you remove the compression stroke and it will be much easier to gradually move the crank through in revolutions. You never said if you had removed the plugs, so I thought I would add that. Good luck, can’t write more because I am at work…. | ||
| Jpgrego |
I just did this last week and tried initially to do it with the spark plugs removed. After having trouble finding it I gave up and moved on to installing the spark plugs. I tried again afterward and found the timing mark much more easily with the plugs in. Might have just been luck but it worked for me. -Patrick | ||
| Hemicbx |
Cool. Thanks for the input guys. It probably just went by too fast for me to see. It will be a week or so till I get back to it but my dad will be out that week so I can position him to watch for the mark, my kid to watch the PC, and I'll turn the wheel. Sounds like there's a joke in there somewhere: How many men does it take to check timing on a Buell?  |
