| Author | Message | ||
     Fastback69 |
It is common practice in race motors to use studs in the main journal caps to keep them from walking around. Do you think studs would help to stop the rocker boxes from moving under the valvetrain loads? I plan to try to convert mine if I ever have them off the engine. | ||
| Aaron |
now THERE's an idea! Might make the boxes just a tad difficult to remove and install with the engine in the bike, though. | ||
| Fastback69 |
Forgot about the clearance problems. The studs can be inserted by hand after the boxes are positioned. They only have to be finger tight in the parent part. A nylock nut would help to seat the stud all the way down. Do the boxes have alignment dowels? | ||
| Mikej |
Why not just use shoulder bolts. All you're trying to do is limit the slop potential. As long as the tolerances of the holes positionally is within reason, you should be able to fit or turn-down a shoulder bolt to eliminate most of the slop. Just another idea. A stud is just a bolt without a head. And a nut is just a bolt with the shaft removed, then drilled and tapped. Or something like that. (Some analogies fall apart quickly.) | ||
| Bigblock |
Hi guys, here's my thought on rocker boxes. I put in cams at 2000 mi, and rear rocker gasket failed at 3500. on inspection I noticed the thin pushrod side was pushed over, causing the leak. There was just a sliver still in the right spot. I suspect they walk slightly out of alignment on assembly if your not real careful, as the box is hard to tighten evenly due to torque of compressing the valvetrain on the pushrod side. I think anyone can make this mistake, including the factory, and my fix was to glue that sucker down with some permatex Hi-Tack, and CAREFULLY and EVENLY tighten the cover. I used Harley gaskets, and now have 8000 HARD mi, dry as can be(knock on wood) I don't warm my bike up much, unless it's real cold out. Ray | ||
| Blake |
I'd offer that the rockerbox's steel bolts are most likely tensioned adequately when cold and offer additional preload as the engine warms. At least if I were designing such a structural conection, that's what the case would be. My rockerbox gasket leak/failure had the slim part of the gasket near the left rear corner of the rear cylinder distorted inward and torn as if sucked into the rockerbox by a hard vaccuum. I could see clear marks on the faying surfaces indicating that the gasket had been in the distorted position since it's installation. | ||
| Gpurdue |
Has anyone loped off the front motor mount extension that is used to support the front of the OEM airbox? The box is long-gone in favor of a K&N unit. I don't see any problem whacking it back to the bolt boss. Method used to cut it off and success? Thanks. 2000 M2 | ||
| Marks3tbillet |
Gpurdue: I've seen nots of motor mounts cut off and that works fine. Some people do not finish it off well and it doesn't look too good. I have learned from other folks that you can install the X1 mount, it dones not have the extension and looks much better. I ordered one for my 2000 S3T the other day. Part number is 16271-99Y, cost is around $10. Mark | ||
| Joep |
That X1 mount is relatively cheap, but you gotta be real care in the install. You'll need NEW bolts and washers and the torqueing requires a certain procedure. Something like: torque to 60lbs, then loosen one full turn, then re-torque to 60lbs. I've got a copy of the factory instructions, since this item was a recall for '97-'98 bikes. E-mail me and I'll send you a copy. Too much trouble for me, I just cut mine with a mini-hacksaw and then shaped it with a file. Looks kinda stock. Be careful doing this as well, since the mount is somewhat porous and you'll find air pockets. Leave enough room beyond the bolt (I left about an inch) and then gradually file down. You don't want to expose any air pockets close to the bolt. | ||
| Junior |
After having the airbox modified and a streetfighter pipe added to my 2000 Cyclone, is there a need to add an oil cooler(I will be making several road trips on the bike)? | ||
| Fastback69 |
Does anyone have experience with Sifton Cams? I would like something between stock and the SE 1 cams and the Sifton Stingray seems to fit the gap nicely. | ||
| Reese |
Can someone give me an idea of how much money that I'm going to be out? I rode my S3T for about 10 miles with very little oil. (I didn't know at the time that it was low and forgot to check) Anyhoo, I heard this faint clicking noise and it grew louder. I pulled off and brought the bike back home by truck. I'm obviously not mechanically inclined, so could one of you guys give me a roundabout estimate on the repair cost for a possible thrown rod? Thanks in advance.... Paulsbuell@hotmail.com | ||
| Rocketman |
Greese : You didn't say how little oil you ran with, never the less, your next move would be to install a fresh filter and fresh oil, then run the motor up to operating temp. Listen for strange noises and check exhaust for excessive smoke\blue smoke. (The noise you might have heard could have been the hydraulic lifters running low on oil, in which case, once replenished, should go quiet and be A ok) You might not have done any harm what so ever. I would recommend that you cut the used oil filter in half and carefully check for tiny metal particles in the webbing. You might find a few smattered around the place but your looking for lots of the stuff which is a bad sign. If everything looks fine and sounds fine, it would do you no harm to at least let a tech have a look at it. Maybe compression check it and leak down check. Good luck, Rocket in England | ||
| Jmartz |
Reese: Follow Rocket's sound advice. If you discover a pile of metal particles in the filter then it is serious. This will be the time to do some performance mods as you rebuild. I have run my motor with and empty oil tank several times w/o damaging it. The pickup point is a small "cone" so if you have 10 mL of oil it will still be recirculating. Best wishes, jose | ||
| Paisan |
Hope this is the right area for this.... has anyone had any experience with dual plugging their heads? There is a machine shop in my area that will do this for $75...cheap. Used to be everyone was doing that...but I havent seen a Buell with dualplugged heads. Seems to me this coupled with a single-fire ignition is the way to go.....any input? | ||
| Jmartz |
Had a conversation with eric buell at uke's a couple of years gao when the t-storms were 1st released. We were talking about he "new" Sportster Sport and its Lightning dual plug heads. Something about low end power in a Soprty and a higher rpm range powerband on the buell as reasons for not needing dual plugs. | ||
| Drandall |
Spark plugs for Western WA winters: I've been commuting a lot, and I drained my oil to find white milky stuff: coolant???  Just kidding; Buell rads never leak... My ride to work is forty minutes long, so short-hops isn't the problem. I talked to Kurt at Eastside about running hotter Sportster plugs (6R12s), and he thought it would be a good idea. He also re-set my Race ECM, but the bike is definitely running better with the hotter plugs during my 30 - 40 Fahrenheit commutes. Any opinions about this? | ||
| Airborne |
Drandall, I assume you had the 10R12 plugs in the bike before the 6R12. Is that right? What was your reason for switching, just the cold weather? I just switched from the 6R12 over to the 10R12 due to a service bulletin released by Buell. I had a pre-detonation problem on really hot days when I whacked on the throttle. According to the Buell service guys the cooler 10R12 plugs are to eliminate 90% of the pinging problem. The plugs were free also. I won't know if it works until after winter. Will you be switching back to cooler plugs in the summer? Airborne | ||
| Chuck |
Well . . . it finally happened to me, too . . . the dreaded leaky rocker box disease. Rear cylinder, front left (near intake valve), between lower box section and head. What a mess! My 2000 M2 only has 2300 miles on the clock. Okay -- here's my stupid question: the service manual says to replace the sealing washers (under the steel washers) on the 4 bolts that hold the top box section down . . . but the two bolts on the left of the bike seem to be "captive" in the top cover. Is this supposed to be? Or are the washers just very "stuck"? Also -- can the front rocker box be removed without first removing the front main engine hanger bracket? It looks really "crowded" there  | ||
| Peter |
Chuck, The sealing washers are just stuck, and you can remove the front cover without removing the bracket. It's easier if you unplug the speedo(tacho) plugs in the wiring harness to give you more space. PPiA | ||
| Chuck |
Thanks, Peter. I will be more forceful with the washers . . . extra confidence is a good thing | ||
| Dave |
Like Peter said, you may need to unplug or move wire bundles out of the way. I removed the air box and horn as well. The only items I replaced was the base gasket and I used James gaskets. Another tech tip: After you clean up the reusable rubber seals, stick them in the freezer for about an hour or so. Mine appeared too have grown after I took them out! ;-) So in the freezer they went, some magic words, and a sacrificial 12 oz Bud Light, they went back to their factory size.    DAve | ||
| Chuck |
Thanks, Dave. Nice photos  | ||
| Tims |
Anyone at BWB enlighten me as regards to cams fitted to Buells from 97 on? I know early M2s had milder cams than the S1s but what about later bikes? Did the 1999 and later bikes run different cams/timings between the models? Were the timings markedly different than 97/98 models? T-storm/SE1 cams where run in which bikes? M2, X1s or both? Thanks | ||
| Aaron |
M2/S2: Sportster cams S1/S1W/X1/S3/S3T: Lightning/SE-1 cams All years. International bikes vary. S2: Sportster heads 97-98 M2/S1: Lightning heads 98 S1W/S3/S3T: Thunderstorm heads 99-01 all: Thunderstorm heads International bikes vary for '98 at least AW | ||
| Tims |
Thanks Aaron. Are you saying that a 97 M2 ran the same cams as a standard equiped Sportster?? | ||
| Aaron |
Yes, I believe all M2's and S2's use regular plain jane Sportster cams. I'll take a gander at my parts books when I get out to the shop later, to make sure, but I'm about 99% sure. AW | ||
| Court |
I am 100% sure. | ||
| Chuck |
Court, Aaron, My 2000 M2 manual says that my bike has "high contact ratio" cam drive and pinion gears. What does this mean and could I use cams that don't have "high contact ratio" gears as long as I also use a "matching" pinion gear | ||
| Tims |
A good point. A 2000 Andrews Products catalog I saw recently stated the following "The #2 cam drive gear (36 teeth) used in the 2000 model year EV Sportster cams is different than the 91-99 cams." |
