| Author | Message | ||
     Sss99x1 |
I bought my 99X1 over a month ago. been riding it with no real problems others than primary tensioner exploding but fixed that. Couple days ago noticed some oil on the garage floor. No big deal figured primary plug needed a new o ring. Went and got some last night and was going to change it out but started following the oil leak and realized its from the top end. I am guessing the rocker box gaskets have never been updated. Its got about 11000 miles so i figured if it was going to leak it would have already. Is this more than likely the problem? Anybody have any direction on how to change the gaskets? I have a service manual but dont want to start something i cant finish. I hate to take to dealer though. Help is appreciated. I looked on here for this topic but cant seem to find any insight or tips. Im by no meeans a mechanic but Im not an idiot either. | ||
| Wardan123 |
SSS, I have an '02 X1W Rear rocker gaskets went twice and I had the dealership do the both times. Both times $150.00+ dollars- I now have kids and no money so--- Front went 2 mos ago. I did it. Here's how. If you have a digital camera take pics of what you are going to take apart- show yourself the reassembly order- it helps. Bike in wheel stands. $99 from Handy I removed the tank. Floor jack under the front shock mount. Loosened and removed heim suspension(sp?) things. Removed the front motor mount (yeah it said "do not remove" on it but, I did anyway.) Dropped motor down - keep an eye on your air cleaner setup- don't let it rest on the frame. Removed front rockerboxes. Drilled out the umbrella valve return hole to 1/8" *see http://www.saintjohn.nbcc.nb.ca/marriott/x1/#Breat hers Scraped old paper gaskets off. I looked around in that rockerbox area alot and marveled that I had my hands in a place that could mess up my bike badly. Put ht new metal gaskets in and reinstalled my rockerboxes USING A TORQUE WRENCH. Used the pics from my digital camera to help me raise and reinstall the motor- be sure to use locktight where needed. Held my breath- started bike- 1000+miles later and no leaks/no problems. I used the manual and the parts book and the KV here look under "XB heads on tuber" this is a switch you may want to do. Lots of guys will say that you need not drop the engine. They are mystic warrior mechanics to me. I had a hard time getting the rocjkerbox covers out with the engine lowered. Hope this helps... | ||
| Oldog |
They are mystic warrior mechanics to me How did you Know?  its real close down there! I have ball end allen wrenches and swivel sockets that help this process. I have done both boxes. and you "SHOULD" be able to remove the covers with out engine juggling. | ||
| Kyrocket |
Why was the bike in wheel stands for a rocker box gasket change? Just wondering. If it has 11k on it I'm pretty sure they have been changed, probably more than once. Mine blew out like clockwork every 3500 while I was letting the dealer do it. I changed them myself with Cometic and have not had any problems since. That has been about 7500 miles ago. I have been very happy with the Cometic. Mine is also a '99 X1 with 22k+ miles on it, I love it. I still have the stock rocker tops, I love to wrench but am by no means a mechanic. A buddy and I changed mine in the garage in an afternoon. Listen to Oldog and get the ball end allen wrenches and a swivel or the allen sockets with a swivel worked for me also and it's nice to have them in the toolbox. If you still have the stock tops I'd try just changing them first before dropping the motor and putting it back in, sounds like a heap of work. | ||
| Djkaplan |
"I have a service manual but dont want to start something i cant finish." Good... just do what the manual tells you to do. I did my rocker box gaskets with the bike on the kickstand... it actually makes it easier to get the pushrod tubes back in the rocker boxes if the bike is leaning to the left. Just cut down an Allen wrench to get at the few fasteners that are in a tight spot. The rocker covers and boxes easlily slide out with the engine in place. | ||
| Sss99x1 |
Where can i get the Cometic gasket kit and what is part #. Id like to put the best gaskets in i can so i dont have to do it again. Im going to try this myself and stay away from dealer. | ||
| Djkaplan |
"They are mystic warrior mechanics to me." You actually do have to get into a mystic Zen-like state to get the front caliper out without taking the disc off too. | ||
| Djkaplan |
"Im going to try this myself and stay away from dealer." Any of the fine sponsors of the board will be more than happy to do business with you. Just say you heard about them from the BadWeb and they'll bend over backwards to make sure you are good to go. I think I got my set from Al at American Sport Bike. | ||
| Sss99x1 |
Am I correct in saying that i need the rocker box gasket kit for an EVO 1200 Sportster. OEM # is 17030-91. Cometic website doesnt list them for 99X1 Buell but they do list for the EVO Sportsters. Figuring this is probably correct. | ||
| Kyrocket |
DING DING DING WE HAVE A WINNA!!  You sir are correct. I think I got mine at American Thunder, a now defunct business (in Lexington at least) that dealt in high end bikes and less than courteous sales people. I went in and asked if they carried Cometic and you'd have thought I'd asked for a charitable donation. When they said they did I asked if they had it for a '99 Buell and was told in no uncertain terms that they carried NOTHING for a Buell. I then asked about a '99 sporty, oh yeah we got that. So a long story short, depending on where you're going, use the Badweb as a reference and go in with your guns loaded (figuratively speaking of course) but if you deal with a sponsor you should have no problems whatsoever. Good Luck | ||
| Sss99x1 |
Well, gaskets are purchased from American Sport Bike as of this afternoon. Im going to try and start on it tonight and hopefully can get the gastank off, remove the covers, and remove the lower rocker boxes. Few questions. - to depressurize the fuel line, where do i disconnect? Photos would be a big help if anybody has something. - When i take off the cover Im supposed to position the cylinder so that both valves are closed by hitting the starter with the plugs removed. Call me a moron but what do they look like when they are closed and what do they look like when they are open? - whats the best thing anyone has used as a gasket remover? Im going to try and do this as a step by step procedure and photograph each step along the way as i saw someone else do on here with an oil change. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words. Maybe i can pass on some of my new found knowledge to somebody else when they have this issue. Hope I dont screw this up, but Im only going to learn by doing it. | ||
| Djkaplan |
"When i take off the cover Im supposed to position the cylinder so that both valves are closed by hitting the starter with the plugs removed. Call me a moron but what do they look like when they are closed and what do they look like when they are open?" You really don't need to use the starter to get the engine rotating with the plugs out, it's easier to do by rotating the rear tire with the transmission engaged in 4th or 5th gear. I'd disconnect the battery before working on the bike. You can look at the rocker arms and tell pretty easily when they aren't pushing and opening the valves. I rolled my bike around the garage, in a high gear with the plugs out, to get the rocker arms to a point where they weren't pressing on their respective valves... or something close to that. Make sure to clean around the plug holes to keep trash out, and I'd also suggest keeping a shop towel over the 'well' in the engine (where all the oil lines and wiring dives down behind the V) to keep from dropping stuff in there. I dropped my cut-down Allen wrench in there and had a devil of a time getting it back out. | ||
| Yo_barry |
I've changed these gaskets a few times -- my 99 Sportster Sport went through them on a regular basis until HD came out with the one piece metal design. This is the only one I'd use. I've never had the metal gaskets fail -- 82K miles on Sportster and 38K on the S3T. It's not hard to get the rocker box covers off on the Tubers once the tank is removed. You should try a Sportster! You will need ball end allen wrenches (Bondus is the brand name.) As far a de-pressurizing the fuel system, the manual says to unplug the electric line to the fuel pump, then start the bike and let it run out of gas. My '01 S3T never starts with that unplugged, but it does relieve the 25 psi fuel line pressure. When you do the reassembly, pay attention to the tightening sequence in the manual. And go slow so you don't bend a pushrod. The engine will be noisy for a few seconds until the lifters pump back up with oil. | ||
| Jayvee |
Hey I'm just started doing this too. $61 for gasket kit, including tax. Lot more than I expected. Got sent out of town for work, and haven't finished taking off the lower cover yet. I got this rocker cover wrench by Kastar that ratchets, and it is really neat. Got it off eBay for like $10. It reaches all but one of the top cover bolts. I also took a chance and got pair of finned rocker covers from Custom Cycle Engineering. It looks like I'll have to file one fin off a tiny bit on the front to make sure it fits, but looks like a "go". |
