Engine Overhaul and Tuneup

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littletinman

littletinman

New Member
May 15, 2012
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Gaithersburg, MD
I finally broke down and spent nine hours over the weekend tearing down and building up the engine.

I replaced the wrist bearing, cylinder gaskets, exhaust and intake gaskets, ported the intake and exhaust, cleared up the whole engine. Tuned the clutch. Filled the clutch rod spring with red grease. Greased the bearings. And RTVed the magneto case.

I also lightly sanded carbon buildup off the piston head and cylinder head.

My next set of tasks is to take apart and clean the carb (nt) and replace all the fuel lines, filter, and carb gaskets.

Once that is all done, I'll be putting a 36 tooth sprocket on the wheel as I want lower RPM's at 25 and 30. Right now, with a 44 tooth I'm maxed out at 30 and 25 isn't that far from that.

While I'm cleaning all this stuff up, anyone suggest I clean or fix anything else while I'm at it?

I was thinking of getting new handlebars as this bike has mountain handlebars. I was thinking either Wald #896 or Wald #815. I just want a bit more comfort that a straight bar. Anyone have any suggestions?
 
littletinman

littletinman

New Member
May 15, 2012
231
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0
Gaithersburg, MD
Handlebars and mirrors arrive today so I'll put those on tonight.

I mounted the engine and put the new 36 tooth sprocket on the back wheel.

I'll be removing the gas tank tonight and hooking up withe chain and carb tonight as well. After that, I'll just need to replace the fuel lines and I'll be good to go.
 
littletinman

littletinman

New Member
May 15, 2012
231
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0
Gaithersburg, MD
I'm going to remove the shifters for now, and restring the break lines so it will work with the 10 inch rise bars.

My hope is to rig a system where i can shift using levers near the seat in the future. For now, as it's engine assisted, I just need it to be on a single speed that is easy enough to get started with or pedal if needbe.

I will be controlling both breaks from a single break lever, and clutch and throttle will be the only thing on the handlebars. The middle dip will have my speedo and my headlight.

I will post pictures when done. After this, I want to make a under-seat gas tank.
 
littletinman

littletinman

New Member
May 15, 2012
231
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0
Gaithersburg, MD
Welp, had to realign the new sprocket as it wobbled, and then on top of that I used a rotary to grind down the rigid teeth that were catching on the chain links. I noticed it was a bit thicker metal than the original 44 tooth sprocket.

Anyone else had to grind down the teeth?

I'll have to do the carb and fuel lines tomorrow. The handlebars will need to be a separate project. I just want to get back on the road again!
 
Jbomb

Jbomb

New Member
May 19, 2012
19
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Wichita, KS.
How many miles did you have on the bike/engine before you started this? I am at 1200 miles and need to decarbonize the piston and head, so planning on doing that soon, but have never had a single isuue. Is your teardown preventative or for repair? Just wondering. I think you will be satisfied with the 36 tooth. Mine pulls up hills and against the wind no problem, and starts easily.
 
littletinman

littletinman

New Member
May 15, 2012
231
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0
Gaithersburg, MD
I have about 800ish. It was both preventative and repair. I had a clutch issue and needed to replace most of the stock gaskets.

I hope to have everything back together tonight. Once I get back in town next week, I'll get to give it a go on the road.
 
littletinman

littletinman

New Member
May 15, 2012
231
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0
Gaithersburg, MD
Alright, everything put back on and it runs awesome. It took a bit to start as a drained all the fuel out of everything when i cleaned it. Once it got started it was great. I didn't realize it but my exhaust gasket was shot. With a new gasket, it's as quiet as a whisper. The 36 tooth sprocket is awesome. Yes, it takes a bit more to start. But you're running with much less vibration and rpms when you get going. I think it's totally worth it!

Tomorrow I'll use to to get to work and really break it in. Plus, i'll get the readings from the speedo.

Once everything is running smoothly, I'll put on the new handlebars. For now, it'll be a blast running at 35 mph and not having people tailgate me.
 
littletinman

littletinman

New Member
May 15, 2012
231
0
0
Gaithersburg, MD
Just when things were working, something else goes wrong. Figures.

The issue now is, the small gear on the clutch side wobbles. I thought it was minor when I was fixing the clutch, but it got really bad between yesterday and today. To the point that it wobbles from side to side so that it either doesn't mesh with the clutch gear and then meshes so hard in that it seizes the gears.

It appears that the shaft that the gear is attached to is bent. Anyone had that happen before?
 
littletinman

littletinman

New Member
May 15, 2012
231
0
0
Gaithersburg, MD
I switched over the broken engine to the spare engine. I will be breaking in this new spare engine and I'm curious as to how it performs as it is a "red tag" no brand engine. I got it from someone who had one lying around on the forum.

My new crank pieces, gaskets, and seals and the small bevel wheel are all coming this friday. I'll then take the main engine apart and fix the wobble and keep it as the spare.

I'm wondering, when you have a no brand engine, how do you get replacement parts? Like pistons, rings, and cylinders?
 
littletinman

littletinman

New Member
May 15, 2012
231
0
0
Gaithersburg, MD
The spare engine runs great! Finally figured out how to use the choke correctly. My last engine, I never had to use it. This engine it won't start, at least right now, without it. But with it it starts immediately.

The 36 tooth sprocket is great. I'm breaking in this new engine so my top speed is somewhere around 27. But i'm not able to full throttle so I'll see what happens as break in progresses.
 
littletinman

littletinman

New Member
May 15, 2012
231
0
0
Gaithersburg, MD
I finally split the case, which turned out to be a whole lot easier than I thought. I found that both bearings on the shafts attached to the weights were almost done. One had exploded ball bearings in it, the other one had a bunch of free play. I'll need to cut the inner part of the bearing because it's stuck on the shaft.

I had a replacement crank so I got the new bearings on the new crank and installed it. I find that it has about an 8th of an inch to 3/8 of an inch play. Too much side to side play for me. I'll be trying to find something to use as a shim inside the case later today. Will report back findings.
 
littletinman

littletinman

New Member
May 15, 2012
231
0
0
Gaithersburg, MD
I got some washers that match the inner diameter of the rod coming out of the crank, and the outer diameter of the bearing. I will need to dremel it a bit but it should be perfect. It's about 1/16th of an inch thick. Behind that I got a rubber washer to go against the seal and case wall. It should be enough to close the 1/8 inch wiggle.
 
littletinman

littletinman

New Member
May 15, 2012
231
0
0
Gaithersburg, MD
The crank washer fix works perfectly! I ended up only uing the wash and not the rubber washer.

So far my bike is running great and I average around 25mph and can keep up with town traffic. Went on an hour ride through the country side of my town and only had to pedal assist on one very big hill. It is super cold here compared to last week, average temp today is lik 45 degrees. I now see why fingered gloves are a must!
 
littletinman

littletinman

New Member
May 15, 2012
231
0
0
Gaithersburg, MD
An update on the bike: I've been riding almost everyday the past two or three weeks on the livefast motor with no issues at all. I think I'm due for another greasing of the bucking bar and the clutch rod area.

I finally finished my bike. And got it legal for the road. I can now ride wherever whenever I want without worrying about being hassled. Just knowing that is a refreshing feeling.

I'll post pictures in the next few days.
 
Jbomb

Jbomb

New Member
May 19, 2012
19
0
0
Wichita, KS.
Man, I live in Wichita too! Send me a message if you ever want to go for a ride. I'm building another bike soon and have a few friends who also have MBs.
 
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