stripped down the bike - have some questions
 

well i stripped her down today to do my cct's. Didn't get to the cct's today because I want to triple check that I know what I'm doing. also I'm getting my jet kit on too so the carbs are all the way off.


anyways the first thing is the airbox. when I took it apart the filter is a little dirty. What should I do to clean this? Also the next thing is the two breathers to the outside where there was orange foam covering the holes, this foam just fell apart when I touched it... plus there was an orangish oil on the bottom of the airbox. is this gonna be a prob? do I need to get some foam to cover those holes again?


With the carbs I'm hoping the jets clear it up but am wondering if it is just a bad sync. I started it up with the airbox off and the rear was spitting and backfiring while the front was fine. Like it'd be like "poof" and you could see gas or something shoot out of the rear. Possibly is why the foam got ruined if gas was dumping into the airbox... I think it might be a combo of jets and sync... So what's the best way to sync? I'd like to avoid taking it to the dealer to have that done...


For the cct's I remember superbling saying something about ziptieing it and not worrying about having it at TDC for the front and rear respectively.. Zip tie what? I assume the cam chain... I can just follow the directions to get TDC though for each respective cylinder though. also once I put them on what do I have to do? They're preloaded now and I have to release them... what's that entail??


sorry for the excessively long post. Pics will come soon especially for the CCT install since it's a common question

oh and I was wondering while it's stripped down if I should change the coolant to whatever I need for track days. Might as well while it's down I figure... what do I replace it with? just water?

water with water wetter........if you wanna track it a bit

where do you get water wetter??

Wasn't there a post that shot down the use of water wetter? I mean it having some adverse effect on the bike....search the forum for it...

what would I use if I don't use water wetter? Just straight water?

Not any water. Distilled water.

I don't believe water wetter has any bad properties, but you'll need to change it out a bit more frequently. Be careful if the bike is stored where the temps fall under 32 degrees.

Any large auto parts store should carry water wetter.

As for your other questions, sorry, IDK.

well for the summer I'll be fine. when it gets to fall I'll prob have to change it out. how much is water wetter?

Typically about $6-7/bottle. But, you only use about two-three ounces of the stuff.

Oh, and most trackday organizers will require you have no coolant in your bike. The stuff is real slippery and not easy to clean up on the track.

yeah I know about the no coolant that's why I figure I might as well switch now...

a few pics:
DirtAy air filter!
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jomuller...k/P1010082.JPG


the foam I'm talking about that just disintegrated
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jomuller...k/P1010083.JPG


goofy of my crap on our sofa
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jomuller...k/P1010085.JPG


random cool pic of this eagle I have on my desk
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jomuller...k/P1010088.JPG

Now THAT's a dirty filter...

well what should I do about the foam that's now gone and the filter? cause yeah it's dirtay! clean it of course or buy new one (not gonna happen right now :lol: )

Replace your air filter. As a stopgap until you can afford a replacement, use dirty socks, medical gauze tape, and girls' panties. Victoria's Secret works best.

sigh... i don't need more things to buy damnit!!! lol

Yeah I use those all the time, victoria's secret....um well oh you ment, yeah well , ok then, not the same thing...oops


New filter should not be that much....oem....right? dunno...

no K&N. a bmc will work the same... They're like $100. I'll clean it the best I can for now... I've spent close to $700 the past month... WAY more then I ever planned... :-\

From what I have been reading, the only real advantage those have over the OEM is the ability to clean them....Where I live the filter does not get dirty very fast, so it would be kind of a waste for me....unless I keep it for like 80,000 miles or something....

the K&N is proven to increase the hp...

yeah starting a few weeks back:
EBC brake pads all around - $80
Gixxer1000 brakes and master cylinder - $175
had to sell the front older pads - got $40 back
had to buy new front pads since the ones I got with the brakes were ruined when I got them - $80
Brake fluid - $10
CCT's - $125
Racetech springs - $105
Fork Rebuild with new springs - $400
Lockhart Philips thingies - $25
Jet kit - $55
shock (needs rebuilding and will do later, can't spend anymore money) - $100

and I finally finished my new computer - $300
which though will be paid for mostly by selling some car stuff I had from my civic

yeah let's not add that up... I've seen the hit in my account already :(

That was me that wrote about the zip tie. Yes, use 2 zip ties on each cam and zip the chain to the cam sprocket so it can't skip teeth.

gotcha. I'm assuming this will become way more obvious when i take the valve cover off?

You can save a few (OK a lot) bucks on the airfilter by doing this mod. I have no problems running it with a DJ stage one kit and pipes. A couple of other folks on the forum have reported sucessful results.

http://community.webshots.com/album/221820514vtPKpk

That looks like a fun one....do you know right off the exact measurements of the OEM filter....courious to see if there is another filter that would be closer to the size....

That looks like a fun one....do you know right off the exact measurements of the OEM filter....courious to see if there is another filter that would be closer to the size....

G'day engineno9.

I would clean your old filter with complessed air from the inside out if you know what I mean. That will get out most of the gunk. Best option is a new filter though no doubt about it. Filters are SO important to your engine.

In regards tp your CCT's you can get the cams in the right spot by looking through the rocker cover bolt hole on the lower right front. This will enable you to see the cam lobe and get TDC on the compression stroke without taking the cam covers off. There is a full thread on here somewhere if you go for a look. If you are taking the covers off anyway to do valves perhaps, then lining the timing marks up on th cam sprockets is pretty easy anyway so I would just do that.

if you have no need to take the covers off other than to do the CCT's I would use the bolt hole trick. Pretty easy to do.

Cheers,
Shayne

i used the cheater way of zip ties :P major problem is in my other thread someone said don't order gaskets the old ones work... yeah NOT!! valve cover yeah but the cct no way. so i'm stuck not being able to put them on now. i have some "liquid sealer maker" or something but I really don't know if I trust it... I'm gonna wait and call the shop tomorrow morning and see if they have any gaskets. Ron Ayers can't get me these 2 stupid gaskets until next week sometime...

some pics:
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jomuller...k/P1010092.JPG


http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jomuller...k/P1010094.JPG


http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jomuller...k/P1010095.JPG


http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jomuller...k/P1010096.JPG


I should leave it like this :P
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jomuller...k/P1010097.JPG


MY PRECIOUS!!
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jomuller...k/P1010099.JPG


Zip Ties FTW!!!
http://filebox.vt.edu/users/jomuller...k/P1010101.JPG

Glad it's sunny out.

hopefully the shop has these gaskets. my bud said this liquid shit should work though

I haven't ever heard of a liquid sealer before, but then again I just pony up the cash for gaskets. Is it supposed to be better?

no. but I didn't get the cct gaskets by accident based off of the advice from another member... I'm hoping my shop has something laying around...

oh yeah did I mention I DID have a jet kit in there. it was base jets, 4th notch. I upped the jets 1 because of the exhaust being high-flow. we'll see if it makes a difference.

Get yourself a specific silicone gasket sealer and you will be fine if you don't want to use paper gaskets. This stuff is used in many parts of the engine, such as the cases, by the factory. Do not use too much though, a little bit goes a long way. Test it out and you will see what I mean.

The advantage of doing the cct's by the bolt removal method is not having to remove the valve covers. No need to worry about new rubber gaskets then. By the way you would need to use genuine gaskets here, not the silicone in my opinion.

what bolt removal method? you'd still have to set TDC so there's no tension to prevent it from skipping a tooth.


also you're all over the place when talking about gaskets... you say at first to use silicone if I don't wanna use paper but then say use genuine gaskets. the valve cover is fine once it's just cleaned up, and the cct has a paper gasket or whatever. those will be here tomorrow by noon. got them overnighted

ok, not to come off as a retard, but what the he11 is CCT?

the sealant your looking for is hondabond, it's a grey gasket compound that dries faster than silicone, that honda uses to seal the case halves together and to seal areas where case halves meet case covers or to seal the cutouts in the head where the valve cover fits... FYI.. you do not have to replace the valve cover rubber gasket, just clean it well and use hondabond where the sharp edges of the cutouts in the head meet the gasket... it's the most common area for leaks, otherwise don't use any sealant on the valve covers except for the cutouts... any time i've seen anyone try to seal a motor with silicone, ends up sqeezing crap inside the cases and then the pieces break off and find their way down to the oil sump
i've read through the thread... why exactly are you tearing down your bike? valve clearance check? i see you have the valve covers off... do your best to keep dust and crap out of the motor... if you need tips on setting engine timing for cam clearance check, say so, i have a service manual right here..

duh, i figured it out...

i have a serious question, how does the zip ties prevent the chain from skipping.

ive built inline 4 cyl bikes before... and i know how a CCT and chain system works... but what doesnt make any sense to me ( till someone explains it) is why do you zip tie the chain to the cams?

isnt gravity going to hold the chain in the teeth anyway?

and why dont you zip tie the chain to the crank teeth?

forgive me but i never did any of this with 4cyl bikes... and i never had a problem...

I think what I said made sense. But to clarify , what I am saying is use the silicone on the CCT, however I would not use it on the valve covers due to the design of this gasket. I would use the standard gasket.

The bolt removal method allows you to set TDC on compression without removal of the valve covers, by observing the cam lobe position rather than looking for the cam sprocket timing mark.

well got the gaskets in and guess what? I sheared off a fucking valve cover bolt... gotta wait another week to go riding... this sucks so bad

G'day Denmah.

What the guys are doing here with the cable tie is a short cut to prevent having to worry about finding TDC on the compression stroke. If you are not on TDC on cmpression and you remove the CCT, the valve spring pressure will want to turn the cam lobe and with a slack chain it can jump teeth. The cable tie prevents this by locking the chain to the sprocket.

Engine no09 wrote: "the K&N is proven to increase the hp..."

really? funny because the research I did shows the exact opposite! Do a search on the site and you will find a few posts that cover this very issue. I realize this is contentious issue, but there are far too many credible sources (with dyno sheets) that show the K&N actually causes the VTR to lose torque and hp (especially in the mids). They may work well on other bikes but offer no power gains on the VTR (for a basically stock engine anyhow). The only real advantage is the ability to clean it.

Mikstr