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Bling for my Jessie

  • Thread starter Thread starter BassCliff
  • Start date Start date
B

BassCliff

Guest
Hi everybody,

I just spent the day working on my GS850GT, affectionately known as "Jessie". I needed to do a valve check and oil change. Since I had to take the crash bars off to get a wrench on the crankshaft, I thought it would be a good time to put on the bolt kit I ordered a couple of weeks ago.

DSCF2900.jpg


No, I didn't take the cases off. I just replaced them one at a time, finding the matching bolt for each screw I removed. I also put on the chrome valve cover end caps.

DSCF2910.jpg


I think she's starting to look pretty spiffy. Now I've just got to spend some time polishing up some side covers. :rolleyes:

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
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Nice. Those allen head bolts are about 100x easier to get on/off the bike compared to the ultra-soft stock phillips head screws. :D

Are you using a RealGasket for your cam cover gasket? If so, how'd you like it?

PS - not sure if you noticed, but there appears to be an oil leak in the camchain tensioner area...
 
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80GS1000 said:
Nice. Those allen head bolts are about 100x easier to get on/off the bike compared to the ultra-soft stock phillips head screws. :D
Click to expand...

Thank you Mr. 80GS1000. I had to get a 5mm driver to work with the new bolts. But it's a lot easier.

Are you using a RealGasket for your cam cover gasket? If so, how'd you like it?
Click to expand...

It works great. This one is on its third check. It's sure feels funny leaving bolts that loose. I use a thread sealer (the white stuff) to help keep them from backing out.

PS - not sure if you noticed, but there appears to be an oil leak in the camchain tensioner area...
Click to expand...

Yeah, I've noticed. There may be a very slight leak. That picture makes it look worse than it is because I can't get in that part of the engine to clean it up. The rest of the case looks good. The previous owner never cleaned it up, and I've made some not-too-serious attempts. A lot of that mess also comes from the breather. The hose tends to work its way off the breather and spews vapors all over. One of these days I'll get a new hose.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff

When I get around to taking off the carbs, I'll also fix up the tensioner.
 
Mr BassCliff,
Those make a major difference, they look better and are easier to remove and install. Do your self a favour and buy a set of allen key T-handles, they are a pleasure to use with those bolts, unless you already have it.
I am replacing nearly every bolt with stainless steel and stainless washers, Using allen heads where I can, but ramping hex heads up to 13mm from the old 12 mm. This keeps my spanners on average 10, 13 & 17 and a small set of allen keys in the tool bag.

Looks good!
 
Hi Cliff. Did you send your cam end covers out to be chromed or did you buy them off the shelf already chromed. If so where.
 
Suzuki_Don said:
Hi Cliff. Did you send your cam end covers out to be chromed or did you buy them off the shelf already chromed. If so where.
Click to expand...

Hi Mr. Suzuki_Don,

I bought a good used set off ebay, $23 shipped. I wonder how much it would cost to get my old set chromed? Or maybe I'll just invest the elbow grease and polish the aluminum. The new bolt kit had screws for the end caps and for the starter cover. Pretty cool.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
cliff! are you missing an engine mounting bolt :confused:






i know, i know, you took the pic before puting the crash bars back on :)

.
 
psyguy said:
cliff! are you missing an engine mounting bolt :confused:






i know, i know, you took the pic before puting the crash bars back on :)

.
Click to expand...

And you have no oil in crankcase...:confused:









I know, I know, you took the pic before putting new oil in:)
 
Wow, can't put a thing past you guys. :)

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
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Did you put a nice smear of antisieze on your bolts old mate?They just keep getting prettier.Maybe I'm a bit weird (well OK,I am a bit weird)but I reckon these old girls have personalities and they all love a bit of BLING.Cheers,Simon.:dancing:
 
simon kuether said:
Did you put a nice smear of antisieze on your bolts old mate?They just keep getting prettier.
Click to expand...

Hi Mr. simon kuether,

I used some white thread sealer on all the case bolts and valve cover bolts. I didn't want to use loc-tite, but wanted a little something to guard against them vibrating loose. We'll see how it works.

I used anti-seize on my spark plugs when I pulled them out to clean and re-gap.

I'd swear that after the valve check (changed 2 shims), oil change, adding new case bolts and chrome valve end caps, checked the air filter and re-sealed the airbox, and a little clean up, she runs much better. A little TLC goes a long way. ;)

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
Ooooo!! Anti-seize on the sparkies, bad! It turns to glue with the heat after a while. I have a CB650 engine that had them anti-seized in, the threaded part of one snapped off in the head! :eek: The other three felt like there were gonna snap off too.

I know lots of people do it, and that's what my high school shop teacher taught us to do as well, but you can run into trouble. If you pull your plugs every month or so (should do it during an oil change just because) you should have no troubles with plugs sticking in without anti-seize.

That bling looks pretty sweet though. Will look even nicer with those cases all polished up nice.
 
Where does one buy a set of replacement Allen head bolts or do you just pull the originals one by one and measure?

Cheers,
Ted
 
Flaggo60 said:
Where does one buy a set of replacement Allen head bolts or do you just pull the originals one by one and measure?

Cheers,
Ted
Click to expand...

I bought the set from Z1 Enterprises. They've got sets for many different models and years. And yes, you have to pull out the old bolts one at a time and compare carefully. But they match up nicely. You won't have any trouble figuring out which bolt goes where if you do them one at a time.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
Anti anti-seize?

Anti anti-seize?

rudy said:
Ooooo!! Anti-seize on the sparkies, bad! It turns to glue with the heat after a while. I have a CB650 engine that had them anti-seized in, the threaded part of one snapped off in the head! :eek: The other three felt like there were gonna snap off too.

I know lots of people do it, and that's what my high school shop teacher taught us to do as well, but you can run into trouble. If you pull your plugs every month or so (should do it during an oil change just because) you should have no troubles with plugs sticking in without anti-seize.
Click to expand...

Oh great. This is the first negative thing I've heard about anti-seize. How long did you leave the plugs in there with the anti-seize? I was thinking of installing a new set soon anyway.

That bling looks pretty sweet though. Will look even nicer with those cases all polished up nice.
Click to expand...

Thanks Mr. rudy. One of these days I'll get around to polishing up the cases good. All it takes it time.

I just remembered. After I was done with the case bolts, I had 16 bolts left - about 2 inches long. Were these for the valve cover, perhaps? I also had 4 bolts, about 1 1/4 inches long, left over. I have no idea where these might go.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
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BassCliff said:
I just remembered. After I was done with the case bolts, I had 16 bolts left - about 2 inches long. Were these for the valve cover, perhaps? I also had 4 bolts, about 1 1/4 inches long, left over. I have no idea where these might go.
Click to expand...

yup, valve cover
and - breather cover
 
BassCliff said:
I bought the set from Z1 Enterprises. They've got sets for many different models and years. And yes, you have to pull out the old bolts one at a time and compare carefully. But they match up nicely. You won't have any trouble figuring out which bolt goes where if you do them one at a time.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
Click to expand...

If you get them mixed up, you can figure it out easily. The bolts seem to have been designed so that the length of threads engaged in twice the diameter of the screw. (That's a design rule of thumb.) So, if you put a screw in a hole, just let it bump the top of the threads, you should see a length of screw about 1.5-2 times the diameter of the screw under the head of the screw.

I would go so far as to say that you should trust his over what you pull out of the covers. When I did my screw kit, the PO had swapped two of the screws on the alternator cover. One of the screws had only about one diameter worth of thread engagement, which meant it was just hanging on. Sure enough, another screw turned out to have nearly 3 diameters, which could have been bottomed out and not holding anything together.
 
psyguy said:
yup, valve cover
and - breather cover
Click to expand...

Thanks Mr. psyguy,

That figures. I didn't start replacing the case bolts until after I had buttoned up the valve cover. I guess I'll replace the rest after my next valve check.

And thank you, Mr. Dogma, for that tip. I was unaware of the fine points of fastener design. I learn something new here almost every day. :)


Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
 
BassCliff said:
I bought the set from Z1 Enterprises. They've got sets for many different models and years. And yes, you have to pull out the old bolts one at a time and compare carefully. But they match up nicely. You won't have any trouble figuring out which bolt goes where if you do them one at a time.

Thank you for your indulgence,

BassCliff
Click to expand...

Ordered. Thanks for the information.

Cheers,
Ted
 
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