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cam you hlp me?

  • Thread starter Thread starter Mattman
  • Start date Start date
M

Mattman

Guest
Ok guys,
My mechanic gave me my bike back yesterday. Runs wonderful. He gave me a small list of things I should take care of between now and the near future. The biggest thing was my cams. He said by next season they need to be replaced. How bad a job am I looking at? Expencive? Is this one of those sell the puppy now while it runs well and find another, or is this one of those things that really is no biggie. All help is welcome thanks.

Matt :?:
 
Depends on what bike you have, and if you have access to some cams. Normally cams aren't bad about wearing out, unless they are really high performance aftermarket. Good stock cams should be relatively inexpensive from this forum or a salvage yard. New cams pretty pricy. If you have rocker arm adjusters, all you will need will be the cams. If you have shims, you'll need the cams & some shims. You won't know how many or which ones till you get the new cams in & the clearences measured. Oh yeah, and a valve cover gasket.
 
buy the way more bad news if you run old rocker arms on new cam you stand a good chance of destoying the new cam real fast as the wear patern on them will eat the cams up, so the whole job could be pricy if you are looking at a 16 valve motor, :cry:
 
OK,
Now are you saying that even if i went with used parts it could get ugly price wise?
 
yeah...


decent cams are pretty simple to replace, but its just that they're such a critical part of the engine, and made out of really high quality metal, so the price is a lot.

if they somehow justify 25 bucks each for intake boots, cams justification factor skyrockets!
 
What bike do you have? How many miles? do you have stock cams? What condition is the rest of the engine & the overall bike in?
 
Cams have a hardened surface. If it's bad, then they go fast. Take alook at them, if they don't look bad (obviously worn), then I'd get another mechanic.

BTW, it sounds fishy to me.
 
this was my first attempt at working on any engine. had to replace head gasket thus removing the cams. anyway its a really easy job with a clymers manual. the only tricky part i found was when installing the cams, having someone else hold the cam in place (pushing valves down) while putting on the cam bearing caps. other than that it's pretty straight forward.

BTW: it's an '81 GS450L
 
MAKE SURE YOU SET THE CAM_TIMING AT TOP DEAD CENTRE!!!



dont make my mistake! :oops: :roll:
 
I'd just look for a used, low mileage head. I bought one with 8k miles on it for the 81 1100E a few years back for $150. Get a gasket, check the clearances and pop it back on there.
 
I'm pretty confident with my mechanic. he's never done me wrong, and always has a box with all the parts he's replaced. He said on of the cams is worn down to almost the brass. It's a 1983 1100e and it's got 40K on the thing, Everything seems to be in good working order, BUT who knows how many people have owned this puppy before me, and I don't think anyone has done much in the way of maint. For the most part my mechanic went over the bike this year big time. I trust him. Now do I have to replace both cams at the same time? What about going to a bike junk yard and getting some out of another 1100?
 
Mattman said:
I'm pretty confident with my mechanic. he's never done me wrong, and always has a box with all the parts he's replaced. He said on of the cams is worn down to almost the brass. It's a 1983 1100e and it's got 40K on the thing, Everything seems to be in good working order, BUT who knows how many people have owned this puppy before me, and I don't think anyone has done much in the way of maint. For the most part my mechanic went over the bike this year big time. I trust him. Now do I have to replace both cams at the same time? What about going to a bike junk yard and getting some out of another 1100?
Click to expand...

Once the cam shows the wear you describe, then they won't last long. :(
If you could get a deal on both cams and the rocker arms from the same engine or a complete head assembly then that would be the way to go. I purchased a complete top end for my 750 for about $25 from ebay. One rocker arm is about $40 new. Good luck.
 
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