Mainshaft transmission bearing

[Suzuki_Don]

Don, everything looks fine in the photos but more importantly have a feel of everything as well. I bet it's all tickety-boo (it's a Suzuki box don't forget!).

I'm sure that spacer comes off by the way (with a little gentle persuasion).

Wally any tips on getting that sleeve off. I have a feeling that the transmission has not done that many kms looking at the gears, shafts, dogs, etc. I bought the bike with a claimed 7,000 kms on it. But I found that the head had been off before and other things (damage) done to the bike that indicated many more kms than what had been claimed. So now I don't really know.

I agree with Hoggy. The gears and dogs look good for another life.
How do the big end bearings check out for side play/clearance?

49er I have a roller bearing bottom end and the side play on the crankshaft journals is OK.

[Suzuki_Don]

BTW is it suggested by most members to use OEM valve guide seals and cylinder head gaskets over the after market ones like you buy on EBAY like VESRAH.
Any suggestions greatfully accepted.

[49er]

BTW is it suggested by most members to use OEM valve guide seals and cylinder head gaskets over the after market ones like you buy on EBAY like VESRAH.
Any suggestions greatfully accepted.

Don, I did realise that we were talking roller bearings. Side play/clearance at the rods still needs to be within spec.

I would recommend using OEM gaskets and seals. I have sucessfully used a MLS head gasket on the 850, but some others have had oil leaks with them. If you use OEM, you can guarantee that the head won't leak oil or compression, even if the mating surfaces are slightly marked or bowed. The only draw back is that should you need to go back into the engine at a later date, you are up for some serious surface scraping to get ride if the old gasket material.

Vesrah had a good reputation too, until they were copied by a Taiwanese outfit using inferior gasket material and rubber seals. 3 of us got caught with these sets last year, all having base gasket failures.

[Suzuki_Don]

49er, thanks for the info on the gaskets. I happen to know a guy here in OZ that used to own a Suzuki dealership and has since passed it on to his son who is big on modern and dirt bikes. So he asked his dad to get rid of all the old spares. he has sheds full of the stuff. Last time I spoke to him he said he had a couple of OEM 650 head gaskets for around $50 each. I will need to get back in touch with him and arrange something.

It is a while since I had the side clearance on the con rods checked and cannot remember the exact figures of the tolerances. The guy who checked it for me rebuilds Velocette engines and is a whiz on replacing the big end bearings on the pull apart crankshafts and reassembling with new bearings and balancing the crankshaft on a jig. He said everything was within spec. I know there was a bit of sideplay on the journal but no play at all when the top of the conrod was rocked from side to side in an arc fashion if you know what I mean. But I will check again as the crank is on the work bench ready to go in the cases when I get them ready with another coat of VHT high temp paint.

[hampshirehog]

Don - you have to persuade it off with a thick screwdriver or a chisel (driven in as a wedge, get some penetrating oil in there and work it backwards and forwards) but you could well booger it when doing so I'd leave it on if the bearing feels ok.

If I am right about it being the same bearing as in the GS / GSXR 750 you've obviously got bags of leeway for putting more power through it.

Regarding whether to use OEM gaskets and seals - I've never found any problems the other guys have with loads of different gasket sets but I put valve stem oil seals on my 1000 last year from a pattern gasket kit and they were toast within 6 months / 3000 miles so I'm strictly OEM in that area from now on.

Oh - and don't worry about your crank at all. As long as the motor hasn't been sitting in a desert with the top off it'll be fine - you can't give away 550 cranks as nobody ever needs them!

[Suzuki_Don]

Thanks Wally & 49ER for your help on this.