1984 Katana 7/11

[pete]

Got the outside of the shed pretty much done, just needs paint, some trim, and drainage sorted. Gotta book the electrician today to get power and lighting in there and then it's useable at last, and I can do the insulation etc. also.



I'm itching to get going on the Kat but until I get some space cleared out of in front of the work bench I'm a bit stuck.

The forks are apparently here in Brisbane so they should arrive any day now.

Can't wait to get stuck in!!

[pete]

Finally got my forks yesterday, they look very clean and straight. The only marks on the sliders appear to be from the triple clamps and a couple of very small pits above the actual fork travel, so they should clean/polish up pretty much like new.

Hopefully this weekend I can assemble what I have and get a rolling chassis so I can see what other bits I'm missing.

[pete]

Ok finally time for some fun!!!

Got the shed to a point where I can start using it, so I moved the frame in there yesterday and loosely assembled a lot of what I have so I can get an understanding of where I'm at.

Need some wheel spacers, triple clamp fasteners, and so on to start with but I was still able to get this far:





I need some clip ons, not sure if I'll get some genuine ones or go Chinese... these ones look like they'll fit the bill and are very cheap, but not sure how good they are:

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/291218202490?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

Then I started working on the dent in the tank last night. Got a cheap kit off eBay and I think with perseverance it will get the dent out:





The next big thing is finding a spot where I can upend the crankcases and split them so I can check the crank and gearbox out.

Oh, the shed is useable because the drainage is done as much as possible until the electricity gets run to it:

[pete]

Made a small start on the motor last night. First things first I rotated the crankshaft via the chain and it seems to rotate quite smoothly indeed... I take that as a good first sign


Next up the engine number is GS110X-156891 so any clues as to what year that might be? I'm assuming it will be helpful for parts at some point if there's a difference. I still have mucho research to do yet!


Now, knowing I need to split the cases sooner rather than later I figured the clutch cover is the easiest place to start, looks nice and clean in there and I only had to use the impact driver once on the single cheese head screw. All the others are hex heads thankfully. The oil sight glass also looks nice and clean.











I also dug out the box of top end goodies to see what lies therein, I see pistons, valves, valve springs, advance unit... lots of very useful items I suspect I won't be re-using the rings though!








And I dug out the ignitor just to double check it's the right one to go with mechanical advance, I'm not sure when/if the Kats changed to electronic advance at some point but at least I know what I have matches up.





Next up for me is tracking down the workshop manual so I don't screw anything up dismantling the motor so it's time to go a-hunting.

[SVSooke]

Pete do you really need to go hunting for a service manual?BassCliff has one http://zeus.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage...-SD-ED-ESD.pdf unless you REALLY need to pay big $$

[pete]

Hahaha no indeed I don't Greg!!! Found this just after logging out earlier: http://zeus.mtsac.edu/~cliff/storage...-SD-ED-ESD.pdf

Even though I should know better the GS/GSX thing still manages to catch me out... I initially thought that was for the 2 valve GS' not the 4 valve GSX's...

[pete]

Last night I got the clutch plates out but got stalled on the hub nut... I'd forgotten that I managed to do a dodgy on the wee beastie (450) when I did its clutch. I don't recall what the dodgy was but I remember thinking I'm never doing that again, I will buy a proper tool to hold the hub next time... never bought one so I can't get the hub nut off dammit!


I'll make some enquiries today as I see there's a few types around. That's a tool that will come in very handy!


I haven't measured the friction plates yet but I did give the basket a wiggle and it seems a touch on the loose side, possibly 1mm play sideways and a little in/out as well. I'm not sure if that's normal or not but will have a good look/measure once I get it out and will take note of Paul's tips on trying to alleviate any rattling that may potentially be there.


So given I'm effectively stalled on that for the moment, I pulled out the head and barrels for a closer look.








No cross hatching in evidence but the bores are clean, smooth, and no scoring etc. so that's a good start. I only have my cheapo digital verniers so don't have a way of measuring them accurately at the moment. I haven't looked into tools for measuring bores at this point...


And onto the head.











Very clean inside and all the rocker arms (I assume that's correct terminology) seem to be moving ok and smoothly. Not sure if it's worthwhile removing them or not, haven't gotten that far in the manual yet


Someone's done some of the hard work for me and removed a lot of the carbon from the head also. Some of those marks look like gouges in the photos but they feel smooth to the finger. Running my fingers around the valve seats tells me no nicks or anything obviously horrible, so a lap job might be all that's required. I'm not really sure how to tell if I need to cut them though.


And the inlet and exhaust ports look pretty clean as well, and I think someone has probably cleaned up the exhaust ports already.

[pete]

Back on to the clutch... it's amazing the different the correct tool makes! Paid a visit to John yesterday to pick up the tools and was very pleased to see the progress on the G outfit as well.


Less than 30 seconds effort had the hub nut off and the hub out so on the way once again.


The rivets on the basket are solid and that all looks good, however I do have one issue to sort out... get a load of that spring!








What's the go with replacing that? I don't see anything in the fiche or manual about it but I'm sure I've seen posts about replacing them. I haven't started searching just yet.


The other thing I've noticed is wear marks in the basket and hub from the clutch plate fingers. I seem to recall that some light ridges like this is serviceable and any real sharp edges just need to be sanded back. Does that sound right?








And while it looks nice and clean behind there, I can see someone's already started butchering one of the screws down the bottom there so I'll need to be careful with the impact driver when I get that far.





All the top crankcase bolts are loose after a run around with the impact driver too, so I think it's pretty much ready to get flipped over and work towards splitting the cases.

[dorkburger]

Has some port work been done on the head?

[Fjbj40]

That wear in the basket is typical. It can be worse if aftermarket clutch plates such as Barnett have been used.

I use a small fine file to dress them out then follow with 240 or finer sandpaper. Expect to spend a couple of hours cleaning it up. The amount of material removed is minimal as what you are seeing is material pushed up into little hills.

[posplayr]

Pete one obvious thing on those ports is that the value guides have been cut. You can compare to the photos here which is a pretty aggressive port but certainly not the most aggressive even for street.

http://www.thegsresources.com/_forum/showthread.php?137631-Low-Cost-High-Performance-GS1100E-Head-work&p=999223#post999223

[Buffalo Bill]

Door's on the wrong side

I got some more bits the other day, some are on loan to get me going some I'll be buying, but I haven't had a chance to get in and sort everything out yet due to shed building time.

It's getting close to being done on the outside though...

Looks like you put the door on the wrong side.
From the look of that narrow side yard, you should have a door on the end facing the street. So you can roll your bike in and out mo ez.
Bill

[pete]

Cheers guys!

FJB: Thanks for that, time is something I can definitely provide, so cleaning those up on the basket and hub is definitely doable. Good to know!

Dorkburger and Jim: A ported head hey? That would be a bonus! Like the rest of the motor it's an unknown quantity so I have no idea on that. The only GS/X head I've seen in the metal is my 450 head, and looking at the Kat head I thought to myself it looked a lot cleaner inside. I figured it was just what they do, but obviously not!

Any way to tell if it's a good job or not? Looking at the sizes I'd say it's still set for stock valves though, might have to pull the valves out and make sure they all fit in ok.

Looking at Jim's pic's I can certainly see what you're both talking about.

Bill: No dramas on the door, the shed's not actually going to store the Kat, it's mainly for working on stuff like blasting and spraying as well as some storage. However, if I need to the Kat can be wheeled in/out without too much drama.

Also, a quick update... I've been pointed here http://gszone.biz/clutches.html for a clutch hub rebuild kit to sort that broken spring out, but I believe worst case scenario I can still run it as is if I need to.

And I managed to get the engine stand made yesterday and got the motor mounted upside down ready to split the cases.


I turned the crank again to give it a feel and had this little tidbit drop out. I'm hopeful that given the bottom end had nothing on top that something has fallen in, but the colour and material certainly could be an internal bit that has broken off and has been floating around in there We'll see when I get them split...





The stand is not the most elegant solution but it seems nice and solid and gets the motor at a good height to work on. I may add another cross brace yet if it seems to flex too much with sideways force from an impact driver as I have yet to get the various retainers out from behind the clutch.

[posplayr]

I think you should budget for a heavy duty backing plate and the heavy duty nut.

[Buffalo Bill]

Nice engine work stand IMO.
For my savage understanding, how did you hoist it up there?