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After you've verified the shim size, drop it in place on the valve stem. Placing number markings up may be better so the numbers don't wear off you can see the shim size without removing it. It's a good idea to clean the inside of the buckets before reinstalling. Squirt a little motor oil on the valve and replace the buckets on the same valves they were removed from. Most manufacturers say to put a smear of moly assembly paste on the buckets before reinstalling the cams. I never have this stuff, but I am pretty liberal in pouring engine oil all over the cams and buckets. Squirt some motor oil in the cam bearing surfaces, then install the cam(s). Remember to reinstall the cams so that the lobes are away from each other. The gears should line up on the TDC marks when you index the bolt holes.
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These cams are at TDC. The gear that I removed is bolted lightly to the cam already. |
Reinstall the cam holder. On the front cylinder, don't forget the cam sensor wire was held down by a clip under one of the cam holder bolts. I didn't do the rear head, but it appears that the balance shaft gear should be aligned with its drive gear at this point too. You'll want to tighten the 8 bolts gradually in a crossways pattern, working inside to outside. Final torque on these and all the other M6 bolts you've removed is 11 N/m. Before reinstalling the cam gear bolts, clean the threads on the bolt and cam with contact cleaner and apply some thread lock (Loctite 243). The cams should now be bolted to the gears, the timing marks are now aligned, and the cam lobes are facing away from one another. Verify all the registration marks you made align too.
Reinstall the chain tensioner. Again, I didn't remove my tensioner, so I don't know the procedure here. I do know they have a copper crush washer and need to be tight or they will leak. If you zip-tied the gears to the chains, you can cut these now. Reinstall the upper chain guide. I used Loctite on the chain guide bolts too. M6 bolts should be torqued to 11 N-m.
Verify the valve clearance. Remove your rag from the cases and bump over the motor a few times to seat everything. Try not to start the bike! Naturally, the motor should spin freely with no bad noises if you've timed the cams correctly. Bring the timing marks back to TDC and verify that you've corrected the valve clearances. You may want to verify all the clearances in case you swapped a bucket or something else. My intake valve clearance was right about 0.0055 inch after installing the new shim.
Install the valve covers. Push any wire looms or cables aside so you have free access to the head. No sealant is necessary on these gaskets. They're cut into the covers and sit flat on the head. On the front head, I left the gasket tacked to the head, so I just aligned it to the bolt holes, then very carefully dropped the cover on top of it. After starting the bolts, I used an inspection mirror to verify that the gasket was seated around the front of the head where it isn't visible. On the rear head, you can hold the gasket on the cover as you drop it in place. Torque all M6 bolts to 11 N/m (tight).
Button it up. Pop your throttle bodies back into place and snug down the boots with no intake leaks. Reinstall the spark plugs if you haven't already. At this point, if your tank is installed you could run the bike to make sure it started. Install the airbox--don't forget the breather line and to clip the sensor to the airbox lower.
See how the 20,000 mile check went.
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