So almost a year has gone since I started this site in January 2005. According to the statistics it seems that there has been some interrest in my site after all.

Now I would like to have some of the visitors oppinions on how I could improve this website, anything you think should I should have made different? Anything you are missing? Did you expect to find something that wasn’t here?
I would love to hear some constructive criticism, so I can make my site even better.

Come on, leave a comment to this post and let me hear what you think.

your ads here (468x60) - after 1st post.

I promised to do a writeup on main bearings, including a scheme on how to determine the correct replacement bearings. So here goes.

To find the correct replacement bearing color code, you have to read the color codes on the rear right end of the upper crank case half. There should be a reading of five color codes - mine was “B B B B B”, then you’ll have your case inner diameter code no.
The main journal outer diameter code no. is located on each crank weight. They can be pretty hard to spot as they go easily off from wear inside the engine. I took a high resolution picture with my camera and post processed it to highlight the almost worn off color code. My crank main journal outer diameter color codes were as follows, from left to right seen from the above - “A B B B A”. And as all the bearings were still into specs, I could directly find the replacement main bearing from the above scheme. Which made me end up with “C B B B C”.

I hope somebody out there could use this small guide, if you have questions or any corrections to the above method, please post a comment and I’ll see what I can do.

A couple of days ago I received a set of Honda genuine spare parts that I ordered. The package contained new main bearings with the color codes I determined in my last blog entry, I’ll post some schemes later on how to determine the correct main bearing color codes. I also got a new primary and cam chain, and a set of oil seals that I need to assemble the engine block.

I have prepared the engine case, cylinder and cylinder head for glass blasting, so I’ll have a completely clean engine casing before applying the new engine paint. I’ve used duct tape to cover the parts of the engine casing that I did not want to get blasted, and used some “dummy” screws to cover up exposed threads.

And of course, merry christmas!

It has been a while since last post now, so I’ll just bring some updates on what progress I’ve made so far. I got the crank case open after spending one and a half an hour with a wooden plank and a hammer, trying to pry the engine cases from eachother with the plank. After opening the engine, I started tearing it down from the inside. I started out by removing the primary shaft, primary chain, cam chain, crankshaft and then the rest of the gearbox.

So I decided just to head on to measuring the old bearings, which I was adviced not to reuse. This was the part of the engine rebuild that frightened me the most. I had bought some plastigauges some days before, which I used to determine the main journal oil clearance with. By putting a bit of plastigague on each crank journal, putting the crankcase back together and tighten it up. Then off again, and you can go right ahead measure the compressed plastigauges. As in the picture. My bearings were far from out of spec, so I’ve ordered an identical new set. You will have to determine which bearings that the engine came from, by comparing the color codes on the top rear on the case, and the color codes on the crank shaft.

Finally, I got the oil pan sump off, and got my way to loosening the crankcase bolts. You have to loosen the bolts in a diagonally cross patern, and max a ½ turn a time so that you won’t lay off all the pressure on one side of the crankcase under the process, that can cause warpage to the crankcase, we don’t want that!

Anyways, I’ve been fiddling with the engine for a couple of hours, I tried everything, doublechecking bolts, hammering gently with wooden planks against the upper piece of the engine, hoping that would let the sealing between them break. No dice.

I’ve seen some crankcase opening tools in my local danish motorcycle parts/tool magasine. But it costs nearly a fortune, probably not the ideal solution for a poor young man as myself. I’m currently looking for good advices on how to seperate the crankcase, if you have any feel free to send me an e-mail or leave me a comment on this post.

I’ve had some problems finding the right rotor puller for my engine, but now that I have one that works perfectly, I thought I might as well post a little writeup on how to find one for a Bol d’Or engine.

Basicly what you need is a 18×1.5 mm bolt, you could use the original rear axle from your bike. When I had the measurements of the bolt, I was able to locate a Kawasaki rotor puller in a Danish motorcycle parts magasine. I bought one of these, but I sawed the end of it, so I’d have more thread in the rotor when applying pressure, you most probably won’t have to. The picture to the right is taken from a magasine called “MC Nøglen”, page 476, 2005 edition, the part number is # 08-116.

Unfortunatly the thread inside the rotor on the CB900F engine I am working on was busted, so I had to find a different way. We ended up using a two-claw “universal” rotor puller. It works the way that you set up the holding claws against the back of the rotor, and tighten the middle bolt against the middle of the rotor. To prevent the rotor from flying across the room or dropping on our feet when we did this, was to screw in the bolt that holds the rotor, but let it have a couple 1/4″ / 5mm of free space for the rotor to get out.

The middle bolt on the puller fits *perfectly* to the rotor holding bolt, as if it was made for it. After tightening it up, hit the bolt on the puller with a hammer. You might have to hit a couple of times, try tightening the puller up, after each hit.

Finally, I got the stupid rotor that had been bugging me for a while off. I couldn’t remove it normally with a standard rotor puller bolt, because the threading in the rotor was completely busted. My friend Rasmus told me about a two-claw tool he used on mopeds, and he suggested to stop by and try the tool out on my rotor. Bam! it came right off. Thank you Rasmus. I’ve been on hold with the project for almost two weeks now.

I found this picture on the cb1100f.net website. I couldn’t stop myself from posting it with this entry. Nice stuff.

So, the rotor is off, the outside of the oil pump has been disassembled, oil-filter taken off. Now I just need to take the oil pan sump off, and disassemble the gear shifter before I can split the engine case.