Discussion Starter � #1 � 11 months ago

This will also include other related 7,500 mile interval maintenance procedures.

Remove all fairings and gas tank. Although the rear fairings are not technically
required to be removed for these procedures, I like to take them off at this point
for inspection purposes.

Remove the front and rear tank brackets. Remove the battery. Disconnect the pair
system hoses at the reed valve cover and just move it over to the right.
A side note: Whenever I remove a part, I like to put the fasteners back in place,
whenever possible and they wont be in the way (95% of the time). Makes it easier to
not loose them, and get the right ones for reassembly.

Remove the drain plug at the bottom of the water pump and drain the coolant. About
1/2 gallon will drain. Once the plug is removed, loosen the radiator cap to let it
drain.
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bpe
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Discussion Starter � #2 � 11 months ago
Remove the over flow tank. Easiest way is to disconnect the upper over flow tube.
Then remove the 2 bolts, and pull it out a bit to access the lower tube. Then
remove and empty.

Disconnect the upper radiator hose at the thermostat. Disconnect the lower radiator
hose at the water pump. Disconnect the 2 thermostat hoses at the water pipes next
to the spark plugs.

Disconnect the thermostat wire lead, and the radiator wire lead.
Side note: I like to tape and mark all disconnected wire leads to help on
reinstallation.

Disconnect the fan motor wire lead.

Remove the radiator.

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Discussion Starter � #3 � 11 months ago (Edited)
Remove the thermostat housing.

There is a ground wire that is on the forward mounting bolt.

Once the mounting bolts are removed, you can flip the housing around in a fashion
that will allow the hoses connected to it to feed through the wiring harness.

I like to remove the cooling system parts first, so that any spilled coolant wont
find its way to somewhere you don't want it.

Remove the reed valve covers, and the reed valves.

Pull the spark plug caps off the spark plugs.

Remove the coils. Just remove the brackets and keep the coils attached to them. One
of the mounting bolts also doubles as a mounting bolt for the fairing stay. You can
just reattach the fairing stay (finger snug) to keep it from flopping around.

The coil bracket on the right will have a clutch cable guide on it. You can just
slide the coil and bracket down the clutch cable to get it out of the way. I have a
rag behind it, to keep from scratching the clutch cover.

Remove the water pipes. Careful with these mounting screws, they can be a little
tight and easy to strip. Use a quality proper size screwdriver. I use one that can
fit a wrench on it to aid in breaking the screw loose. While applying downward
pressure on the screwdriver, use the wrench to break the screw loose.
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Discussion Starter � #4 � 11 months ago (Edited)
Remove the spark plugs.

Remove the zip tie going around the wiring harness near the front.
Remove the upper left diaphragm cap screw on the right hand carb.
Take the cable bracket off and remove the choke cable.
Should probably finger tighten the cable bracket back on the carb, as to not loose
it.

Use something to tie the choke, throttle cables, and wiring harness over to the
left.
Turning the handle bar to the left will gain more clearance.
Also tie the wires up front up a bit.

Remove the valve cover bolts.

Remove the valve cover.

You can use a large flat blade screwdriver to place in this area and twist to break
the seal on the gasket.

Remove the oil pipes.

Use the same procedure as with the water pipes to remove the hold down screws.

To remove the pipes, grab them as close as possible to the ends, and just lift up.
Do only one connection at a time.
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#5 � 11 months ago
I am considering this task for mine, what do you think a resonalbe shop would
charge?
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bpe
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Discussion Starter � #6 � 11 months ago
^ I was quoted about 12 years ago at around $225.
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Discussion Starter � #7 � 11 months ago (Edited)
Valve lash specs for the 500 are:
.005"-.007" for intake
.007"-.009" for exhaust
So I set the intakes to .006", and the exhaust to .008"

The 4 valves closest to the exhaust are the exhaust valves.

The 4 valves closest to the carburetors are the intake valves.

Remove the caps off the left side engine cover.

Use a socket to turn the engine over. Only turn it clockwise.

When the "C" on the flywheel is lined up with the notch, the #2 cylinder is at TDC
and is ready for the valves to be checked.

This is what the cam position looks like at that point. Use the proper size feeler
gauge to check the clearance.

When the "T" on the flywheel is at the notch, the #1 cylinder is at TDC and is
ready for the valves to be checked. This is about as close as you can get with the
"T" mark, try to get any closer and the engine spins past it.
On a side note: The only important part to consider is, as long as the cam lobes
are pointing up and away from the rocker arms, you are good to go with the
clearance check.

This is what the cam position looks like at that point.

If a valve is out of spec, adjust it by loosening the lock nut with a wrench, and
turning the adjustment screw with a screwdriver. Then retighten the lock nut, the
torque on these are 18ft.lbs. Recheck the clearance after the lock nut has been
torqued.
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Discussion Starter � #8 � 11 months ago
Replace the O-rings on the end of the oil pipes with new ones.
Install the oil pipes. The hold down screw just needs to be slightly snug. (It will
be tight again on the next valve adjustment, after going through all the heat
cycles)
Install new spark plugs.

There are two knock pins (guide pins) you need to locate and make sure haven't been
lost.

Here is one in place in the valve cover. A loose one at the bottom of the picture
next to a penny for size reference.

This is where they go in the head.

Since they are loose, they could come out during disassembly and fall into the
crankcase. So make sure you have located these before installing the valve cover.
If you wanted to, you could put them in place in the valve cover with a little dab
of JB weld to insure they wont drop in the crankcase the next time you remove the
valve cover. If you do want to use the JB weld, I would suggest using it on the
cover side. Keeping them in the cover side would also help aid in keeping the valve
cover gasket in place during installation.

Clean the valve cover gasket mating surfaces.

You will need to apply some RTV sealant to the areas where the gasket dips.
I just apply it to the outside area as to not get excess in the valve train.

Install the gasket in place on the cover. You can usually reuse the old gasket
about 6 times before replacing. Once the groove of the gasket is in the cover, you
should be able to hold the cover right side up with the gasket on the bottom, and
it should hold in place. If it doesn't that could be an indication that you need a
new gasket. Although it could still easily fall out of place while installing the
cover.

If you are not using JB weld (or something similar) on the knock pins, place them
on the head and not in the cover.
Install the cover. The cover bolts just need to be slightly snug. You will feel
them bottom out when tightening them. If when tightening the cover bolts, you don't
feel the gasket compressing before the bolts bottom out, this would be an
indication that you need a new gasket. It maybe alright to try using it this one
last time, but should have a new one on hand for the next valve adjustment. Or if
you just wanted to be safe, you could replace with a new one now.
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Discussion Starter � #9 � 11 months ago
Remove the O-rings from the water pipes. Clean the water pipes, paying close
attention to the O-ring area. Replace the O-rings with new ones. Install the water
pipes.

The rest of reassembly is in the reverse of disassembly. Take out the air filter
and clean or replace it, before the battery is installed.

Tips:
Clean the inside of the spark plug caps before putting them on the plugs.
Do all around general cleaning. The bike being clean would help aid in tracing
leaks if necessary.
When filling the cooling system, once it is full you can squeeze the thermostat
hoses to burp some air out and make more room for coolant. You can do this several
times. You will still need to top off the over flow (expansion) tank once the
engine has heated up, and cooled back down.
Side note:
Removing the carbs for this procedure would make it a little easier to remove the
valve cover, and also easier to lube the throttle cables. But just showing how to
do it with out removing the carbs.