That exhaust system came fast. Is your valve cover gasket leaking? I never replace mine. It's pretty thick rubber so I never have any problems with it sealing.

Quote from: tt_four on May 12, 2010, 06:22:02 PM
That exhaust system came fast. Is your valve cover gasket leaking? I never replace mine. It's pretty thick rubber so I never have any problems with it sealing.

no it's not leaking. so maybe i wont buy that, just to cut back on some moneeyyysss. question though, do you use gasket silicone as well or do you keep everything clean and just torque down the valve cover and everything's ok?

I have silicone sealant, but I can't remember if I put it in or not. I think I might have on one side. I think I did on my last bike as well. Usually that biggest benefit of that stuff is just to hold your gasket in place while you're putting covers back on.

so just to make sure.. when adjusting the idle mix screws, let's say your looking directly at them from the bottom of the carbs. turning them clockwise pushes them further into the carb, and counter clockwise lets them back out of the carb. so, when adjusting, they should be turned clockwise until they stop, then adjusted by turning counterclockwise until the bike runs well.. correct?

last time i adjusted carbs i still couldnt get them running just right.. just wanna make sure im startin round two with the right directions haha

Correct. All the way in, then back out 2.5-3.0 turns and you should be ok. do it before you put them on the bike, unless you have a really really short screwdriver.

thanks! turns out i dont have to work tomorrow. so i'll have ALLL DAAAYYY to work on my bike. im so excited. ahaha

what was planned to happen:
rejet
air filter
fork seals
filter cap stud replacement
oil change
timing advance
exhaust install
valve clearances

what actually happened:
valve clearances
rejet
air filter
oil change
BROKEN EXHAUST HEADER BOLTS. that's right. boltS. the bottom bolt on both headers broke off pretty much right at the head. trying to figure out how to drill/tap/extract it now.  spent the past few hours just trying to work at it. i feel quite FCKED. an extremely disheartening experience at this point since most everything else was going quite smoothly. got the stripped studs off for the filter cap and cleaned out/rejet the carbs. then i got stuck with the header bolts breaking. when that happened i made sure to find some bolts that would work (same length,pitch) and was lucky enough to find some in the bolt bin here at the shop. but then when i tried drilling into the stud, a drill bit even broke off a little in the hole of one stud and the other wasnt gettin anywhere either. -__-

im going out to find the strongest drill bits i can to drill out the studs and ez-out it tomorrow.. once i find a bicycle or something to borrow..

if that doesnt work i just might try to jb weld a tab to the stud and maybe just unscrew it? im not even sure -____-

maybe i'll be thinkin a bit more clearly again tomorrow when im not so tired/hungry/angry. i know things like this happen, especially since my bike is 21 years old, but i was so hopeful it wouldnt. too bad i guess..

anyone else have any ideas?

Broken bolts are the worst.  Get a helicoil kit and you'll be as good as new.

If a bolt is stuck fast enough to shear its head off an easy-out wont free it, nor will you be able to drill the center of the bolt out without it wandering into the softer metal of the head particularly as there is now a remanent in there. Go at this blind and you will f*** the head up completely. Plenty of people in here have tried to do this and plenty have failed.

Take the head of and take it to an engine reconditioning shop, get them to machine out the broken parts and fit helicoils and instead of using those sh***y cap-head bolts that will sieze again get them to supply and fit chrome plated studs and nuts.

Quote from: sledge on May 16, 2010, 02:14:11 AM
If a bolt is stuck fast enough to shear its head off an easy-out wont free it, nor will you be able to drill the center of the bolt out without it wandering into the softer metal of the head particularly as there is now a remanent in there. Go at this blind and you will f*** the head up completely. Plenty of people in here have tried to do this and plenty have failed.

Take the head of and take it to an engine reconditioning shop, get them to machine out the broken parts and fit helicoils and instead of using those sh***y cap-head bolts that will sieze again get them to supply and fit chrome plated studs and nuts.

so basically, they'll be doing the same thing i'll be doing? if i can get the broken bolts out, than lucky me. if not, i was going to drill it out and re-tap an oversized threading. i was just going to go oversized if necessary, but helicoil and a stud sounds like a good plan too.

i just hope i dont eff this up. i'll be doing it myself and running with the consequences.  lets just hope i dont go too far beyond help.

Haha, I'm with you there. I'd so much rather try and fail than pay some sucker to do it right the first time. If I eventaully have to pay someone to fix it, or buy a new head at least I'll know it was necessary.

Quote from: tt_four on May 17, 2010, 11:17:26 AM
Haha, I'm with you there. I'd so much rather try and fail than pay some sucker to do it right the first time. If I eventaully have to pay someone to fix it, or buy a new head at least I'll know it was necessary.

your support is very, very much appreciated. been so frustrated i almost jumped on buying another gs500 (saw some decent deals on craigslist) just so i could swap everything i have onto it and have a newer bike in the process. but realized i should probly just keep at it a bit more.

i dont think i'll get to working on the bike today because the lakers will be on by the time i get out of work  but i'll be sure to get to it tomorrow since i might work a half day.

yup. it's time to consult professionals.

I have pulled them out by drilling and eventually tapped them to a slightly different size (heli coils are OK but I didn't want to chance it).
I rate this as the hardest job I have ever done on a bike, and I have fit an 04 fairing on an 89 without welding all the brackets on ... I put threaded inserts ...
Anyway, I got the bike strapped form the ceiling, removed the FE and got under there and drilled and drilled and drilled. They didn't go easily, and when it begins to drift, you need to catch it soon and compensate ... but once it went to the center and got to the bottom ... I was able to easy out it. Took me forever, I'd say 4-5 hours. Plenty of lube and light ... honestly with a small enough drill if you get it through to 1/2 the way, you can chase with a larger and larger bit and get to the bottom. May be even better with a high quality left handed drill. You may get it unscrew out as you bite into it.
Cool.
Buddha.

im thinking of taking the head off to continue to drill into it, as it's getting to be a pain having to make sure the bike doesnt get jolted around. what's the easiest way to take off only the head? is dropping the motor out necessary?

i was thinking: take off breather cap > take off valve cover gasket > take off cams > unbolt the 4 large bolts > the single bolt in the front > lift the head out. will there be enough clearance? do i have to drop the whole motor out?

Supposedly there is enough room to remove it with the engine still in the bike, however I've read that and not actually tested it.

Quote from: The Buddha on May 18, 2010, 02:24:50 PM
Took me forever, I'd say 4-5 hours. Plenty of lube

Well that's your problem. You've gotta focus!


Removing the head in the engine might be doable, I'm not sure if it would hit that frame crossbrace before you could get it off of the studs. You would probably have an easier time if you pulled the studs out first. The most difficult part would probably be getting the pistons back in the cylinders while it's all still in the bike. That makes me feel like pulling it out would just make the whole thing easier.

from what i can tell, the head can be separated from cylinders, so there shouldnt be an issue with the pistons at all? i say so because the bike bandit schematics show that there's a gasket between the cylinder head and the cylinder case..
and i guess i will just keep trying to focus and drill drill drill. cobalt drills are probably the hardest bits i can get a hold of without having to special order online.. so i guess i'll be going for those. but i definitely feel like i could better focus without having to worry about the rest of the bike.

i just turned that super deal i got on my exhaust into the most costly endeavor -___-
so now i have to deal with a broken drill bit in one hole, and a broken extractor in the other. it seems i've royally fcked myself. but maybe i'll be lucky enough to salvage what's left.

and if not.. well.. i dont even know right now. so far it's just gone from bad to worse.

Quote from: pandymai on May 18, 2010, 02:17:25 PM
yup. it's time to consult professionals.

A pro shop will use totaly different equipement and methods to remove the remenants than what you have tried and if you are lucky and find a good shop they might be able to save the head and carry out a repair with a guarantee. Not gonna preach or laugh and say you should have done what I said at the start, people need to learn and gain experience but sometimes they choose the hard way to go about it

Next time someone else comes in here with broken header bolts, and it wont be long, and the usual use an easy-out, LH-drill, fit helicoils etc replies flood in you can tell people just how difficult this problem is to overcome based on your own first hand experience in the same way I did back at the start........... Saying it is one thing, doing it is something else.

Quote from: pandymai on May 18, 2010, 10:48:12 PM
from what i can tell, the head can be separated from cylinders, so there shouldnt be an issue with the pistons at all?

You're right, I completely blanked on that one. The last engine project I worked on was uprgading my wife's moped motor from 50cc to 70cc. It doesn't have a valve cover, it's just the cylinder and the head, and without valves to need an additional cover the exhaust and intake bolt right up to the cylinder, so I forgot the GS has a 3rd part in it's top end.