93' 650L Tear Down...What to Expect?

[jaredc28]

At some point I would love to tear down my L to paint/powder coat the frame, clean everything, replace gaskets, tighten linkages, replace broken/worn parts, etc... What type of timeline am I looking at, for all of you experienced mechanics/gearheads.?

Also, is there any advice/method that I can use to make sure and put everything back together correctly? I don't want to end up with left over parts.

Thanks

[Beyond The Pale]

If you have a digital camera, take lots and lots of pictures as you take it apart. They can really help when putting it back together. Take way more photos then you think you need.

I have no idea what kind of schedule you keep, but expect a minimum of three weeks. Four to six may be more reasonable depending on what is found when you take it apart. It's a take it apart. The steps usually are, first disassemble, then second order parts and ship out anything that needs machine work, and finally put it back together. It's the parts and the machine work that can take a lot of time. It can be two weeks just for the parts. The time for work depends on how busy the shop is.

How many miles does your bike have?

On the engine usually the first thing to go is the head/valves train. A cam chain and tensioner are good to replace too. Depending on cylinder wear it may nothing, a hone and new rings, or a new piston. Take a close look at the transmission gears when you have the cylinder off and replace any that appear damaged. If you trans pops out of gear, then the dogs are worn and those gears will need to be replaced. You can get an idea of the wear on the crank bearings without taking it apart. If the trans and crank are good, I wouldn't split the cases.

As far as the chassis goes, take apart clean and inspect all the bearings. They will last just about forever as long as they stay dry. Replace any that are rusted and pitted.

It would also be a good time to redo the suspension.

[jaredc28]

Thanks for all the advice Cleonard. My bike has just over 18,000 miles on it, but the first owner was a freak about keeping it clean and maintained. The cylinder was bored to a 675 and he did some other minor modifications, but I don't think anything else has been done to the motor, suspension, or transmission.

The bike runs great and has alot of power in all gears. It doesn't slip out of gear as you mentioned. It does have some oil leaking from the head gasket around the fins.

Can you give me a ballpark idea about the general cost of such a project (barring any large problems)?

[asf]

It has taken me over 4 months to do my teardown and alot of the downtime is waiting on parts, most of which are not returnable and you dont know what you need till you open it up. On average i have had to wait 2 months for everything, if not more.

Powdercoat is 2-400. If you are asking a shop to do it, rebuilding the top end is $800 assuming you go all out, valves, rockers, cam, chain, seals, piston ring, hone. Rebuilding the lower end can cost you up to 1K+, including clutch, oil pump, con rod, bearings, seals, etc. Most people dont have a full machine shop in house so more likely than not you'll have to send stuff out. You may save a few hundred doing it yourself but labor is not too bad if you tear it down yourself.

Rebuilding the suspension is a pain if you havent done it yourself, $100-200 per end to rebuild from a shop.

You'll find bearing that wont look smooth and clean, you'll find bolts that are rusty, and you may break a few depending on how siezed on they are. All these cost $1-30 from honda and add up really quick.

Then you'll start down the modding path if the bike isnt done up already as the cost of OEM is way more than higher performance goodies that will run just as long if conservatively tuned or done right.

I am glad i did my rebuild but be ready to be financially committed and ride the bike another 18K or my recommendation is just to buy one that just had such a service done to it.

[zodran]

I have no idea how long it will take you to tear one down, one thing I do when tearing something apart is have a good supply of ziploc bags and a sharpie. As each part comes off, the bolts go in a labeled bag.

I have my top end apart right now for new rings and a cam chain. I have the 102.4mm 675cc bore and the top ring end gap was .027 but the bore and piston look fine with about 11,000 miles since the last time.

If you do a top end do yourself a favor and antiseize all the bolts, especially the little 6mm ones that hold the rocker cover on. I just finished removing the remains of one that is in the well by the spark plug. I need to get a bottoming tap and decide if it's going to work or helicoil it.

If you're going to powder coat get a good supply of spare bolts and thread in all the tapped holes in the frame, some fender washers or something in the steering head.

I did a husky 400wr one time and got it powdercoated electric blue.

[Beyond The Pale]

There is always the saying "If it isn't broke, don't fix it." Are you sure that you even need to open up the engine? Are there any problems that you really need to fix? 18,000 isn't that much on a 650L. With that oversize piston, there are no over sizes available. It's a new sleeve if the bore is shot and that is expensive and time consuming.

Maybe you should concentrate on the chassis and do the engine sometime in the future when it really needs it. You can get a lot of performance upgrades by having the suspension revalved. It may give you a much better return for you dollars.

If you do decide to do the engine, the ziploc bags previously mentioned do work great to keep the parts in order.

If you replace the timing chain, tensioner, and get new rings (if needed) you will need a gasket kit too. You may need to get a special head gasket for your oversized piston. It's available at XR's Only and several other places. Assuming nothing else I'd guess around $250 for all that. It will be lot more if other things are found to be bad. Xr's only has all the service prices posted on the website. It give you a decent benchmark as to what the work costs.

[jaredc28]

Again, thanks for all the advice. The bike runs fine and has plenty of power, so for now I think I will just keep riding it until it is in need of fixing. I just don't want to ride it into the ground and neglect the poor girl.

I think what I really need to do is get a project bike and take my time working on it while I have fun with my current bike. I have two sons (10 and 7) who could use something in the 250 range in the coming years.

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