1976tt500 said:

You got that right! lol. A 75 horsepower upgrade from a simple .030 overbore. Wow!

As 500XC said they are indeed in the 40 hp range. I believe Cycle Guide or Cycle World did a test back in the day and stated the hp as 42.

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I don't know about the HP but I'm looking forward to the torque. I find it funny that I now have 2.5 of these things and I have never ridden a big bore thumper, let alone a TT600. Should be fun!

So I have been lacking in the post department. It has been a busy week round here. I hope to get you guys some more meat & potatoes tomorrow some time.

What are you going to do with the 1.5 bikes after you're done building the main bike? Are you going to build another out of the rest of the parts?
If it wasn't for you being in another country I'd love to buy a big box full of tt600 to build another.

So Bike #2 is a mess, at least on the outside. I’m the type of guy that before I rip into the head to look at the valves I’m going to wash down the bike, but I guess others don’t feel the same way. I talked about the bashed in case so I thought I should post a picture of this (post initial clean-up):





Looks like the cylinder heads for this purchase were both good, though all 3 suffer from exhaust stud molestation. But that should be fixable. Why people don’t invest in a $10 bottle of high heat anti-seize I will never know…I guess it could be some knurly rock damage but whatever.



PO went to town with the black spray bomb. No masking, no dis-assembly – Just spray it. Again this is no problem to fix it just takes time and patients…Man I’m whiny today





Insides look nice, removed the whole top end, both side-cases, rear suspension and wheels. Went to undo the swing arm bolt – seized to the bushings. As many people know this can be a real PITA. First I tried the easy things: penetrating oil over night, drift & hammer, little bit of heat, 2-slot flywheel puller (frame-to-slots & bolt-on-bolt). Nothing!

Okay now the hard way: Angle grind the head & stub of the bolt off, drill out core with progressively larger drill sizes, heat, drift & hammer, heat, drift & hammer, penetrating over night, heat*, drift & hammer. Finally I get enough movement that I can drop the engine & swing-arm assembly from the frame. Once on the work bench the angle grinder makes quick work of the other 2 required cuts and I can slide the parts out. As Murphy’s law states, after all that work (& heat) 1 tap of the left over bolt in the vice and the bushing drops off . * yes I am aware of the danger of heating an area that has fresh penetration oil. I had lots of ventilation and a big bucket of water sitting there





Disassembled the crank halves for bike #2 -All looks good inside, some bearings gone but I’m replacing the lot so that’s fine. Gear box is a little warn (like the other one) but it should still have lots of life yet.



Well now what? Time to start getting the engine parts on order and get things cleaned and back together. I did a bunch of parts washing and coated parts in oil for storage until I’m ready for them. Cleaned out some of the oil strainers



Ran into an interesting problem as I went to order oil seals for the case; there is an oil seal behind the left bearing for the counter balance. I have it in all 3 cases but I cannot find it on the parts fiche. Hmmm…



Most other parts are on order now – Bearings, seals & gaskets. I have to get the parts all cleaned up and ready to go back together. I am starting to make a collar so that I can pull off the cam gear without damaging it. I will get picks of this soon

1976tt500 said:

Check out the Highland 950 V-twin. 110 hp, looks decent for dirt...

Okay not update yet but I'm working on the bike a lot this weekend - like 5 days a lot.

On the docket:
-swing arm assembly
-steering head bearings
-top end
-Cylinder/piston prep
-Forks
-Rear shock
-Install some of the bearings in the case
-??

Too bad my gasket kit& oil seals did not make it yet but I should see it on Tuesday. I have 6 of 11 bearings.

Lots of pictures soon!

Me and my dad just finished putting a new top end in his '86 TT600 today! Just a heads up on some things to watch out for;

We stripped a head bolt thread,(with a torque wrench to specs) We think the cylinder sleeve is meant to sit proud of the bore to help squash the gasket, (ours was flush but seems to be sealing) And that timing is a PITA to set up, there is a mark on the cam gear on the crank, which correspondes the the first of 3 marks on the flywheel. Didn't we have some fun with that one.

Also when assembling the flywheel+case we noticed the crank had play, we both looked at each other and said 2 late to worry about that now These are insane bikes, they will run forever and ever. And the amount of torque they put to the ground is enormous. They have a way of putting it down like no other bike. As my dad and all his mates say, It's the best bike for wheelstands ever made.

Good luck and have fun!

5 days of bike building awesomeness. I had my dad in town and we worked almost everyday straight this weekend on the bike. Its really too bad that no all of my parts were in yet but we still had lots of work to be done. Actually, there is very little that we did not look at on the bike.  

Here we go:
First we tackled the lower cam gear on the crankshaft. Since this is designed to not be taken apart I had to come up with a good way of taking it apart so that the bearing could be replaced (without buying half a crank). I build a collar to wrap around the bottom of the gear so that it can be pulled off of the shaft with a blind bearing puller and pressure screw on the end of the crank. Lots of heat cycles & penetration oil later the gear was off. Take that Yamaha.
So we did my other 2 cranks while we were at it to make sure that they were all done.




We worked on replacing the steering head bearings but quickly ran into a problem. The first race was easy to punch out but the lower race (like many other bikes) has a larger ID than the steering down tube by 0.005”. Some careful grinding and we were able to get to the race. This means that next time will be easier too. It seem like I made a mistake in buying head bearings from a bearing supply house as it did not come with the seal for under the bottom steering head bearing and we butchered the old one trying to get the old bearing off . I will have to come up with a fix for this. We also added a grease nipple in the steering down tube.




We cleaned and re-assembled the shock. The only bad part of this shock is the slotted nut for the spring pressure adjustment is a bit mangled and there is rust in the joint between the threaded lower section and the piston cover rod. This means that we had to clean up everything while on the rod. Not a huge deal as the shock still feels good. We pulled an old motorcycle inner tube over the shock to keep the mud and dirt out and keep it somewhat protected from the elements. There are 2 hose clamps at the top and one at the bottom to keep it all in place. The bottom was left long to cover the lower linkage and adjustment but still loose so that I have access to settings. I think this looks great too!

*Zip ties were swapped out for a Hose clamp soon after this pic



We cleaned out the whole swing arm/linkages and repacked all of the bearings with fresh grease. Luckly the main bearings looked brand new and there was very little issues with the rest of the parts. We added grease nipples to one of the bolts and stole a grease nipple bolt from the other bike. We added some grease bypass holes into 2 of the bushings as well. My dad made up some SWEET swing arm bolts with grease nipples too....Awesome! :thumbsup:This means that ALL swingarm components can be greased with the grease gun, so that the bushings never rust on again!






.....

We inspected what was my first choice for crank cases and found a crack between the transmission bearing bores in the RHS. Good thing I have 2 more sets. The next set was good but required some bearing pulling again. We used various creative methods to pull/push them out including a 3-jaw internal puller with a socket stuff in the middle (to prevent the jaws from moving inwards) and 3 sockets in a vice. All ended-up working out for us (eventually). We cleaned out the cases a bit and chased the M6 threads with a tap. All that’s left is cleaning off the rest of the old yamabond, stoning and washing it out.





Inspected the preferred cylinder, it was chosen as it has a better sleeve but has a worse exterior. So we decided to swap the sleeves so that I have the best of both. Stoned the top and its now ready for the wash. We did inspection and measurements for the clutch and the piston (+rings).




I started to clean out the ports on the cylinder with a slip of sand paper taped on a plastic tube in the die grinder.  IF you slid this sucker in and turn on the grinder it cleans out the ports really well…just avoid the valve seats. This was working really well but the sand paper wears out really fast. I will have to cut some long ones. I also think I will need to borrow a dremmel because my tiny compressor can’t keep up with the load of the die grinder for too long. We also spent some effort to get the exhaust studs out of the head. 3 of the 4 are no good on the head of choice. They came out surprisingly easy so we pulled out the 4 others on a second head (third head has good studs)



We had a quick look at the forks. We drained the fork oil and pumped out the oil. I think the forks are pretty good so all I will do is rinse them out with AFT.



My dad went through the electrical parts, cleaning them up and testing as much as is available from the Clymer’s. Everything tested out good but we will see once everything is back together. My only worry is the CDI from the 12V setup. I guess I can hack the wiring harness to handle the TT600 CDI but hopefully both black-boxes are good.

The front break is the worst part of the bike. Its in rough shape and has a need for 2 new guide pins…Yes I said 3 as it appears theat the break may not be from the TT after all. It is a dual piston setup with no markings on it. Hopefully someone here can help me diagnose it as I have not seen a fiche or picture with a twin caliber setup yet?!



Finally we took apart the Carbs, at least a bit of the carbs. The upper portion of the main seemed to be in great shape so we left it. Cleaned out the bottom float bowl and removed the jets to clean them out. Everything looks great inside so It should be good to go after a cleaning and a new set of seals/orings/gaskets. I hear Kedo sells these… is there a place to get them out of the US or Canada?

I'm almost ready to put the cylinder and head back on mine. Not too sure how to torque the right side cylinder bolts since they're slightly covered by the cylinder.

Any ideas? I'd rather not over or under torque the cylinder if possible.

We just used a ring spanner and made sure they were tight, as long as there tight it shouldnt matter, it's not sealing compression or anything, just the oil gallery.

So since you're getting to the point of being ready to reassemble, I have to ask... Can a TT600 use the same rings as the same year XT600? Finding rings for at TT is a pain and I'm finding loads of XT on eBay.

what cyl liner do you have? chrome or iron? this is a good question------part # are diff. and the tt is $55 and the xt is $25 tt must be a chrome ring. somebody should know. (i'm guessing)

Edited by bergman501, 23 October 2010 - 08:12 AM.

TT liner is Nickisil (sp?) and XT is iron. I still have not figured out yet if you can swap one sleeve for the other?

NOTE : DO NOT HONE THE TT Sleeve! TT rings should just pop in and seat themselves to the cylinder

Okay,
So after a long week at work and doing other chores the car decided to break Nothing big, just time consuming - so the progress has been slow the last week:

-I have now picked-up all but 1 bearing

- Started to shine the lower & upper triple clamps and the front fork bottoms. I removed clear coat/paint with the wire wheel, then sanded by hand. I then mounted the buffing wheel on the grinder and polished them up...Looks like chrome

-I have told you guys about the seal that I forgot to order for the lower steering head bearing. Since I was not about to order up another bearing with the seal, I sourced some "close-to-size" seals off of McMaster-Carr. I cut one down to replace the missing one for the bearing and I added a larger one around the bottom of the stem to divert water away. Hopefully these will work out for me. At least I have the grease nipple now so I should be able to purge outwards

-Installed the steering stem

-I am starting to compile all of the little springs, screws, washers & plates for the engine. I need to wash a few more parts then it should be building time

Pictures to come - hopefully you can all wait until then!

Okay, My Bad… Its been way too long. Things are crazy so I have not had a ton of time to work on the bike but I did do some stuff:

Started to clean the engine parts…I mean CLEAN. Triple wash with soap & water, compressed air dry and a coating of fresh engine old to protect exposed metal till I’m ready to go. When its time I will wipe the oil and do a few rub coats of degreaser on the seal surfaces followed by rubbing alcohol.  I have about ¾ of the internal parts done now, I still need to clean up the transmission parts before I can start the engine build.




I have finished the polishing of the triple clamps and the lower end of the front forks…nice and shiny. This took significant time on the wire wheel, hand sanding and buffing on the wheel but I am really pleased with the results. Its not original but for me this is a running bike to use... I will save the factory finishes for my old bike




I just noticed today that the seal for the lower triple clamp as already worked its way loose...oh well, I guess I will have to come up with the proper seal:foul:



New Wheel bearings came in for the front and I got a front fender pack with tire irons, which is looks pretty nice.




As I have said before, I have yet to even sit on one of these beasts so I figure its time. I have temporarily mounted the triples, forks, front wheel, bars, rear wheel and seat.



:ride::ride: ....well maybe not yet:smirk:

YEAH…now we’re talking! I’m looking forward to getting going on this beast a little more in the coming weeks. Hopefully I can get all the parts cleaned up before the snow flies. I rode the GT 380 to work today and its starting to get a little chilly on the toes.

Cool. Your making progress.

Its a bit slow going I know but it is coming.

I got 90% of the parts for the engine cleaned up and ready to roll. I just have to clean up the crank, clutch and flywheel. Then its game time!

Hopefully pressing bearings into the case by the weekend

timbuckets--you seem to know what you are doing, so take this as what i had problems with. ck the small end of your rod for ware (i had 2 cranks) both rod small ends were bad. oil pump up-grade--get a 3aj (all they sell now) has more pressure--don't know about volume. if doing a complete valve job(new valves) get grizzly 600 valves as they are 1mm bigger and much cheaper. (have to recut valve seats) good luck and great build.

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Bergman - I'm glad it looks like I know what I'm doing. This is my first rebuild, though I have seen my father go through a fair number. As for the pointers, I am lucky to have a good crank! when I do the next engine I will have to pull it apart and replace the con-rod and bearing. I have seen you post where you suggested doing a brass/bronze bushing insert into the small end. This looks like a good mod. I have 2 good oil pumps but since I'm planning on doing up engine #2 right I may consider this upgrade. 2 of my 3 heads are good too but if I need valves I would go with the grizzly 600's.

Thanks for the tips!