Thanks to everyone for this awesome forum. Been reading here for almost three years, and it has been extremely helpful. Now I finally have something to post. I ride a 2005 XB12SCG Lightning. Love it. I am the second owner, and have put almost 20k miles on it (35k total miles). Two months ago on a long trip from Baltimore to Richmond, it started making a distinctly wrong engine noise. Sounded to me like valves tapping in a car, but it only happened under power, in motion. To abbreviate the story, HD Annapolis wanted $800 just to diagnose, because they believed it was some type of crankshaft failure. I decided to do it myself.
I just finished the tear down today. The only issue that I found was the front connecting rod had far too much play. I could move it up and down and left and right. I have contacted Hammer Performance (Dan is as awesome as others have said), and am replacing the stock flywheel and rods with the 2008+ version that has the 1.5" crankpin. I am also replacing the oil gear with the performance version, even though there is no sign of wear. I have a new Buell OEM top end gasket set, new OEM plugs and wires. I made my own clutch inspection gasket and oil pump gasket from Fel-Pro rubber/fiber sheet. I also made one for the starter, but not sure I want to use it, because the OEM starter gasket is metal and rubber.
These are some interesting things that I have learned so far:
1. The front engine mount was basically melted together. I used a breaker bar on that bolt, and when it broke free, it tore apart all of the rubber isolater. Bought a new isolator from Buellparts.net.
2. Motion Pro makes a "generic" version of the HD clutch spring compression tool for half the price ($65), and it works. Bought this through Ebay.
3. The sprocket shaft nut is 1-1/8", and the main shaft nut is 1-3/16". Why couldn't they be the same? 1-3/16 was not at any auto supply stores. Had to order from Amazon. Used an impact wrench to take these nuts off, because they are torqued on at 190 lbs and 90 lbs respectively.
4. The drive belt sprocket locknut is 1-7/8". Had to order from Amazon. Used an impact wrench for this one also.
5. Berryman Chem Dip is amazing! I had some significant carbon buildup on the pistons, and a lot of gum under the valves. Picked up the .75 gal can of Berrymans at Walmart for $19, and everything is clean now. I can't believe that stuff is organic and not at all toxic. BTW, Seafoam did nothing for the carbon buildup, even after 10 hours of soaking.
6. The gaskets on the bottom of the cylinders were a pain in the ass. Every other gasket popped right off, but I couldn't get those off with a razor blade or solvent. I ended up using a dremel tool on low speed with 100 grit sandpaper and a very light touch. definitely not my preference, but I was at a loss there. Those gaskets are now dust all over my garage floor.
7. The sprocket shaft oil seal would not come out. I thought maybe it had somehow bonded into place. I started with the screw method, and the rubber broke free. Tried levering with a screwdriver (I know this can result in scratches to the case) to no avail. Tried pulling with pliers,and all of the rubber stripped off. Tried striking the metal with a hammer and nail set from the back side. Bought an oil seal puller, but nothing made the seal budge. So I put the crankcase in my chest freezer overnight, thinking the seal would contract more than the crankcase, and the seal basically popped right out the next day. I was using the oil seal puller when it finally moved, and the puller did gouge the case slightly. Not happy about that, but not sure how I could have avoided it.
8. I used a bearing separator tool in reverse to force the sprocket shaft bearing out of the crankcase. I bought a couple steel washers that were almost the same diameter as the bearing, and use a breaker bar and socket with the bearing separator. It took a lot of force with the breaker bar, (the steel washers even started to buckle), but I persisted, and the bearing came out. No damage to the case.
9. The rear engine isolator DOES NOT come apart. There are two bolts that are impossible to get to, and I read one forum that said the rubber parts of the isolator pull off, but that is not the case. I damaged the isolator trying to pry those apart. To remove those two bolts, I cut a short piece off of a 1/4" hex driver, and used a closed end 1/4" wrench. A couple taps with a hammer freed those bolts up.
10. Every time I order parts from Buellparts.net, they don't have something in stock. They have to get it from HD, which takes 3 - 5 business days, then ship to me, which takes another 3 - 5 business days. HD Annapolis is only 20 miles away, and they often have to order the parts also, but it only takes 3 - 5 days, and the price appears to be the same.
So now I am waiting for the parts from Hammer Performance. I will be reading the manual on the steps for reassembly, and hopefully I can be patient and not make any mistakes. As much fun as this is, I would rather not have to pull the engine again. Not having the bike is driving me so crazy, I was tempted to go out and buy a cheap street bike for the interim.
For those who are curious, it looks like this rebuild is going to cost about $1600 with all of the parts and tools. I did consider the 1250 big bore kit from Hammer, but this is my first rebuild, and I didn't want to have to learn ECM Spy and remapping to make the bike work again. If this is successful, I might do that later, because this bike and I are going to be together for a long time.
Thanks again to everyone who has posted on these forums. There is a lot of great info here.
Can't figure out how to post images yet.
I just finished the tear down today. The only issue that I found was the front connecting rod had far too much play. I could move it up and down and left and right. I have contacted Hammer Performance (Dan is as awesome as others have said), and am replacing the stock flywheel and rods with the 2008+ version that has the 1.5" crankpin. I am also replacing the oil gear with the performance version, even though there is no sign of wear. I have a new Buell OEM top end gasket set, new OEM plugs and wires. I made my own clutch inspection gasket and oil pump gasket from Fel-Pro rubber/fiber sheet. I also made one for the starter, but not sure I want to use it, because the OEM starter gasket is metal and rubber.
These are some interesting things that I have learned so far:
1. The front engine mount was basically melted together. I used a breaker bar on that bolt, and when it broke free, it tore apart all of the rubber isolater. Bought a new isolator from Buellparts.net.
2. Motion Pro makes a "generic" version of the HD clutch spring compression tool for half the price ($65), and it works. Bought this through Ebay.
3. The sprocket shaft nut is 1-1/8", and the main shaft nut is 1-3/16". Why couldn't they be the same? 1-3/16 was not at any auto supply stores. Had to order from Amazon. Used an impact wrench to take these nuts off, because they are torqued on at 190 lbs and 90 lbs respectively.
4. The drive belt sprocket locknut is 1-7/8". Had to order from Amazon. Used an impact wrench for this one also.
5. Berryman Chem Dip is amazing! I had some significant carbon buildup on the pistons, and a lot of gum under the valves. Picked up the .75 gal can of Berrymans at Walmart for $19, and everything is clean now. I can't believe that stuff is organic and not at all toxic. BTW, Seafoam did nothing for the carbon buildup, even after 10 hours of soaking.
6. The gaskets on the bottom of the cylinders were a pain in the ass. Every other gasket popped right off, but I couldn't get those off with a razor blade or solvent. I ended up using a dremel tool on low speed with 100 grit sandpaper and a very light touch. definitely not my preference, but I was at a loss there. Those gaskets are now dust all over my garage floor.
7. The sprocket shaft oil seal would not come out. I thought maybe it had somehow bonded into place. I started with the screw method, and the rubber broke free. Tried levering with a screwdriver (I know this can result in scratches to the case) to no avail. Tried pulling with pliers,and all of the rubber stripped off. Tried striking the metal with a hammer and nail set from the back side. Bought an oil seal puller, but nothing made the seal budge. So I put the crankcase in my chest freezer overnight, thinking the seal would contract more than the crankcase, and the seal basically popped right out the next day. I was using the oil seal puller when it finally moved, and the puller did gouge the case slightly. Not happy about that, but not sure how I could have avoided it.
8. I used a bearing separator tool in reverse to force the sprocket shaft bearing out of the crankcase. I bought a couple steel washers that were almost the same diameter as the bearing, and use a breaker bar and socket with the bearing separator. It took a lot of force with the breaker bar, (the steel washers even started to buckle), but I persisted, and the bearing came out. No damage to the case.
9. The rear engine isolator DOES NOT come apart. There are two bolts that are impossible to get to, and I read one forum that said the rubber parts of the isolator pull off, but that is not the case. I damaged the isolator trying to pry those apart. To remove those two bolts, I cut a short piece off of a 1/4" hex driver, and used a closed end 1/4" wrench. A couple taps with a hammer freed those bolts up.
10. Every time I order parts from Buellparts.net, they don't have something in stock. They have to get it from HD, which takes 3 - 5 business days, then ship to me, which takes another 3 - 5 business days. HD Annapolis is only 20 miles away, and they often have to order the parts also, but it only takes 3 - 5 days, and the price appears to be the same.
So now I am waiting for the parts from Hammer Performance. I will be reading the manual on the steps for reassembly, and hopefully I can be patient and not make any mistakes. As much fun as this is, I would rather not have to pull the engine again. Not having the bike is driving me so crazy, I was tempted to go out and buy a cheap street bike for the interim.
For those who are curious, it looks like this rebuild is going to cost about $1600 with all of the parts and tools. I did consider the 1250 big bore kit from Hammer, but this is my first rebuild, and I didn't want to have to learn ECM Spy and remapping to make the bike work again. If this is successful, I might do that later, because this bike and I are going to be together for a long time.
Thanks again to everyone who has posted on these forums. There is a lot of great info here.
Can't figure out how to post images yet.
