Engine Removal Tricks??

[Snakeoil]

Boy, it's been a while since I've been here. Moto giros were all cancelled last year as well as one day events for vintage bikes. My CL77 never got the battery put into it.

So, I'm going to cross the gears in the tranny as a winter therapy project. Yesterday I put the bike on the lift, stripped down all the peripherals to pull the engine. Double checked with the manual for any tricks to get it out and only tip as you know is lift and turn to take out the right side of the chassis.

Well, that is much easier said than done. After multiple tries, realized that the left exhaust header studs being removed would make it easier, so pulled those. But it was still not wanting to come out of the chassis. Called a buddy who was a Honda mechanic many years ago and is doing a CL himself right now and all he could offer up was remove the aforementioned studs, have someone help you and wiggle until it comes free.

I went back at it, with a jack under the engine which helped a lot and about 5 minutes after I hung up the phone, the engine was out.

So, I suspect it will go in easier than it came out, but still looking for any tidbits of wisdom for putting it back in. I did it alone and will do it alone again. I weighed the engine and it weighs 108 lbs, so it ain't no 2-stroke single, that's for sure.

Thanks,
Rob

[brewsky]

Hey, Rob.....good to see you back.....been kind of slow here since the place got blown up and finally revived.

I haven't done a CL, but for others I'm a fan of ratchet straps or winch and some kind of sky hook outfit.......couple of ladders with cross member, hung from rafters, etc.

It took 4 of us and 2 long rods thru the mount holes to get my 750-4 engine back in without losing a digit or 2!

Working alone takes a little more planning!

Good luck

[Snakeoil]

Hi Brewsky. I had to look at my profile for the last time I posted here. It was 2018. Never knew the site had blown up. I looked over the posting dates when I posted here the other day and noticed that there was not much activity. I joined the VJMC group and generated some interest there. I think everyone is starving for something fun to talk about or problems to solve with COVID limiting fun and coupling that with winter being here.

My cousin has a SOHC 750 and when I look at that thing I shudder at the thought of pulling the engine out of it. He did it once when he was younger. For bigger engines, I generally lay the bike on its side on a padded surface made from cardboard and a blanket. Pull all the mounting bolts and then pick the frame up and the engine is left behind on the blanket. But this bike did not lend itself to that with the way it is kinda trapped by the rear mounts. My garage is also packed solid with winter here. All my bikes are lined up and covered over and I really did not feel like moving stuff around to have room to lay the CL on its side. Might do that for the reinstallation. But with wide bars, it probably will not work unless I take them off and I'm doing my best to avoid stripping the bike down further.

I have not found any good write-ups on a blow by blow to do the gear crossing. So, I just might do one myself with photos to help the next guy Even Bill Silver's manuals do not broach the actually gear swap as a start to finish project. I guess standard tranny disassembly is probably all one needs to follow. But a tutorial is always nice to have where it points to the tricks, pitfalls, shortcuts, etc.. We'll see.

regards,
Rob

[brewsky]

Yea, the Bots really took over, but Michael finally got it re-established a year or so ago.

I think most of the old pics are in limbo, though, as they were being re-established on an upon request basis.

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I did remove one 750/4 engine by laying it over on a foam mattress topper, but it was quite a wrestling match and not recommended.

On the gear swap, I thought about it for my Dream, since 1-2 is such a wide jump, but crossing would just move a wide gap to 3-4, making "passing" gear further down, and it works pretty good as is.

Look forward to your write up

[Snakeoil]

Using a CA gearset in my CL was an option at one point. One of the guys over on the S90 group said he did that for his CL because it best suited his riding style. I looked at the 3 options, std., crossed and CA and decided the crossed ratios were best for me. If there was going to be a road racer, I think the CA would be the better choice because it gives you a close ratio gearbox in the top 3 gears.

Here is a table I put together showing the 3 options for gearing. Granted there are other options if you want to take CA gears and use them in the CB/CL tranny. But for my purposes, these 3 choices were all I considered when I started down this path.

I just came in from cleaning my engine. Put it in a plastic mortar tub and went at it with min spirits, brushes and scrapers. Amazing how much crud can get packed on the bottom of an engine. Bike has seen many Motogiro events with creek crossings, mudholes, torrential rain storms, tarred roads. And of course the breath lubing the chain at max rpm tends to add a nice layer of oil to the crud making it stick even better.

Thinking more about doing a write-up. I may just start with taking the engine out of the frame.

regards,
Rob

[DJM]

When you come to put the engine BACK into the frame don't forget to fit the starter motor blanking plate first. If you try to do it with the engine in place you can't get all the screws back in because they are too close to the frame. Just passing on the info from a friend who had done just that and undoubtedly saved me from making the same mistake myself.

[Snakeoil]

Thanks. I was aware of this issue. Actually replated that plate along with the screws while I had it off.

Regards,
Rob