T500J New to the board

[sportston]

'Man of few words usually has wife that has many words'.

Hahaha. For sure!

[sportston]

Result!

What method worked in the end? What do the gudgeon pins and bearings look like?

[1T500closertodivorce]

Result!

'Man of few words usually has wife that has many words'.

Funny that you should know my wife so well!

Well, to make a long story long, it was a bit of shenanigans to get the one piston off. The first piston was easy enough, there was a decent amount of circlip to work with, in that gap at the top of the gudgeon pin hole. I was able to lever it out, getting it started with a small screw driver and then small pliers.

The other piston, I had a really hard time getting the circlip to rotate to where I could get at it. I tried laying the engine over on its side on the workbench, to give me better access, but still could not get the circlip to shift with either the screwdriver or pick. I flipped(!) the engine over on its other side and had better luck getting the opposite circlip to rotate around to where I could work on it, then no problem, small screw driver and then small pliers. So maybe that one difficult circlip is a bit misshaped? It rotated a bit more easily when I had the piston in my hand and I was able to get it out.

The gudgeon pins and bearings look good.

[sportston]

So whats the thinking? Decoke, then reassemble with fresh gaskets?

[1T500closertodivorce]

After stripping the engine down, given the age of the bike, I am wondering whether I shouldn't get the crank rebuilt when I have it out of the engine?

Even if it appears to be OK, I would like to get fresh oil seals.

Anyone with recommendations for someone to do this. I live on the west side of Canada.

[sportston]

It might be a good idea. Don't know anyone that side of the pond to recommend, but I am sure someone on here will.
When you split the cases, make sure you clean the mating surfaces spotlessly, removing all old sealant and reseal using threebond.
As you have no doubt gathered by now, T500s are prone to gear wear and gearbox oil level is critical, so it is a good idea to replace all the other oil seals while you are rebuilding to prevent leaking. Some of the guys on here talk about a modification that may help prolong the life of a T500 gearbox. Its worth asking the T500 experts on here about that (I'm not one of them, just a general spanner monkey).
Good luck in the rebuild. I look forward to reading of your progress.
TTFN
Tom

[dorT500]

..........Even if it appears to be OK, I would like to get fresh oil seals. .....

Good.

You will find that a lot of people use Bill Bune Enterprises but they are in Anoka, Minnesota. I have had the crank split and center seals installed twice in the over 100,000 miles I have put on my '75T500 in the past 25-26 years. First time when I did not know about Bill Bune, I had a small shop in Houston do it and then the second time, Bill Bune did it. These cranks fall into the heavy weight class so the labor only would be around $175.00

http://www.billbune.com/services.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;"

They also bored and honed a spare set of cylinders for me a couple of years ago along with selling me the new piston kits at the same time. I got a discount on the Wiseco Kits that they had in stock. Still have it all put away and have been kind of waiting for another reason to pull the engine. That time is fast approaching. Along with wanting to check the transmission, the kickstart pawl is hinting around that it is time to replace it.

BTW, now is a good time to replace the kickstarter pawl in your engine also.....even if it looks like it does not need it. Pin and spring also. It would be a shame to have to split your engine later just to replace a $4.00 part. I have replaced mine on several occasions over the last 25 years sometimes when I had to and sometimes just for preventative maintenance since I had the cases apart for some other reason but I ride almost everyday of the year with a lot of start and go involved.


I don't know how much your two way shipping would be to Bill Bune but I think (not sure) the crank itself weighs around 39 lbs. and I buy extra insurance on it from the carrier.

One good way to pack it for shipping is to wrap it in plastic and surround it with pieces of rigid polystyrene wrapped in plastic also (to contain any beads that may break away) and put it in one of those cheap plastic tool boxes. Then put the tool box in a shipping box big enough to have plenty of cushion around, under and above the tool box.

Don't make the same mistake I made a couple or three years ago. Trying to 'streamline' the size of the shipping box, I just sleeved the plastic tool box with two 9"x9"x9" cardboard boxes. Well, that was during some terrible blizzard conditions they were having up north a few years ago and I and one of Bill Bunes guy guessed the box got dropped or banged somewhere along the line and it was so cold it broke the area of the tool box around the latch.

Turnaround time on mine was only about a week but I would think 10-14 days might be a norm sometimes.

You might be able to find a shop (two-stroke machine shop) that is familiar working on these machines near you but I think it would be more of a gamble than I personally would take. Bill Bunes company has done hundreds of these type crankshafts.

[1T500closertodivorce]

Thanks for that information and advise. Well, Anoka, Minnesota is a bit of a drive from here! Thirty hours according to Google Maps. So mailing it would make good sense.

I will replace the kickstarter pawl as well as the pin and spring, thanks for that tip.

I am putting together a list of all the parts I will need, so will add those. The list keeps growing!

[dorT500]

Well, as I mentioned earlier, my kick starter shaft had been slipping occasionally and quickly got worse. Slipping completely AND the return spring broke. I have the engine apart now and see that the end of the spring that fits into the shaft itself broke off...about 6mm. Luckily I had ordered a new one several months ago to have as a spare and also a pawl or two. You might want to check your spring where it goes into the shaft for any telltale hints of wear.

This time I took the heads and cylinders off first before pulling the engine out. For some reason that engine was getting heavier as the years went by.

Oh well, way over do on putting the new top end I have stowed away on anyway.