QuestionI had a leak in my CAM cover. I took off the 4 screws, took off the nuts to the rocker arm pins...slid off the CAM cover..put on the new gasket...slid it on....THEN
It would not slide on.....then I noticed I cant push down the kickstarter, then one rocker arm pin popped out. Simple project turned into ruining my perfect running bike. The CAM shaft looks like it could be nudged up slightly to make the CAM cover fit..but that cant be done. What has happened.....
AnswerKen, loosen all the rocker arms, by rotating the shafts so that they move the rockers away from the camshaft. Loosen the camchain tensioner and pull the tensioner shaft outwards, if you can get a grip on the tip and lock it in place. This will take some tension off the camchain and the camshaft, itself.
This should allow you to move the end of the camshaft upwards enough to insert the end back into the cam bearing end cover. Depending on what phase of valve opening you are at, the camshaft will have rocker arm loads on some portion of the camshaft, pushing it downwards. If that side's cam lobes happen to be on an open valve stroke or on overlap, then slowly rotate the crankshaft so that the cam lobes move away from the rockers to lessen the force on the camshaft/bearing interface. You didn't say which side you were working on, but once you get the cover started over the end of the camshaft, you can lift it upwards against whatever pressure is there, while pushing it inwards towards the cylinder head.
Once you have the cam bearing cover back in place, tighten the screws, then start with a regular valve adjustment process to get them all set again, followed by releasing the camchain tensioner lock bolt so the tensioner can resume its place at the back of the camchain. Watch the end of the tensioner shaft, as you turn the motor over slowly, until the end of the shaft has gone in as much as it can on its own.
Might be a good time to recheck your ignition timing before you put the covers back on again.
Bill Silver
