7. (Contiued again)
Video demonstration to illustrate this whole section;
N.B. In the video above at 03:40 I said 2.9mm by mistake, as you can see it was at 2.80mm which was the target
(u) When the cam lobes on #1 are pointing away from the tappet bucket faces;
• check your dial indicator needle is still good
• you still have at least 4mm left on the dial gauge’s small dial for the needle to travel down through
• note the position of the small dial’s needle
• you have “zeroed” the fine graduations range on the gauge (the outer ring), also move the little plastic marker to 0.794mm
(v) Get an assistant ideally, to bolt down the cam sprockets when you turn the cams
(w) Turn the intake cam back to where it was, to the position in the two photos above and two below (i.e. facing out and down) – 1/3 turn clockwise when facing front of engine – the dial indicator will quickly register some lift as the lobe starts touching the bucket, maybe 0.5mm (see video above)
(x) Watching the dial indicator, use the 20mm spanner to continue turning the intake cam clockwise to the point where the dial indicator reads 0.110” / 2.794mm of total travel (the cam lobes push the buckets down by 2.794mm from where you zeroed the dial)
(y) Hold the intake cam there exactly at that 2.794mm lift point, and thread in 1 cam sprocket bolt and torque it to 150 inch pounds / 17Nm
(z) Remove the 20mm spanner and turn crank over until the other bolt hole of the intake cam sprocket has come around to clear the head deck and the 2nd bolt can be put in and torqued down.
Don't worry, the 1st cam sprocket bolt will hold onto the cam when turning over, until you can get the 2nd bolt in too.
(aa) When the intake cam sprocket is bolted down fully to the cam, you need to turn the engine over by hand several times, checking the intake valve timing (lift at TDC) each iteration
(bb) Make a table of the results, with a column for the error – you should have almost exactly the same reading each iteration
Intake results
Exhaust
(cc) When you’re confident you’ve the intake cam dialled in perfectly and are getting consistent readings, you can take out one sprocket bolt at a time and put some MEDIUM strength threadlock on them before torquing them back down
(dd) Put cylinder #1 back to TDC as per the marks on the front of the crank sprocket etc, and repeat the dialling in process for the exhaust cam, using the target lift specification of 0.095” / 2.413mm
(ee) You can check for timing accuracy in 2 ways; (i) turn the engine over until TDC mark is reached on the crank sprocket, then check what the lift is in thou/mm on the dial indicator, OR (ii) turn the engine over until the dial indicator is at the lift spec (e.g. 95 thou on exhaust) and then see where the TDC mark is on the crank sprocket in relation to the marking on crankcase – the first way is good to see how far out your lift is from target spec in thou/mm, the second way doesn’t but if your timing is bang on it will be so when you use either method
(ff) Your cams are now dialled in and tensioner set – if you like to double check everything, you can at this point hold the tensioner still by the outer nut, back off the inner/lock nut and o-ring, and ensure you’re happy with the “fingertip tight” setting of the manual tensioner before locknutting it down again
(gg) Check your valve clearances as per section 3.19 of the manual
N.B. Your cam chain will probably stretch with the new, more aggressive cams and stronger valve springs over the first couple thousand miles of running this modified engine – if your hearing isn’t great (you can’t hear timing chain rattles) you should repeat step (ff) above every couple thousand miles until the slack that comes into it has got less and less each time and is now finished stretching
E.g. I fitted my stuff at 10435 miles – at 12845 miles I heard a small rattle so adjusted tensioner (tensioner moved in 8/6ths of a turn) – tensioned it again at 14531 miles when servicing (turned in 6/6ths turn) – tensioned it again at 18642 miles when servicing (took 5/6ths of a turn) – and so on until it doesn’t need adjusting anymore – although it should be checked regardless
8. Reassemble rest of bike
(a) Refit clutch cover as per manual section 4.7
(b) Refit all spark plugs, thermostat including setting (see manual section12.10), oil pressure switch
(c) Refit cam cover and other parts as per steps 15 to 24 inclusive on page 3.22 of manual (note steps 25 to 27 come later in section 10 of this guide)
9. Remap ECU
(a) Fit and connect battery, positive first
(b) Hook bike up to laptop & TuneBoy
(TuneECU maps now available for 240hp kit)
TuneECU version of 240hp Tuneboy map (older Rockets)
TuneECU version of 240hp Tuneboy map (Roadsters etc)
(c) Clear faults
(d) Open Bob’s Tuneboy map for your package, in TuneEdit – if not already done, set idle speed to 950rpm at the highest temperature and stagger it up then for colder temps (better oil pressure at 950rpm than the stock 850rpm, which is needed for your more aggressive cams)
(e) Load the map
(f) Back in TuneBoy test tacho/speedo, secondaries, idle stepper, fuel pump and importantly, the radiator fan (verifies all is connected right again)
(g) Set TPS & idle stepper (reset ISCV)
(h) Connect PCV to Power Commander software, load the 9000rpm map (don’t worry about rev limit, the Tuneboy map governs that, if your package is 8000rpm then only up to 8000rpm will be used in the PCV)
Make sure you have a camera rolling, if it all fails at least we can have a laugh at your expense
(a) If you have a heart condition, now is the time to take extra medication
(b) Turn on the ignition – few relays should click in harmony, clocks sweep, secondary throttles cycle, idle stepper buzzes, fuel pump primes, lights come on, including green N light on clocks
(c) With your left hand, squeeze the clutch lever into the handlebar grip as you feel your heart pounding
(d) Nervously reach over with your right hand and gently lay it on the throttle tube handlebar grip
(e) Slowly move your right thumb in over the starter button
(f) Pause for a moment while you inwardly panic that something was missed or not done right
(g) When you summon the courage, move your feet so you’re as far away from the engine as possible, arms outstretched and turn your face away and squeeze your eyes closed in cowardice as you brace yourself, and thumb that starter button
(h) When it starts up and runs with no trouble at all, enjoy the few seconds where you forget to breathe, as your eyes dart around the bike and you slowly let go of the handlebar grips, looking for smoke, fire or sparks or broken bits falling out onto the ground… then remember to breathe again
(i) After about a minute of feeling immense relief and joy, switch off the bike and go top up your oil as per manual section 9.7 and coolant as per manual section 12.5
Note: Regarding the photo above - I did the engine work and kept the stock exhaust initially, to see what the achievable power was with stock looking bike. Later added a full system.
(j) Beware of the reduced torque at idle or so, and take the bike for a ≈70 mile spin (Bob told me between 50 to 100 miles) to run it in.
Don’t be afraid of the revs – obviously don’t redline it straight away, but gradually increase how much revs you use.
After 5 mins of running (engine warmed up ok), you want to be building up to around using 6-7k rpm kind of thing.
Use more and more revs, and more and more throttle, as the miles go by.
The top rings bed in FAST and you need to be on it.
Best give Bob a call to have the best advice fresh in your mind on how to run it in correctly.
(k) When back from the run-in spin, change the oil and filter. Then balance the throttles. This job will be easier now you’ve freed up the intake – if a guide is needed, search the R3owners.net forum for the thread on throttle balancing
(l) Head to the local dyno man to get your fuelling tweaked to perfection via the PCV
Note: Not bringing the bike to a dyno at this point is not an option
(m) On the way home from dyno, go nuts and feel the difference in acceleration especially from 80 – 120mph and beyond