So after 64k miles since I purchased the bike in Dec. 07 I had worn out the pistons, rings, and liners. So after much research I decided to swap out engines with a, new to me, donor.
Watching eBay and such for about 6 months I found Imperial Sportbikes, in Denver, CO., had an engine for sale for some time. After talking with Tim I decided to pull the trigger and purchase the 09 motor with 10,150 miles. He stated that the motor ran before break down and gave me a 30 day guarantee. The donor bike had been rear ended and totaled(maybe someone on here?). Engine was shipped to my work in three days and made it safe and sound.
Ideally I figured this would take 2-3 days but only took about 1 1/2 with help pulling the engine and putting in the new one. So for the first part I took everything of and labelled every plug I removed. Good idea for later! Stripping everything was very easy and only took about 3-4hrs with extensive labelling.
Before I decided to pull the engine I made a list of things I needed to do first. One was to check the valves whilst the engine was out. Piece o' cake! It was easy and the clearances were withing spec and just like new. I also took the opportunity to clean the whole motor up and removed all hose lines etc to give em a good cleaning to make sure there was no dirt or debris hidden anywhere.
Also because the bike crashed on the right side i decided to see if the 3 right side covers would fit from my 07 to the 09..........VWALAH! They fit! Good thing I already had gaskets from before because 2 of the 3 were destroyed during removal.
A friend of mine made this contraption to help remove the engine. It bolts up to the bottom of the engine in the 4 corners and then the plywood is bolted to the legs. Worked great with the cruiser jack we had!
So it took me and a friend a little over an hour to remove the engine. We kept getting hung up on the swing arm frame at the back. Ugh.
I'd be interested to see your rationale for buying the used engine vs. getting a rebore & a top end rebuild. Did you price out those options? Note that the new engine has already used 1/6th of its life... and that's assuming it's had the same level of care as yours did.
Or are you going to refurb the original engine once you've done the swap?
I'd be interested to see your rationale for buying the used engine vs. getting a rebore & a top end rebuild. Did you price out those options? Note that the new engine has already used 1/6th of its life... and that's assuming it's had the same level of care as yours did.
Or are you going to refurb the original engine once you've done the swap?
LFH- good questions! Yes I checked the cost of parts alone was the same cost as the used motor. Which of course didn't calculate in the custom machining and boring and such. I personally think I could stretch the life out of this motor as well. The old bike was rode hard, track days with a crash, Mexico to Canada non stop, countless hours in the saddle. I think it just added up over time.
As for the old engine, I plan on rebuilding at least the top end. I'll know more once I open it up. So once the 09 engine gives up the ghost I will put the 07 back in and work on the 09!
The problem I had was I could lose a quart of oil in less than 500 miles if I rode like a maniac the whole time. Oil was filling up the crankcase and coming back up through the breather hose to the airbox. Then filling the airbox so much it was seeping out the seams......plus it was creating build up on my valves.
I know everyone rides different and our bikes are not all exactly same so it really depends. We've seen on here that sometimes people get the odd lemon whilst no one else has any problems with their bike. If you only ride to eat, for example, then I would venture a guess that your bike will last forever!
If anyone has other questions fire away and I'll try to answer them as best I can!
Anyways it took us a little longer to get the engine back in when lining the mounts up. We ended up lining them up from front to back and the last two were a real pain to get in.
After that it was only a matter of matching up plugs and such! Parts I used from the 07 motor etc were as follows; airbox, throttle bodies, side covers for the whole right side, header exhaust, and the SAI block offs.
I did have to change the plug on the stator to match my EB plug. Good thing I ordered two sets when I did it the first time.
Once everything was buttoned up we added oil and coolant and fired her up! She was a bit hard starting at first but now fires up like a beast! I also got out the tune ecu and hooked it up and found no error codes and the throttle bodies were spot on. I stayed with my 07 tune as I didn't change my ECU. The only thing I need to manually adjust is my TPS because it reads .84 and the manual says it should be .60 with +/- .02
So other than that it was a fairly painless process. If I've forgotten anything I'll post up. Now I just need to go for a spin!!!! I think I will take her easy for the first bit and make sure nothing goes haywire!
I took it out last night and was VERY pleased with the new engine! It shifts sooooo much smoother now and on a whole I think it is a much stronger engine. I still need to manually reset the tps so I have the tank off again and I'll post picks later. It is idling very poorly in 1st gear when putting around, also I need to get some slack in my throttle as it is very jerky now too.
I usually used Maxim, Shell, Motul, and Rotella T6 and always within the 6k service. I was very religious about following the service intervals.
As for short engine life, I will admit that I don't feel everyone rides the same way for the same amount of time. 64k miles over 10 yrs is different than 64k miles over 4-1/2 yrs.
Or maybe I just got a less superior motor? IDK?
I took it out last night and was VERY pleased with the new engine! It shifts sooooo much smoother now and on a whole I think it is a much stronger engine. I still need to manually reset the tps so I have the tank off again and I'll post picks later. It is idling very poorly in 1st gear when putting around, also I need to get some slack in my throttle as it is very jerky now too.
I usually used Maxim, Shell, Motul, and Rotella T6 and always within the 6k service. I was very religious about following the service intervals.
As for short engine life, I will admit that I don't feel everyone rides the same way for the same amount of time. 64k miles over 10 yrs is different than 64k miles over 4-1/2 yrs.
Or maybe I just got a less superior motor? IDK?
I manually reset the TPS and slacked off a bit on the throttle and it is soooooooo much better! Unfortunately I didn't take a pic but all I had to do was pop off the throttle body, loosen the 2 safety screws, hook up Tune ECU and twist away until I got it back to 0.60v, tightened the screws and pushed the TB's back in.
I think it was counter clockwise to go backwards, the manual didn't say so I just twisted it to see which way the numbers went.
If there are riders out there that feel it is way to jerky then double check the slack in your throttle. I realised I had ridden mine with no slack from new......I guess I just got use to it.
Evening guys,
Apparently the PO of my bike couldn't figure out how to get a key made to release the passenger seat to unbolt the front seat. So they cut off any mounts for the front seat. Can anyone help me with a picture of the underside of the seat? So, i can attempt to make mounts for the...
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