Posted by Davo on July 02, 2001 at 19:36:49:
Well, I performed the 600 mi service on my bike this weekend. The oil change was no problem, of course. The process of retorquing the cylinder head was a major P.I.T.A. however!
First of all, the gas tank is not easy to get off because the frame is in the way of the petcock (I hate that word). So, you have to sort of twist and turn the tank until you find the right orientation that will allow it to be lifted off.
The chrome cylinder head vanity covers come off easily enough, but beware of losing the rubber pieces. Also, the left front bolt which sits in the head will create problems for you later. It cannot be removed with the head cover (non-vanity) in place.
I suggest you look around for an appropriate tool to take the timing cover off with. Mine was quite tight; I used a large, thick washer that I further massaged with an angle grinder until it fit the slot perfectly. Getting the engine at TDC on the compression stroke is a little confusing. By rotating the crank clockwise as the Clymer manual tells you, you are actually cycling the motor in the reverse direction. Therefore, you want to stop at the alignment marks just after the exhaust valves close.
There are a gazillion bolts holding the head cover in place. I imagine that most people who have oil leakage problems fail to evenly release and retorque these bolts, or aren't handy with Permetex. There are not one (as per Clymer) but two bolts you should not remove. The other one is at the left front, is angled, and holds the compression release cam in place. That stud which holds the left vanity cover in place has to be dealt with now--you can't get the head cover off without dexterously sliding it out of its recess in the head while lifting up the head cover. I had the most luck sliding the head cover out the left side. The top, center head cover bolt cannot be removed until you get the head cover out. Also, the Clymer manual conveniently leaves out the step of removing the upper motor mount. You'll need some blue Loctite when you put it back.
There will be plenty of time for the head to cool off completely while you scrape all of the old Permetex off of the head and head cover. :) I loosened the head nuts gradually in a crisscross pattern before retightening. When retightening, I used 5-10-15-25 ft. lb. steps. I could not get at the front-and-back, underneath nuts with a socket or crowfoot, so I had to use an open-end wrench to extend the torque wrench. Basically, I used a 12mm nut and bolt to couple the torque wrench to the open end wrench, then applied the appropriate torque conversion factor:
Actual torque = (New length/old length)*torque reading
The major hassle in reassembly is getting the right amount of Permetex evenly applied to the head cover and keeping it off of other parts while you get the head cover back in place. Don’t forget that oblong o-ring or the seal that goes over the right front head nut. The left front vanity cover bolt will return to haunt you again. Forgetting to put the center bolt in the head cover before lifting it into place is a guaranteed mood wrecker too. I did not put Permetex on the rubber camshaft end seal because there was none there to begin with. I may live to regret this if it starts to leak oil.
The valve lash was still right on when I got everything back together. The head cover holds the rockers, so it's entirely possible for this to change.
All in all, unless the dealer’s mechanics are total ham hands, I would not do this procedure myself again. I would guess that most dealers don’t even bother checking the head torque at the 600 mi service, especially if they only charge $150 or so as mine does.
Davo