Tag Archives: removal

A Wammo Update

Posted on by Motopsycho

Just thought I’d share what’s going on around the barn a little bit. Getting the fender, seat and battery box figured out now means that it is time for the real work to begin.

<custom Honda bobber>

A few days ago I dropped the engine out but since then most of my spare time has been spent elbows deep in the severely damaged engine of some guys atv. Today I caught a little break since I have to order more parts for the Brute Force, it gave me a chance to finish tearing this one down to a bare frame.

<bobbed honda 400 frame>

<CM400 rigid frame>

Now the previous owner of this fine mosheen was a true rat biker and whenever he felt the need to attach something else to it that could not be tied or glued on he resorted to that favorite motorcycling custom trick of using self drilling screws to tack shit to his motorcycle. So I spent a couple of hours brazing up small holes in the frame, before it was time to break out the angle grinder and safety glasses and remove all of the unwanted tabs from this frame.

Some of the tabs were saved and will be reused on this and other projects, but most of them were tossed into the scrap bin to be recycled. Now its time to soak it down with oven cleaner and get it completely clean so I can do a little more welding then clean it all up and prep for paint.

<oven cleaner motorcycle frame>

By the way, I have been documenting the crankshaft replacement of the Kawasaki Brute Force 750 and will be posting a ton of pictures in the days to come so stick around.

Peace Y’all

Let’s Split! (engine cases that is.)

Posted on by Motopsycho

Hello once again Ladies, Gentlemen and Russell,
When last I posted the engine was sitting on the bench with the top end and most of it’s accessories removed. The next thing I did was to remove one of the piston pin circlips and push the pin out far enough to remove the piston from the connecting rod.

If you don’t have an impact wrench available you should probably remove the alternator rotor before removing the top end. This is one job that really does require the factory special rotor puller. Fortunately they are not expensive and like the service manual worth every penny.

To remove the camshaft and timing chain first remove the camshaft bearing retainer and rotate the engine until the crankshaft is at top dead center and the timing marks on the cam sprocket and the crankcase line up. Now you can slide the camshaft out while working the cam chain off of the crankshaft. For the picture below I stuck the camshaft bearing retainer back into place after removing the camshaft so you could see how it fits.

Now it’s time to split the cases first remove all of the bolts and gently tap on the small projection around the cases and they should begin to come apart. If they do not easily come apart double to be sure that you have not missed any bolts like the one in this picture, that is inside of the engine where you might miss it.

With a TRX250 Recon engine I like to place it front side down on a workbench that allows me to place the protruding shafts through the bench so that it sits level. Then gently lift up on the rear case while tapping down on the transmission output shaft until it pops free. If you need to pry on the case to move it remember that you should never pry on any of the gasket sealing surfaces or around the cylinder hole. The outside of the engine mounting lugs is okay and there is on small place in between the lifter holes that can be used.
Just remember that if it requires any kind of force to remove something may be wrong and you should re-check everything before proceeding.

Here’s another shot of the transmission innards.

As you pull the pieces out of the transmission and lay them out on the bench like this be sure that you keep track of every single piece, all the washers bearings etc. and where they go in the assembly. I like to re-assemble them all back to their respective shafts as fast as possible. Keeping these parts in order is critical because just 1 misplaced or omitted washer can destroy the transmission and maybe the engine itself.

Here’s a picture of the failed gear so far I have only found one of the lugs that snapped off of it. The others probably drained out with the oil.

One last shot of the nearly empty crankcase, only the crankshaft and bearings remain.

Now I have to clean everything up good and order the required parts so it may be a week or two before you see this engine again.
If you really want to keep up with how this is going please be sure to subscribe to this page via the link on the upper right side of the page.
Peace Y’all