Engine removal

[muaymendez1]

I have searched for quite sometime on the interwebs and cant find any info on engine removals or engine swaps. I feel like I am the first 2nd gen owner who has had to remove his engine for a head gasket replacement and repair

I started with all the small stuff a few weeks ago. Here I am 3rd day of vacation ready to go downstairs in the driveway and tackle this.

Without Hoists

Jacks

Cranes

I will keep all updated.

Whats really puzzling me is the disconnecting of the rear drive in order to pull the engine.

WIth no prior videos or tutorials . I will havce to figure it out.

[Venturous Randy]

Whats really puzzling me is the disconnecting of the rear drive in order to pull the engine.

WIth no prior videos or tutorials . I will havce to figure it out.

 

There are two ways to handle the driveshaft disconnect. You can unbolt all the engine stuff and when you pull the engine out, you can twist it slightly clockwise, looking from the top, and the u-joint and driveshaft will slide apart. You can put it back together the same way by pulling the rubber boot out of the way.

My personal preference is to remove the final drive first and pull the driveshaft and then after putting the engine back in place, reinstall the driveshaft into the u-joint. The reason I like this better is because with all the wrestling around you will be doing to get the engine out and back in, that is one thing less to have to mess with.

Are you sure you have to remove the engine to do the head gaskets? It is my understanding there is room on the front head and the top frame comes apart to get to the rear heads. I am not sure as I have never done anything to a 2nd gen.

RandyA

[GaryZ]

My '85 comes apart very much as described by Venturous. A piece of the frame is removed from the right side that allows the engine to rotate away from the driveshaft. You can see the missing frame piece in the attached photo. I used a floor jack under the engine and two of us removed it. I was really concerned about stabbing the engine back in the drive system. However, it went back together easier than it came apart.

[FuzzyRSTD]

Dealer replaced my head gasket at around 15,000 or so. Found out it was a recall on my bike and it did not cost me anything. The head was not properly torqued from the factory. I do know they did not remove the motor to do this and that there is a write up about it somewhere here if I remember correctly.

[steamer]

Go to the VR tech section and you can view the 2nd gen tech manual. there is an engine removal chapter that will take you through step by step.

[steamer]

I have the hard copy manual and according to the manual you have to remove the engine to remove the heads. This is not to say you can't find an alternative to doing this. However in my experience it never saves time or frustration to use short cuts.

[Wade 2000]

I've done a swap because the factory didn't torque the connecting rods to the crank. I bought it that way on the cheap. If you have any questions PM me or my cell number is in my profile. I'd be glad to help out any way I can. [ATTACH]85397[/ATTACH]