i was going to do a full engine rebuild. split the cases, all new bearings, seals, etc... but decided that with less than 30,000 miles on my engine, and everything operating really well, i didnt need to spend the money for a full rebuild right now.
so i went the "cheater" route. now i know everyone wont agree and im going to catch alot of flack for doing it this way, but its tried and true by many members here and often done in other engines. its similar to how i use to rebuild my dirt bikes. like i said i know people are going to loose their minds about not doing it completley "by the book" but in all reality i did it all exactly how the book says, just without disturbing all the bearings and possibly having to cut the engine out of the frame due to the front bolts very commonly seizing. ive got to give credit to tony.mon over on the VTR1000.org board for turning me onto this method. very knowledgeable guy on VTR engines.
Heres how it went basically:
1. strip the fairings, tank, airbox, carbs, rads, oil cooler, and anything else that would get in the way of the job.
2.get rear cylinder to TDC and remove valve cover, cam shafts, and then all the cylinder head bolts.
3.remove oil pan and you have easy access to the connecting rod bolts for the rear cylinder. (you will need an elbow socket joint)
4. pop the piston and rod out the top
5.get front cylinder to TDC and remove valve cover, cam shafts, and then all the cylinder head bolts
6.undo the con rod bolts for the front cylinder (note: one of the bolts is pretty difficult to get to but it can be done with the right tools, it would be alot easier to remove the clutch and oil pump but i chose not to go the route and i was able to get it done)
7.pull the piston and con rod out of the top
8.measure your bores and check tolerance, if all is well then lightly hone and wash really really REALLY well.
9.check the new piston ring gap in the newly honed bores and correct if need be.
10. put the front piston in and be sure to smear the gudgeon pin and its bore and small and big end bores of the con rod with 50/50 mix of moly grease and clean engine oil (note: it takes A LOT of patience to get one of the con rod bolts on and torqued if you dont remove the clutch and oil pump, i did it without removing them but i was very very carful not to strip and and get a good torque reading)
11.replace head gasket, and then front cylinder head and cams etc...
12. go back to rear cylinder TDC, and install rear piston making sure to measure ring gap as well as adding the moly oil.
13. replace rear head gasket and then the cylinder head, cams, etc...
14. replace the carbs, airbox, tank, rads, oil cooler, fairings, etc....
and your done!!
just took her out to "break her in" and she feels great. very smooth. much smoother than before. i was taking it easy and not getting above 6K RPM while making sure to load the engine both ways (accel and decel) to seat the rings properly. cant comment on HP yet as i was being just breaking it in but i will report more when i really get things going in 1-200 more miles after an oil and filter change. but so far im loving them!
i will say that the whole job was pretty pricey when you add in the pistons, gaskets, seals, bolts, special tools, etc...
i did it because im never going to sell the VTR and i knew i would want them eventually plus rumor has it that JE is going to stop producing VTR pistons pretty soon as they just arnt selling to many of them, so i wanted to get them before they are gone.
overall job was a good one! probably about 12-16 hours total of work. slow process but not one you can get sloppy with (although some will argue that my entire method was sloppy)
once its all broken in ill go have her dyno'd. ive read of people gainging about 7hp (cant remember the added torque they were getting) from only adding JE pistons. so we shall see once i get the bike to the dyno.
now i just need to balance the carbs.
