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[Abbynormal]

More problems. Now the rear cylinder is blowing smoke. We (husband) are fed up and doing the work here at home. The frame is almost touching the rocker box cover. Can the rocker box cover, ring, rockers, head be removed without lowering the engine. We are considering pulling the pivot pin and dropping the engine a small amount to make it easier for removal and replacing the upper components. Has anyone done this repair and if so please offer suggestions. Hate to do extra work for nothing if not required.

Thanks,
Abby

[Gettinold]

More problems. Now the rear cylinder is blowing smoke. We (husband) are fed up and doing the work here at home. The frame is almost touching the rocker box cover. Can the rocker box cover, ring, rockers, head be removed without lowering the engine. We are considering pulling the pivot pin and dropping the engine a small amount to make it easier for removal and replacing the upper components. Has anyone done this repair and if so please offer suggestions. Hate to do extra work for nothing if not required.

Thanks,
Abby

It will come out of there just has to be just so. 

[RedFXR2]

The frame is almost touching the rocker box cover. Can the rocker box cover, ring, rockers, head be removed without lowering the engine?

The short anwer is "no".  Read the thread elvis put up and you'll see how to lower the motor in the frame to gain access. You'll need a jack that goes low enough to get under the motor before you remove the front motor mount.  It's really not that hard once you get the proper jack.  Mine's from a Honda Accord (junkyard) and it works perfectly.  Stabilize the bike upright first, then place the jack under the motor, padded with rags or something, raise the jack to take some, but not much weight, remove the front mounts, then lower the jack--lowering the motor at the same time.  It will pivot on the rear two mounts.

[Plasmaman]

Abby's husband here. We really appreciate the tip on lowering the engine for rocker box removal. It worked great. The mystery may be solved about the bike smoking from one pipe and then the other after the top end overhaul. It appears that unknowing to us or the mechanic who did the top end this bike is not stock. The previous owner may have installed a high lift cam and it is lifting so high that the "James" valve quide seals are being forced too far up onto the shaft and deforming. This allows some oil to follow the valve stem into the chamber. Apparently the guide is only slightly damaged and it took a few miles for the oil to begin to leak. We did not remove the cams so this is conjecture at this point. The engine is reassembled with "James" seals and if it happens again we will open both cylinders and either shorten the guide or use different seals. The vibration problem remains a mystery but has decided to behave for now. Will post again after we log a few miles. This thread follows the "excessive vibration" thread previously posted. Many thanks to all who have offered assistance over the past few weeks.

[RedFXR2]

It appears that unknowing to us or the mechanic who did the top end this bike is not stock. The previous owner may have installed a high lift cam and it is lifting so high that the "James" valve quide seals are being forced too far up onto the shaft and deforming. This allows some oil to follow the valve stem into the chamber. Apparently the guide is only slightly damaged and it took a few miles for the oil to begin to leak. We did not remove the cams so this is conjecture at this point.

I think you're finally getting somewhere in solving your mechanical problems.  Who knows what cam might have found it's way in there.  I think you should at least pull the cam out and identify it.  Most cams will have a mark on the back (unfortunately, so you must remove it to read) or even measure the lobes to get an idea of lift.

Anyway, it it's really the cam that's causiing bad valve seals then it's likely to keep happening.  Have you got any ide of how long it took for this condition to arise?  Specifically, how long has the cam been in there?  That should tell you how long it might take for it to happen again, and therefore how big a problem it is.

[Abbynormal]

The odometer had around 21,000 with old valve seals which I expect were Harley seals. I assume that they just failed. The mechanic removed them so i don't know for sure what they were or what condition they were in when removed. The pipe swapping smoke started after the top end overhaul. We have now put about 100 miles since we just replaced the damaged "James" seals and no problem yet. It is possible that the mechanic over seated them but I really doubt it since he is a good mechanic with years of experience rebuilding evos. Time and miles will tell us what is going on. We will tear down the engine if it happens again and take corrective actions for a permenant fix.

[fxr4mikey]

I was just wondering how your FXR is running these days ....

any more smoke  ?

does it still vibrate ?