Mine was VERY tight.  I am glad I bought the special tool for it.  It was $20 well-spent and made the job SO much easier.

this seems like a safer way to get TDC if you dont want to mess with the timing plug, would it work? by top gear i assume he means 4th or 5th (been a while since ive drove the bike, dont even remember its top gear)

"If you can't get a wrench on the flywheel nut don't worry. You can turn the engine over by jacking the rear wheel off the ground and putting the transmission in top gear. Now simply turn the rear wheel to turn the engine. If you can't find the flywheel marks look at the intake valve as you turn the engine over in the forward direction. When it goes down and then up, take a long thin screw driver and stick it down the spark plug hole. Continue to turn the engine over until the piston touches the tip of the screw driver. Continue to turn the engine. Be careful not to jam or bind the screw driver in the spark plug hole. The piston will push the screw driver up. When it stops and starts to go down, that is TDC of the compression stroke. This will work on all piston engines"

good point, ill try this tommorow and let you know how it works out. i picked up the feeler guages at autoparts store for about $5

Not gonna beat on you, but I am gonna give some advice....

One thing that I always try to avoid with beginners is the practice of shortcuts.  Sorry, but you know the phrase, "to talk the talk, you must walk the walk" (or something like that).  Shortcuts are not for beginners.  You have to know how and why you do something before you try to do it your own way.

I read about the idea of rotating the wheel with a pencil feeler, as a way to avoid opening the timing cover.  I understood exactly what that meant, but even after 30+ years of wrenching I wouldn't do that.  It isn't accurate enough...or it leaves the possibility for error.  A valve job is something that you want done right the first time.  It must also be done for many worry free miles, good performance, and long engine life.

How about the idea that the piston is at TDC 2 times in one complete cycle, but the valves are doing different things either time?  Also you gotta realize that the crankshaft is at the top of it's rotation, so therefore a few degrees of movement cannot be accurately detected based on piston travel (without a dial indicator).  The movement of the crank is radial and the piston is linear.

Also, the piston is at TDC for both the Compression stroke and the middle of the "Exhaust-Intake" stroke.  There is just a matter of a few degrees difference between the closing of the exhaust and the opening of the intake valves.  What if you had stopped it when one rocker was actually in movement up or down?  Then when you loosened the adjusters and reset the gap, you'd actually turn the adjuster intil the valve closed AND then add a .003-.005 inch to that amount.  Think that might make a really sloppy gap?

Okay?  This isn't intended as a blast of stuff, but I am right.   Before you dive back in there with the same technique, change your mind and go by the book...get a manual and the correct tools.  You'll learn it the correct way, and most likely not have any problems.

By the way, in the Technical Corner I have a picture of an ugly, crude, and homemade tool.  It took me about 30 minutes with just a few scraps of aluminum, a couple bolts, a drill, and a belt sander.  I didn't have a tool and I didn't want to spend the money.  It ain't fancy, but I made it with what I had.

Believe it or not, I think that picture is in the post about the Savage Electrical system...I'll double check...

Good luck.

thanks for the advice, ill work on getting something together to do it right this weekend  

Savage_Greg wrote on 12/31/69 at 16:00:06:


im starting to understand the 2 TDC problem, definetly couldnt tell that by rotating a wheel. im going to start workin on her again tommorow, i actually think i did gap them the correct distance after all, but like you said probably one side was open and one side was closed, or neither was in the right place at all.

Once you do it....you got it!

Walk the walk... 8)

alrite, ive got the timing plug cover off, now i see a bolt with a little T on it, not sure what to line up at this point, i didnt see any marks other than that one. ???

when i crank this bolt the engine turns, im turning counter-clockwise

when i "think" i have the engine in TDC there is play on both rockers. should i tighten it with the rocker play up or tighten them when the rocker is pressed down?


this is what i see right now