Self oiling rear tyre...

[bungbung]

Cheers for the replies,

I'll pull off the clutch and have a look.

[Maido]

Cheers for the replies,

I'll pull off the clutch and have a look.

Behind the clutch there is a chain that runs between the clutch shaft and the oil pump, this is what is preventing the separation.

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I have removed the oil pump, it's not the chain.

[Katman]

It will probably be hooking up on the camchain guides. You need to remove the cam chain tensioners and the bottom bolt that holds the front cylinder chain guide to the lower crankcase.

[bungbung]

Thanks Katman, that sounds promising.

[Sketchy_Racer]

Does the motor split vertically or horizontally?

I know in a lot of the kwaka motors (the split horizontally) that there is a hidden bolt under the oil filter/sump

[F5 Dave]

Yeah I've replaced this seal on a mate's Bandit couple of months back. Fortunately you just remove the bush then you can lever the seal out. The only reason you would have to split the cases is if the seal has a dirty great ridge on it which would be a sucky design. If they got paranoid they'd just have to put a seal retainer screwed onto the outside &/or make sure the case is vented properly.

There is often a small o-ring behind the bush to shaft, that should be replaced too.

[bungbung]

The only reason you would have to split the cases is if the seal has a dirty great ridge on it which would be a sucky design.

Dirty great ridge?

check.

Sucky design?

check.

[Squiggles]

Might pay to check and poss replace any other bearings that are weak on the vtr's while you're at it (on tl's its bottom end bearing shells & the countershaft sprocket one) I'd say check as a precaution if she was off the sight glass by that much, though i am sure others will disagree

[Patch]

Depending on its life and mileage, might as well do the bearings, hone and new rings.

It sucks having to pull a motor twice and fix something that broke, when it could have been replaced a month earlier before it broke.


Your bike, your call.

[awayatc]

Hi I have pulled engines apart where the cases were held with 1 bolt behind bearing flange (which was bolted on).......don't know your setup though....
Good luck

[bungbung]

I've replaced the seal, what a mission!

The case was held together by three more bolts: 2 bolts for cam chain blade pivots and one directly holding the halves together behind the clutch.

You can see from the photos how much of the bike, and then the motor needs to be disassembled to get to the point where the the seal can be replaced.

I'm now waiting on a clutch cover seal to turn up, although I can reinstall the motor into the frame without that.

[F5 Dave]

Vukin' 'ondas.

As kids we found out that you had to remove half the bike to get to anything. Haven't changed in philosophy it seems. Perhaps it is to keep Honda dealers in business through their service departments & simultaneously make them uneconomic to repair once a few years old.

Oh well good on ya for persevering.

[vifferman]

Perhaps it is to ... make them uneconomic to repair once a few years old.

Think about it: vehicles are ditched in Japan after 4 or 5 years (?), so who cares if it needs serious work after that? This seal is unlikely to crap out until after the average bike is past its 'lifetime'.
It's the same with other defects Honda (and presumably other manufacturers) don't address: if it's not likely to result in a string of lawsuits, why should they give a crap? That's why Hondas have had crap camchain tensioners and gearboxes for umpty-squillion years, and why it took them until 2001 to properly address the R/R problems, even though their manufacturer (Shindengen) had better R/Rs available since the early 90s.

[vifferman]

I've replaced the seal, what a mission!
You can see from the photos how much of the bike, and then the motor needs to be disassembled to get to the point where the the seal can be replaced.

An excellent opportunity to stick some aftermarket goodies in?
You know you want to...

Just remember that the VTR cases can't take more than 125hp before they explode.