I split the cases.

[GSPD750]

Think of the deepest darkest corner in the engine of a '99 XRV750W.
Yup, the dreaded output shaft (final) bearing. That's where I'm going.
I actually noticed a certain amount of radial play from the front sprocket when I was 2000 kms from home on a recent trip to the Yukon Territory.
I tried not to let it worry me as I had no vibration or noise and therefore deemed it ok to get home.

Trip home was uneventful, but I did notice the seal was now starting to weep oil. The bearing was also now officially knackered with excessive radial play. The bearing is a dual row of ball bearings and can only be bought OEM.
I believe once the chrome has worn away from the balls the accelerated wear will increase dramatically. Since I owned the bike I have put on 20 K kms for a total on the clock of 63 K kms or 40,000 miles total. Not much really.

I'm at a loss as to what caused the wear as I have always kept my chain slack at 7 cm or more. I assume the wear was always there, probably from the previous owner as I can't vouch for his chain maintenance.
Even when I changed my last chain and sprockets last I did not notice
any play. If I did, I deemed it negligable at the time.

Anyhow, its good that it made it home and its in the garage. I will post some pics here and will also post some pics and tips I have picked up along the way in the engine tips re: & re: sticky at the top of the page.

Honda Canada is able to source most of the engine parts (mostly seals and gaskets) except for the head gaskets for some odd reason. A friend in Germany on business will bring me a set.
FYI. I ordered an OEM front sprocket as previous were all after market...
I can't say for sure a non-cushioned front sprocket caused this or not, but I have to try something different.

Everything still looks new in this engine. Cam chains, gears, piston ring end gap, clutch etc... I will now start the assembly once all the parts get here and it's still fresh in my head. A qwik turn-a-round. Yeah right.
Can't say enough about the Haynes Manual.
It has been valuable. As they quote in the manual " splitting the cases is not a difficult job....just time consuming." No ****!


Theirs the culprit. Seal removed for clarity. At least the splines are in good shape and still look new.





Their's the output shaft bearing on the left after having removed the gears and shafts. Bearing came out easy with a slide hammer.



View of the inards of the L/H case after splitting. You can see the oil pump at the bottom. Gear selector drum was removed in this pic but it lives just below the input shaft and above the oil pump.



L/H case with everything removed.



R/H case with everything removed. I also replaced that smaller ball bearing in the upper R/H corner of the pic which is at the opposite end of the output shaft of the bearing that origionally failed
Not really worn but I replaced it for good measure. I also replaced the
thrust washer that butts up against this bearing to remove any axial or end float play.



If anyone has any requests for pictures while I'm in here just lemme know. It's no problem for me to post. See "tips for engine removal sticky" for more pics.

[doglegdon]

Nice job, great piccies, you wouldn't be by any chance, a "real" mechanic by trade? So that's what the inside looks like then......? I have nightmares the night before I change my oil or put on a new set of tyres mate in case I properly feck something up, let alone trying anything as advanced as that!

[Lord Vader]

Oh i so know what you saying doglegdon
my biggest achievement today is fitting my crashbars

[chronyx]

Great pics and post, thanks for posting them up.

[GSPD750]

Nice job, great piccies, you wouldn't be by any chance, a "real" mechanic by trade? So that's what the inside looks like :

Actually I'm a wrench for a major airline here in Canada...but its not much different than my real job where you follow a maintenance manual.
As I said, Mr. Haynes has been my helper. Not sure how the Honda Shop Manual compares to Haynes. Anyone use the shop manual?

You don't need much for hand tools. Some 1/2" dr. stuff for the clutch nut and rotor and thats about all. I'll borrow torque wrenches for the heads etc. I already borrowed my neigbours impact gun and ran an airhose accross the alley to get the rotor bolt off.You scrounge. I also know some real motorcycle mechanics who give free advice. Sometimes those guys are hard to find.
Remember, I still have to piece it back together so their's still time to screw it up.

[Pussyhorse]

The Pratt and Whitney sticker was a clue then?

I'm guessing you've also got access to a parts washer. No fair.

[GSPD750]

I'm guessing you've also got access to a parts washer. No fair.

You guessed right. Working the midnite shift has its privilages to the parts washer
Cleaning parts and scraping of gaskets of course can take up much of your time when doing a job like this. My neigbour wanted to showoff his new pressure washer and did a demo on the exterior of the bike for me before I started the dismantle. Worked great in the front sprocket area.
I've got great neighbours.

[Chad]

I'm guessing you've also got access to a parts washer. No fair.

You guessed right. Working the midnite shift has its privilages to the parts washer
Cleaning parts and scraping of gaskets of course can take up much of your time when doing a job like this. My neigbour wanted to showoff his new pressure washer and did a demo on the exterior of the bike for me before I started the dismantle. Worked great in the front sprocket area.
I've got great neighbours.

irrespective of the help your getting your still one brave dude to take it on well done mate

[piguglyshandydrinker]

Top post. Good luck with he rebuild.

Phil

[Dilbert]

GSPD
Can't read the bearing designation from the photo, but since NTN appear to be a Canadian company I'm sure you would be able to get the bearing direct, or if you ask www.skf.com they will almost certainly have a match.
From the picture and your description it sounds like a double row angular contact bearing rather than the usual deep groove ball bearing, these are designed to give more resistance to "thrust" (axial loading) as well as radial and shock loading, problem is with an overhung load from a sprocket whizzing round at 7-8,000 rpm any loads will be accentuated, all bearings are designed for constant loads, so when the chain hits that tight spot (or whips about 'cos the chains too loose) you get what we call an unfair load and it's this that knackers up the bearing.
Never heard of ball bearings being chrome plated? maybe case hardened though, so once the hardening goes? more likely that when you start to get wear the balls chatter (rattle) in the ball race and this wears them out in no time.
Sounds like you caught it just in time, when the movements enough to cause the seal to weep it's defo time to replace (or pick the bits out of the bottom of your engine casing ).