rebuilding an RD04

	re-building my XRV 750 (RD04) After some 60 000 miles my beloved motorcycle needs a general over-haul. The shaft from the gearbox which drives the chain wheel exhibits wear and there are many things which have been neglected throughout the years of travel. I intend to log this process on the web. You can click the images to enlarge.
	last ride for now June 20. 2004: Her last ride. An RD07 is already there to help me survive the time. I took off the license plate. The Givi Topcase adaptor move to the RD07.
	desaster strikes June 28. 2004: removed sidebox carrier, passenger footrest, crashbars, sidecovers. discovered 4 broken bolts and a broken support for the footrest, time spent: 1 hour
	damage of frame June 30. 2004: removed engine protector, sidecovers, windscreen, time spent: 30 minutes
	July 5. 2004: removed battery, fork covers, fender, front mask, speedometer drive, tested regulator, drained oil, removed tank,, horn, clutch cable, radiator protector, cover of chain drive wheel, oil cooling, carburator drain tube, time spent: 3 hours and 30 minutes
	July 6. 2004: removed water cooling system time spent: 1 hour and 20 minutes
	July 7. 2004: removed exhaust and the tail with rear lights time spent: 1 hour and 30 minutes
	July 8. 2004: removed rear suspension and engine time spent: 4 hours
	July 26. 2004: removed cockpit and fork time spent: 2 hour 30 min
	July 27. 2004: removed side and main stand and thermostat time spent: 30 minutes not included the time to clean up the mess
	July 29 and 30. 2004: remove the cylinder head of the front cylinder time spent: 1 hour
	August 02, 2004: remove the cylinder head of the aft cylinder time spent: 30 minutes
	Sept. 07, 2004: frame prepared for paint job time spent: 30 minutes
	Sept. 08, 2004: footrest mount repared. (my thanks to Wayne Fedorchuk from the ATic list for giving me the first hint to try it this way.) time spent:
	Sept. 09, 2004: old colour and corrosion sanded down time spent:
	Sept. 12, 2004: removing the cylinders, clutch and starter, time spent: 2 hours
	Sept. 16, 2004: engine interiors right hand side, and left hand side, time spent: 2 hours
	Sept. 17, 2004: generator, time spent: 10 minutes
	Sept. 18, 2004: the frame returned from the paint shop. (powder coating). Because the coating is baked at high temperatures all the tubes should be perfectly dry now. A good opportunity to insert anti-corrosion wax. time spent: 10 minutes
	Sept. 21, 2004: splitting the engine, time spent: 3 hours
	Sept. 24, 2004: removing the pistons, time spent: 30 minutes
	Oct. 1, 2004: All pieces where checked carefully for damage. The overall condition is very healthy. The aft clinder has a perfect surface. The gap between piston and cylinder measures 0.1 mm (in diameter). The wear limit is 0.15. The front cylinder has some marks on the surface. The best of all mechanics I know claims that this is a mark resulting from a long time still stand of the engine. This could never have happened while I owned the bike since I ride it frequently even in winter. So the mark must be very old. The measured gap for this cylinder is 0.08 mm. I decide to put it back in place rather than replacing both cylinders. All bearings look perfect. One of the roller bearings feels somewhat worn. It is the bearing which holds the second gear box shaft where the shaft goes to the chain wheel. The shaft and the bearing will be replaced. The shaft for the gear lever is slighly bent. This will be replaced as well. Spareparts are ordered. time spent: 30 minutes
	Oct. 31, 2004: All threads in the frame and inside the drillings of the engine were re-cut in order to remove paint, dirt and corrosion, time spent: 2 hours
	Dec. 2, 2004: Parts have arrived. A first attempt to re-assemble the engine fails beacause one new bearing came with wrong diameter. I have to wait for the correct part to be shipped. The old bearing was easily beaten out of the engine case after heating the area around the bearing with hot air. time spent: 1 hour
	Dec. 7, 2004: Engine assembled. I didn´t take photos, they would have looked much like when disassembling. Everything went fine, while using the images from disassembling the engine in reverse order. time spent: 6 hours
	Dec. 11, 2004: Put back engine into the frame. This is a heavy job. My son gave me a helping hand!. time spent: 3 hours
	Dec. 12, 2004: The images showing the process of disassemling the whole motorcycle now prove really helpful. I can put back thiir place in reverse order easily. Mounting the carburators turns into a real hassle. The rubber tubes are really hard to bend and it is difficult to squeeze the carbs in. I also spent a lot of time to ensure that the two parts of the fork are really in the correct place and in parallel. The distance between the engine and the frame where the rear suspension an swing have to sqeeze in turns out to be a tiny bit to narrow after the engine in freshly mounted into the frame. I have improvise with a bolt and various nut to spread it by force in order to mount the swing. time spent: unbelievable 10 hours of instense work
	Dec. 14, 2004: Mounted the fuel pump including all the tubes as well as the air supply for the carburators. Getting all the tubes to the right position is causing a headache even with all my images. Next time I will take even more photographs in order to make sure every single tube and wire is visible before ripping things apart. The airbox gives me a lot of trouble. It is really dificult to place it correctly on top of the carbs. The rear spring make less of a trouble. Note: place fuel pump first, then the little can for the damper. time spent: 4 hours
	Mar. 13, 2005: After a long break I finished to the oil and water cooling system. Oil filled in. Water and anti-freeze liquid filled into the radiators. The battery is dead! I use one from another AT. put back the tank and connect the fuel pipes. This is the first chance to check whether the engine will start. I press the button. The starter starts to turn the engine. After a few seconds the oil reaches the remote parts of the engine and the starter turns faster. It takes some 15 to 20 seconds to fill the carburators and the first ignition happens. SHE STARTS IMMEDIATELY!! Wonderfull! Everything sounds fine to me. The valve shaft setting appears to be fine. I listen to the beloved rythm of my AT. The exhaust pipe for the rear cylinders seems to be not exactly place. The rear cylinder seems much louder then the front one. I´ll have to check that. Drops of coulant come from a seal near the water pump once the engine gets warmer. I will have to open that link again. I remember how difficult it was to insert that pipe into the outlet of the water pump. Probably I had squeezed the seal. time spent: 3 hours
	Mar. 21, 2005: I bought a new battery and used the oportunity to install a power supply cable for a GPS unit. I also ordered the topcase adapter for my Givi boxes because I intend not to fit the luggage system again. I´ll rather go for a topcase when necessary. I think the luggage system is far too ugly for my fresshly restore AT. time spent: 1 hour
	Mar. 30, 2005: I opened the pipe leading to the water pump and replaced a seal. I mounted the new seal with plenty of grease. So far for the leakage. I mounted the clutch cable. It turns out that I had placed the lower mount for the clutch cable right side left when I assembled the engine. Correcting this requires to dismount the exhaust. Simple mistake causing a big loss of time. I also fitted the lamp mask as well as the front fender. The fender gave me big trouble simply because there is so much tension that it is difficult to place in the bolts. time spent: 8 hours
	Mar. 31, 2005: Fitted all the side cover and many small thing. She finally leaves my living room. Most time consuming part today: cleaning the mess! time spent: 6 hours
	Apr.1, 2005: Maybe it is not a good idea to go to the vehicle registration on the first of April. You draw numbers there to manage the queue. Mine is 13! It´s a Friday! Everything runs fine until number 12. Once it is my turn, the computer brakes down. Anyway: at the end I get the stamp on my old-style licence plate. time spent: 2 hours because of computer brake down
	Apr.2, 2005: A first real test run reveals that unburned gas ignites in the exhaust when I run downhill with throttle closed. The gas explodes with a nice bang. I´ll need to find the cause because I neither want people around to die of heart attack nor do I want to rist my original Honda exhaust to be blöown into pieces. time spent:
	Apr.16, 2005: The reason for the gas explosions in the exhaust turns out to be simple. The exhaust does not exactly fit to the backward cylinder. There´s air going out where it shouldn´t. With some patience and a long lever to push the exhaust into position I can solve the problem. Now she runs smoothly. time spent: 1 hours
	Apr.18, 2005: Today she passed the german TÜV-exam. The only problem is a bad contact for the brake light at the front brake lever. time spent: 1 hours

This concludes my restauration work. It was the first time I did this and it took me a little more than 60 hours of work. I didn´t exspect that it would take me almost a year to come up with these 60 hours but that´s how live goes.

Will I do it again? Sure! I have already bought another AT to restore.

re-building my XRV 750 (RD04)

last ride for now

desaster strikes

damage of frame