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thirdgen's massive F4i rebuild thread.... pix intense!!

12K views 104 replies 48 participants last post by  AZZKIKER 
#1 ·
Well... I just uploaded 265 pictures to photobucket, won't be posting every one of them, but just be warned.... this is gonna be a looooong thread with ALOT of pictures!! LOL

Anyways, some may remember I went down back in Dec and the whole ordeal that followed. For those that don't.... back on Dec 17th I was on my way to work and while veering off on a road to the left, I hit a patch of oil/diesel fuel/antifreeze/something slippery, and lowsided at about 25 mph. All was fine until the bike slid into the curb, did a little highside and then rolled over itself into the grass. I got right up, not even so much as a scratch on me, thank god (leathers FTMFW!!), went over to the bike and it was completely covered in engine oil. Not a good sign already!

Luckily another guy from work was several cars behind me when this happened, so he saw it and recognized it as being me, and pulled right into the parking lot there and made sure I was OK. Luckily he had his pickup and an empty bed, so we lifted the bike into the bed of his truck and off to work we went





He gave me a ride home after work and we unloaded the bike into the garage. I was able to get a little better analysis of the damages





 
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#27 ·
Install intake camshaft and line up timing marks




Gotta torque the cam hold down plate in the EXACT sequence numbered on the plate




Rotate the engine slowly by hand to make sure no problems, then recheck timing to make sure it's dead on
 
#28 ·
And at the crank too


Looking like an engine again!




Do a quick compression test just to make sure no major problems. Not perfect, but for an engine that is cold (supposed to do it warm) and hasn't run yet, that's still pretty damn good


Install spark plugs
 
#29 ·
Reused my original water pump


The stator cover that came on the new engine had some rash, so I sanded it down to remove the scratches


Then just painted it flat black with some hi-temp paint


Install the stator back in the cover


Install the stator and cover, valve cover, and thermostat housing and hoses, and she's complete, ready to go back in!
 
#31 ·
Slowly lower the frame down onto the engine


Annnnd.... she's in!




Gotta tighten the engine mount bolts in a certain sequence to center the engine, then use the special tool to tighten the adjuster lock nuts on the right side


Install the radiator
 
#32 ·
Tighten all coolant hose clamps


Attach clutch cable


Fill it up with quality cooling juices


Never forget the lube


Double check level.... it takes a little more oil after a major surgery
 
#33 ·
By this point, the anticipation was absolutely KILLING me!! For the past 4 months, all I wanted to do was hear her run again. Cosmetics or anything else I wasn't worried about, I just wanted to hear her run. So I stopped there, made sure I had everything connected engine wise, bolted the exhaust on, and stuck the gas tank on. Had a gas can with a little bit of gas in it so I poured a little bit in the tank. I was just saying a prayer.... pleeeeeease start up, please start up! There were so many things running through my mind... "did I tighten that?".... "Did I remember to put that piece in?".... "Did I leave anything loose?"..... "I did put oil in right?"..... "What if it doesn't start?". Seriously all the "what if's" running through my mind at 100 mph. But, I connect the battery and all the lights come on and the fuel pump primes. I switch it off and on several times to fill up the lines with fuel. I had my fingers crossed and made this video..... it is indeed the very first attempt to start it. Watch and see!

YouTube - MOV01897.MPG

WoooooooooHooooooo!! Success!! Seriously, words can't describe how happy I was to hear her start right up and run.... perfectly. Both a huge sigh of relief, as well as a huge feeling of accomplishment, I was almost crying happy tears just to hear her run again, and something I assembled piece by piece with my own two hands. It's a feeling like no other!

So.... after she was running like a champ, I moved on to other stuff. Remember the swingarm that was all rashed up??




I sanded it down with my whiz wheel (same as the stator cover). It slowly shaves the metal down and removes the scratches little by little until they're gone


I then used some Mothers metal polish and an orbital buffer to smooth it down to a nice shine


I then used course steel wool and hand sanded for about 3 hours, slowly removing any little scratches from the sanding, and giving it that brushed aluminum finish that was on it originally
 
#34 ·
It turned out pretty damn good if I do say so myself!


There's still a small bit of rash at the very bottom.... it was too deep I'd have to sand too much. It's alot better than it was though


Apply several coats of commercial grade clear coat to protect the metal


Install the swingarm on the bike


Hey sometimes you gotta get creative when you don't have a big enough hex bit, haha
 
#35 ·
Hey whatever works, right??


After centering the swingarm, use the special tool to tighten the adjuster lock nuts




And of course the pivot bolt


Install rear wheel and rear brake caliper
 
#36 ·
OMG... starting to look like a bike again!


My fairing stay was tweaked just a little bit, mostly on the left side




So I replaced that too


Now.... my plastics!! I got them back from the body shop, and they turned out fantastic! They repaired the small crack in the upper fairing, fixed some rash and cracks in the tail fairing, and fixed a big rock chip in the hugger, then painted them all black. The headlight had a tiny scratch so he sanded that down and got it nice and clear again. Solo seat cowl was red prior, they painted that black too. All of this cost me.... nothing. I tried to pay them, they don't take it, not even for paint. Good thing for having buddies in the body shop who are also riders themselves, huh?? LOL
 
#37 ·


Got my HID bulbs and Proton flushies transferred over to the new headlight


Front and side fairings installed


Tail installed


 
#38 ·




Well... she's back together!! Only things I was missing here were my Puig DB windscreen and the left side fairing. Waiting for both of them to arrive in the mail, but damn it I wanted to go ride! Still had my stock windscreen so I put that on, and everything was tight enough without the left side fairing, so screw it, lol. So... Sat April 3rd around 5pm or so, letting her warm up, about to go take our maiden voyage!


Rode around town staying close to home just to be safe, incase anything went wrong. Everything was perfect though.... temp was staying where it should, plenty of power, everything was smooth and crisp, no vibrations... nothing. So I get on the highway for a short bit...all good there! Make my way up to the Blue Ridge Parkway. Made a quick video just to show how good she's running. Ended up logging 110 miles before the night was over

YouTube - MOV01943.MPG

Several days later my windscreen and left fairing show up in the mail


I've always been one for a clean stock look, so I put the decals back on (still waiting on the ones for the front upper... they were on backorder)
 
#39 ·


So today I had everything all done and got her all cleaned up. I took her up to that special place up on the BRP for some quality pix. Here's the ending result of my past 4 months of work






 
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#40 ·




I still need to get a 'new' left side fairing... this was just a cheapo ebay one to cover it up for now. Couldn't spend the $400 right now, ugh


I'm damn proud of how well the swingarm came out, hahah


New rear hugger.... been wanting one of these forever
 
#42 ·
The wreck happened at exactly 177,428 miles..... been riding her for about 5.5 days now and logged exactly 951 miles (as of this posting... 8 days and 1300-ish miles). Still running absolutely perfect, and haven't had a single problem! First full tank of fuel I burned through I got 42.87 MPG, so I would venture to say she's running pretty good!


And last but not least..... one INCREDIBLY happy thirdgenlxi


Phew.... that's all the pics! Thank god, I've been typing this for about 5 hours now, and really getting a headache, lol. But yea, everything ended up working out in the end, and I'm just happy to have my baby back, and still running on about 95% of her original engine. I swapped EVERYTHING from my old engine to the new block, everything down to the neutral indicator switch, oil pressure sensor, and thermostat housing. Only parts used from the new engine were the block, crank and crank bearings, and starter (mine started giving probs after I took it out). Every other part in or on the engine.... original. It may not be 100% anymore like it was, but hey, given the situation I think it's the best solution I had to keep her as original as I possibly could. And it worked! And for all the people that kept telling me it wasn't worth it, and it was gonna cost more to fix it than it would be to buy a new bike, hear this: Grand total for EVERYTHING I did was right at $1100. I used the remaining $2200 to pay off a $2200 credit card debt that's been hanging over my head for waaaayyyy too long now, so it's completely gone. So now I have MY bike back, and no debt at all.... I think I like my way of handling this situation a little better than alot of the responses I got, lol. Plus I've got a box full of engine parts to sell, maybe make a few bucks back!

Anyways, hope you all enjoyed the pics! Sorry if I made your computer crash. Roadtrip pics will be soon to follow!
 
#44 ·
Awesome. I, for one, am glad you decided to use your internals. Keeps it mostly original. Good on you, man. I don't know if I would have been able to strip my bike down and pull apart the engine like you have. I'm slowly getting there, but not there yet.

Let me know if you head north on the Parkway so we can meet up. I'll be riding up the entire Southern section of the BRP into VA on the 25th so maybe you can meet up with us on our way back from Deals Gap.
 
#75 ·
Thanks!! I too am very glad I decided to use my original internals.... had my fingers crossed for awhile there hoping it would work, but it all worked out in the end so now I'm glad that I did, lol

And yea I'd love to meet up with you guys!! Blue Ridge Parkway is literally just up the road from me... I take it all the time. If you come down by Asheville just keep in mind that the Parkway is still closed south of 191 going into Pisgah. What day you guys coming through? 25th as in 5 days from now?? I'll send you a PM with my contact info, regardless give me a call or shoot me a text when you guys get down in NC and we'll definitely set something up wherever. Even if we don't get to ride, at least meet up for lunch/dinner or something... I love meeting up with new people!
 
#45 ·
Your threads never cease to draw me in; this one especially. You did one Hell of a job, and big, big kudos to you for keeping the engine as original as you could. As soon as I started reading about the new engine, I was crossing my fingers that you'd use as little of that engine as possible lol. The results couldn't have been better.

Congrats on getting her back up and running down the road again. Here's to another 178K miles and more! :cheers
 
#46 ·
Wow... Major Props!! That is just awesome you saved a bike most guys would have scrapped.

I have a question... When you bought it back from the insurance company after being totaled did you get a branded salvage title and need to get it inspected or did you get to keep your clean title? I have bought totaled vehicles before and always got the salvage title but never bought one back I already owned.
 
#76 ·
Thanks!! Unfortunately it is now a salvage title. Although it doesn't really change anything, and I'm not planning on selling it so that's not a problem. Didn't have to get it inspected (we do have annual inspections though so it will be inspected later this year regardless, so I can renew my sticker), and it didn't change anything with my insurance... still have the same full coverage that I always did and my rates did not change. So it's really not affecting me at all, I was just proud of my nice clean and clear title, lol
 
#77 ·
Actually no.... believe it or not this is the first time I've ever used it. Known tons of people that have been using it in their bikes for a looooong time though, so I knew it was good oil. I normally run strictly Mobil 1 full syn 10w-40 (yes, the car oil....) ever since the bike had 5,000 miles on it, and it's changed like clockwork every 5,000 miles. I only used the Rotella here because in a sense, it has to 'break in' again, so I didn't want to use the synthetic. Rotella is a good yet cheap oil, and I knew I'd be changing it out again in a couple hundred miles, I went with that. I changed the oil after 600 miles cuz it was getting a little funky from washing out all the assembly lube I used (which is black). Put some more Rotella in again and it's staying much cleaner this time. I'll run it up to 180k and change it again, and go back to the Mobil 1 I was using, and get back on my normal 5,000 mile oil change intervals
 
#51 ·
Looks like fun, man!

Kinda jealous that you have your bike all fixed... I have like 3 sitting in my trailer that need the same kind of treatment, and no place to work on them... it'll be at least another year before I even LOOK at them, probably.... :(
 
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