Here’s a list of things we like to check before removing the motor from the frame.
As a general tip – get a box of ziplock bags and a permanent market and bag/tag everything that you take off. Don’t think that you’ll remember – before you know it your rebuild has been put off for several months and you don’t want to have to wonder which thing came from where.
Photographs help a LOT in this regard – just phone photos are more than enough, and document each and every step even if it seems obvious. Wire routing and which way around things went is never easy to remember, so take lots and lots of photos.
Note that you don’t have to remove the radiator before taking the motor out of the frame but if you are planning on taking it off anyway it’s one less thing to damage (think the motor tipping forward and the radiator hitting the front wheel etc).
Make sure that the bike is secured – preferably on the center stand, which you can tie back so that it cannot be accidentally lifted up during the procedure. You don’t want to knock it and have it fall on you.
- Disconnect the battery
- Petcock turned to off
- Carb bowls drained
- Fuel line disconnected – you will probably spill a small amount of fuel
- Remove seat
- Unbolt tank at rear, and also at front if Custom
- Remove tank
- Remove plug caps from spark plug wells
- Unbolt intake manifolds
- Hang carbs+manifolds from spine of bike or engine hangers
- Disconnect crankcase breather tubes – one on each head for early bikes, inspection cover bottle breather for some, pulser cover for others
- Disconnect oil pressure switch line
- Disconnect temperature sender line
- Disconnect wires coming from stator/pickups – three connectors on CDI, two on TI
- Disconnect neutral switch line – light green with red stripe
- Remove bolt from gearshift lever, remove gear shift lever, reinstall bolt to gear shift lever so you don’t lose it
- Drain oil
- Drain coolant
- Disconnect coolant overflow tank line at radiator neck
- Disconnect lower radiator hose
- Disconnect upper radiator hose
- Remove three radiator bolts
- Remove radiator
- Remove tachometer cable – gauge side is easiest
- Loosen silencer clamps at H-box
- Remove the silencer bracket bolt
- Remove the silencers
- Remove exhaust header flange bolts, both sides
- Optional: Remove headers from H-box
- Remove 3x H-box bolts
- Wiggle H-box – with headers if you left them – out, past the brake pedal
- Remove clutch cable – loosen at handlebars, loosen at clutch end, remove
- Remove driveshaft U-bolt – CX650E and some GL650s lack this
- If driveshaft bolt model, wiggle the driveshaft to the rear to separate the final shaft/driveshaft
- Disconnect starter motor – either at body of motor or at starter solenoid
- Support motor with jack/stand/etc. safely
- Remove rear lowermost engine support bolt first (long, 17mm on either end)
- If CDI CX500 remove the 14mm-head bolt running through the upper rear cover mount
- Remove top engine hanger bolts (two, through the frame, 14mm heads one either end)
- Watch out once you remove those bolts as the motor may want to tip forward
- Having a second set of hands to steady the motor as it comes away is very handy at this point
- Carefully wiggle the motor forward off the driveshaft and lower