Look what I got from Sabre Cycles buyer beware

[CYBORG]

to be fair i think a lot of auto parts store have to order parts. but usually have them the next day. with the amount of parts out there, a store to hold them all would cover several blocks. my NAPA does have to order stuff from time to time. but never a shipping charge, and always overnight. ready for me to pick up by 9am. not waiting for the mailman, or UPS guy, which can come anytime of the day. and i have never had next morning from online.

[Toehead]

I agree with the 'Borg.

The NAPA stores around here seem to hire the local gearheads and riders. They know me and go the extra mile to please.

Second that. Napa is the #1 choice

[taylorsel]

I admit it does beat AZ and AA

[kingzero]

Rock auto.com
T-274. 12.82 + shipping.

[CYBORG]

rock auto is good. but 13.99 no shipping and next day early is better

[robin1731]

to be fair i think a lot of auto parts store have to order parts. but usually have them the next day. with the amount of parts out there, a store to hold them all would cover several blocks. my NAPA does have to order stuff from time to time. but never a shipping charge, and always overnight. ready for me to pick up by 9am. not waiting for the mailman, or UPS guy, which can come anytime of the day. and i have never had next morning from online.

Depending on how close your local store is to a hub store (a small version of a warehouse) You may get it the same day. I'm lucky in the both my local NAPA and Oreilly's have hub store less than an hour away. Oreilly's has 3 hub deliveries a day. Cutoff for orders is 9am, noon, and 3pm. So if the hub has it and you get your order in before 3pm you will have it the same day. NAPA I think has 2 deliveries per day.

I find too that the best counter people work during the day. Those are usually the older and full time people. You get part time workers nights and mostly on the weekends. So the best time to go in is before 4pm if you can. I have a shop account at Oreilly's so I can even get parsts delivered.

[tomk1960]

I bought my Gates belts from Cascade. The price was very reasonable and delivery was swift. It's nice when you can pick up parts for your bikes locally, but how often is it that much of a rush that you need it same day or in 24 hours? We need to support business like Cascade, Pistol Pete, etc., because they specialize in these bikes and are here to support US. NAPA and other parts stores are great for all sorts of things, but they aren't depending on us like the small guys are. Just my .02 and to say that I appreciate the specialists that are here for our benefit.

It's too bad that Sabre Cycles is not on top of their game. They're supposed to be a GL specialist too.

[CYBORG]

i agree. we should support the club members who sell stuff. if i had the space to let customer bikes sit around a day or two, i would buy more from them. but often it is just more cost effective to buy from local stores, rather then the internet, for the same reason. supporting local business. by supporting the local business, they will be there when i need non motorcycle parts. hard to serve two masters sometimes

[Toehead]

Cascade does have that ninja shipping.


I couldn't believe how fast my belts arrived.

[groupus]

OK, it's been a while since I last posted as I was on vacation and making sure all my other daily driver projects are completed first. Thanks to everyone for the insightful replies too.

So I finally got to tearing into the thing and the good news is the pistons and cylinders look ok. Bad news is of course that the exhaust valves are bent. I assume it should be fairly simple: remove, replace, and reassemble with new gaskets. I've never gotten even this far into an engine before, so keep that in mind that i don't know how involved this could/should be. Also, I want to do this as cheap as possible, while still doing a quality job. Obviously, I will be buying quality parts this time, but this is my work horse bike too.

With all that said, where do I get valves? (they are $22 each!!? http://www.partsnmore.com/parts/honda/g ... ry]=engine) I know I will need belts, a head gasket, maybe a water joint gasket, exhaust gaskets and studs for both sides while i'm in there, and new timing belt tensioners just because. Intake gaskets and o-rings are ok and I reused them last time. All rad hoses are fairly new too. I am not touching the cam so none of that needs replaced, but it will be re-timed and gapped when done. I've already tested my water pump impeller are thermostat the FIRST time I did a rebuild and they were fine. What other while-you're-in-there maintenance should I do (has apprx 50k miles on it)? Keep in mind that I ONLY have the left side apart and plan on keeping it that way (if possible).


Thanks for the help,
-G


PS. I'm a little concerned about what appears to be a crack around the top center cam cover bolt, but it does disappear into some factory grinding marks, which are quite rough. I figure it must be from the casting process and I am worrying too much. See pic below.

[Toehead]

Cam seals and crank seal, both sides for the cam seal. Might as well do the valve stem seals as well

[Mike-C]

Gents;
The more I see of Chinese parts the more I say "run away" . There are too many expensive parts at stake here. I always buy OE belts or a quality name brand like Gates.
Mike
'84 Wing-Lite (ex-Aspencade)
'84 un-Terstate
'84 Standard (as yet un-named)
'84 Standard (Black Betty)

[robin1731]

That isn't the cam cover. It's the cam holder, or cam tower. That is just a casting line you see. You can buy used valves. You'll need to lap them in. Even new valves You'll need to lap in unless you get the seats ground. You cannot grind the valves. New valve seals as stated above. Cam seals too.

[groupus]

This will be an ambitious project for me. I'm looking forward to getting my hands dirty and learning a thing or two along the way. I just don't want it to turn into something expensive. I've researched some of the process, but it seems that most people tearing the head apart are not doing it to only replace the valves and any auxiliary components. Some good info here http://www.ngwclub.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=14861

Obviously, the head gasket, valves, and valve seal will go. The valve seats look fine at this point. I am also looking forward to lapping the valves, provided I can beg, borrow, or steal the tool for it. It looks like I may not need to replace the cam seals tho, as I will not be removing the cam, only lifting the top holder and rockers/rocker shafts to access the top of the valves. This is not an area with high oil pressure and this part of the seal does not see movement so I wouldn't expect it to leak. If it weeps some, that's no concern; the rest of the bike leaks a little everywhere anyway. It should stay well seated, but a little heat and oil resistant gasket sealer could help. I don't see cam seals as a regular maintenance part either since other wings have seen 200k on the originals. I can also do this job without removing the timing gear and the engine side timing belt cover, therefore not disturbing the gasket there. Toehead, what do you mean by crank seal? The rear cam seal?

Looks pretty straight forward at this point. Although it would be good to do other maintenance while I'm at it, the minimum is what I need right now. I don't have a shop or anything other than hand tools, and most importantly, not a lot of funds. Maybe sometime when we're both a little older I will give the old girl a proper rebuild, but for now, it just needs to run well and reliably. That said, if I am really out of line on my cam seal theory, let me know. If I absolutely do need to replace them, then swapping the head with a good used one would be cheaper.

[Toehead]

The cam seals are only a few dollars each, it would be a shame to leave the old ones in. If they leak bad enough it can get oil on the belts and damage them. I just changed my belts, and my seals were weeping at 40k. I replaced them and feel a lot better

The crank also has an oil seal that can be changed easily with the belts off.