Checking which CAM...

francoblay1

francoblay1

The Spaniard
I am reading alot here and it seems to me that it is imperative to collapse the pushrods before opening the cam cover... WHY? Can I open the cover (without touching the pushrods), have a quick L:eek:K inside to see what cam is sitting there and close it again right away???

The pushrods adjusting adventure makes me very nervous!!!:confused:

Thanks guys.
 
Brew

Brew

Troop Supporter
Yes you can, when I changed out my cam I did it to make sure my cam marks were in the right spot prior to changing it. Just dont rotate the rear wheel with the cover off. Be careful when pulling the cover off so as to not pull the cam out...:2thumbs:
 
BWG56

BWG56

Guru
If the outer cam lobes are on their lift you might have a hard time getting the cover back on the alignment pins. Let us know how you make out.
 
Bowhunter

Bowhunter

Well-Known Member
Franco,
The camshaft is supported on one end by the cam cover that you will have to remove, and on the other end by the torrington bearing. Without the pushrods collapsed, you will have a lot of preload on the cam and it will be supported on only the inner bearing. If you can't get the cam cover back on with the cam pushed out of alignment due to no support on the cam cover end, you will have to collapse the pushrods to get the cover back on. Good luck.
 
Th3InfamousI

Th3InfamousI

Administrator
Staff member
you can find a small spot on the cam lobe where you should be able to have both collapsed. it's very small you cam turn the rear tire on a Jack. it's a pain and I found it much easier and faster to just take the rods out.
 
V

V

Guru
Be careful doing it that way.

It can be done but its a bit of a shortcut. Don't save a hour to cost your self some bucks later. Would kinda be like changing the out side wheel bearing on your car with out jacking it up to take the weight off the wheel.

If you do change out your cam to something different you're gonna have to adjust the pushrods anyway and its not a hard job to do.
 
francoblay1

francoblay1

The Spaniard
Thanks for your input guys. I am not sure if I am going to change the Cam as yet... It all depends on what is in there now. If there is a .546 then definitely I will be changing it... but... if there is a .569 then I might not!

There is only .16 difference between the .569 and the .585, would it be worth the hassle?

NOTE: My bike has the TP boxes if this means anything.

Cheers.
 
Brew

Brew

Troop Supporter
Can't you call or email S&S give them your serial number off your motor and they can tell you what cam you may have? I called them to find out if my motor was built with lifter travel limiters. It might save you some time and effort...
 
V

V

Guru
francoblay1 said:
Thanks for your input guys. I am not sure if I am going to change the Cam as yet... It all depends on what is in there now. If there is a .546 then definitely I will be changing it... but... if there is a .569 then I might not!

There is only .16 difference between the .569 and the .585, would it be worth the hassle?

NOTE: My bike has the TP boxes if this means anything.

Cheers.
Click to expand...
If you have the TP boxes I would bet $100 its the Comp Cams .569. As Noted you can call S&S with the serial off of the engine and they can give you all the info as they supplied. Anything that BD did they will not have record of.

If you have the tools you can pull the push rod covers and put a dial indicator on the lifter and chec the travel. Multiply that times the the rocker arm ratio of 1.625 (correct me if i am wrong) and this will tell you what you have.

From your posts it sounds like you want to change the cam any way so go ahead and do it. :2thumbs:
 
BWG56

BWG56

Guru
Brew said:
Can't you call or email S&S give them your serial number off your motor and they can tell you what cam you may have? I called them to find out if my motor was built with lifter travel limiters. It might save you some time and effort...
Click to expand...
I called S&S with my serial # and all they could tell me was that it was sent to BDM for assembly, S&S could not tell me if it was built with Travel Limited Lifters either, but they did tell me how to figure out if I had them or not.
S&S was very helpful in answering any questions I had.:2thumbs:
 
BWG56

BWG56

Guru
francoblay1 said:
Thanks for your input guys. I am not sure if I am going to change the Cam as yet... It all depends on what is in there now. If there is a .546 then definitely I will be changing it... but... if there is a .569 then I might not!

There is only .16 difference between the .569 and the .585, would it be worth the hassle?

NOTE: My bike has the TP boxes if this means anything.

Cheers.
Click to expand...
You mean .016 difference. The big difference is when it opens and closes the valves, the cam degrees are alot different.

Don't count on the cam you have in the bike having any markings on it either, my stock cam had nothing marked on it.

here are the dimensions of my old cam vs new .585
from the cam closest to cam cover back
original cam-
exh-.998 dwell to 1.345 rise
exh-.997 dwell to 1.345 rise
int-1.026 dwell to 1.378 rise
int-1.028 dwell to 1.376 rise

new .585 cam-
exh-1.005 dwell to 1.358 rise
exh-1.005 dwell to 1.358 rise
int- 1.003 dwell to 1.358 rise
int- 1.003 dwell to 1.360 rise
 
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francoblay1

francoblay1

The Spaniard
Thanks for this info Ker :2thumbs:

If the Cam has no markings (I believe for what I´ve been reading here) it is the .569, the .546 has the markings stamped on it.

I have no idea what will I find in there... I got no history whatsoever for this Bike :confused:
 
armad

armad

Active Member
As BWG56 said Franco. It's not just the difference of the .016. The profile/grind/duration used and the timing of the opening and closing of the valves are what makes the difference. Something to think about when you find out if you in fact do have the 569.
 
francoblay1

francoblay1

The Spaniard
One more question guys....

When adjusting the pushrods... why the Manual calls for 4 full turns (24 flats) but then, reading here I´ve noticed most of you adjust at 3 full turns (18 flats) only?

Is it because is somehow safer?
Less noise?
What difference does it makes?
What about half way, 20-22 flats?

:confused:
 
BWG56

BWG56

Guru
S&S recomends 4 turns because thats the middle of min and max travel of the hydraulic lifters. As parts wear the lifter will adjust to compensate, mine had 12000 miles on it when I changed the cam and adjusted to S&S specs (4-turns) and there is less noise, you can't get all the tapping out cause its the nature of the beast. I don't think its any safer, just make sure you can rotate the pushrods with your fingers, if you can't rotate them, you have just created a solid lifter senario.

thats my .02 cts, but let me caution you that I'm far from a motor builder also.
 
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