Rebuild or not rebuild - that is the question!

Hey Coastie,

Replace the rocker arms - it's not worth the risk.

Personally I would also strip the engine down and clean up. If those roller pins have gone walkabout anywhere it could spell further disaster.

The camshaft is surface hardened only so if you do get it re-ground just get it treated appropriately afterwards. But given the situation, it might be worth considering something like the Lineaweaver LX1 or LX2 cams as they will prolong your valvetrain life and they work very well. Because Dale does a swap he might accept your damaged one (which he did with a scored one of mine) - always worth giving him a shout and asking.

Hope this helps,
Simon

I agree with Simon.

Strip it/ clean it out.

I saw a friends 501 eat up its piston/liner not long after a dealer had "repaired" his intake roller failure too- without stripping/inspecting and cleaning out the engine.

Little bits of ground up hardened steel doesnt do much for component life.

As for the rocker, its a throwaway( and I believe you will find Husaberg dont list the 03 roller tips seperate- but they are out there I believe :wink

Ive got one similar, and I wouldnt even consider fitting a new roller tip to it.

Ausberg: makes me think someone is selling USED rollers on eBay. "Only" 20 hours.

You usually go step by step, according to your confidence level.

I have worked on the top and will not work on the bottom for a while, maybe ever, unless dramatic engine explosion.

Taking the case out, splitting it open, working on it, putting it back together and in the bike can be quite a far step for the non-mechanically inclined.

Hey Coastie,

You are going to hate me! :wink:

but only because what I say might put doubts into your mind

Given what has gone on your motor it means you probably have small bits floating around somewhere. These bits are most likely to drop down into the casing to the left within your clutch area and maybe also to travel into your gearbox. If you drain the oil you might already find remnants in there on the magnetic plug.

In order to really make sure eveything is clean you will have to split the cases. You'll probably be lucky enough not to have any further damage and therefore the cost of parts for the clean up job is going to be negligable barring the seal kit. The cost then becomes only labour. You are unlikely to have to replace a lot of additional parts, if any, it's only about cleaning it all up. Considering what you already have to fix, it's not a huge amount on top, really.

Of course, you can simply replace what has broken, take the whole clutch side casing off and clean it out and then flush the engine a couple of times. I have used to very good effect an oil/petrol mixture as an engine flush which works really well - you just run the engine till hot, flush out, then take it for a ride with a new flush solution and then empty and put proper oil in afterwards.

The flushing will often get rid of bits but you will never know, because you can't get into each and every bearing to blow it out with a compressor or similar.

Either way could be fine but given the risk, it is entirely up to you. For the sake of an extra few hours of labour - on your part or someone elses, it might be worth the trouble.....

As for the rockers it always used to be the exhaust ones that went first. You'd be better off replacing them both and I'm surprised you can't get just the rollers, you always used to be able to.

Mail Dale directly about the cam as I don't think he makes it on here very often with his other commitments.

And by the way, these engines are fairly simple to work on. If you've not had a lot of experience, take your time, be really patient, double check all your work and use the workshop manuals available.

All the best,
Simon

Having a wife is not an excuse but an extra motivation to go lock yourself in the garage to work on the engine.

Hey Mate, I'm pretty new to the forum and very new to bergs.
I have a 04 fs650e that just did what yours did. Rocker bearing shat and desroyed my cam too.
I also had stuffed counter ballence shaft. Sorry to tell you mate but its big coin but better off doing
it all in one go that have it go bang soon after, I know your pain i am an apprentice and it hurts bad.

I am on the gold coast and had mine rebuilt at action ktm. I can post a copy of the receipt with all part
and labour cost if that is of any help.

may i suggest

rings , pin , clips , cam chain , rockers , main bearings , counter shaft bearings if avail , have the con rod examined [ new $ 450 - 500 whoppers ] , gasket kit .

thats if you wanna cover yourself , i paid aud $ 2000.00 for my rebuild . i took the motor out of the frame and handed it to a berg specialist .

oh yeah ... add 2 inlet valves and 2 exhaust valves replaced .

Thats the way of a racing four stroke.......I have felt your pain...

After fixing it, keep in mind that often the rollers fail because the roller is "rolling" constantly due to tight valves. It needs to unload at the cam heal to build up a new oil film. Really need to keep the valves adjusted regularly and if ever way too tight be concerned about the valve seat and if way too loose look at the rockers. Once they get real loose you aren't using the acceleration/decelleration ramp on the cam anymore and the rockers quickly beat themself up. When planning a ride in Baja, I have nightmares about what just happened to you and being in a position where you have to decide whether to ride the bike out or not.
dan

I think the labour was bout 800 bucks. And that was the head reconditioning too

dsducati said:

After fixing it, keep in mind that often the rollers fail because the roller is "rolling" constantly due to tight valves. It needs to unload at the cam heal to build up a new oil film. Really need to keep the valves adjusted regularly and if ever way too tight be concerned about the valve seat and if way too loose look at the rockers. Once they get real loose you aren't using the acceleration/decelleration ramp on the cam anymore and the rockers quickly beat themself up. When planning a ride in Baja, I have nightmares about what just happened to you and being in a position where you have to decide whether to ride the bike out or not.
dan

Click to expand...

Hey dan,

I'm not sure the rollers rolling needs to be the primary concern.

The vast amount of strain on the rollers is exerted by the aggressive ramp and flank grind of the oem camshaft.

If you're having nightmares then Dale's cams have to be the first consideration for you because they eliminate that ramping.

All the best,
Simon

Hi Coasie

FWIW my first engine failure was a dealer repiar for 1.i had no idea whatsoever about these bikes ..2 was terrified of splitting the engine. So at at cost of about £500.00 and no idea what whent on i was not to happy the next time it started smokein like a 2 stroke on deisel .Remedy .....Get yourself the berg fix it bible (online) and take your time digital photos are a must , you wont remember everything so use these as refrances . First time i took the top off i had to ask online if i needed to split the timeing chain to remove it ..THATS HOW NAIVE I WAS ....I can now PROUDLEY say after three yes three times ive split her and rebuilt her i never had any bts leftover and its quite a good feeling when she fires up first or second kick ...Sad thing is i quite enjoy working on the engine as when its goes back together it looks sooooo new n clean.;... I know i need to get a life

ps Two more rebuilds and i will have enough spare bits left over to build another Berg



JOKE :shock: :shock:

Point well taken about the aggresive cams. Am setting the bike up for dual purpose so it's future life will be much easier. Tend to ride carefully in Baja as well because we are miles from nowhere. I really like the way the oem cam runs in the tight terrain, so will probably leave it alone since it now won't see too much abuse. Looking at buying a new desert racer, but can't decide on what bike. Of course thats a whole different thread.
dan