Any1 done the cam/pinion gears on a 883 evo Harley

toshibanz, Oct 31, 8:02pm
Motor is a 1987 883 Evo

Hi guys. I wonder if I can ask a very dumb question. I have just taken off the cam gear cover to replace the gasket which was leaking, When I pulled the cover off, the cam gears came away with it. No problems there, I took the head covers off and pulled the push rods up and replaced the cam gears. I lined them all up as per the manual, but I cant find a mark on the pinion gear like the manual says to line it up with the cam gears!
In fact I cant see any marks on it at all.

Is there one, or do you have to put it on TDC or something!
I took the lock washer off and took the pinion gear right off to make sure, It sits on a multi spline so it can go on in a variety of ways.

Might also sound funny, but how do you tell top dead center !
mechnificent, Oct 31, 8:17pm
The tdc mark will be with the timing marks won't it, you pull an allen key bung and look in the hole. There is what they call a lazy eight, and a "O" mark. hmmm, can't remember which is which now, been a few years. If you have a look you should be able to figure which mark is tdc.
toshibanz, Oct 31, 8:34pm
Great. I just went out to the shed to check Yes there's a large allen key on the clutch side of the engine which is in the position for the timing marks would be. I'll take a look tomorrow.

Because there's no marks that I can see on the pinion gear, I'm only assuming that I'd go TDC then slip the pinion gear into place with all the can gears lined up with their marks.
mechnificent, Oct 31, 8:37pm
I'll have a look in the morning and see if I've got a book which will say which mark is tdc.

If you have a sparkplug out you should be able to figure it though.

And the timing gears, they will have two lines on one gear and a single line on another gear won't they, and the one line goes between the two lines!
mechnificent, Oct 31, 8:42pm
Ive done a few over the years, but it was years ago now. I'll think on it over night and see what books I have.

or.

http://wedophones.com/HarleyDavidsonManualsLead.htm
toshibanz, Oct 31, 8:44pm
Sure does, the 4 gears have dot marks on them which al line up according to the service manual, its just the line up of number two gear which runs off the pinion which is the headache for me. The pinion has no marks on it. The service manual quotes a latter model pinion mark, but not the 87.
toshibanz, Oct 31, 8:44pm
Sure does, the 4 gears have dot marks on them which al line up according to the service manual, its just the line up of number two gear which runs off the pinion which is the headache for me. The pinion has no marks on it which should line up with the third dot mark on # 2 gear. The service manual quotes a latter model pinion mark, but not the 87.
mechnificent, Oct 31, 9:11pm
I've got a manual here that goes up to 85, it shows the same procedure as that older online manual. straight line on the crank timing mark, then there should be a mark on the pinion that lines up with the rear intake gear.
If you can line all the rest of the marks up, then when you put the crank timing mark in the right place the pinion should be lined up right even if there is no mark there.
toshibanz, Nov 4, 6:18pm
Well I spent the weekend putting it together and pulling it all apart again twice. Turns out after reading ALL the manuals, both online and my one, plus referring to a few forums and online pictures to get the right information which clearly say my 87 motor should have a line as TDC and a dot as the advance BTDC mark, is completely wrong. The marks are actually the dot punch mark is TDC and the line is advance BTDC.The gears were the easy part lol

Anyway, shes all going again but its certainly a trap if you dont know.