When lining up the timing mark on my cam gear with timing mark on pinion gear ,at what position should the front piston be in? Can the cam be installed 180 deg off ?[/align]Is there any correlation between the TDC mark on the flywheel and the timing mark on the pinion shaft ?[/align]Thanks in advance.[/align]

 

If you haven't seen this, read it.
http://www.nightrider.com/biketech/hdcaminstall00.htm

If it's too late and you didn't align the timing marks or turned the crank without the cam in place, you've got a 50/50 shot!

Actually it shouldn't be too tough to figure out if you stop to think about valve function at a given piston position.

When looking at the cam side of the engine, the crank rotates clockwise. When the front piston is at TDC of the compression stroke, valves will be closed (lifters off the cam lobes). Shortly thereafter, within a half rotaton of the crank, the exhaust valve should begin to open.

Disclaimer: I've never done a cam swap but I'm about to. Someone PLEASE speak up if I've written anything wrong!!

PS...there's a lot of good reads on this site.

 

yes, i turned crank without cam in place after removing old cam. most tech sites assume that this won't happen , and say simply line up marks when re-installing.

 

bump...anyone else have any input on this?

 

Doesn't matter if you rotatedthe motor. Just line the marks up per the service manual. Be sure to follow themanual for checking end play and Lifter block alignment (if removed).

 

Doesn't matter how much you turn the motor over, just put the front piston at TDC on compression stroke and align the marks, you'll be fine.

 

doin the same here but when i line up the marks as service manual says, my front piston is down low , nearly at its lowest ,is this ok?

 

If you're still wondering...yes, this is OK. As long as the cam to pinion and cam to breather gears are in alignment, your static timing is spot on.

 

many thanks