I don't disagree with the cam being off, but shouldn't the flat on the crank be perpendicular to the line on the cam plate?
Feel free to slap me around if I'm wrong.

 

Without the outside cam chain on, what difference does it make?

 

I did take my PR's out already and I think I had moved the rear tire with the chain off, before I took the picture.

Thinking about it more, I'm lucky this didn't cause any collisions internally. More than 1 tooth off and it probably would(??).

 

Isn't that relationship the basis for getting all the timing correct between the cams and crank? The dots or marks on the cams should be in line when the flat is perp to the line on the plate. I believe that's what my FSM said, but it's been a while.

Sorry, Det, I don't mean to hijack your thread, just trying to learn something.

 

It is only when the outer cam chain is installed. Forward cam timing really only has to be correct to the rear cam. You have to get that timing correct first. That gets set when installing the cams into the plate. Front cam is timed to the rear. Rear timed to the crank.

FWIW With the cams close to the correct timing marks, it the outer chain is removed, the cams will seek a lowest position for valve lift. Rotating the cranks at the location, it may be possible to bend a valve if the motor is high performance / high lift but with 21s in a stock 88 ci motor, I would doubt any contact would occur.. It's definitely something you should be aware of.

 

Got it, thanks. Makes sense.

Now back to our regularly scheduled cam thread.

 

This probably clarifies cam timing to more than QC.

 

It's 100% better! Imagine that...

I didn't get a chance to ride it yet. Now the real tuning starts!

 

Det, isn't that a great feeling? Finding a simple solution to a vexing problem; been there, done that and know the feeling. Keep us posted on progress with tuning; should be able to nail it now.

 

I like my bike again!

I looked back on my posts and I think I was bullsh*tting myself. It was really running like crap, but didn't think it was as bad as it was. I was so close to putting the stock cam back in, thinking I just bit off more than I could chew, with tuning.

So now I took it for a ride after warming up, it really popped on decel, and would fart through the carb sometimes on a quick throttle blip. I came back, added the 2 washers back to the needle, and backed out the mixture screw 1/2 turn. Took another ride this time about 30 miles, back-roads and highway. By feel, it's sitting at a great spot, with no popping or backfires. And it doesn't fall on it's face at any point in the throttle or have any ping. That old miss I had at 4200RPM is totally gone. It pulls really well up to 5,000 RPM. I could probably to do the plug chop at some point now.

I'll put some more miles on this next week and see how it does.