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tx4726 wrote: Progress report.....While the carbs were in the cleaner, I took off the cam cover....The exhaust cam was out of specs by 3 teeth.(too far advanced) My buddy and I reset the timing and I put it back together this evening. I reassembled the carbs and installed them also. I will try to start it tomorrow. Thanks for all your help and inputs, cross your fingers and I'm going hunting for a 4 leaf clover. I'll give a report when I have something to report.

3 teeth is 30 degrees of cam timing which is 60 degrees of valve timing. Almost guaranteed you've got bent valves. Better do a compression test before going further. Sorry to hear of your troubles. I'll assume if the bike sat for 18 years that the tensioner mod was never done and it's possible that the tensioner locking balls did not lock down the tensioner rod when you probably burped the throttle.

How can a cam advance when it skips a few teeth

RickG wrote: How can a cam advance when it skips a few teeth

Good question Rick!

According to the shop manual, the dots on the cam sprocket should be at 9 and 12 oclock on the intake and 3 oclock on the exhaust. Mine were ok on the intake and 4 oclock on the exhaust. I've got it back where the manual says it should be and will try to start it later today. I stated in the first post that the cam tensioner was changed the first days of this fiasco (before it was cranked) I don't know what caused the problem, I just know that I have one and am trying to correct it. I will post again when I try to start it.

IT RUNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That chain must have jumped the first time it ran. I haven't checked the compression but it runs smooth. Maybe I got lucky. I am so elated. First time its run in 17+ years. Now I've got to put the bike back together, test drive and then get it legal. Thanks again for the advise and moral support.

tx4726 wrote: IT RUNS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That chain must have jumped the first time it ran. I haven't checked the compression but it runs smooth. Maybe I got lucky. I am so elated. First time its run in 17+ years. Now I've got to put the bike back together, test drive and then get it legal. Thanks again for the advise and moral support.

Glad to hear you're out of the woods. Congrats !!