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RedBarronChoppers.com edg t Pow e r S e r i e s Super size your XL

Bu
By Jay Richards

Piston & cylinder kit #11-0589T

Just a few hours and a few hundred bucks is all it takes to turn your old
883, regular 1200 Sporty or Buell into fire breathing MONSTER!
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This document may be freely posted at any online forum in its COMPLETE and UNEDITED form.

Whoever said the sporty
was a “chick bike” never rode
one of Red Barron’s Nemesis
or Weapons powered by just
the standard motor company
fare. As insane as these
potent combos are there are
those of us who share the
view that IF SOME IS GOOD,
MORE IS BETTER!
© 2006 Danial Howe Creations Inc.
This article will cover the installation
of Piston & cylinder kit #11-0589T
and top end gasket kit #11-0835T
available in the POWERCART at
REDBARRONCHOPPERS.COM
This article assumes your motor has
been removed from your bike and is
positioned on a suitable workbench.
If you are at the start of your project
and have not yet removed the motor
from the original donor bike we sug-
gest your purchase one of our many

In this article we follow RBC’s chief manuals available in our POWER-

power miester Jay Richards as he CART in the MANUALS SECTION.
walks us through the steps it takes to
go from mild to wild. .... And now, on with the show!

©2006 Danial Howe Creations Inc.

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Join Jay Richards and the
Cast of RedBarronTV
each week on your local
network. ( See local list-
ings ) or see highlight
clips of the show at
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DISASSEMBLY PROCEDURE
Remove your four 3/16 allen rocker cover bolts from both front and rear rocker covers,
and remove both upper and middle rocker covers from your engine. Have a clean area
where you can keep everything in order, keeping front and rear parts separate, to make
reassembly easier, and to help keep you from losing any parts.

Now with your rocker arms exposed, we are ready to rotate the engine to find “top dead
center compression stroke” on your front cylinder.

Remove the spark plugs from both the front and rear cylinder heads, support the
motorcycle and lift the rear wheel off the ground enough to rotate it. Shift the tranny into 5th
gear to rotate the engine. Watching the front rockers while rotating the engine, just after
the intake valve closes, slowly rotate the engine until the piston is able to be touched by
placing a small screw driver into the front spark plug hole. The piston should be just below
the threads in the plug hole and your exhaust rocker should still be closed. Once you’ve
completed this step, you’re ready to remove your front rocker box.

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Start by removing the two 3/16 allen head bolts.

Then remove the three 7/16 inch hex head bolts. Next, evenly in a criss cross pattern,
loosen and remove the four 1/2 inch hex head bolts. Warning: Not removing these
bolts evenly can result in a bent pushrod or cracked rocker arm! Once all bolts are
removed you can remove your rocker box. Place all bolts in order of where they came
from, so they will be installed in they’re original placement. Remove pushrods, careful not
to mix them up, they need to be put back exactly where they came from! Repeat all steps
for rear rocker box.

Now we are ready for cylinder head removal

No more rotation of the engine is necessary until reassembly. Going uphill starting from
your outside lower 1/2 inch twelve point head bolt to the upper outside head bolt, to the
lower inside head bolt, to the upper inside head bolt, loosen each one approximately a 1/4
turn each until all pressure is equally removed from the head bolts. Remove the bolts and
the head. Repeat procedure for remaining cylinder head.

Now it is time to remove the cylinders.

Gently slide the cylinder up the studs about two to three inches off the case, or until you
have room to slide a towel into the exposed case opening to prevent any debris from falling
into the case before completely removing the cylinder. This is incase you have a broken
ring that could fall into your case when removing the cylinder from the piston. If something
does fall into your case, you’re going to have to completely disassemble the lower end and
remove any debris to prevent major damage to your engine. Once you have towel in place
remove your cylinder. Do not allow piston to fall against studs when removing cylinder,
your towel should help with this, but make sure to exercise caution. Repeat procedure for
remaining cylinder. Once cylinders are removed be careful not to impact or create stress
on the studs.

The next step covers removing the piston pin retaining rings.

These rings are highly compressed in the ring groove and may fly out with considerable
force when pried out of the groove, possibly resulting in personal injury. Safety glasses
must be worn while removing or installing retaining rings. Inadequate safety precautions
could result in a serious injury.

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While still having the towels in place, its time to remove your 883 pistons. Insert an awl in
the recessed area below the piston pin bore, and pry out only one of the piston pin retain-
ing rings per piston. To prevent the ring from flying out, place your thumb over the retaining
ring. Once you have removed the retaining rings, slide the piston pin out of the piston and
connecting rod and remove the pistons.

You now have completed your top end disassembly, and are now ready to clean and prep
your gasket surfaces for reassembly. Also check connecting rod for up and down play in
lower bearings.
When up and down play is detected, lower bearing should be refitted. There will be a small
amount of side play, with a greater amount on the front cylinder expected. Only up and
down play is what you are looking for and is not desired. If up and down play is discovered,
replacing the bearing requires removing and disassembling engine crankcase.

INSTALLATION PROCEDURE
Time to install your rings to the pistons. This kit is already prefit to specs from the factory
and does not require any further sizing. The proper ring installation procedure is in bold
print on the ring package supplied with your 1200 kit.

Now to install your new 1200 pistons to the original connecting rods. First install one
piston pin retaining ring on one side of both pistons. Apply a generous amount of engine
assembly lube to your new piston pins supplied in your kit. Locating the arrows on the tops
of your new pistons, place them over the connecting rods arrows facing the front of the
engine and install the new piston pins. Now you can install your other piston pin retaining
rings to prevent the pin from sliding out. Apply a generous amount of engine assembly
lube to the skirts of both pistons, failure to do so will result in a severe dry start and
damage can occur.

Now you’re ready to install the new base gaskets and cylinders. The gaskets will work
on either the front or rear, make sure that the oil passage holes and the dowel holes line
up, if you don’t, no oil will flow back through the passages and engine damage will occur!
Once the gaskets are in place, you will need a piston ring compressor tool to install your
cylinders onto your pistons. Before installing the cylinders, there are four dowels that need
to be installed into recessed oil passages for head alignment. A small ballpean hammer
will gently tap the dowels into place. Listen for a distinct “ting” or change in tone from the
hammer to know that the dowels are seated. Again, still having your towels in place to
prevent any debris from entering your engine case, clamp the ring compressor onto the
piston covering the rings, then slide your cylinder down over the pistons until the rings
are all inside the cylinder. Now remove the ring compressor and the towel and slide the
cylinder down until it mates with the case. Repeat procedure with remaining cylinder.

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Now for your head gasket and head assembly.

Again the gaskets will work on either the front or rear cylinders. After placing the head gasket
on the cylinder, there are four o-rings that will fit over the dowels and into the gasket to seal
the oil passages. Replace the upper pushrod tube o-rings at this time as well. Once your
seals are all in place, set the proper head upon the correct cylinder, the heads are labeled
front and rear clearly visible from the top of the head, although you should have kept them
separate with the rest of your front and rear parts. The head will “snap” into place when
the dowels are properly aligned. Place a drop of engine oil on the threads of each of the
head bolts and install them “finger tight.” Now in the same “uphill pattern” that was used on
disassembly, torque the twelve point 1/2 inch head bolts to 7-9 ft/lbs of torque starting with
the lower outside, upper outside, lower inside, to the upper inside. It is good to go over the
bolts two to three times before moving to the next torque value. This makes sure all the bolts
are at exactly the same value as torque on one bolt can affect the torque of another. Next,
in the same pattern torque the head bolts to 12-15 ft/lbs. Finally in the same pattern, you will
need to turn each bolt exactly 90 degrees. A small mark on your head and your bolt can help
the efficiency of this action. Repeat procedure for remaining cylinder.

Install pushrods back into the original tubes they were removed from. At this point we need
to rotate the engine again to find the “top dead center compression stroke” as described in
the removal section of this instruction. Using the same procedure of watching the pushrods
move without the rockers is fine. Once you have found “top dead center compression”, install
your new rocker box gaskets on the head you are about to assemble. Again these gaskets
will work on the front or rear cylinders. With gaskets installed, place the rocker box on the
head and “just” start all nine bolts in they’re original placement. With all nine bolts started,
evenly in a criss cross pattern tighten down the four 1/2 inch bolts until the rocker box makes
even contact with the head. Snug the 7/16 bolts and the 3/16 allens to the rocker box but do
not tighten at this time. Now all nine bolts and the rocker box are all snugged to the head.
Tighten the 1/2 inch bolts evenly to 15-18 ft/lbs. Then evenly tighten your 7/16 bolts to 10-
13 ft/lbs, and then the 3/16 allens to 10-13 ft/lbs. Go over each bolt again to ensure proper
torque.

Repeat procedure for remaining cylinder.

Next install the lower rocker box seal and D-ring seal. Place middle box and upper D-ring
seal and then rocker cover. Torque the four 3/16 allens to 10 -13 ft/lbs.

Repeat procedure for remaining cylinder and installation of your new 10:1 compression 1200
kit is now complete!

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