Engine Swap - Keep Original? | GTAMotorcycle.com

Engine Swap - Keep Original?

WestBrantKid

WestBrantKid

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As a lot of you know, I have an '01 and an '03 GSX750F. The '01 is for winter use (not on the road this winter because the tank, carbs and other things are removed), and the '03 is for summer use.
The '01 has about 50,000 kms and the '03 has about 65,000 kms. The '03 has what sounds like a bad cam chain rattle, which has been there for several years. I'd like to fix it, but since I have two of the same engine I'm thinking of rebuilding one of them and putting it in the summer bike.
Riding weather is around the corner, and if I pull the engine from the '03, I likely won't be riding for a long while because I have zero experience rebuilding a motorcycle engine. I would prefer to rebuild the engine in my winter bike while I ride the '03, then swap the engine when it's done.
My question is for the numbers on the bike. Since the '03 is original, is there an argument for keeping it original, with the original numbers matching? Or does this not matter with bikes? I was raised a car guy and only started on bikes later in life. I'm not sure if bike engines even have numbers.

Also, any advice on rebuilding an engine is appreciated. What are the basics that should be addressed? i.e. What should be replaced, what just needs to be cleaned, what needs to be machined, worthwhile upgrades? Any good YouTube tutorials? Most of my research will be in multiple YouTube tutorials to see the process and take the best techniques from several mechanics.
 
I think it would have to be a rare and valuable all-original collectible for "numbers matching" to matter. Search BAT to see if they advertise that at all for bikes. I certainly never considered it. That said, just because you're replacing the motor with one from another bike doesn't mean you throw out the original one. Keep it if you think it will attain that collectible status. A true collectible is still worth more with its original motor, even if it's bad.
 
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I would rebuild engine B, do the swap and then rebuild A (or at least tear it apart enough to know whether a rebuild is viable). As with relax, I don't think numbers matching has much value for most bikes.
 
GreyGhost said:
I would rebuild engine B, do the swap and then rebuild A (or at least tear it apart enough to know whether a rebuild is viable). As with relax, I don't think numbers matching has much value for most bikes.
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In the long-run, I might do both, but that depends on how my first experience goes.

I grew up working on cars. Although I've never done my own engine rebuild, I've done everything else. Engine swaps, tranny swaps, etc.. For some reason, my bike intimidated me and I always took it to my brother-in-laws best friend who owns a shop in Cambridge for tune ups and repairs. When money started getting tight a couple years ago I decided to start doing the simple things myself. My mechanic's wife who works his front desk didn't seem to like that. She complained about people thinking they can doing things on their own from watching YouTube videos, and my following bill for fork seal replacement was ridiculous, so I haven't been back there since. I've been doing all my own work, using YouTube videos for guidance. Last summer I changed the fork seals on my other bike and couldn't believe how easy it is.

My point is, EVERYTHING on a motorcycle is very similar to a car/truck except that it's MUCH simpler. At least on the Katana it is. I should never have been intimidated. That being said, I have struggled to properly set my floats on the carbs, and changing wheels is much more work. Just 4 to 8 lugs on a 4-wheels vehicle, but on a bike you've got brakes, chain, and axels to deal with, and it's harder to lift/jack.
 
WestBrantKid said:
using YouTube videos for guidance
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Beware.
Of the hundreds of bike fixing channels on youtube, I have seen MAYBE three that actually have a clue.
That Ari guy is 100% wrong as much as he's right
That Craig guy is a HACK.
Redditer's know NOTHING. A bunch of smartassed kids
Who else? Give me a link and I'll tell you how he's an idiot

Paul Brody is good... but the hack uses right thread on BOTH ends of a rod end... the HORROR.
The Classic motorcycle Channel is pretty good
 
bitzz said:
Who else? Give me a link and I'll tell you how he's an idiot
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After watching a couple videos on the fork seals, this is the one I used:

This is one I was looking at for the engine work, early research from a year ago that I haven't gotten back to yet:
 
WestBrantKid said:
Not yet!
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I actually collect GS's. I am well connected in the "collector" circles.
The GSx is a superior bike to the GS... but no one wants them. They want a refrigerator (a Wes Cooley replica). The HOT setup is a GS bottom end, with a GSx head (you get roller crank and 16 valve head)
The gray Katanas, a GSx, is the exception.
Gs's and GSx's don't pull as much as a KZ... which is weird cuz the GS was a better bike
 
I can only see the first vid.
Changing forks seals is pretty simple... his 37 minute video could have been less than 10 minutes.
The loosening the top cover on the forks is a good idea, but for all the same reasons, loosen the bottom one before you release the triples.
When you go to take the forks apart ALWAYS clamp them soft jaws in a vise... that way you have two hands to take apart the forks... it's a LOT easier
the tape is a good idea, I used to do that... now I have a camera, which is better
... at about 8 minutes I got bored... sorry.
That video will get you through your first seal change, but I hope you can do better on your second one... if you follow your manual, not youtube
 
kat20.ashx

That one
And the dual shock, the first year, is the most prized
... that bike is a GSx1000E with spiffy body work, other than the body work the bike is the same as any other GSx.
 
Matching numbers are more important with vintage British bikes.
 
The first link didn't work. I had fixed it, and it works for me, but there may be a cache thing. Here's the second video link again. I appreciate your advise, but I don't expect you to sit through these videos. I just wondered if you are familiar with the channel and know if they are reliable. This one is called "Suzuki Katana Mechanic", but that doesn't mean it's true.

 
bitzz said:
Beware.
Of the hundreds of bike fixing channels on youtube, I have seen MAYBE three that actually have a clue.
That Ari guy is 100% wrong as much as he's right
That Craig guy is a HACK.
Redditer's know NOTHING. A bunch of smartassed kids
Who else? Give me a link and I'll tell you how he's an idiot

Paul Brody is good... but the hack uses right thread on BOTH ends of a rod end... the HORROR.
The Classic motorcycle Channel is pretty good
Click to expand...

Even the people who are usually right are sometimes wrong. I use the forum DIY's and youtube to get a general idea of what the job entails, but then read through the official shop manual as a sanity check.
 
guzzirider said:
Matching numbers are more important with vintage British bikes.
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At least half of my euro bikes don't have a frame number. My Nortons don't have one, but the engine AND the trans numbers match.
"Some" Ducatis did, some didn't (if the Berliner Bros brought the bike in, they stamped a frame number on the front down tube, when the bike got here... and I got two '60s narrow cases that I guess Berliner Bros didn't import, no frame number, but the '73 GT750 does).
Pretty sure my '72 T100 has a frame number, on the steering head.
 
In the 60s and 70s Kawasaki sold engines to other manufactures so engine and frame number almost never matched.
 
This generation of Katana is not like photo 13 (which has the old skool Suzuki GS-series engines). The generation of Katana under discussion here is the bubbly-styled full-enclosure-fairing type which has an engine of air-and-oil-cooled first-generation GSXR design origin. Like this Google Image Result for https://cdn.visordown.com/styles/amp_1200/s3/494_0.jpg?itok=P-SVC72u

What have you done to diagnose the noisy engine ... ? ? ?

If it has a bad timing chain tensioner, the first step is to check the condition of the tensioner, before you touch anything else on the engine. This is an in-frame job. I don't know if you can get at it without removing the carburetors ... possibly. Definitely do this before taking the engine out of the bike.

The shop manual has procedures for diagnosing the tensioner, and for how to reset and install it. Follow those.

If you find during removal that the tensioner was not applying any tension because it has extended all the way out (when you take out the bolts, you don't feel the tensioner pushing further out as you release the last bolt, and you can re-install the fully-extended tensioner without following the tensioner-resetting procedure without feeling like it is pushing against something internal - the chain guide), this means the chain and/or guides are shot, and then, yes, the engine needs to come apart.

If you find that the tensioner was not applying any tension because the internal spring isn't pushing any more, or if it can be pushed shorter by hand indicating that the internal ratcheting mechanism has failed, you need a new one.

If the stock (spring-loaded) tensioner has gone bad, one option is to replace it with a manual one: GSXR Zone - Cam Chain Tensioners
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