[donr]

Hi all. It has been a while since I posted here. I sold my trusty GL1500 in august last year an purchased a beautiful F6C Valkyrie. Yesterday, I decided to prepare it for the season, the snow on the roads melting fast.
I did the timing belts since she has 110K Km on her and, being of 2003 vintage.
I am the second owner and the previous one said they had not been done. To my surprise, it looked like the right cam was off by a tooth!! I thought these were interference engines!!! She ran great the way she was. After pondering a while, I decided to rotate the cam before installing the new belt. The old belts looked like new with no more stretch than the new ones and the PO assures me they had only been checked by the dealer and not changed. After turning the crank a few times to verify if everything was ok, I fired her up before buttoning everything and went for a ride. Other than seat of the pants feel, it looks like she is pulling stronger but I cant tell for sure. Has anyone seen Honda making that kind of mistake? Did I make a mistake by lining up the cam mark on the pulley with the one on the casing? The picture shows the uncorrected position. Comments please.
Don

 

[wingnut]

I've seen plenty of GL1500 engines with the belts off by a half or full tooth Don. One of them had only 6,000 miles on the engine from new. The new owner wanted the belts replaced because the Wing was eight years old and the original belts had never been disturbed. The belts were off by a tooth.

 

[donr]

Incredible. I never thought I would see this on the part of Honda. Then it was ok to put it back where it should go? I might even get better economy out of it to boot.
Don

 

[OldSchool_IsCool]

When I changed the belts on my 4-banger, the right side was off by a tooth. Aftermarket belts, so they were changed at some point in her 46K mile/29 years. She ran fine before the new belts, and better afterwards.

 

[bo_mull]

When I changed my belts, one of my cams was 180 deg off. It ran like a big 3 cyl. Ran much better after I put it back in time. Gotta love the previous owners.

 

[OldSchool_IsCool]

When I changed my belts, one of my cams was 180 deg off. It ran like a big 3 cyl. Ran much better after I put it back in time. Gotta love the previous owners.

So basically, you had a "Big Bang" engine, with opposing cylinders firing togeather rather than at opposite sided of their cycles. Makes for a GREAT hill climber (massive low-end tongue with built in pauses for tire re-grip) but not so smooth nor much good at highway speeds.
:cheesygrin:

 

[donr]

Weather permitting, I will take a hard ride to see if there is any difference in performance. Gota burn that winter gas.

 

[GWNorman]

Incredible. I never thought I would see this on the part of Honda. Then it was ok to put it back where it should go? I might even get better economy out of it to boot.
Don

A tooth out is not unusual to find on a GL1500. Nobody I know who found this noticed any difference at all in running or performance when they fitted the new belts to the proper marks.

 

[fujimo]

I have two valks in addition to my gl-1500. That is not uncommon, and it will make no difference in the running.

 

[dutchaussie]

Hi,

I once had a GL 1100 which ran OK but on inspection one side was off by 3 theeth. Did not seem to make much of a difference when corrected.

regards,

rob in holland