Dual-sporting a 2010 TE 450, with cheap tricks

Old cam bearing felt good, a little rough from being pressed off the cam. The other 3 bearings feel great, smooth, no play in any direction.

Hmmm, now I wonder if I shouldn't do the same to my cam while I have it out and waiting for the new head gasket. I'll have to take a closer look and see if it looks like your old one.

Use a magnifying glass to look at the surface of the lobe on the ADC ring, if it's pitted, change it.

Starts like a new bike, hell, the cowling and the front fender ARE new.....

It also looks like your new ADC is a lot beefier than the old one. Like a totally different one, but that could be the angle of the photo.

The new ADC IS a different design and the lobe had the rainbow colors that might mean heat treated material, it should last as long as this bike is gonna last. It better, it was $60 with $15 installation.

I found a thread where a guy with an older big block had replaced his ADC 4 times and he had a pic of 3 older ADCs and then the newest one, and I can't find that thread at all now, if anyone knows the thread, send it to me, I want to include it in my thread.

http://www.cafehusky.com/threads/2007-te450-problems-starting.32017/page-2#post-374852

Thanks Duggoey, here's the pic by Xriderdown showing the difference in the newest design of ADC valve lifter, you can even see the rainbow on the lobe that makes me think heat treated.

And here's Xriderdown's post that made me commit to to replacing mine:

The TE450 starts great, idles fine, but as it gets hotter, it starts to idle lower, which was an even worse symptom when the main gear was off by one tooth. This time, I'm pretty sure it's the exhaust cam, I originally timed it with the dimples on the gears (the Defeckel method), then I saw the exhaust was in a strange position compared to the intake, so I went to the 1 tooth different position that I had it in back with the 1.1mm head gasket. I will be going back in to re-do to the dimple specs. Plus, my fan is not working so I'll need to check the wiring for that. Always something with this bike, just like a woman.....

I went back to the OEM dimple timing on the exhaust cam and I am back to using the manual comp release to get over the initial compression stroke but the ADC works fine after that, which is what I had been doing for the last 10,000 miles anyway, not a big deal, as long as it e-starts, I'm happy. The OEM timing also took a little off the top end performance that I had with the exhaust cam off-timed by one tooth, damn, that front end was coming up in 1st and 2nd gear, just from when the bike hit the power band, no clutch, no tug, just whoosh. Now with the timing at OEM, it's torquey-er and doesn't have the high end hit. The idle also stays completely consistent at water temp 230F, which is where my fan comes on with this temp sensor, I was looking for it to come on at 220F, my bad, fan works fine.

Retiming the exhaust cam only took 50 minutes, I have streamlined the process of getting into the cam chest and working in there, done it way too many times. First thing, I used to drain the tank into a can since it would just leak out of the fuel pump elbow, now I just tip it and prop it up slanted, since my cap vent is sealed.


I don't disconnect the comp release cable, I can work the cam cover around it using the slot for the spark plug.


Cam caps 3 and 4, for the intake cam, don't have to be removed completely, I just loosen the bolts on cam cap 3 and raise it enough to get the oil tube out (for removing the exhaust cam)


I have several 5mm allens, sawed off, cut-down, and I think this is a 5mm allen hammered into a 3/16 socket, 1/4" drive, I still need to shorten it to fit the cam cap bolt under the fan and the one under the left rad hose.


Here's the one-tooth-off cam timing that I would actually use if I was flat-tracking or racing the bike, great power.


Here's what the cams look like with OEM, Dfeckel, dimple timing, the cams just look like a really different position.

What's the LAST thing you want to happen after you just spent $100 on an ADC repair on your exhaust cam?

Your starter to go tits up, why couldn't it have died 2 weeks ago? 1st pic is from 2 years ago, 2nd pic is now,

Wha

what the heck happened inside there. Could it be from all of the troubles with trying to start it when it would die in the water crossings?

Finally got a chance to look at my ADC and it looks like yours did. I'll be sending it off Monday. Hopefully it'll be a big help.

But it wasn't necessarily my ADC that was the problem, it was my starter. You better pull your starter and look at the condition of the brushes.

Well, I am riding a kick-start only bike, like an XR400, but the TE450 DOES start on the 1st or 2nd kick EVERY time, got that going for me, as I wait on a Honda CRF450 starter rebuilt kit, not the $80 kit but the $24 kit with just 2 brushes and the brush plate. I doubt that I will be able to repair the starter, and will probably be getting a $250 OEM starter from BMP.

Last weekend's ride, I boiled over on some slow stuff, didn't know whether my fan was working or not, I have NEVER boiled over when my temp sensor is good and the fan is working, so I finally did what I have wanted to do for a long time, wire the fan to a switched power supply. I took my turn signals off 3 years ago, and if I hit the turn sig button accidentally while riding, the green indicator on the speedo always lights up. AHA! I disconnected the fan from its plug, grounded the black wire and ran the red wire to the sky blue wire in the cowling, BAM, I hit the left turn signal, the fan comes on, I cancel the turn signal, the fan goes off, I had a built-in switch and indicator lamp all this time!! Amazing! I will be turning the fan on as I start any slow, off-road section BEFORE I even get to 220F or 230F.



Got a pinch flat on a test ride, decided to put on rear tire #17 since I was swapping out the tube, noticed that the rear brake pads were gone! just did them less than 4000 miles ago in March 2013.



Also, on the last ride, I ran out of gas at 65 miles! My vacuum never get a good start in the gas tank and the rear tank never supplied any gas. So I did what I have said I was gonna do for a long time: I hooked the vacuum nipple on the intake to the gas cap, with a little valve so I can control when the vacuum get applied to the tank. It works real good, no pics, 'cause it's ugly as hell, in its current form, I'll clean it up a little, make it a little more presentable.

True. Mine is not wanting to start with the kicker either though when it's hot. I am hoping this was just from the head gasket leaking a bit. I talked to Bill at Bill's and he didn't seem to think the ADC would cause much of a problem starting it though as long as there was a lever. He did mention to pull the alternator cover and clean out the metal shavings from rotor spinning and magnetizing them between the stator and rotor. I'm going to put it all back together and see what it'll do first before I send the cam out. I'll also check that starter and make sure it's not looking like yours. That is crazy looking!

Riding the XR this weekend.

17,000 mile report
16,000 mile report was Oct 2013

The TE450 turned 17,000 miles with gusto, no e-start but the kicker works fine with EFI and a redone ADC. With 8 lbs off the front end, lofting over stuff is sweet easy now, didn't know what I was missing for 3 years. Burned 2.4 gals of gas to go 62 miles of dual sport, about 26 MPG. The TE will still run with a CRF450, won't outrun it, but will keep up. Did some rough riding today, got lost in some urban singletrack, only I could do it. Found out, if you connect a device (a fan) to your un-used turn signal circuit, the blinker box will see this and your device (my fan) will "blink" all damn day!!!

I pulled the wire leads out of the blinker relay and shunted the wires together, taped it up, now I have what I needed: a CONTINUOUS power supply to the fan, good thing I didn't ruin the fan in the process.

On to the failed starter repair: I tried fitting some CRF450 replacement brushes to my damaged brush plate in my starter, but I don't have enough skill, my hands are too clumsy for small work and the brushes weren't the right size. You can see the remains of 2 of 4 OEM brushes in the pic, as well as 1 Honda brush installed but not connected or sliding properly, a giant pain in the ass.



So it was Tuesday, I wanted to get this behind me, so I called Bryon at Bill's MP, he said he had a starter and he'd put it in the USPS mail, BAM, Thursday afternoon, it was on my doorstep!! And it came in a box that is definitely a collectors' item! I should be e-starting like it's 2010 in a few hours and riding again on Sunday! Thanks Bryon!

AMAZING! The TE450 hasn't started like this in YEARS, I've had to use the manual decomp lever for years, now, it's a strong starter again, I can kill my bike anytime and get going fast, to keep up with the maniacs I ride with.