Smeegal's heart transplant...

Those of you who read my ride report around Europe this summer, will know it didn't end well...

Over 3000 miles of this:



Was sharply followed by this:



Output shaft bearing failure at 80 odd mph just north of Lyon on the way home...

Fortunately my Carole Nash insurance includes recovery and UK repatriation, and explaining that this was not something a local dealer could sort out anything like quickly or cheaply, they agreed to bring Smeegal's sorry arse back home on a truck - oh the indignity!

In the meantime I carried on to catch the ferry two-up with friends, and once home made a couple of calls to dealers to estimate the rebuild costs... With the engine now having done over 40,000 miles, it was recommended that while I had it apart I replace the big-end bearings too at the very least, and together with a new output shaft and bearing was looking at the thick end of £800... and that is before replacing anything else that might have been damaged with the wonky output shaft spinning round at 80 mph - if the gear clusters or anything else were chipped or damaged, the rebuild price could have easily doubled...

So, looking for an alternative, I checked the Bay, and what do you know? I found a low mileage, 2002 model 620ie engine in what looked to be excellent condition - for £650 or best offer... I offered £600 and the deal was done!



Now I know someone is going to say "why didn't you go for an 800/900/1000 instead?", but it's not that simple... true there were a few S2R 800 engines around for £1200-1500 (so doulbe the price of this 620 already), but then I would have to factor in changing the ECU, which would mean keys and clocks too (and quite possibly the throttle bodies too) - getting the whole lot from the same bike would be almost impossible, and scratching around waiting for the right parts to turn up would be both time consuming and expensive...

Buying another 620 engine meant a simple swap - all my electronics (including the loom) would plug straight in, and with any luck, there would be no need to do any set-up of the EFi etc either...

In fact, it all seemed so simple, I thought I'd give it a go myself - so last week I took a trip out to the shed and set to work:



Taking stuff off is easy! I did my best to lay everything out in order, and labelled up the various electrical connectors with tape - there is a lot of spaghetti on a roadbike compared to the off-road bikes I usually mess with!

After a few hours, this is what I was left with:



I elected to leave the rear wheel on the swing arm - mainly because I couldn't undo the bastard wheel nut! - but it actually helped with dropping it off and moving it around, and the subsequent repositioning and shimming to the new engine:



Some of you might be surprised to know that there are actually only two bolts that hold the front and rear ends of the bike together - or more accurately, the swingarm bolts the engine, and the engine bolts to the frame with just these two bolts!:



Getting the engine back into the frame [on my own] was going to require some lateral thinking... it might not look pretty, but it worked!



cont.

cont.

So with the two halves reconnected, and the bike back on two wheels, I could set about reconnecting all the wiring and other gubbins I'd had to remove... and took the opportunity to reroute some of the wiring and tidy it up with zip-ties etc.



I also took off the belt covers to inspect the belts that had come on the replacement engine - didn't want to start the thing and find a belt had snapped, or worse, they weren't even fitted!



Fortunately they looked to be in really good condition - although I'll be replacing them as soon as I can before doing many miles on the bike.

I also took time to clean up the swing arm and exhaust, and generally inspect everything:



So late Friday afternoon, I checked everything was connected, refitted the tank and thought I'd give it a go...



And blow me if it didn't fire up!!!

Unfortunately, during the reassembly, I noticed that my throttle cable had frayed and would need replacing before I could test everything properly... not wanting to wait a number of days to order one in from my usual dealer (Moto Rapido, of course...) I gave Ducati Aylesbury a call and they had one in stock - result!

Of course once I got it next to the old one, I remembered that when I first bought my Monster back in 2002, I had the dealer fit higher bars as part of the deal, and recall they had to get the throttle cable extended (a new one made by Venhill actually) and a longer clutch hose too... and it turns out the stock cable is still slightly too short for my bike with the new Renthal Trials Fatbars on... but a bit of creative re-routing and all is well.

So I guess the only thing left was to refit the bodywork, hook up the gear lever, and go for a test ride!





Fortunately today dried up after rain overnight - although I still took the precaution of spinning up the rear wheel to try and burn as much of the oil off the rear tyre as I could...

And I can confirm that what the engine seller said was true! - the engine is a peach, all the gears work smoothly and the clutch feels strong. It also seems to run a lot cooler than my old engine, although that may well be due to the fact I've left the belly pan off for now - that S4 Challenge pan I have together with the under engine exhaust does make things rather toasty in there!

So, once the belts are done, I'm looking forward to getting a few more miles on Smeegal before the end of the year!

Toot toot for now!

Jenny xx

[NewMon]

Nice write-up Jenny! I'm glad your bike lives again. You make it look easy.

[utopia]

Nice to know that Smeegal's back off the critical list.

I particularly enjoyed the wheel nut bit.....correct adjective..!!!

Do those mirrors work in that position. They'd certainly make negotiating my gateway a little easier.

Lastly, if you're thinking of breaking the old engine, I might be interested in the valve inspection covers.

Nice job - well done.

[Rally]

Well done on a good job Jenny. In future if you need or could do with a hand, don't be afraid to ask! I think your "Swedish chemist shop" is local to me from memory!

So what is lurking under the sheet in the background, a 2013 Dakar winning bike?

Yes, thanks for posting the write up. Well done for breathing life back into the old girl...

Originally Posted by utopia

Nice to know that Smeegal's back off the critical list.

I particularly enjoyed the wheel nut bit.....correct adjective..!!!

Do those mirrors work in that position. They'd certainly make negotiating my gateway a little easier.

Lastly, if you're thinking of breaking the old engine, I might be interested in the valve inspection covers.

Hee hee - yep, I thought that was the right turn of phrase... It's not so bad when you have someone to sit on the bike and jam the brake on (I have a 3 foot breaker bar), but on my own there was no way, especially as I imagine Moto Rapido did it up with a wizzy gun the last time it was in for tyres...

The mirrors do work, for me anyway... because of the higher/wider bars, you actually look under your elbows and they are angled so you can see if anyone is overtaking on a dual carriageway for example - obviously if you are wearing a big padded jacket the view is slightly more restricted, but they work ok, AND look cool... result!

I won't be breaking the engine for a while yet, but I'll keep you in mind... I may well be selling the polished engine cases and belt covers too (once they are properly cleaned up and polished again of course) for anyone interested in a bit of bling...

Jx

Originally Posted by Rally

Well done on a good job Jenny. In future if you need or could do with a hand, don't be afraid to ask! I think your "Swedish chemist shop" is local to me from memory!

So what is lurking under the sheet in the background, a 2013 Dakar winning bike?

Thanks Rally - and hopefully I'll get a chance to ride out a lot more often with you guys in future!

As for the sheet... more like the '2011 Dakar crashing bike', but yes... that is the next project... Unfortunately, I've had to postpone my entry until 2014 as I just haven't been able to raise the funds this year... it's heartbreaking, but I'm looking to make the most of my chances for 2014 instead.

Jx

Glad it all turned out well, you were lucky with that engine, nice clean condition and low miles, its a win win situation!

[Dukedesmo]

Nice one.

Great to see Smeegal back on the road and that you did the work yourself.

Glad to hear he's alive again well done

Love reading about your exploits J, keep up the good work!

I sent my friend a link to your alpsy write up as he was going to Italy in a Porsche and wanted some fun roads - he asked me to pass on thanks for the info, so THANKS!!

B

[Dave G]

Cant you just fit the belt covers to the new motor?