JimSTer
Motorcycle "rider"!!
First of all I want to thank all the people that have contributed to this thread as the information I gleaned from here helped me tremendously. Likewise there isn't much I can add that will be of any real value that isn't already here.
Last October on a ride I stopped for gas and noticed a small coolant leak under the bike on the concrete driveway. It didn't appear to be all that bad so I kind of dismissed it thinking I would be doing some major maintenance during the winter and would figure it out later.
A few days later I was on another short ride over my favorite roads and once again stopped for a short time. The leak seemed to be getting larger. I checked the coolant level and found it was still in the neck above the thermostat. I continued on ending up at home several hours later. As I rode into the garage the leak was almost running now.
So I took the tupperware off to examine the area of the leak. I was able to determine that the leak was n fact coming from the weep hole in the water pump. My sources told me that this indicated the water pump must be done for.
Therefore I decided that I would have to replace the water pump and that I might as well do the timing belt while I was in there. Some of you may know that Honda does not make the water pump for the 1991 ST1100. But thanks to Rob Parker (HawkeyeST), who had a water pump off his 1994 ST1100 and offered to send it to me so that I could check to see if would work before I ordered one. The only difference between the 91 and the 94 is a nipple or hose connection for a re-routed crank case breather that the 91 doesn't have. So I was able to get a new 1994 water pump and install it without making any modifications.
Now the timing belt. I took the suggestion from George and bought the Gates belt from Amazon for almost half the cost of a Honda belt. And since the belt only had 80K on it, the belt looked as good as new.
While installing the new belt I was having trouble keeping the right driven pulley from moving while putting the belt over the left pulley. So I made myself a small wood shim to wedge under the edge of the pulley to keep it from moving during the installation.
Next the directions called for loosing the bolt on the tension pulley so that it could allow more room for the belt to be installed. I could not get enough leverage on the pulley after the bolt was loose in order to move the pulley all the way away from the belt. So I took a small vise grip pliers and grabbed the hook of the spring and un-hooked it from the pin. Thus the tension pulley fell away providing no interference at all. And after the belt was installed I removed he wood shim and re-connected the tension pulley spring. ALAS!! All three marks were lined up and the job was done. Actually I had to attempt the install about four times before it was right.
I hope in some way that some of things I mentioned here help someone. And again thanks to all of you that have contributed to this thread and those that also provided support for me.
Last October on a ride I stopped for gas and noticed a small coolant leak under the bike on the concrete driveway. It didn't appear to be all that bad so I kind of dismissed it thinking I would be doing some major maintenance during the winter and would figure it out later.
A few days later I was on another short ride over my favorite roads and once again stopped for a short time. The leak seemed to be getting larger. I checked the coolant level and found it was still in the neck above the thermostat. I continued on ending up at home several hours later. As I rode into the garage the leak was almost running now.
So I took the tupperware off to examine the area of the leak. I was able to determine that the leak was n fact coming from the weep hole in the water pump. My sources told me that this indicated the water pump must be done for.
Therefore I decided that I would have to replace the water pump and that I might as well do the timing belt while I was in there. Some of you may know that Honda does not make the water pump for the 1991 ST1100. But thanks to Rob Parker (HawkeyeST), who had a water pump off his 1994 ST1100 and offered to send it to me so that I could check to see if would work before I ordered one. The only difference between the 91 and the 94 is a nipple or hose connection for a re-routed crank case breather that the 91 doesn't have. So I was able to get a new 1994 water pump and install it without making any modifications.
Now the timing belt. I took the suggestion from George and bought the Gates belt from Amazon for almost half the cost of a Honda belt. And since the belt only had 80K on it, the belt looked as good as new.
While installing the new belt I was having trouble keeping the right driven pulley from moving while putting the belt over the left pulley. So I made myself a small wood shim to wedge under the edge of the pulley to keep it from moving during the installation.
Next the directions called for loosing the bolt on the tension pulley so that it could allow more room for the belt to be installed. I could not get enough leverage on the pulley after the bolt was loose in order to move the pulley all the way away from the belt. So I took a small vise grip pliers and grabbed the hook of the spring and un-hooked it from the pin. Thus the tension pulley fell away providing no interference at all. And after the belt was installed I removed he wood shim and re-connected the tension pulley spring. ALAS!! All three marks were lined up and the job was done. Actually I had to attempt the install about four times before it was right.
I hope in some way that some of things I mentioned here help someone. And again thanks to all of you that have contributed to this thread and those that also provided support for me.
And yes, I do plan to be at Moonshine.
