What have you done to your XS today?

Well, I think I have a running bike. Thanks to Hugh for the swap out. Tremendous customer support. We had a run of about fifteen emails. Patience of Job. I know I contributed to the charging problem I had. This time, I was extra careful about running the wires behind the stator and soldering the male connections which lock into the Reg/Rec.
I finally got to experience the smooth firing of the Pamco and the EAdv with no worries about losing power.
On another note, Awhile ago I bought a new shifter pedal and when I installed it and tried to tighten it up, I broke off the head of the bolt. I was kind of pissed, but I finally revisited the piece and drilled out the sheared off bolt. I went to the hardware store to find a way to tighten it up without breaking the bolt off and found a hardened one that fit perfectly and did not break when I tightened it up. Finally a shifter that doesn't slip.
Oh and along the way I installed a glass gas filter, new reinforced gas line that flows and doesn't bind.
All in all, I think I have a well running and reliable vintage motorcycle with crazy new electronic parts. Thanks to this forum for all the help along the way. I hope to run into some of you on the road...not literally. But if any of you are in the Chicago area, PM me and maybe we can do a run.
Peace All and ride safely.
 
Removed my left side engine cover AGAIN because the clutch rod seal started leaking worse than it was. Replaced that seal, and the main shaft seal. Somehow my sprocket nut came loose, but thank God the keeper washer was in place properly. My 36mm socket magically disappeared (I suspect my shop mate misplaced it...) so I bought a new one, and I'll go torque the nut properly tomorrow.

Cleaned a ton of oil residue off the lower portion of the frame that arrived thanks in no small part to the leaky seals. Thanks, Obama! Looking forward to riding tomorrow.
 
Was having a great day til I got half way through tensioning the bolts and nuts on the refurbished top end. Then I snapped one of the cover bolts. Had been gradually tightening all in correct sequence but think I learnt something too. It would make sense to have the biggest nuts getting close to their recommended max to avoid having the lighter bolts trying to do too much tightening themselves. Can't stand looking at the engine tonight so enjoying a bottle of red instead. Bugger.
 
I took of the carbs. Check them over en clean them. Does someone know how far I should turn the idle jet in. How many turns does it needs?:confused:
 
Ritchie said:
I took of the carbs. Check them over en clean them. Does someone know how far I should turn the idle jet in. How many turns does it needs?:confused:
Click to expand...

Without knowing what carbs you have...........

On the other hand you don't turn the idle screws IN you lightly seat and turn them OUT. That said 2 turns out should let it run on nearly any carbs, then work towards the best idle with no fall off when you crack the throttle. Work both screws together till it runs best then you can mess with one at a time to see if it will do even better. Use the dead cylinder method, keep a grounded plug on the disconnected wire (keep track of where you are on both screws)
 
gggGary said:
Without knowing what carbs you have...........

On the other hand you don't turn the idle screws IN you lightly seat and turn them OUT. That said 2 turns out should let it run on nearly any carbs, then work towards the best idle with no fall off when you crack the throttle. Work both screws together till it runs best then you can mess with one at a time to see if it will do even better. Use the dead cylinder method, keep a grounded plug on the disconnected wire (keep track of where you are on both screws)
Click to expand...

Thanks gggGary. Thats all I wanted to know.
 
20160618_000714.jpg

Keywords: Clutch experimental calibrate tedious explode dain brammage
 
TwoManyXS1Bs said:
View attachment 64593

Keywords: Clutch experimental calibrate tedious explode dain brammage
Click to expand...

HWGA, love this stuff!
Spent 7 hours riding and fixing yesterday. But it was the H and new to me drawbar mount sickle mower. Mechanical stuff older than me and that isn't easy to find anymore.
JP has been hanging out here, and we exercised the 79's on the backroads several days. Swapping back and forth getting a handle on the resto-mod vs stock suspension, it's an improvement but I probably need to soften the front damping a bit, the cart emulator fork is a bit a harsher on rough pavement. More stable in the corners, worth the trade off so far.
 
This has been a few days work, but I have got it to a point where progress can be seen. I was buying some parts from a fellow and he says, hey I have a tank I will throw in, one look and I thought he was confusing in with out, but it had petcocks and a cap, missing key and it was free, so it came home with me. My locksmith cut a key from the number on it for 15.00, opened it and the inside was not rusty, so I started trying to undent it from inside, made no progress and switched to bondo then rattle can Tremco paint.
I had a silver Special tank that a fork leg had come in conflict with, (not me) and it got bondo as well, to see if I remembered any skills from my youth.
The result was two 15 foot tanks. Got some low sheen black paint and did them over, no real improvement, so I am thinking I will distress them with some sandpaper to see how they turn out.
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Last couple of days; replaced an ear and straightened the headlight shell that got bent when a wind storm at Rockerbox blew the restomod over. Oil and filters, points, timing check on the survivor, comp. 144L 149R. Did a once over and mounted some small saddle bags, cause the resto will get a few hundred miles tomorrow.
 
My 78 special ,which I bought in 1982,actually traded a parachute for it.Is sitting out my front window all weathered.Upgraded to a dual disc set up,drilled my own rotors,flatter handelbars,It was great getting back on it this year.What can I say, you guys know it.Great bikes.
 
Took my rig shopping yesterday. Came out of the shop with my purchase and it was so effin' hot that I doffed my jean jacket, gloves and flipface into the sidecar and rode the rig home bare-handed, in my tee shirt and wearing my wife's half-helmet.
I'm aware that an XS650 engine should sound, as it's alleged Mr. Bugatti said about his cars, "Like a bucketful of ball bearings being poured onto an iron plate"
But without my flipface helmet's sound muffling quality I could really hear the engine and think "Those ball bearings are far too big and being dropped from too great a height!" So today I got around to adjusting the bike's timing chain. Must have been about a decade since the last time it was done. Bike sounds a lot nicer now.
 
gggGary said:
Once a decade whether it needs it or not?
Click to expand...
Hi Gary,
yeah, a combination of sloth, the sound-deadening qualities of fullface helmets worn with earplugs and because I parked the bike for 5 of those 10 years rather than sort out a major oil leak. Um, add stupidity to that list. My son insisted on dragging the bike out of the back shed and he finally found the oil leak. One of the engine breather bolts was missing and the other three were about four turns loose. Took all of five minutes to fix. Well, ten if you include the time it took to find a replacement fastener in my bolt bin.
 
resto went 300 miles yesterday, started running poorly but with 165 miles on the tank switching to reserve cured it! Dang it was a warm one.
 

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