What have you done to your XS today?

Beautiful Day for a Ride
20190714_102945.jpg
Two red '76's on the loose!
 
Today the plan was to set timing with the light, but I guess the Queen got too excited. Shes wet! Damn, today has been diverted. Copper washers going onto the head bolts with retorque. Good thing that copper washers are an item I purchased in the past but never got a "round tuit", found one today. john
 
And shes running on the left, enough to time the right. Ok, yesterday she ran on both, spray of brakeclean to the air filter and she runs on both again. Doing the carbs next weekend. I'm sure glad that I've got the King to ride. Funny thing is, back in the day the the 74's and brit bikes had dependability problems and this XS-1 was the dependable bike. Go figure! john
-edit-
Maybe if I rode the queen more often and for greater distances she'd cut this crap out. Thinking back, she's only been ridden 450 miles in the last three years. Maybe she's not being a bitch to me and I may simply be being a dick to her. H'MM, something to ponder. john
 
Last edited:
Just to continue Lakeview’s tale, we also stopped in the picturesque town of Petrolia north of Sarnia and used the biffy in the public library (which was a former railway station)
4D21FFA1-4E86-43E7-848E-9F03D537D24C.jpeg

Nearby on the market square was a hardware emporium. It had been founded in 1856 - which is pretty old for around here.
DE9DFB98-A9C5-45F7-94DC-D1F8A34E0C17.jpeg

Unfortunately, the hardware store was closed when we were there - as confirmed by the helpful and informative sign in the window...
439B6773-24BC-445F-8AB6-241B88BDA704.jpeg

...a close-up...
6FB56A2A-A080-4014-8BE4-67D0275377DB.jpeg

...and we even found an old former gas station: this one was a White Rose Service Station and the chap who was living in it told us that it had been in business at least until 1968. Now it is a private home in the little village of Tupperville which is near the town of Oil Springs (this area was the site of the first oil discovery in North America way back in 1858).
AA0A9560-153F-49C7-B0D7-79702405CCA3.jpeg

You can juuuusttt make out the White Rose Service sign in this closeup.
7570F887-4B5D-41CA-9781-0BA091770513.jpeg

There is a very interesting museum in Oil Springs - but that is for another day...
9BF6DACD-EBD7-49C3-9079-8A23334FDC71.jpeg

Anyhow - both bikes ran great and we logged at least a couple of hundred miles and had a wonderful day!

Pete
 
What about the chip truck under the bridge in Sarnia, always the wife's first stop when crossing the Bluewater.

We missed that because we had stopped at the Leaky Tank Diner at the south end of town.
3CB04244-4FE3-46C7-8821-F77DAEC99028.jpeg


We have since realized that this post might have been better placed in the “Just Ride” thread.
Oh well.
 
Last edited:
BIFFY?? HUH?

BIFFY is a Canadian term for a washroom, toilet or WC. It is an acronym which stands for Bathroom in the Forest For You and it is commonly used to refer to outhouses at summer cottages. It is also used in polite company for any place where one does one’s business.
 
Last edited:
I haven't done anything to my XS today but I will be soon! Got new tires as well as LED bulbs and flasher relay on the way! Bulbs should be here tomorrow!

Plan on taking it for a ride to work tomorrow morning though :bike:
 
BIFFY is. Canadian term for a washroom, toilet or WC. It is an acronym which stands for Bathroom in the Forest For You and it is commonly used to refer to outhouses at summer cottages but it used in polite company for any place where one does one’s business.
Well, I learned a new word today!
 
Know You Are Grounded
20190709_195337-1.jpg
My '83 rebuild for resale project has been a bit stalled as I could not get the button to activate the starter despite changing the bars to a chrome set from black and sanding the rust off the clamps. I know about the importance of grounds as well as anyone and thought I had it covered.
MaxPete, stopping by to add me to his Bluewater Parkway cruise to Sarnia and Oil Springs says "did you test to make sure your bars are grounded?"
Well no, but I had switched bars and tried a couple bar switches and sanded the clamps....
Out with the mysterious multi meter and it was immediately apparent that the bars had no continuity with the frame.
This morning, I ran a ground from the bottom of the bar mounts to the coil mount and presto! starter button activated the starter. No start yet so no joy, looks like I have a no spark thing to fix.

Moral of the story: Do not guess or assume - if the item can be tested, do so.
Learn how to use a multi meter.
 
The bars themselves don't ground. The bars are mounted with rubber isolators and don't actually ground to the frame. The only thing you need the bars to do is provide a ground path between the left and right switch housings. The left switch housing has a ground wire attached to it that connects to the ground circuit inside the headlight bucket.
 
Back
Top