What have you done to your XS today?

I bought threaded rod and washers to sandwich the races into the neck. If I use grease and go this route, is there any reason to try to heat/freeze the neck and races?
I install head bearings the same way you did your wheel bearings... get a socket or steel tube the right diameter and tap 'em in. Smear a little grease inside the head for corrosion protection before you tap the races in.
 
Looks like mikes SS spokes. They'll be fine.
Hmmmm.... I was thinking about those for "The Basketcase". And they're okay, huh? Will the ends seat all the way, eventually? Would I have to bounce the rim like a basketball on the garage floor for a while and re-torque? I wouldn't want them to seat, work loose, and introduce me to "death wobble"! :yikes:
 
Hmmmm.... I was thinking about those for "The Basketcase". And they're okay, huh? Will the ends seat all the way, eventually? Would I have to bounce the rim like a basketball on the garage floor for a while and re-torque? I wouldn't want them to seat, work loose, and introduce me to "death wobble"! :yikes:
The Mikes spokes are bit long between the head and the bend, why the heads don't snug up. Snug the nipples good for a nice ring, maybe one more round in couple hundred miles,like any spoke wheel. I repeat myself, but I've put thousands of miles on mikes spokes.
 
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Okay, so about halfway done, but this is going WAY smoother than it seems like it ought to be. I was able to knock out both top and bottom steering neck races with about 4 taps each. They both came out clean. I used the old race to tap the inner lower race onto my stem, and I was going to use the same tactic to press the upper race into the bottom of the neck, only it literally went in by hand. Is this normal? I know I have the right part. It’s a snug fit, but it just went straight up in there. Is this okay? Am I just lucky? Is it perhaps that I’m working on my bike out in the garage where it’s cold so the metal frame is already compressed a bit?
 

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Okay, same experience with the top. Had to tap it in about 4-5 mm with the old race flush on top, but this just seemed way too easy compared to what I’ve read in the forums. I’ll take it though.
 
Okay, all buttoned up. No pics because I finished right as the sun went down. No one responded to my inquiries so we’ll see how things hold up. I won’t really know for sure until I take it for a ride, which won’t be for a while since the streets are all saturated with salt. It was so easy, I feel a sense of survivors guilt. Next project will be to take the rear wheel back off to replace the bearings and install the new matching tire. Can’t wait
 
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Very frustrated. Thought I had everything done, went to put the rear wheel back on and the dust cover on the sprocket side is not sitting flush like it was. I am pretty positive I got both bearings down as far as they would go into the hub. Anyone ever end up with extra length after replacing rear wheel bearings? The one explanation I can think of is that the new seal that came with the all balls kit was thinner than the original seal, and I drove it further into the hub, making it appear that the dust cover is sticking out too far. I also apparently messed up the threads on my rear axle, so I have to figure the best way to go about correcting that. Not a good end to an entire day spent working on the bike. I hate leaving projects unfinished.
 
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I did; I tapped it into the new bearing and then tapped the bearing into the hub with the rim of the tophat facing the center of the hub.
 
I am looking everywhere in the forum and can’t find an answer. There’s an axle on ebay for 20.00. I asked for dimensions and instead of giving me dimensions the seller just replied it’s off an 81 xs. Is it the same size as mine on my 77? I appreciate the suggestion for the file, but it looks like most files are around 20.00 and there’s still the chance I might not be able to salvage the threads anyway.
 
I looked up the 1981 H and SH and the 1977D on the Shopyamaha site. They all have the same code for the rear axle: 341-25381-00-00.
 
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