What have you done to your XS today?

I'm amazed at the offerings Rustoleum has these days...The mosquitoes ran me out of the garage right after I pulled the center stand off on the lift and fixing to remove the rear wheel. Threw the center stand in the evapo-rust . Someone say zerk fittings? Noted. Took the head parts back to the machine shop early this AM.
 
Today I rebuilt both front calipers with new pistons,seals, bleeder valve`s, etc. Front forks should be finished in a week or two.:thumbsup:
BTW Rustoleum was created especially for use on the XS650.:D
calipers done 001.JPG calipers done 002.JPG calipers done 003.JPG calipers done 004.JPG
 
Haven't been on here in a while. Got sort of discouraged and took a long break. I'm still trying to figure out why my left carb is running lean. Spraying wd-40 around the carbs while is running has no affect. Adjustibg the has some affect but nothing drastic. I figured I would try to replace the choke gaskets which fresh material since the material I made my gaskets out of was rather old and was all I had laying around.

Not really sure what to do if that doesn't do the trick.

I'm still working on hooking up the GM coil and an HEI module as well.
 
Welcome back. Not sure if WD-40 is as effective at finding vacuum leaks as carb cleaner would be as I do not know if it is flammable.
Try to make one change at a time so you know what worked.
 
+1 on the wd40. The propellant in wd40 used to be very inflammable but the do gooders forced the manufacturer to change the formula. Carb cleaner or ether works better.

The do gooders are probably pissed I know the proper use of the word inflammable. They banned that too.
 
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Yamahama, when adding grease fitting to the centerstand, the pivot tubes aren't quite thick enough. The fitting would protrude through and rub on the pivot bolt. So, you need to build up the area where the leg tube attaches to the pivot tube with a blob of weld .....

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Then, grind a flat on it, center punch, drill, and tap .....

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Oh, and the centerstand spring washer shim trick .....

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Insert the washers with the centerstand down then once up the spring will be loose. Not loose enough to remove but it will be applying no tension so the pivot bolts and stand can be easily removed. Once the pivot bolts are out, the stand can be moved a little and the spring detached.
 
That's one of the things I like about this bike. Although it comes equipped with several grease fittings already, there's a few more spots they can be easily added to (both stands, steering head, kickstart pivot). I really like the long tube centerstand pivots. If kept greased, the bike goes up on the stand noticeably easier. If you let them dry out and rust, stand deployment gets much harder. It binds up big time.
 
Timely posts 5T. Managed to take off ft. wheel, fork, steering parts (oops there goes a b bearing) and the center stand....after I cut the grass. Too tired to think. I think Mike's has a grease fitting on some bolt..
 
For the less well equipped like me I would drill from the other end. More meat to wallow around in without the possibility of weakening the threaded end.
 
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Engine Up for Cleaning
Rolled the motor onto the lift to have it waist high to work on. Just needs a cleaning and a new clutch pushrod seal.
Got the seal out and saw the bushing was totally worn out, but could not get the inner pushrod piece out until I carefully used the shop vac.
All better now.20200609_183721.jpg
 
Man, thanks for that washer trick for the center stand spring! My center stand looks like crap; it’s almost solid brown from surface rust and really detracts from the aesthetics of the bike. I’ve been avoiding removing it because the spring looked like a bear to deal with. I’ve been completely distracted with the new bike; god I love it. Noticed a leak on the ground when I parked it though and after removing the saddlebags realized that instead of a metal fill plug, someone had stopped it with a rubber stopper. Already have the part ordered, and it was only 15.00, but now I’m not going to ride it until I get it. Now that I have a second bike more suited to daily riding a commuting, I can take care of some of these more intensive projects on the XS like rebuilding the carbs, and possibly taking care of the swing-arm bushings. That is if the girlfriend doesn't kill or leave me first. She is NOT happy about the latest acquisition. At least the new bike Is more modern and can carry some clothes and supplies if I need to skedaddle. :shootme:
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