Miss November XS2 tribute

But although I take a look at UK ebay I don't see XS wheels come up very often and usually in poor condition. I suppose the plan would be to get hold of front and rear hubs and build the wheels up with new spokes and rims.
If it were me thinking of lacing up wheels from the hubs, a 18" front and rear would be very tempting?
 
Do you guys know any "Tobins" round there? Im way over far away, last leaf on the tree branch on the West Coast USA. Don't know any lol..
 
- - - 5T, Fred, GLJ, thank you for the comments on wheels. Would really love to kit Miss November out with wire spoke wheels, maybe 19" front and 18" rear. Would suit the XS2 tribute look? Would also be a lot lighter than the artillery wheels. But although I take a look at UK ebay I don't see XS wheels come up very often and usually in poor condition. I suppose the plan would be to get hold of front and rear hubs and build the wheels up with new spokes and rims. - - -
.

Hi Raymond,
within the accuracy of holding a wheel and squinting past my brewer's goiter at a bathroom scale,
an XS650 7-spoke cast front wheel and an XS650 aluminum rim wire-spoke front wheel weigh just about the same.
BTW if you E-bay for Yamaha front wheels rather than XS650 front wheels, XS650/750/850/1100 wheels all interchange.
The XS11 Special's slotted front disk fits the XS650 front brake caliper, "adds lightness" and looks real nice, too.
Some other Yamaha front wheels also swap in if you don't mind swirly cast spokes.
 
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A box arrived this morning. From the US of A. Washington State, no less. Inside, another box, and inside that another box. Very well packed:

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Genuine Yamaha parts & accessories! New old stock in fact. Wonder what's inside?


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Ah! Well that will come in handy.

I think I forgot to mention that the day before my road trip to Cheshire, the tacho kinda fell apart? Well the two little screws that hold the dial, uhm, just sorta unscrewed themselves. Which meant the dial just freely rotated. Took a very quick look and with the glass unit being sealed, decided it was not a quick fix. So, unscrewed the tacho cable, sealed the top up in a plastic bag, and went South without benefit of a rev counter.

Once the NOS one is installed, will take a longer look at the original. I think there's a few people around these parts have dismantled and repaired a tachometer? Mailman comes to mind?

But today, I'm out in the rain turning the compost heap over . . .
 
Once the NOS one is installed, will take a longer look at the original. I think there's a few people around these parts have dismantled and repaired a tachometer? Mailman comes to mind But today, I'm out in the rain turning the compost heap over . . .

Hi Raymond,
out shovelling shit in the rain, eh?
Prying up a speedo or tach bezel's coined-over bottom edge to remove the class is also a shitty job,
It takes the skill of a watchmaker and the patience of a Saint. Plus a small screwdriver and lotsa cussing.
OR
Make two Dremel wheel cuts through the rim, pull off the C-shapes, leave out one rubber ring on reassembly
and epoxy the gauge back together. This only works once so epoxy the little face screws too.
 
I think I forgot to mention that the day before my road trip to Cheshire, the tacho kinda fell apart? Well the two little screws that hold the dial, uhm, just sorta unscrewed themselves. Which meant the dial just freely rotated. Took a very quick look and with the glass unit being sealed, decided it was not a quick fix. So, unscrewed the tacho cable, sealed the top up in a plastic bag, and went South without benefit of a rev counter.

Once the NOS one is installed, will take a longer look at the original. I think there's a few people around these parts have dismantled and repaired a tachometer? Mailman comes to mind?

But today, I'm out in the rain turning the compost heap over . . .

Its quite simple to fix these. A bit of patience the first time............not a one time fix
http://www.xs650.com/threads/70-83-...damper-replacement-replace-face-decals.52013/
 
Its quite simple to fix these. A bit of patience the first time............not a one time fix
http://www.xs650.com/threads/70-83-...damper-replacement-replace-face-decals.52013/

Thank you for the link, Skull. Very clear with all the photos. Something I will get to this winter.

Ironically, a job like that is much easier/less likely to go wrong after you have bought a replacement instrument. The question is, do I fit the NOS tacho then fix the original and keep it as a spare, or do I fix the original and refit it? Then keep the NOS as a spare or sell it and recoup the cost. It weren't cheap, obviously.

But as said above, plenty of time thanks to the Cooncil spreading salt . . .
 
Choices...........keep or go......well you have a spare now and never know when it may be needed

Raymond, One thing i haven't mentioned in that thread is, when re-tightening the screws, use some thread-lock, or i have heard, a small drop of your nail polish under the head, and just snug the screws.............if they are to tight the face plate will crack.
 
Bushes out, and they're plastic:

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When I pulled the swing-arm out of the bike, everything was good and snug so I thought some PO might have replaced the notorious nylon bushes. But I guess those are the originals, probably been in there forty-two years? Plastered with grease, which stinks like it's been in there a long time.

The TX750 s-arm has bronze bushes, with spiral grooves in 'em. Left those alone for now.

I'm hoping to use the 750 item, but I need to evaluate the pivot pins and bearing tubes and see which is best & gives the closest fit.

On the 650, the rubber dust caps and the steel shims are kinda bonded together. At least, I think that's what I have unless Yamaha fitted some sort of composite caps in there. The dust caps & shims from the 750 are knackered. The 750 bearing tube shows signs of grief, half-way along so not in a crucial area, like it has been chiselled at or bashed. Somebody had a struggle or got frustrated?

One complication is that I'm still toying with the idea of wire-spoked wheels. I think SR500 wheels might fit? Point is, if I end up fitting a drum brake, I might need a torque arm fitting under the s-arm. That's where the TX750 arm has its torque arm fitting already. So, should I modify it or leave as is?

Dilemma. But there's no rush.
 
There's nothing wrong with the stock "plastic" bushings as long as they're not worn. I still have and run them in both my 750 swingarms. When you switch to bronze bushings with the swirl cuts for greasing, you need to modify the swingarm a bit. The stock plastic bushings are designed to get their grease from the sides and that's how the stock grease nipples on the ends of the pivot bolt deliver it. The bronze bushings with their swirl cuts are designed to get their grease supply from the front or rear. Obviously you won't be getting any in there from the front so that just leaves the rear.

There are a couple small mods you can do to make this happen. First, and the usual route, is to add a grease fitting to the center bottom of the arm. This will fill the center section of the arm with grease and force it into the rears of the new bearings. Place the fitting on the edge of the gusset plate, you need the added thickness so the fitting won't protrude into the inside and hit the pivot tube. I like to use a 45° angled fitting as it eases access .....

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The 2nd little mod I've started doing is adding additional grease exit holes to the center of the pivot tube. Stock, there are only holes on the end to feed the sides of the plastic bushings (blue lines). I add a couple to the center (red arrows). This allows the center of the arm to fill with grease when using the stock fittings on the ends of the pivot bolt. Pump enough grease in there and it will eventually make it to the backs of your new bronze bushings. This mod alone might be enough to get them greased, but I still add the new center fitting too .....

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One complication is that I'm still toying with the idea of wire-spoked wheels. I think SR500 wheels might fit?
SR500 rear? No, don't think that is worth the modifications..
You mention Wire Spoke wheels often enough that I would encourage you to at least try to locate a set of 79 Special II wheels and convert to a rear drum setup on that TX swingarm. That'd be Cool ! :cool:
 
SR500 rear? No, don't think that is worth the modifications..
You mention Wire Spoke wheels often enough that I would encourage you to at least try to locate a set of 79 Special II wheels and convert to a rear drum setup on that TX swingarm. That'd be Cool ! :cool:

That would be cool. But unfortunately, items such as those unlikely to show up in Blighty.

5T, if I use the 750 s-arm, I'll fit a grease nipple as suggested. I've seen you show this mod in other threads, make a lot of sense.
 
Wondering just how big a PITA going for wire wheels might turn out to be.

Looking at a 16" drum-brake rear wheel on UK ebay, said to come from an XS650. Could rebuild it to 18" rim. But . . .

Also been looking at CMSNL exploded diagrams. The brake shaft is different between drum and disc models. The shaft part is probably similar where it passes though the frame but the lever that pulls the brake rod/activates the master cylinder is totally different. I wonder how easy it might be to ask an engineer to modify it?

And Jerry Heiden has an alloy front hub, which could be built to a 19"rim. Looks like it will accept the same disc . . .

Just musing . . .
 
Yes, you would need to change the pedal pivot too. The shaft part through the frame is the same but the bracket on the back side that activates the (disc or drum) brake totally differs between the two .....

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If you go this route, I also recommend getting an '80 or older pivot. Yamaha eliminated the grease fitting on the '81 and later pivots. When fitting the TX750 swingarm to my '83, I took the opportunity to "upgrade" the no-fitting pivot to an earlier grease fitting equipped version. You can plainly see how much more wear was on the original because it wasn't able to be easily kept greased .....

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5T - thank you, that confirms what I found on the CMCNL fiches.

Point taken WRT to buying an early brake pivot shaft with grease nipple. But again, unlikely to find one in the UK so probably have to draw the bracket and have it fabricated and welded on by an engineer.

Anyone think of any show-stoppers?
 
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