What have you done to your XS today?

Beautiful job Short Trip! They look chrome plated!

shortTRIP said:

Finished up polishing my XS1 drum...View attachment 95122Just waiting on the new shoes, springs, bearings and a few brass bits to finish it up.

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Gorgeous! I actually just did my rear drum today. I'll might hav to do it again. They're not as mirrorlike as yours. Fantastic!

The Suzuki rear disk hub is about ready to get spoked to a 3X18 rim, yum!


I think I found a lighter rotor, I need to take about 2.5mm off the sprocket mount so it lines up with the XS front sprocket. The cush drive is nice and If I find a lighter rotor with the caliper it'll be a couple pounds heavier than the drum XS hub's 16 lbs. I'll either re machine or have a custom sprocket made. Bolt circle and hub diameter are slightly different. Suzuki (even aftermarket) ratios don't go down to the 33-34 tooth range.

Well this looks interesting. Is there a build thread for this somewhere?

I added lights to my 1918-Style XS650: I made a brake light switch bracket and mounted a switch, rewired the tail light to the headlight switch, this way the capacitor can provide all the power to the coils and then I can turn my lights on.

That's gorgeous gracer! How far n fast dare you ride it?

That's amazing. How much does it weigh?

Today the temperature broke over 10 celsius, actually went to 15, Harleys going past every twenty minutes or so, snow in the windrows spreading melt water across the drive way, so out to the garage to reintroduce a couple batteries to their proper repositories.
Of course, the snow blower was in the way, so as I pulled it out, I had to fix the mechanism that rotates the chute - an electric motor controlled by a switch under the right handlebar that rusts regularly and now has been dielectric greased into partial submission - if one is not careful during chute rotation, it gets to the end of the gear teeth and then the little motor jams and the chute won't turn. Must have been designed and tested in San Diego!
Anyway, battery back into the FJ-09, hit the button and listen to that sweet triple burble contentedly. Was thinking about going out for a ride, but had one more to start, plus the sun was starting to angle across the landscape and anymore I really do not like to be riding in slanting sunlight.
Pulled out the '77 which is a bit away from needing a battery yet and got to my runner, the '76 "red hammer". This is the one I got last August in Hamilton and last fall had it pretty much ready to take to be "safetied" so I can license it in Ontario, but the weather got cold so it made no sense.
Set the battery in place, screwed in the terminals, checked the oil, just as I left it, kicked it over several times to get the oil up in the head, turned on the gas, checked for leaks, kicked it over a few more times, brought it up to compression, turned on the key and One Kick got it running! So pleased with this one!. Warmed it a bit, snicked it in first and no stall, let out clutch and some big circles in the driveway. Shut off the gas, let it run dry, job done!
Sorry to be so wordy, but it seems like it has been a long time since last ride in November.

Today was a beautiful 21C (nearly 70 deg. F) and it was also a very big day in the Disaster Central Workshop. I know its not a Yamaha, but today was definitely a bike day. My former grad student came over and helped me replace the clutch slave cylinder on my 2007 Honda ST1300. He's a powertrain R&D engineer with a big internationally known automotive firm in Detroit and has talent to burn - plus he doesn't have a sore back. Anyhow, that darned thing started leaking last Sept. and I wanted to fix it then, but between my back, work, travel, cold weather and recently, the flu - it just didn't happen.
The Honda service manual says this about the task:
1) drain clutch hydraulic system;
2) remove engine from frame;
3) replace slave cylinder.
This thing is a big, heavy, hairy fully-faired 1300 cc liquid cooled, V4 DOHC, 4 valve, fuel injected, shaft drive, linked ABS equipped highway locomotive. Think - Gold Wing - but much faster and better handling. Its about as far away from an XS650 as a 747 is from a Piper Cub - but they're both a blast in their own way.

Getting the ST1300 engine out of the bike and back into it costs about $1300 (!!!) in shop labour. Replacing the $75 clutch slave cylinder (CSC) would add an extra $15 or so to the labour charge I would guess. The CSC is bolted on the rear engine case about 8" above the bottom of the engine (more or less above the centre stand pivots) in front of the front edge of the swing arm and its partially obscured by the oil filter, the gear shift linkage, the exhaust and a bunch of hoses - plus of course, the swing arm itself. Three cute little 6 mm bolts hold it on and there is a double banjo bolt hydraulic fitting to bring hydraulic oil from the clutch master and connect to a bleed line which exits on the left just above the side stand pivot. The whole thing is totally invisible from "outside" of the bike. The systems on these ST bikes are very reliable (200 and even 300,000 km or even miles is not uncommon) - but I definitely had a problem. The R&R job on the slave cylinder really is a bit daunting. If the engine was out - it would literally take about 10 minutes. With the engine in the frame, it took about an hour due to very poor access (hence the need for a young man who is strong and flexible). Anyhow, it's done and Sylvia (my bike) is back running like a top and so I went for a 15 mile ride to celebrate. Yeeee haaaaaa!!!!!

Tomorrow, I will get Lucille (red '76 XS650C) out of storage and so I spent the rest of the afternoon today getting her new fuel tank ready for when I will dig her out of the neighbour's garage and bring her back to life. A little dab of that magic blue stuff - Hylomar - on the petcock screws and she's good to go. If you've never used Hylomar - check it out. Apparently it was developed by Rolls Royce for aerospace work and boy, is it good stuff.

After I rescue Lucille, I will kick into high gear on the Special-to-Cafe project. All of the cafe conversion parts are here and I can't wait!

Cheers,

Pete

I stripped the paint off and polished my rearsets.

Pete,
Holy cow! So glad you guys figured out a way to change that slave cylinder without removing the whole motor. Unbelievable! Great work around.

Also regarding that Hylomar, where did you order it from. I too have a weepy petcock that just doesn't quite seal, even though everything is new.
Good days work!

Mailman said:

Pete,
Holy cow! So glad you guys figured out a way to change that slave cylinder without removing the whole motor. Unbelievable! Great work around.

Also regarding that Hylomar, where did you order it from. I too have a weepy petcock that just doesn't quite seal, even though everything is new.
Good days work!

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Hi MM - I just went on-line and typed in Hylomar Blue and up it came. I think it came from a place in Georgia and cost around $25 - but I think I now have a lifetime supply.

The CSC job was challenging - but its done and I'm delighted. I just wrote a huge post with photos etc. on the ST Owners website. If you look under "clutch leak" or something like that - it should come up.

Pete

Yeah ok. I'll have to check your write up on the ST Forum.

For some reason the photos in my ST POST don't work on an iPad.

HMMMMM. I'll have to hire a 9 year old to sort it out.

lakeview said:

Today the temperature broke over 10 celsius, actually went to 15, Harleys going past every twenty minutes or so, snow in the windrows spreading melt water across the drive way, so out to the garage to reintroduce a couple batteries to their proper repositories.
Of course, the snow blower was in the way, so as I pulled it out, I had to fix the mechanism that rotates the chute - an electric motor controlled by a switch under the right handlebar that rusts regularly and now has been dielectric greased into partial submission - if one is not careful during chute rotation, it gets to the end of the gear teeth and then the little motor jams and the chute won't turn. Must have been designed and tested in San Diego!
Anyway, battery back into the FJ-09, hit the button and listen to that sweet triple burble contentedly. Was thinking about going out for a ride, but had one more to start, plus the sun was starting to angle across the landscape and anymore I really do not like to be riding in slanting sunlight.
Pulled out the '77 which is a bit away from needing a battery yet and got to my runner, the '76 "red hammer". This is the one I got last August in Hamilton and last fall had it pretty much ready to take to be "safetied" so I can license it in Ontario, but the weather got cold so it made no sense.
Set the battery in place, screwed in the terminals, checked the oil, just as I left it, kicked it over several times to get the oil up in View attachment 95278 the head, turned on the gas, checked for leaks, kicked it over a few more times, brought it up to compression, turned on the key and One Kick got it running! So pleased with this one!. Warmed it a bit, snicked it in first and no stall, let out clutch and some big circles in the driveway. Shut off the gas, let it run dry, job done!
Sorry to be so wordy, but it seems like it has been a long time since last ride in November.

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Lakeview;.....................A snow blower that uses an electric motor to turn the chute, is just a bad design. My Ariens snow blower uses a manual lever through some nylon gears, and is so simple it could not possibly fail. It was designed and built in Brillion, Wisconsin, where winters are harsh and snow is plentiful.

Also just wondering why you would start the FJ-09 using the push button, but did not start the XS650 using the push button. An XS650 should start very easily using the electric starter.

MaxPete.............................I think Windsor is about the only place in Canada that could get up to 21 C in February. We did hit 17 C here in Calgary this week, but that is a 100 year record.
Well done, on repairing that clutch slave cylinder!

Thanks RG. It sure was a warm one. At one point ysterday it was two degrees warmer outside the house than inside.

RG: the P.O. had deleted the starter or I would have been using it. Believe me, kicking a bike to start it is the last thing I want to do, to the positive, at the time he deleted the starter, he also added a Pamco, which is why I think it works so well, and installed a PMA with battery.

Went out to the garage to put Christmas away, had to move the XS to shelve the decorations and couldn't resist firing her up. Started nicely, went to fully warm, shut off the fuel to run it dry and put her back in the garage. Also said hello to the King.

gggGary said:

That's gorgeous gracer! How far n fast dare you ride it?

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I've rode it less than 100 miles so far and have only been to about 55 mph. It tracks well and corners quite well. I like taking it to Motorcycles on Main in Mesa AZ the first Friday of the month. Nothing but praise so far among the Harley riders. I plan on riding it a lot during AZ bike week.