Do certain year XS,s run smoother, my personal experience!

XS650D

XS650D

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I may have posted this before, cant recall but I have a basically stock 77 and so does a local guy I know.
I have also owned a stock 80 XS650 G and have ridden a few Specials early 80,s. I met a guy last fall at a vintage bike meet that had a totally stock and mint 78 standard.After riding them all quit a bit I found the 77,s to be much smoother than the 80G,
78 Standard or the Specials. I asked all the pertinent questions regarding gearing ect but all wear stock, only my 77 had been completely stripped and rebuilt.Is this a coincidence OR were the 77,s and possibility earlier models smoother.If so why would that be. The guy with the stock 77 Standard bike looked a bit ruff, some rust, paint peeling ect but in excellent mechanical condition .It ran with out a doubt the best,really smooth and the most power.He apparently had owned 4 different model years (all purchased new by him) from the early stuff to the later specials and he stated that the 77 was he felt definitely the better year to have. Would
be interesting to se what others have experienced.
 
I had a shop install Mikes 650 CC big fin kit and my 1980 XS650 G bike is smoother running. Kept the stock 650 CC and the bike is very quiet, much less engine noise than before. I am breaking in the bike but the weather is not cooperating. Maybe this weekend!
 
A friend of mine has a 1980 Special, and I have a 1978 Special. His tail light and licence plate vibrated so bad, it tore his licence plate in half, and he had to replace it. Yet, my 78 Special has almost no vibration at all, around the rear tail light/plate area.
I sometimes think that Yamaha wanted to make a really good impression with the 78 Special, because it was the first year, so they tightened up the specs in the factory. Perhaps they spent more time balancing the crankshaft/alternator rotor/ and selecting pistons/con rods for equal weight. I really don't know, but there does seem to be quite a difference in vibration between years.

I think having your carbs tuned and synced, is important.

I can ride my bike for 6 or 7 hours per day, when on long trips, and the minor vibration in the handlebars does not bother me. Contrast that with some lads saying they can only ride the XS650 for 2 or 3 hours. :shrug:
 
Interesting info RT. I do also believe that tuning can make a substantial difference and noticed that on mine.
Agreed that Yamaha may have had tighter tolerances in earlier models as I have noticed that quality on some welds
and parts deteriorated after approx 77/78 obviously cost savings being a bigger priority.The 80G I had which was
totally stock, original pipes ect, would shake your fillings out!! My 77 has almost no vibration at all,definately less than a
08 Harley Sportster 1200 I used to own (was rubber mounted and fuel injected)
 
I agree. Syncing the carbs and valve adjustments are key to a smooth runner.
 
I think it has to do with the state of tune, of course, but also with just how well all the engine parts fit together. Tolerances vary and some just seem to be fit together better. The internal parts match up better.

Years ago, me and my buddy's older brother bought left over Kawasakis from a local shop. They apparently got a deal on 5 of them. They were all the same as far as I know, same color, everything. As we looked into it a bit more, we discovered our 2 bikes were one serial number apart. They came down the assembly line one right after the other. We never did get to check numbers on any of the others but there's a good chance they were all sequential. The thing is, our 2 bikes had a completely different "feel" between them. His was a bit smoother, mine seemed a bit more powerful.

Another story along the same lines - years back a guy down the street and his cousin had identical 125 AT1 Yamaha Enduros, same year just different colors. They were both new riders and scheduled their road tests together. They figured on using his cousin's bike for the tests, don't know why. The guy down the street, figuring his cousin's bike was the same, never bothered riding it or practicing on it. When he got on it at the road test, it had a completely different "feel" compared to his. He failed his test, lol.
 
While they are all a little different my '83's break the tags, have more mirror shake, footrest, and handlebar vibration than the standards.
I did have an '81 for a while that was as smooth a ride as the standards. While state of tune and adjustments may play a part I don't vary or set meticulous standards for how I set the cam chain, valves or sync carbs of different models.
 
Well, not to burst any tuning bubbles here but....when I used to work in a Yamaha shop in the late 70's / early 80's I used to assemble many, many brand new XS-650's out of the crate.

I would service them after I assembled them and part of the service was to take each one of them out and give them a good shakedown ride for several miles.

I would always put each one of them on the center stand and start em up for a warm up...then I would go over to my bench and grab my helmet and gloves....every time, without fail I would get a big chuckle about how far the 650 vibrated across the shop floor by the time I got back from my bench...every time.

It was very entertaining, lol.

I absolutely loved riding those 650 Specials too...so slender, fun to ride, sounded like a Triumph to me.

Those were great times, fun memories.
 
Last edited:
Vincenthdfan said:
Well, not to burst any tuning bubbles here but....when I used to work in a Yamaha shop in the late 70's / early 80's I used to assemble many, many brand new XS-650's out of the crate.

I would service them after I assembled them and part of the service was to take each one of them out and give them a good shakedown ride for several miles.

I would always put each one of them on the center stand and start em up for a warm up...then I would go over to my bench and grab my helmet and gloves....every time, without fail I would get a big chuckle about how far the 650 vibrated across the shop floor by the time I got back from my bench...every time.

It was very entertaining, lol.

I absolutely loved riding those 650 Specials too...so slender, fun to ride, sounded like a Triumph to me.

Those were great times, fun memories.
Click to expand...
You must have had the idle rpm up quite high, because my bike does not vibrate across the garage at 1200 to 1500 rpm. I have to rev it up from 1500 to 2000 rpm before it starts to walk backwards.
 
Sure, poor tuning and loose fasteners will make vibration worse. But if you want to know why some of these bikes shake more than others no matter what you do externally, get yourself a set of V blocks, a dial indicator, and a dozen or so crank assemblies. Mama Yama says .002" runout at the journals is acceptable. Does that tell you why some of these motors shake like a dog passing peach pits?
 
retiredgentleman said:
You must have had the idle rpm up quite high, because my bike does not vibrate across the garage at 1200 to 1500 rpm. I have to rev it up from 1500 to 2000 rpm before it starts to walk backwards.
Click to expand...

Well, truth be told, they were up on the choke a little bit to warm up....those buggers were set very lean from the factory.

But....we don't ride below 1500 rpm either.

All these vertical twins vibrate some is my point....its the nature of the beast, even straight from the factory crates.

To me, that's part of the character and charm of these old classics. :cheers:
 
Vincenthdfan, Great bike shop memories !! I agree that tuning out the vibrations is only part of the equation. I also strongly agree that variation in components manufacturing and assembly is a bigger factor ! think about it, 70's assembly line.. Yamaha is Great on quality but really how could every employee assemble exactly what the next employee did ? And, I'd go back to the bike shop days of the past anytime ! We like our old imperfect vibrating twins !!
 
I just have my 77D. The carbs are carefully balanced at idle and off idle. The timing is set at full advance to be balanced. Pretty darn smooth for a 360° twin without a balance shaft but still buzzed. Then I made my 'fake snake' and that remaining vibration changed to almost nil for any bike. It's not a Goldwing but I think the bad vibrators are not tuned quite as well. See griz's post for that annoying foot peg buzz.

Tom
 
I had a new 81 Special while my nephew rode a 77, and my brother a 73. The 80 was easily the hands down winner for smooth. The 73 was my favorite for looks.
 

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