What have you done to your XS today?

Actually, I'm new here, so I'm still learning the drill... and I posted a pic of the bike over in the "Let's See The XS's" thread, but here it is again:

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Note that I have already done the bit with the mirrors in this pic, but have not yet pulled the plate.
 
This should be in the what I will do to my xs tomorrow BECAUSE of what happened today.! Lol i wanted to take my bike for a spin cause I had an air leak and rebuilt the butterfly seals. Started up a few days ago and all good even on a short ride. Today started up and once I got going at first stop sign was running rough. I thought it would clear up.....nope! Look down at carbs....sticky float on right side gas dripping down the engine. So turn it around and will install my new float needles and seats in the morning. The last 150 kms on my project build has been one thing after the other. Ohh well like my wife says: "you said you wanted a project!" :poke:
 
Today changed out the float valves and needles and now more gas on the outside of the bike just inside as where it belongs! Went for a ride and all works great now.

Had to come back home to do a final adjustment on the clutch at the left side cover a little too snug on the shaft cause felt a little slip in a few gears under more throttle. Finally adjusted at the spot I like and runs real good.

Ok changing problem fixed, hanging idle fixed.....hope to have my kilometers on the odometer instead of back and forth from my bike to my workbench lol
 
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Ok, this morning I took off the rear wheel to install my NOS brake shoes, and they are TOO BIG! This is the 2nd pair of brake shoes that I have bought that say they fit my year range of xs650, but DON’T. I am getting REALLY tired of taking off the rear wheel for NOTHING, and more importantly, I need new shoes for the rear drum! I thought all years of xs650 rear drums were the same size. Am I wrong? Are there differences between years? Here is a pic showing how my CURRENT shoes are smaller than the shoes I ordered.
 
Mike's says the same rear shoes fit all years. I think wherever you're buying them from is messed up and it would just happen again. I think I ordered mine at a dealership counter but not sure.

otoh, I can't tell what you're doing in the picture. The thing to check would be laying one on top of the other and match the curve.
 
That’s what I’m doing in the pic; my original shoes are laying on top of the NOS shoes I bought. I bought this set from ebay, and the first set I bought from amazon. I left a nasty review on the amazon seller. You can look it up; it’s the only review for the product. This is the second SELLER that has apparently misled me, the customer, as to what bike their shoes fit.
 
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Ok, so I spent ALL DAY replacing the cam seals and starting to install the Pamco ignition. I did have to drill out the outer “slot” in the Pamco advance replacement cap to make room for the locating pin. I had read about that being a potential issue, so I was ready for it. Taking off the mechanical advance was a pain in the ass. The most time consuming part was scraping all the old gasket off the cam covers. Cleaned up the cam ends with a scotchbrite pad, and greased the shaft as I reinstalled it with new gaskets and O rings. I Packed the inner lip of the new cam seals with white lithium grease. After installing the new housings with the new seals, I noticed the advance side of the camshaft was not protruding out into the seal as far as the ignition side, so I used the round plastic handled side of a screwdriver and lightly tapped it in until both sides were even. I hope that’s okay. I am stuck trying to find a spot to install the new coil. I took off the original coils and the condenser that was between the upper motor mount. I took some pictures of all the junk left, in the hopes that you good people can tell me what I have left. Is that round thing in my third pic the flasher canceling unit I’ve read about everyone removing? What is the black cube shaped thing in the first? And what is that silver ballast looking thing? Also, what do I do with the wires that used to be plugged into the coils? Do I just cap them off?
 
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Ok, still need to figure out how to get my turn signals working again, (probably some of those stray wires I was asking about earlier) but I got my Pamco installed. Got to use my timing light for the first time. Took her on a test ride and I can tell a difference in acceleration and DEFINATELY at idle. Everything is smooth. I did a little googling and learned that the silver thing in my pic WAS the canceler unit, so that’s in the box with everything else I’ve taken off the bike. -*****(WRONG. It was the flasher that I removed, and it’s back on. Signals work. Derp)**** same with the points and that stupid mechanical advance. Feels so good knowing I’ve got all the BIG stuff out of the way. Next on the list is probably replacing the rear shocks, and I need to look at the front forks too. They don’t leak, but they’re soft and spongy. I can bounce the bike all the way up and down. I have new seals and dust boots waiting in my tool box, so maybe a fork oil change is in order.
 
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If everything looks good but idle is rough or misses, it can help to close the plug gap a little. In spec but at the lower end. A couple thou can make a difference.
 
I am actually literally in the middle of reading about plugs, lol. I’m sure a few of you will give me shit, which is fine, but though I replaced the ignition, coil, wires, etc, I didn't replace the plugs along with them, lol. After everything I’ve read, I think I’m going to go with the NGK Iridium plugs. For all I know, I’m still running the original plugs that came in the bike new. Everything else was original. Maybe that’s what was to blame for my second or third kick starts.
 
I think fancy plugs are to increase plug life, maybe not super necessary for us. We tend to get involved instead. In the '90s I remember seeing advertised on the fledgling www a spark plug advertised to last forever. In fact...to stress that point they recommended you glue the plug in and they supplied some kind of permanent glue. I wonder how many of those happened.
 
TZ, the black rubber box in your 1st pic is the turn signal self canceling unit. The rectangular tin box in your second pic is some sort of diode or resistor. I'm pretty sure you need it. The round tin unit in your 3rd pic is the turn signal flasher. If you removed it, that's why your signals no longer function.
 
Lol I was just about to update this thread. I realized that last
Night and re-installed the flasher; turn signals work now. I kept everything else installed as well. Can I just unplug the self canceler unit? Or do I have to bridge that gap in the wiring to keep the signals working if I do?
 
Since getting the redoubtable Lucille :yikes: running again with a nice set of BS38 carbs that I bought from a Forum member, I have been noticing that the pull on her clutch has been getting REALLY heavy. She is rideable, but my left hand was getting sore and it just seemed that something was wrong. My biggest concern was that I might break the danged cable and have to do Fred Flintstone starts at traffic lights to get home (don’t ask me how I learned how to do this).

Sooo....I looked in my handy shop manual and I had routed the clutch cable incorrectly. :wtf:

I had it on the outside of the LH carb instead of down between the two carbs under the fuel tank. Here is a photo of the proper routing of the clutch cable.
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The real estate under the tank between the carbs is very tight - lots of fuel lines, filters, engine ventilator tubes etc. etc. in there, and so getting the clutch cable down through that busy intersection was a bit of a challenge.

While I was doing the re-routing, which required removing the LH engine case cover (but it doesn’t contain oil so no biggie), I thought, geez - I haven’t lubed the clutch cable in a while, so I did that too. I used one of those nifty little cable luber clampy things and it worked like a charm! One or two squirts up at the handlebar end of the cable and all kinds of schmutz came out of the lower end. Then, I just hooked it all back up, installed the case cover and we were back in business.
Here is everything you need to lube the clutch cable.
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My test ride was A-1 - nice light clutch action, neutral comes up easily and no more sore hand! The entire job, including removing the LH case cover and the fuel tank took around 25 minutes - well worth the effort!

Yeah - my beloved Lucille is BACK!!
 
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Though I’m not having any clutch issues at all, I have not been satisfied with my clutch cable routing. The cable vibrates against the tank at highway speed sometimes amd makes a really annoying clatter. I’m hoping to get in there one more time next week and check the valve clearances, find a final solution to securing my dual output coul, and possibly retorque my head and install the brass washers I’ve had in my toolbox since March. I’ll re route the cable too. I’ve been putting it off because I don’t have enough slack with my cable adjuster all the way in to remove the cable From the housing; I’m going to have to remove the LH engine cover. At least now I’ll know the proper routing for the clutch cable. I see lucille has the same little scar in her sidecover than my bike has from the apparently incorrect cable routing.
 
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