What have you done to your XS today?

OK. Ride over. Was going to ride to Sierra Vista/Ft Huachuca for lunch. Well, it was lunchtime to begin with so I got as far as Sonoita. A small town at a crossroads. Ranches and vineyards DSCN6028.JPG with a lake near by. Cowboy Churches. A Boarder Patrol Station. Went through a BP checkpoint to get there. The cloud pic is about Virga. That's where the cloud is dropping rain but, it evaporates before it reaches the ground.. Sonoita Jail? Tailing hills and BIG trucks at a open mine. Desert plants. Cati and Desert Broom. A tree with a parasite like Mistletoe. The roads in general.
 

Attachments

  • DSCN6029.JPG
    DSCN6029.JPG
    379.6 KB · Views: 327
  • DSCN6030.JPG
    DSCN6030.JPG
    367.6 KB · Views: 301
  • DSCN6038.JPG
    DSCN6038.JPG
    190.3 KB · Views: 325
  • DSCN6031.JPG
    DSCN6031.JPG
    222.5 KB · Views: 298
  • DSCN6033.JPG
    DSCN6033.JPG
    198.5 KB · Views: 322
  • DSCN6035.JPG
    DSCN6035.JPG
    246.3 KB · Views: 287
  • DSCN6040.JPG
    DSCN6040.JPG
    122.7 KB · Views: 270
  • DSCN6042.JPG
    DSCN6042.JPG
    286.5 KB · Views: 315
  • DSCN6044.JPG
    DSCN6044.JPG
    272.7 KB · Views: 324
  • DSCN6045.JPG
    DSCN6045.JPG
    136.1 KB · Views: 303
Ran over my cat
Aww, that's sad.

Put a Pirelli Diablo 130/70/18 on the back of Madness, replacing the 140/60/18 Shinko Podium. 3" wide rim. The podium lasted about 4500 miles, not bad for a soft tire that got rode hard and over long distances. Took a bit of width off the "wheel to caliper" spacer. The carrier was too close to the inside of the rotor.
rear detail.jpg
Reassembled and off the lift, but I rode the EBR since it's finally legal. Got through break in, 600 miles, now I can explore the rest of the RPM. As RPM swept through 8K in 2nd the front end was VERY light, things an animal! :yikes: It will not be a just whack it open and go kind of bike. Changed oil on that. Last few days have been lawnmower thrash, grenaded my 18HP vanguard when a filter gasket blew, didn't see the oil trail til later. :mad: HF 22HP predator engine should be here tomorrow. two other mowers bought, fixed up and mowing now.
 
Last edited:
Changed my BS34 (?) 41 mm ID intake rubbers with non-angled 40 mm ID ones from Allens Mikuni in the UK. This tilted the carbs up slightly, so is maybe good for flow. It all ended up pretty tight, around 2 mm clearance between valve inspection covers/dome nuts and the alloy angles joining the linked TM34's (RS34). Hopefully that's enough clearance.
Working with an injured shoulder is a slow affair.......
 
I began Lucille’s spring refit this afternoon / evening. I got back from a 2-day business trip (in the car) and took her down to the university for a meeting and to warm-up the engine and then brought her home and pulled her up on the hoist in the Disaster Central Workshop.
First, I changed the oil and pulled and changed both filters / strainers. All seems to be well following the top-end rebuild of last summer and roughly 2500 miles since then (some of them at pretty high speeds). Both filters came out really clean - with just a few metal sparklies in the side filter. The sump strainer looks like new (see below). The sump itself looks clean and both magnetic drain plugs were pretty clean with a small amount of sludgey stuff and virtually no metal.
82B6B95C-B36C-4355-A958-42A6E8653720.jpeg

Tomorrow:
- cylinder head re-torque;
- timing chain tension check;
- valve adjustment;
- clutch adjustment;
- drive chain adjustment & lube.
I find working on the bike to be relaxing and fun - a little music, an adult BEvERage and some good karma.

Let me say that I have a very busy and complex job and so a little 1970s style simplicity is most welcome.

After the tasks of tomorrow, I’ll be all set to enjoy the summer with my darling Lucille!

Pete
 
Last edited:
Someone made a very nice offer to buy my XS so I accepted. My baby has now left the nest and I will feel naked until I get my Virago finished - it just needs a final clear coat for petrol resistance. I plan on using 2K Pro XL clear lacquer in a spray can - any comments welcome.

Ahhhkkkkkkkk.....no XS in Wales???

Say it ain’t so Paul!!
 
Went for a perfect ride after work today. We had a high of 90 here and heavy rain in the forecast for the next week, so I went for a spin down some of my favorite country roads just outside of town. The bike slipped a little in 5th, but I was already past 65. It’s still much much better than it was before. I stopped to adjust my bandana under my helmet because it was giving me a headache, and I had to take a picture of the beautiful evening sky with the storm front that was approaching.
23A7D7E4-08F9-4726-AD9C-DA7D4B8CB4A4.jpeg
 
Looks very nice ! Good to hear working on your XS is relaxing and fun !
You did leave that crescent wrench in plain view ? Lets see your good tools like a ..
inch pound torque wrench ;)

Oh, not to worry 2M - the 1/4” drive torque wrench (which, needless to say, was set to 80 in-lbs for the sump bolts) was just out of view. :bike:

And I forgot to mention that I’ll be doing a bit more “forking around with Lucille” as well.

After doing the full-meal-deal on her slender and shapley 34 mm front legs last year, I find that the right fork seal is leaking :wtf: and also, both dust seal-caps are shredded and flapping in the breeze (once again, thanks MikesXS for those awesome rubber parts - NOT!). Finally, the chrome trim pieces at the top of each fork leg were all pitted and messed up, but my good buddy Lakeview just happened to have a very nice set of those and so, I will be swapping them as well.

Sooo, this refit may take a little while.

Sigh....life with Lucille....

It is never done, there is no “done”.
 
Last edited:
I find working on the bike to be relaxing and fun - a little music, an adult BEvERage and some good karma.

Let me say that I have a very busy and complex job and so a little 1970s style simplicity is most welcome.

Pete

You couldn't of described the same way I feel about me being in my garage working on my bikes! Heavy workloads and challenging projects (fire protection systems design & project manager) and by having something simple to get my mind off of work helps tremendously! Well said Pete! :cheers: JC
 
Yup JC - no computers, no office politics (or ANY politics...because of course, that is streng verbotten), no nitwit co-"workers" trying to "help" me with things that I have forgotten more about than they will ever know. Just a simple machine with simple problems being fixed using simple tools by a simple guy.
 
Yep "Garage Therapy", that's what keeps me from wanting to walk around tryin' to slap the stupid out of the general population!
Haven't had the mill fired up in a while, needed a quick something to scratch the chip flingin' itch. Actually ended up with something useful.
100_0354.JPG 100_0355.JPG 100_0357.JPG
 
Back
Top