My first 1000 miles!

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One year ago today, this is what my bike looked like. I was working on the frame, trying to get it ready for powder coat, the motor was built and resting on my work bench, and everything else was in containers.
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By May 1st, it was together and on the road for the first time in over 30 years. Soon after that our Arizona heat settled in on us and I don’t ride much when it’s so blistering hot. But here and there I would catch a break and get both of my bikes out. Today I hit a milestone, my first 1000 miles on both my bike and my rebuilt motor. Here’s my ODO just rolling over, I stopped my bike to capture the moment for posterity! :D
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I know 1000 miles is nothing in the big scheme of things, but for me, this being my first engine build and all, I had set in my mind that this would be the amount of miles necessary for me to believe that I had done things right. In that first 1000 miles, the only problems I have had that is engine related was nailing down a pesky , serious oil leak from my drive shaft seal. Other than that, I resolved a problem with my gas tank paint job vs leaky petcock, and had to rebuild my tachometer, and the usual carburetor fettling.

All in all, I’m very happy with how things have gone! :smoke:
 
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Thanks buddy! I was thinking of you today, the way you ripped off 1700 miles in a week on your fresh motor!
Man I still don’t know how you did that. Makes my eyeballs rattle just thinking about that! Hey by the way, you still liking your shortened center stand?
 
The parts bike I picked up the other day had it's center stand still on. I put it up on it. I like mine way better. Mine seems effortless compared to stock.

Yeah, I’ve mentioned it before, but the difference between my ‘77 and my XS2 are night and day. My ‘77 is easy peasy! But my XS2 is a nut buster, I usually roll it up on a block of wood first. I’d really like to do what you’ve done.
 
So inquiring minds...
Hows oil consumption?
What're your compressions at?

Oil consumption, unknown, because I’ve done a bunch of oil changes. Three so far. You might remember I did not open up my crankcase when I did my rebuild, I probably should have. Knowing that there was old sludge in there, I did my first oil change at just over 100 miles. The side filter screen was really dirty and there was a lot of metal flake in there too.

At 300 miles I drained it again, this time no sludgy stuff, but still a lot of metal flake.

At 500 miles I did it again, this time much less debri.

At around 700 miles I didn’t drain the oil, but I pulled the side screen, just to see what’s doin, and was happy to see it looking nearly clean.

Now that I’ve hit 1000 miles, I’ll probably dump the oil and check all the screens again. Oh and I took a note out of 5Twins book and the only oil I have run in this is Walmart 20-50 automotive oil , $12 for a big old jug of it, and my clutch works perfectly with that oil.

Compression? I have not checked yet. I took a reading right after I got the bike started and was rather disappointed with my results. A little low and not equal. However the motor had zero miles on it and I’m hoping it will test better now. I’ll post some results soon. Do you think I can get good readings with my carbs in place if I prop open the slide and hold the throttle open? My first reading I did not have the carbs on.
 
Oil consumption, unknown, because I’ve done a bunch of oil changes. Three so far. You might remember I did not open up my crankcase when I did my rebuild, I probably should have. Knowing that there was old sludge in there, I did my first oil change at just over 100 miles. The side filter screen was really dirty and there was a lot of metal flake in there too.

At 300 miles I drained it again, this time no sludgy stuff, but still a lot of metal flake.

At 500 miles I did it again, this time much less debri.

At around 700 miles I didn’t drain the oil, but I pulled the side screen, just to see what’s doin, and was happy to see it looking nearly clean.

Now that I’ve hit 1000 miles, I’ll probably dump the oil and check all the screens again. Oh and I took a note out of 5Twins book and the only oil I have run in this is Walmart 20-50 automotive oil , $12 for a big old jug of it, and my clutch works perfectly with that oil.

Compression? I have not checked yet. I took a reading right after I got the bike started and was rather disappointed with my results. A little low and not equal. However the motor had zero miles on it and I’m hoping it will test better now. I’ll post some results soon. Do you think I can get good readings with my carbs in place if I prop open the slide and hold the throttle open? My first reading I did not have the carbs on.
Pull both plugs then just crack the throttle, the gap under the slide even fully seated is plenty big for compression test speeds. I actually did a test series to back up this statement. No difference either way. I find I can get higher numbers with a well timed vigorous kick as compared to using the e-start.
 
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