PO... PO'd me

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Xs goo.jpg OK Kiddies.. I'm work'n on a clients Tx 650..... and had to remove the left side engine cover.... $%#@}{-)(*^&% …. sum a ?:{)(&&$$#@ ….. can we all agree.. goo shouldn't be used..... took forever to get the razor blades to cut it away... I'd like to meet the guy who did this.....I'd..... bring up his IQ... his parents…. does it seem " different " walk'n up right and knuckles off the ground.... :(
 
I hear you Mike. On my '80 I bought for my street tracker build, the PO siliconed both covers on both sides of the gaskets!. I didn't know if I would ever get them apart. Finally, with the help of this forum showing me where to use a punch on the clutch cover, I got them free. He also siliconed the oil filter cover including the little kidney shaped gasket. I think it took 2 days to finally get all the crap off...then I decided to change the sump filter....damit, damit ......yup again. :gun:PO
 
I ran into a PO's silicone mess on a Suzuki GT380 triple years ago. Tried to adjust the clutch, but the friction point kept drifting. Looked at the cover while pulling the lever and noticed that the cover was flexing. Under it was the thickest slather of silicone goop I've seen to date. I cleaned it off, cut a new paper gasket, and all was good. Still can't imagine what the PO was trying to accomplish.
 
Tx caliper.jpg Tx caliper 2.jpg Tx rust.jpg Tx bore.jpg Tx frame 2.jpg Tx blj bits.jpg Oooh.. more fun.... caliper...first I Dremel'd the exposed bore.. a shot of 120psi from the air compressor … caliper pistons, not impressed.. so... I bottom the pistons fully... you can just barely see the outer ..thinner... O ring..... with dental picks.. pick-pull the rubber O ring out enough to grab with a needle nose... pull the O ring out.... repeat for the other side.... take another shot of air.... be ready for a piston " pop ".. keep your fingers out of the way....
Pistons pop'd out.. remove both O rings.....now I Dremel the bore with soft wire wheels... but the wire wheel doesn't reach the corners of the O ring groove... with dental pick I clean the groove corners.. that small pile of rust is from just one caliper half inside the grooves... clean the pistons... again soft wire wheel... clean the bore..again.. check grooves again....
insert replacement O rings.. I use a heavy 30mm half inch socket to press-roll the O rings in place....
clean the area.... then I coat the bore with clean brake fluid….then I coat the caliper piston.... insert the piston.. it should go in with just thumb pressure...
these early XS calipers.. no dust shield ….. once the piston is in place... I coat the exposed caliper bore with brake grease... also coat the back of the brake pads... insert pads.... this brake grease helps keep the elements out.. condensation.....
we also blasted the batt-air box.. other bits.. and painted them black... the triple tree action had much in common with my half drive ratchet wrench..….. good by balls.. hello tapers.....
next week.. fork seals.... pull clutch... service plates...... replace starter spring...
 
P11..... mega PIA...…. took months... months to get a front axle with bearings.. it's a hodgepodge of Brit bits from the factory... Matchless.. Norton.. whatever was left on the parts shelf.... we've been work'n on it for.... over a year..... get'n parts is like look'n for chicken lips.....
 
Xs gears.jpg Xs crack.jpg Xs goo 2.jpg Xs goo 4.jpg Xs plate.jpg The fun and joy of ..goo... continues..... ever notice when you pick up your car from the repair shop. there's that add'd.. " shop fees "... … I'm think I should add.. " PMO "... fee.. peeve me off....
clutch cover glued to the engine.... Grrrrr.. &^^%$^^$@.... note the blue goo at the oil passages,,,, got the cover off and inside it's been shellac.... case cracked... took plates out.... media blast steel.. treated fibers... owner said the clutch was a bear to pull.... besides superbike bars with stock cable.. the left side clutch adjuster on the engine side cover.. the screw gear barely moved.. the grease turned into almost wax... starter gear was the … usual...
 
Xs Iowa .jpg Xs Iowa 3.jpg Xs Iowa 2.jpg Helmet void.jpg Work progress's on the 73'... client didn't want a full strip for powder coat.. just bare frame with motor and paint..clean…. all the black bits....no body tins paint.. I rebuilt the forks.. caliper…get'n a s/steel brake line made......rebult carbs.. wait'n for diaphragms…( we always replace the floats.. and the diaphragms )…. toss ball bearings.. installed tapered.... clutch service..... no chrome work.. just elbow work with various polish compounds.. we'll buff the cases.... wait'n for a better front rim... then lace it to hub... think we'll go with Connies… a paint job came into the shop.... some of the f/glass needs minor repairs.... I add'd to my helmet..... :)
 
Tx Iowa.JPG Well...…. we got the 73' back on the road.... look'n pretty good... did about 5 rips around the block.. runs great. All lights work...… purrs... charge'n system on specs....
So now ready for our 20 mile test ride..... Mile 8 and... " ? "... pop'd a fuse... And proceeded to continue eat'n fuses..... Mark said he noticed that the turn signals started to flash really slow and when he stepped on the brakes at the same time.. it pop'd the fuse.
After we hauled it back to the shop.... we pulled the rear tail-brake light and signal wires.. and connected them one at a time.. with a fuse... when we wired the flasher.. " pop ". A different flasher and we're back on the road.
 
Xs2.jpg Xs2 diapham.jpg Xs2 rubber caps.jpg Xs2 difference.jpg Xs2 headlight.jpg Day after we put the Tx away.. a fellow from southern Mn visited us with a very nice Xs2. A very nice survivor. He replaced the exhaust with Mike's XS units.... and rebuilt the carbs but companied it ran poorly at moderate speeds, We checked and corrected the timing..it was slightly off.. the carbs responded to air screw adjustments.. cable pulls were even.... 155psi on each side... charge'n systyem good.... Mark took it out and reported it didn't response well and lacked proper performance.... we suspected a bad diaphragm. The owner left the bike and we proceed to investigate.....
We discovered a diaphragm wasn't installed properly.. also there where two different diaphragms…. we put them on our scale and one was much heavier then the other.... one of the passages at the bottom of float bowl was blocked.... the vent tube that connected the carbs were blocked with old cracked rubber caps... it had a wet battery.... I put in a dry one..... also it had one of those stator killing headlights.. I put in a standard motorcycle headlight..... We ordered floats and got a matched set of diaphragms...
Once the floats get to the shop... we'll go from there.
 
View attachment 170722 Well...…. we got the 73' back on the road.... look'n pretty good... did about 5 rips around the block.. runs great. All lights work...… purrs... charge'n system on specs....
So now ready for our 20 mile test ride..... Mile 8 and... " ? "... pop'd a fuse... And proceeded to continue eat'n fuses..... Mark said he noticed that the turn signals started to flash really slow and when he stepped on the brakes at the same time.. it pop'd the fuse.
After we hauled it back to the shop.... we pulled the rear tail-brake light and signal wires.. and connected them one at a time.. with a fuse... when we wired the flasher.. " pop ". A different flasher and we're back on the road.

That's a pretty blue bike Mike.
 
OK, so frazzled end of day yesterday I thought no work today...Wrong. Had the frame outside in sunlight late yesterday and saw some thin spots i touched up with primer and put back inside. May do some light primer sanding later today, paint top coat tomorrow. Now, scrubbing cleaning (more) and heavy sanding swing arm...had to get a 60 grit sponge pad for some areas where that sun don't shine. Will spray a light primer shorty to seal the shiny metal. Taking some effort, this arm. See a text from my machinist/ engine builder...said Total Seal can make up a ring set w/ 1.2 mm tops and shaped per what is optimal. Need to measure root number specs and revert back to TS for a time/$price. Lol, I spun my engine around on it's stand and a big 7.90 ball bearing fell out the bottom bomb bay hatch...I'll for the time being assume it's the one I need when I get there...or, maybe not.I see there is a b. bearing stuck still in the worm drive thing..bigger than that. I pulled a solid one piece shaft out the cam drive hole..no b.bearing I noticed. Maybe a legacy "256" b.b. from the crank, piston, cam swap? Big ass ball bearing, fell out the oil cleaner plate hole..I'll brake out my Yamaha shop manual (good expanded pics). Talked to painter and said see you next week sometime with tank....have some Por-15 sealer n metal prep coming Sat. or Monday....and I need to stop by Mike's for some parts talk.
 

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A bit off topic, but I spotted that P11 right off. If you have not already found them, Walridge in Canada is a good source, as the owner, Mike, is apparently a "hybrid" fan, and a pretty smart guy about them (I have a N15CS myself, not as desirable). They do a flyer at the end of the year, and surprising stuff shows up.

Walridge: https://www.walridge.com/

As regards the silicone sealer, we used to call it "hand grenade in a tube", as strings of it would and could show up most anywhere, with interesting results :laughing:
 
Headlight is one of those 55 watt units... " off road use only "..... they are VERY bright but everything I read about them they are HARD on the old XS stators....
The Tx is a very pretty blue.. think around 6400 that year.... in 72'... 33000... ?... not sure why so few 73'.. the oil crunch then.. ? the intro of the killer 900 Kaw … ?
 
Got a report back from the 73' Tx dude... he's stoked.... runs GREAT ! We work on these....and it's nice to hear back ….. the 72' should be going home shortly... wait'n for foam filters... today's test ride after the carbs where squared away went very well.. bike has a nice mid range response now..... Owner didn't have any air boxes... and the goofy tapered paper filters with the chrome ends he had on.. ( one was off sitting on the engine )…. we tossed... His speed 0 didn't work..... we found out the end of the cable was broken off deep inside the speed 0 drive..... his new cable didn't engage the drive...… I put the last drive we had.. cleaned and serviced.... on his bike... now.. how do I get the broken cable out... ? I need a raise...
 
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