An Adventure in Firsts: '83 XS650 Heritage Special Build/Rebuild

I just remembered I need to charge the new battery first :doh: Battery may not go in today...well, it'll go in but no riding. will see how long charging takes. I have a Tender Jr trickle charger. It reads if it's dead, above 80%, or fully charged. Chrome batt site said charging time should be battery amp divided by amp of charger, but I'd been told you should charge for 24 hours when you get a new battery
 
I just remembered I need to charge the new battery first :doh: Battery may not go in today...well, it'll go in but no riding. will see how long charging takes. I have a Tender Jr trickle charger. It reads if it's dead, above 80%, or fully charged. Chrome batt site said charging time should be battery amp divided by amp of charger, but I'd been told you should charge for 24 hours when you get a new battery
Hook it up to the tender and see what it says. If it's 80%+ go for it. No need to go 24hrs... just until charged.
 
Thanks, will do. For some reason I thought I read that this batt came charged but looking back I don't see that. I'll see what happens
Yes, all batteries I've dealt with come just about fully charged.
 
Your New battery is correct for original fitment?
Did a 83 have a rubber battery box originally? Likely.
Those can be found or you can build your own.
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Yes, the factory used a nice ribbed rubber "sleeve" to shim the battery for a snug fit and protect it from vibration. Start watching eBay and you should be able to snag one for not too much money .....

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Congrats on getting that good C5-A anti-seize. Now start using it and do up your negative battery cable connection to the frame.
 
Hey everyone!
Just wanted to drop a quick note to say I'm still running! New battery is in and I cleaned up the negative. (I can provide more info on that later as I'm short on time, but holy hell, what the PO did to the connections and getting them to fit new battery had me throwing tools. I'll post pics in case I messed something up.) I've been working on other projects and rained out over here most of the week so haven't been able to do much. I've ordered a bunch of things though so I'll be ready to do carb inspection and valves when I have some time this week as the weather looks to be clearing up a bit. Been taking it out for a ride here and there when rain lets up to see how new battery is impacting the occasionally low idle. I've seen it drop that low still, but it seems like it's happening less, but it's still happening. I also haven't been able to ride it as long lately, and longer rides seemed to bring it out. I adjusted the clutch mechanism after first few rides because it wasn't loosening up after warm up, and then when I took it out today, it seems like I made it worse--idle was lower and shifting from first to neutral was rougher again. Soo, I'll readjust that again, and then give you guys my ride reports and more when I have more info.
For now I can say today (after clutch adjust) it took me going 50mph in 4th gear to hit 3.5k RPM.
Here's some notes on RPM from latest rides before readjusting clutch today; I'll post more soon. I was trying to track (best I could in LA traffic) RPM and trying to see what it took to get it above 3. Really pushing it to get to 4.
4K RPM, 35+mph, 3rd gear
3.5K RPM, 45mph, 4th gear (same at 50)
3-3.5K RPM, 35mph, 2nd gear

More soon!
 
Glad to hear you are well and the bike is running. Was wondering how things were going. My bike is away for the winter so I can’t comment intelligently on the engine speed vs rpm but find it odd you aren’t going over 4K rpm at any time.
 
My guess is a bad tach. I've rode bikes for years that didn't even have a tach. I'd say ignore the tach and go by ear.... you've got bigger fish to fry. Low idle/clutch adj, carbs, valves.... that's a plate full. Pay no attention to the tach 'till the rest of the bike is sorted.
 
Hey all.
Quick update. Adjusted clutch this morning. Will post ride report to see if it helped when I have time to take it out tomorrow. I did see this today:
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I did a quick search online to see what the cable looks like inside to decipher whether what's split is just the housing or the cable, but didn't find a good diagram. From what I do know though, there's the actual metal cable beneath the rubber. I'm just not sure what that metal casing between the rubber and the cable is and if it being disconnected could be part of the clutch/shifting issue. (I took the bike out yesterday quick before readjusting the clutch again and after about 15 minutes I had trouble shifting to the point where I had to pull over. I adjusted at the perch and was able to get home. WAs also seeing low idle still.) I'll see tomorrow if the clutch mechanism adjustment I did today fixes it or not but figured I'd post this in case this is the culprit. But if the cable isn't torn inside, I don't see what it'd matter except possibly contributing to making hand clutch difficult to pull in, as I had noticed since last adjustment that it wasn't loosening after bike being warmed (but again that could've been a poor mechanism adjustment on my end as it did get wonky yesterday). I was going to cut the cable to look, but didn't want to make it worse and need the bike to get to work tomorrow..

Overall, heads up that unfortunately things are going to be moving a bit slower over here, so posts may be a bit more sparse but I'm not throwing in the towel by any means. Lots of holes in my life boat that need attention at the moment. And can't work on the apartment side anymore so I'm back in the street but I'll make it work! Also going to try to find another spot to work for the bigger tasks; may have an option there. Anyway, if the clutch adjustment I did today doesnt sort it, then perhaps it's a new clutch cable. Now that I have flexible screwdriver I can get to carb bowls too. If that's a no go, onto trying to swap the TCI. And yeah, I'll just ignore the RPM for now--though I can say when it's low, I can tell by ear that it is running rather slow so I don't think that's all on the tach there. I want to swap the tach and speedo out anyway though as I can't see at night etc.

Hope everyone is well!
 
The new cable will be dry and need oiling. Ask how and you'll get lots of answers. Most likely, the gas tank will need to come off to remove the old cable if it's routed per the book. When you install the new one, I'd recommend not running it through the tank tunnel. The larger the radius of the bends, the better (lighter) the clutch will feel. Here's how I did mine...
Tank installed.... run it up through the triple tree and through the retaining loop. Run the other end back along the bottom of the tank, past the outside of the carb and down to the engine sidecover. Connect both ends and fine tune the positioning until you're happy. Notice the cable does run under the forward part of the tank. Grab yourself a roll of black gorilla tape and use that around the cable anywhere it chafes against something. I've found this routing gives the lightest pull at the lever and (bonus) the tank never has to come off again to remove the cable.. which you'll want to do once a year to re-lube it.


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Even NEW cables need to be end to end lubed before use. hang the cable up so it's "straight", feed oil in at the top, wait til it shows up at the bottom. A funnel out of electrical tape so you can add more oil at a time is quick and cheap.
Others will chime in with fancier ways to make a funnel. :sneaky:
 
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