1978 Xs650SE Barn Find

Trick to removing those itty bitty circlips.... hold a mechanics finger magnet next to 'em as you pop 'em loose.
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@grizld1 talked about it quiet a few times as I recall. Here's one thread where he and RG discussed it.


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There is a big caution with preening the advance weigh bobs, both Griz and RG did agree about this in later posts. Preening the bobs on the weight can cause themto crack and disintegrate. The metal isn't inductive to stretching very well..........
 
While we were looking at the advancer there seemed to be some clearance between the slots in the rotor and the tabs on the flyweights. this clearance may be part of the excessive advance. I told tim how that removing the weights and peening the tabs to remove most of this clearance might help on the advnce.
I couldn't recall who talked about this. so if the persom who did this can chime in with more info on this please respnd.
othe than this issue the buike looks i pretty good shape. there are a few easy to fix cosmetic things.
We talked about some mods that can be easily done, steering head tapered rooler bearings and swing arm bushings were two. briefly talked about the Minton mods.
i didn't recognize the exhaust.
It is a bit on the loud side when under hard acceleration.
It swon't take much to get it in tuip top shape to be a good daily rider.
Nice meeting a younger fellow interested in these older bikes. he is intusiastic about getting it going. it has the stock 4 fuse block. we talked about swapping these for inline blade type fuses. He has plans to change them out.
Leo
You're a good Man Leo to go over and give him a hand
Sometimes just seeing how something is done even simple things makes a big difference :cheers:
 
You're a good Man Leo to go over and give him a hand
Sometimes just seeing how something is done even simple things makes a big difference :cheers:

I agree and am very appreciative that Leo came, cool dude ! Very informative and explained everything very easily. I am no bike mechanic, but do understand simple mechanics. I have very little experience with points and it was fun to refresh Leo on them as well. If I find some free time tomorrow morning I will run into town and get some moly grease and lubricate the advance rod and weights. And see where timing is after I put it all back together.

I'll report back if I can get it all back together!
 
I forgot to mention/comment on the exhaust. The exhaust "muffler" is basically a straight through pipe. There are no markings on either side of them and there are no baffles in them. They are a bit on thr loud side when in the higher rpms, but not excessively loud.
 
No other updates. I work 2nd shift and my days off rotate. Also when I am not working I am home with kidos which makes it difficult to sneak out to garage.

Plans are to pick up grease this afternoon on my way into work and if I get a spare hour tomorrow morning I'll put it all back together.
 
I work 2nd shift and my days off rotate. Also when I am not working I am home with kidos
BTDT, got the tee shirt. If not for that, my XS650 would have over 200,000 miles on it by now. It did a lot of garage time. I'm just glad I didn't get rid of it.
 
Jet - I won't part with this xs650. I had a xs400 5 years ago that I ended up selling before I could ride it and always regretted it. That's why I jumped on buying this 650, plus price was right;). Once it is running correctly, I plan to ride it every weekend.

I do have a 2nd mistress as my wife says
other than my XS that spends alot of time in the garage (mainly due to no seat belts for kids carseats). Enjoy some eye candy below. It was my Grandfather's. He got it in '94 when I was 4 years old. We finished restoring it in '13. He unfortunately passed away in '16. It has the original 283sbc that has been rebuilt as a 289sbc.
 

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iWhen I was down visiting Tim I told him a lot of us on here appreciate old cars as well as old bikes. I'm glad he posted the pic. His story on the car is a good one. Being his Grandads car is part of what makes it special.
While checking things out the points looked like new. The gap was a very close match left to right. Not always an easy task. We got the timing so left to right was very close and between the marks. The cold and threat of rain kept it from getting better.
Tim now understands how to adjust the timing. We used a light to set it where it is now. The popping on the right is almost gone. With a bit of warmer weather I'm sure he will get it better.
Leo
 
Yes, but if his timing is over-advancing at full advance (past the full advance mark), it's best you set the idle timing at the right side (more retarded side) of the "range" to compensate .....

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Good morning from cold and snowy central NY. Woke up to a real feel of 17°F and snow on the ground. Wtf. O well headed out to the garage and took the carbs and boots off. The carb boots are cracked all over the side that faces motor as well as around the vacuum barbs. I also lubricated and assembled the advance rod and weights. Saturday the new carb boots are scheduled to arrive, if they arrive ill reassemble everything and check/adjust timing as well as redo the dead cylinder test. I also replaced the spark plug wires. I believe they were original as they say '1978' on them.

I'll keep everyone posted.

Tim
 
When you install the new carb boots, you could put a light smear of grease on the cylinder head side. Or a light application of a non-setting gasket compound such as blue Hylomar. A touch of grease to ease the carbs in at the other end won't hurt either.
 
I'm not sure what type of carb boots you got but many of the aftermarket ones come with thin paper gaskets. I don't like those and won't use them. If you look at an original, you'll see it's quite thick, a good 1/8" or so. Besides sealing well, I think they were also meant to act as a heat barrier or insulator, to help keep engine heat away from the manifold. Originals are still available from Yamaha but quite expensive ($10 to $15 each). Nice, thick aftermarket ones can be had from YamahaXS650.com for a much better price .....

https://yamahaxs650.com/product/intake-spiggot-gasket-pk-2/
 
Boots came in today. I will see what the gaskets look like when I get home from work. If they are thin, I may just use them just to get bike up and running and order the ones 5twins linked above. I really want to try and ride this weekend.
 
If you apply any sealer, only put it between the gasket and the manifold. Don't put any between the gasket and the engine or the manifolds will be a bitch to remove. It's also a tough job cleaning the remnants off the engine.
 
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