1983 XS650 Heritage Special

weekendrider said:
Does it look brazed on the left side to any one else?
With the nut missing on the right?

BWHAHAHA
What xjwmx said!!

Purplezinger I outlined the beauty cover.

Locoken I also out lined the chain guard. Someone left only part of yours ...however it was done
Click to expand...

Yeah, the chain guard is missing alright. I have one on my '81 Kawasaki Ltd but didn't pay any attention to it when I bought this bike. I'll have to see what I can find on CL or eBay to replace it. I was looking at beauty covers and said to heck with it. They are too pricey to replace and I don't care if they are on there atm.
 
I went for a ride today and on my way home the bike started to lose power as I was on a straightaway. I couldn't get over 3k rpm's. Top speed was around 55mph and it felt kinda like it was sorta chugging along. I limped home and parked it and will have to investigate probably later this week what the heck is going on. I'm guessing I've got carb issues because of other things that are happening (popping, shallow backfiring, poor idle) but this seems to be something else as well. I'm confused on where to start but the carbs will be my main focus when I can spend some time troubleshooting. *sigh*.....I still would rather keep this than the kawasaki I have because I like the sound of the 2 cylinder more than my 4 cylinder. Yeah, the other sounds faster but tops out at 65 mph at 6k rpm's. Get's there fast but I don't want to keep it anyways. I like this bike more.

What are your guy's ideas on the power loss? Still a carb issue only or maybe something else on top of that?
 
Here's a few pics of the swingarm bolt area cropped from the other pics I posted. Hopefully you can see it better. I'll see if I can get better pics later today.
67a1bf66.jpg

ede9f93f.jpg
 
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I've got a manual coming but can anyone tell me the gap settings for this bike? Is it "0.7~0.8mm" for the plugs and "0.3~0.4mm" for the points?
 
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nj1639 said:
Shouldn't be any points on an '83 unless you ps'd them.....
Click to expand...

Don't trust this one at all! But if they're not ps'd the swing arm bolt ends couldn't be more messed up. I wouldn't be surprised if you have to do some welding on the frame before it will take the right swing arm bolt. I've seen what your calling the beauty covers; once.

The power issue, if it won't idle either it's sounds like it might be running on one cylinder which would narrow it down a little bit. Need to go through everything first though.
 
nj1639 said:
Shouldn't be any points on an '83 unless you ps'd them.....
Click to expand...

Oh Lord. This is a rough crowd!

Seriously though, thanks for the info though. Didn't know. Was going off the info I got from the tech area under one of the manuals that was posted.
 
LocoKen your carbs will need to be cleaned. Just a matter of when you are going to do it. While inspecting/cleaning make notes on the jet sizes and float setting.
There is NO telling what may have been done before you.
The welded pivot bolt gives me an opinion of the PO's quaility of work.
I've only seen that once before.
 
It's right in the tech section, you BRAZE swing arms into place, Duh!

Oh yeah, you are going to find a few more "surprises"
 
LocoKen said:
I went for a ride today and on my way home the bike started to lose power as I was on a straightaway. I couldn't get over 3k rpm's. Top speed was around 55mph and it felt kinda like it was sorta chugging along. I limped home and parked it and will have to investigate probably later this week what the heck is going on. I'm guessing I've got carb issues because of other things that are happening (popping, shallow backfiring, poor idle) but this seems to be something else as well. I'm confused on where to start but the carbs will be my main focus when I can spend some time troubleshooting. *sigh*.....I still would rather keep this than the kawasaki I have because I like the sound of the 2 cylinder more than my 4 cylinder. Yeah, the other sounds faster but tops out at 65 mph at 6k rpm's. Get's there fast but I don't want to keep it anyways. I like this bike more.

What are your guy's ideas on the power loss? Still a carb issue only or maybe something else on top of that?
Click to expand...

Before you mess with the carbs, check the brushes. Check the resistence of your charging rotor. Make sure your battery is consistently charging. Checking this is easier than messing with the carbs, especially if there's nothing wrong with them. I've had this same bike since it was new and I've experienced what you're experiencing. My carbs have never been an issue.
 
I have this same bike and agree with jetmechmarty completely, had the same issues you are having and it was an electrical charging issue.
Yamimoto
 
The rough running engine has been taken care of. Apparently there was some residue left in the tank from cleaning it out with the naval jelly and it was clogging the filters on the main jets. I also replaced the pilot jets with the next size up because they didn't have the size I needed. It's running a WHOLE lot better now especially on take off and in the lower ranges and has much more response all around. I did notice just a little hesitation at the higher range but I still need to dial in the carbs I think. Other than that, I am very happy with the performance now and am trying to find a way to get a filter in there with very little room. My tank has a petcock on either side and there is absolutely no room to get your hands in there let alone an inline filter. I will have to do more research on what I can do there. Anyway, thanks for the help everyone. I did a check on everything else that you mentioned and all seems to be good. Now to figure out how to replace the swing arm bolt. :banghead:
 
On the fuel filters, I turn the 'T' down on the carbs and run the fuel line out of the left petcock, down on the outside of the left carb, under the carb and then up to the 'T'. The filter is located on the outside of the left carb in full view so's I can see it fill when I turn the petcock on.....also makes tank removal a breeze.

I had some play in my '83's swingarm untill I tightened it up.....just sayin'.
 
weekendrider said:
LocoKen your carbs will need to be cleaned. Just a matter of when you are going to do it. While inspecting/cleaning make notes on the jet sizes and float setting.
There is NO telling what may have been done before you.
The welded pivot bolt gives me an opinion of the PO's quaility of work.
I've only seen that once before.
Click to expand...

Thank you, Sir!
 
Jet, aldo and nj, thanks for the tips on the filters. I'm looking for a good filter that will fit in-between my cabs that is local first before I order something. I wish there was a way to do away with one of the petcocks though. Just no way to get the fuel from the other side of the tank though. Anyway, thanks again for the help. You guys are top notch.
 
LocoKen said:
I wish there was a way to do away with one of the petcocks though. Just no way to get the fuel from the other side of the tank though.
Click to expand...

Your bike is a 1983 XS650SK? If it has a petcock on each side of the tank, someone has replaced the tank. The SK has a single petcock on the left side. That's all you need.
 

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