If you meant rocker arms that could wiggle, then yeah, you got it. View attachment 198729
If you can wiggle a valve, you got serious problems...
Haha yes definitely rocker arms.
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22's 1980 xs650 build thread
- Thread starter Twenty2
- Start date
Haha yes definitely rocker arms.
Went for a quick first shakedown today and it was great, ran smooth through all the gears but I think ill be happier once I ditch the 36t sprocket for the 33t that I have waiting. Only minor issue was when I stopped at one point for a break I turned the bike off and when I went to restart it, it was dead.... blown fuse again, luckily I had a spare but any idea why it would have just blown like that? It was the fuse that I had just replaced, mind you I replaced it with one from the PO so I don't know how old it was, hoping it was just due to it being old or something. Also a bit of an oil leak but I think it's just coming from the drain plugs, also have something leaking from left side cover but I'm hoping that's just the new chain lube I drenched the chain in.
Going back to your earlier post about the plugs, if you start the bike cold using the choke, that will blacken the plugs. It usually take a little riding to burn them clean again so you may want to look at them again now after your ride. That dark one may have burned itself clean.
Which fuse is open? My Heritage Special blew the main fuse twice before the rotor shorted and drained the battery all the way flat.
That's most likely the clutch pushrod seal or the countershaft seal. It could be that 36mm nut has come loose.
That 20A fuse you blew now for the 2nd time is the main fuse, so you may have an intermittent short going on somewhere. If it blows again, you should probably start investigating. As I'm sure you're aware, these bikes tend to vibrate a bit, lol. Over time, that can chafe wires and rub bare spots through the insulation. That bare spot might touch ground intermittently.
It's the main 20A fuse that's blown twice but the first time it was my fault as I had the ignition on and was playing with the ground wire in the LH switch... it sparked a few times so I definitely blew the fuse the first time. And I'm hoping it's not the pushrod seal as I did replace that as part of my build.... however there's a chance it didn't seal properly, I had tightened the 36mm nut too. I'll clean it all up and keep an eye on it.
Yes blown for 2nd time but first time was my own fault messing with the ground wire in the LH switch with the ignition on. I'll keep a spare and hope it doesn't happen again.
Awesome, that would be ideal!
Pulled the plugs and now they look a bit on the lean side or are they good?
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It's hard to say about the plugs from that view. You need to look down inside them, at the bottom part of the porcelain. You want to see a ring of color down there, coming up maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of the way at most .....
The top part of your plugs look good, all nice and clean, and white or lightly colored porcelain. But like I said, the real "tell" is how far up the "smoke" or "mixture" ring is on the porcelain.
Have you re-jetted at all? With BS34 carbs you really need to when any change to the intake or exhaust is made.
The top part of your plugs look good, all nice and clean, and white or lightly colored porcelain. But like I said, the real "tell" is how far up the "smoke" or "mixture" ring is on the porcelain.
Have you re-jetted at all? With BS34 carbs you really need to when any change to the intake or exhaust is made.
It's hard to say about the plugs from that view. You need to look down inside them, at the bottom part of the porcelain. You want to see a ring of color down there, coming up maybe 1/4 to 1/3 of the way at most .....
The top part of your plugs look good, all nice and clean, and white or lightly colored porcelain. But like I said, the real "tell" is how far up the "smoke" or "mixture" ring is on the porcelain.
Have you re-jetted at all? With BS34 carbs you really need to when any change to the intake or exhaust is made.
I think I'll likely look into a plug chop next spring once I install UNI pods over the winter. At this point everything is stock aside from the muffler, stock headers with commando mufflers. I increased my mains by 1 to 135, my pilots are stock at 42.5 and my air jet is also stock which I believe is 135. I also made no adjustments to my Canadian needle. so really just 1 up on the mains. I'm also pretty sure I have my mixture screw at 3 turns. Pictures are from the first shakedown.
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Well, since the BS34s come set up so lean from the factory, it's said that bumping the mains up one helps even on a totally stock bike. But, with your adjustable Canadian needle and (most likely) the matching needle jet, your midrange is probably a bit richer than the U.S. BS34s. So, one up on the mains is probably good for now. You might also want to richen the idle circuit a little. You can do that by reducing the air jet size. This will make it a little richer but not as rich as changing the pilot jet would. You could reduce it to a 132.5 or 130.
When I got my '83, I thought it was completely stock. Upon closer inspection though, I discovered that the P.O. had drilled extra holes in the muffler end plates .....
This small change was enough to throw the carbs off some, making the already borderline too lean settings even leaner. I "fixed" it by going up one on the mains (to a 135) and reducing the air jet 2 (to a 130). Eventually, when I got around to changing the exhaust and installing pods, I did increase the pilots one (to a 45), the mains another one (to a 137.5), and bumped the air jet back up one to a 132.5. The 130 air jets in combination with the 45 pilots proved to be a touch too rich. Once you increase the pilot jet size, you should no longer need 3 to 3.5 turns out on the mix screws either. You should be able to run them somewhere in the 2 to 2.5 turns out range. Mix screw setting will have a big influence on how far up the porcelain the smoke ring climbs.
When I got my '83, I thought it was completely stock. Upon closer inspection though, I discovered that the P.O. had drilled extra holes in the muffler end plates .....
This small change was enough to throw the carbs off some, making the already borderline too lean settings even leaner. I "fixed" it by going up one on the mains (to a 135) and reducing the air jet 2 (to a 130). Eventually, when I got around to changing the exhaust and installing pods, I did increase the pilots one (to a 45), the mains another one (to a 137.5), and bumped the air jet back up one to a 132.5. The 130 air jets in combination with the 45 pilots proved to be a touch too rich. Once you increase the pilot jet size, you should no longer need 3 to 3.5 turns out on the mix screws either. You should be able to run them somewhere in the 2 to 2.5 turns out range. Mix screw setting will have a big influence on how far up the porcelain the smoke ring climbs.
Well, since the BS34s come set up so lean from the factory, it's said that bumping the mains up one helps even on a totally stock bike. But, with your adjustable Canadian needle and (most likely) the matching needle jet, your midrange is probably a bit richer than the U.S. BS34s. So, one up on the mains is probably good for now. You might also want to richen the idle circuit a little. You can do that by reducing the air jet size. This will make it a little richer but not as rich as changing the pilot jet would. You could reduce it to a 132.5 or 130.
When I got my '83, I thought it was completely stock. Upon closer inspection though, I discovered that the P.O. had drilled extra holes in the muffler end plates .....
This small change was enough to throw the carbs off some, making the already borderline too lean settings even leaner. I "fixed" it by going up one on the mains (to a 135) and reducing the air jet 2 (to a 130). Eventually, when I got around to changing the exhaust and installing pods, I did increase the pilots one (to a 45), the mains another one (to a 137.5), and bumped the air jet back up one to a 132.5. The 130 air jets in combination with the 45 pilots proved to be a touch too rich. Once you increase the pilot jet size, you should no longer need 3 to 3.5 turns out on the mix screws either. You should be able to run them somewhere in the 2 to 2.5 turns out range. Mix screw setting will have a big influence on how far up the porcelain the smoke ring climbs.
Okay I'll order some 132.5 air jets and see what happens, I'll need them eventually when I move to UNI pods anyways. I went for a 30 minute ride yesterday and the threads were quite a bit darker this time but the electrode is about the same colour.
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That outer edge at the top of the threads will always get black like that. Your plugs look good. The ground strap is burned clean and gray in color. If it was all black, that would indicate a rich condition. But you most likely wouldn't see it all black without other parts of the plug being all black too (like the porcelain). Your strap is burned almost completely clean, A richer condition would have the black climbing up higher on the strap and higher on the porcelain in the center. Speaking of which, you didn't mention how your porcelain looks down inside the plug. Is there a ring of color around the bottom of it? Not rising up any higher than 1/4 to 1/3 of the way? That's what you look for.
I tried to look but it was hard to tell, I'll need to look in better lighting or sunlight. I'm more worried about a lean condition then a rich condition. Hoping I'm not too lean.
Well, your jetting changes are on par with what most of us have done with similar mods, so I don't think you would be too lean, especially with your Canadian adjustable needle and needle jet. That's supposed to be a slightly richer set-up than the fixed U.S. needle.
Another great ride on Saturday, had enough confidence to get it up over 110kph or 70mph and it was great. I'm not touching a thing until the season is over at this point, only minor thing I might do is add a voltmeter which I'll probably wire into the horn, which I read about on here and seems easy enough. 70kms or 45ish miles and loved every second of it, a bit tricky finding neutral at stop lights but it's not a big issue. Does not feel like a 40yr old bike but of course I'll knock on wood every time I say that.
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On the Special models with the multiple fuses, the best place to tap in for a voltmeter is off the brown wire that comes out of the ignition switch. Any other place will have the signal going through 2 fuses and many wiring splits. You will lose a few tenths of a volt on the reading compared to what the battery is really at. I add a brown pigtail wire off the ignition switch plug .....
On the Special models with the multiple fuses, the best place to tap in for a voltmeter is off the brown wire that comes out of the ignition switch. Any other place will have the signal going through 2 fuses and many wiring splits. You will lose a few tenths of a volt on the reading compared to what the battery is really at. I add a brown pigtail wire off the ignition switch plug .....
Oh interesting, that looks just as easy, if not easier, and any obvious spots for the ground wire? I'm sure there's plenty.
