a little late in the season, but here we are

[minerED]

I just bought a 78 xs this last weekend. Nice little custom job. The p.o.(or before) extended the swingarm, added xs carbs, made home built forward controls, and did some custom metal work for covers, fender, and tank. Rode home great, mostly. This is a bike for my wife, I'm just the wrench and test monkey. I plan on making this bike reliable first and foremost. That being said, the first thing I plan on doing is the pma conversion, so as not to have to do it later. Any other upgrades I should know about would be great. Thanks for any help/input, ED

 

[scabber]

Welcome. Got pictures?

 

[gggGary]

Welcome aboard local guy, anything you need let me know!

 

[I am Carbon]

Welcome to the site.
If the bike don't yet have a modern ignition that wuld be a good upgrade.
open up the little side cover above the left sparkplug and see what's in there.
free manual

 

[gggGary]

Your choice on a PMA conversion; but I tend to sort the stock charging system, change points to a pamco and ride em'. Was through Portage on the 79 Sunday. Came in to town on Cty U and out of town on Cty O, both those are great MC roads if you see the deer in time.

 

[fredintoon]

Hi miner and welcome.
Bike for a lady? Put the controls, 'pegs, etc back where they should be.
And if the electrics work OK leave them alone and even if they don't the least cost and hassle is to fix the stock gear.

 

[richardthemotorcycle1]

Welcome, I personally think this is the best time of the year to ride good luck on your new project.

 

[minerED]

Here's the new bike.

 

[fredintoon]

Here's the new bike.

Hi Miner,
Gawd! It's been totally Harlified! Nice paint though. I hope your wife likes it.

 

[cruzin]

nice looking bike.

 

[minerED]

She does like it. I think I will put the pma on hold till i figure out the timing and carbs, I read the write up on these xs carbs, what a pain. The bike still has points and the advance seems sticky and doesn't return all the way to the shaft. That might be why it backfired and blew the carb right off the engine.

 

[gggGary]

yup read up on the simple r&r on the advance shaft and springs. blowing the carbs off a points bike is not rare.

 

[fredintoon]

She does like it. I think I will put the pma on hold till i figure out the timing and carbs, I read the write up on these xs carbs, what a pain. The bike still has points and the advance seems sticky and doesn't return all the way to the shaft. That might be why it backfired and blew the carb right off the engine.

Hi miner,
at least there's only two of them, after balancing the four on my XS11, two is a breeze.
And yeah, mechanical advancers do need regular TLC and don't forget to lube the advancer rod.
I noticed what look like bag attachment points on that bike.
I trust you have or are looking for bags to go on them so your wife can go shopping.

 

[XSLeo]

On the carbs, before you aggravate your self too much, take those carbs off and set them on a shelf. Pick up a set of the Kawasaki Ninja EX500 carbs. Much easier to work with.
Leo

 

[scabber]

That is a good looking bike. I would upgrade the ignition to a more modern one. The XS carbs I agree with Leo if you want trouble free shelf them. The stock charging system or PMA for reliability. The stock has worked well for me 34 years now. Good luck with it.

 

[ippytattoo]

If you have all of the parts for the stock charging system and you can at least check the rotor and stator to make sure the resistance is correct it would probably be best and cheaper to just go ahead and get the OEM system operational. I can't say from personal experience but just by reading the amount of problems MrRiggs had with MikesXS PWK knockoffs I would do like Leo says and shelf them and go for the EX500 CVK carbs. But then again I am kind of partial to the CVK's since that is what I run and have had great running from them. Now that the baseline is pretty well set (38 pilot, JJJ needle with the clip in the middle slot and 138 mains) these are very simple to setup and very reliable.

 

[minerED]

Well, it's been a very long time, and much has happened, but here's the lowdown on the wifes' bike: tried the mikes carb single route, didn't like it, couldn't get it to run for sh#t, traded to the local independent shop for a corbin seat for my bagger. lol. Bought a buell blast carb and just threw it on, ran well enough to bring the bike to the aforementioned shop where the mechanic said it wouldn't run well enough to get the wife back and forth to work. So I pulled the cv off the chopper and told him to make this one work, runs well, needs to go down one jet size and have a filter put on and the wife will finally be riding. She's excited. Also, went with the full pma kit from mike's xs, pretty straight foreward and I dont need to worry about a no charge situation again. Changed out the original handlebars for the bars from my buell, easier to hold on to.