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

The good news a is a new set of pads from Ebay seller Caltric is less than $10 to your door.
But fork oil bathing will eventually wreck the caliper dust boot and other brake fluid tolerant rubber.
PS I've done the wrap a rag thing while waiting for fork seals and a chance to install them.
PPS there is a thing, a little plastic tool to hook dirt up out of fork seals. Cheap and easy to try.....
https://riskracing.com/pages/seal-doctor
DIY out of milk bottle is free
 
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I've read/heard that brake cleaner doesn't play nice with rubber bits. The dust boot and piston seal are rubber. I don't use brake cleaner so I can neither confirm nor deny this. Maybe someone who uses it will chime in....
 
I spray the stuff everywhere. On metal, rubber etc. Could stain plastic. Try not to get it on painted surfaces and catch as much as you can with a rag. Once you capture the runoff, if you hand the rag in the open air it will dry off in minutes. Then you can throw the rag away or reuse it remembering that it now has oil, dirt and grease on it that you washed off the surface you’re working on. Make sure you wear safety glasses or goggles so you don’t get any in your eyes. Is does come out of the can with a bit of force. You can buy chlorinated and non chlorinated cleaners. The non chlorinated Is safer to use from a fume perspective but I understand it’s flammable where chlorinated isn’t. Lots of good YouTube videos on application and types. I usually buy the non chlorinated stuff.
Hope this helps.
 
After reading Jim’s comment on rubber I Googled it and he’s correct that it’s not recommended to spray on rubber. I do however and perhaps my bad to do so. Best to err on the side of caution and keep direct application away from rubber bits. Sorry for the conflicting direction.
 
PPPS
you can easily lift up the black rubber dust seal stuff a paper towel under it and push it back down change as needed til like Jim sez the oilz all gone.................
 
Alright! Tiny update.
Checked on alignment by looking at whether front and back tire seemed in line both from the front and from the back... truth is I felt mentally challenged when I was doing it--perhaps because I was looking for something that wasn't there. Short answer is I think I'm good. Tried running a string from the front tire to the back to see if they hit center, but there were some...foreign obstacles on the street I didn't want to get close too (see pic; sorry, just found it too funny not to share, because of course that would happen). The front tire is quite a bit skinnier than the back so it was messing with my head a bit, but if it's bad I imagine it'd be incredibly obvious, so either it's fine or I'm blind, or the slight downhill slope was messing with me. Attached some pics below, though not sure you'd be able to tell this way because of the tire sizes anyway.

Handlebars. On this one, I think the left side is pushed towards the seat a wee bit, starting from at the rise and running to the grip. I haven't noticed any difference in handling though. The night I rode back, I felt like I was pulling a little to the right, but I think I was being paranoid. And that wouldn't add up with what I'm seeing anyway. Not sure if what I'm seeing in the bars is just a product of paranoid eyes. These bars were cheap, so not the end of the world if I need to replace soon-ish. I know the butt of the grip made ground contact (see pic) cuz of dirt, but I'd be surprised if the impact was enough to really crook the bars...lever took the brunt it seems .

Pumped the forks, no sticking. They look straight.
Went with the shop paper towel trick under the dust boot for the fork leak. Didn't get pics, but I managed to wrap one underneath the dust boot and get it to accordion itself as I pushed the boot all the way back down. Two short errands since then and no sight of leaking. Tomorrow will be more of a test as I have more riding. (@gggGary Tried the hook trick with some film negative last week, and didn't get anything, but couldn't get it to go down far at all. I'll try the milk carton option at some point--though I'm going to have to replace this fluid anyway. Thanks for the tip on those pads! ). I didn't grab the brake cleaner. Going to try to get to that asap. Mostly want to make sure the pads are good in there. Seeing my tool/space situation, going to look into how I should deal with the fork and rusty caliper situation.

Bent the shifter back out and so far am shifting fine. And I have a new clutch lever, an oil cover gasket, and possibly a shifter coming my way thanks to Mr. Jim.

Besides this, still need to trace oil leak on LH side case. Switch out washers for oil drain plugs as I think that's responsible for leak under there.
Not to overwhelm myself, but well, here I go. Also noted this:
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I'm not sure if it was from before the retorque and I'd wiped it up with a towel but hadn't gotten residue off, so it kept collecting dust as I'm out on the street. But I wiped it up again. I think I need to hit the area with some mineral spirits to make sure there's no film picking up crud and messing with my head thinking there's a leak--or so I can see if there is one and who's responsible. Haven't seen any active leaking. Looks like I have a thorough cleaning day in my future.

Alright everyone. Thanks for joining me for another episode. Thanks as usual for all your help and time.
 

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I'll second Randy's point - wouldn't like to ride without at least one mirror, probably need two in city traffic.

That oil on top of the gearbox doesn't look enough for an 'active volcano' type leak. Your's is the best idea, wipe it off and see if there's more and where it's coming from.

How is your front brake working these days?
 
Handlebars. On this one, I think the left side is pushed towards the seat a wee bit, starting from at the rise and running to the grip.
The risers are rubber mounted, so they'll rock back and forth a fair bit. It's not uncommon in a tipover such as yours for the riser to twist slightly around the handlebars. If it were me, I'd loosen the handlebar clamps and see if it all works it's way back to straight. Loosen, wiggle the bars back and forth to work the rubbers back into shape and re-tighten. Good chance that will have you back to centered. Apologies for using the word rubber in that sentence. :rolleyes:
 
That oil misting on top of the case could be coming from your neutral switch. It's under that rubber boot with the light blue wire running into it. It has a hex head and screws into the case against a sealing washer. Yours may be a little loose and need to be tightened .....

agRUnYn.jpg
 
That oil misting on top of the case could be coming from your neutral switch. It's under that rubber boot with the light blue wire running into it. It has a hex head and screws into the case against a sealing washer. Yours may be a little loose and need to be tightened .....

agRUnYn.jpg
There's also a possibility the internals worked their way loose on the switch. Someone did a how-to on fixing that. We'll see if we can find it if that turns out to be the case.
 
There's also a possibility the internals worked their way loose on the switch. Someone did a how-to on fixing that. We'll see if we can find it if that turns out to be the case.

The black plastic center can work loose and oil will seep out between the plastic and the aluminum housing. I had a leak that looked just like yours , it wasn’t the gasket under the sending unit leaking. This can be tightened up with a small punch and hammer and will sometimes stop the leak. Don’t go crazy with the hammer because it is aluminum. The unit just unscrews from the case. I did this repair successfully a few years ago.
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https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/383651304513
If you are considering bar end mirrors? These Halcyon mirrors are a very good choice.
I've had Napoleon, EMGO (yuck) and now this set of Halcyon. So far these are solid and more vibe free than any others. Yes, they cost more as well. But Purdy!
*Plus edit, they would not fare well in a tip over :) and a tad wide for California lane splitting in the city, which is a huge advantage to get up to the red light lol
20201017_170532.jpg
 
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/383651304513
If you are considering bar end mirrors? These Halcyon mirrors are a very good choice.
I've had Napoleon, EMGO (yuck) and now this set of Halcyon. So far these are solid and more vibe free than any others. Yes, they cost more as well. But Purdy!
*Plus edit, they would not fare well in a tip over :) and a tad wide for California lane splitting in the city, which is a huge advantage to get up to the red light lol
View attachment 188978
Randy, did you make those brackets and a custom windscreen or can you buy those bits? Wanted a small fly screen for my bike. Sorry for jacking this thread.
 
did you make those brackets and a custom windscreen or can you buy those bits?
20201003_174334.jpg

bosco659 I've seen your traditional chrome gauges spaced wide by your chrome dome time travel device there? this windshield wouldn't fit your bike
:(
It is a rare Yamaha accessory from the 80's and due to the angle of the shield it matches best "Special" or "Virago" gauges which tilt the same.
I lifted it approx 1/4" further with chrome spacers.
20210412_173501.jpg

One suggestion for Marie and everybody is to look over the stock rubber mounts ensuring they are not too cracked. In this pic I shows an additional spacer washer up top and large cup style washers modified for down under. I actually smear YamaBond on the rubber spacers and cinch it all just that tight. These handlebars are very firm. Much more firm than a stock set up such as my other XS project.
Tighten up that handlebar feel, you'll like it :thumbsup:
 
View attachment 188994
bosco659 I've seen your traditional chrome gauges spaced wide by your chrome dome time travel device there? this windshield wouldn't fit your bike
:(
It is a rare Yamaha accessory from the 80's and due to the angle of the shield it matches best "Special" or "Virago" gauges which tilt the same.
I lifted it approx 1/4" further with chrome spacers.
View attachment 188995
One suggestion for Marie and everybody is to look over the stock rubber mounts ensuring they are not too cracked. In this pic I shows an additional spacer washer up top and large cup style washers modified for down under. I actually smear YamaBond on the rubber spacers and cinch it all just that tight. These handlebars are very firm. Much more firm than a stock set up such as my other XS project.
Tighten up that handlebar feel, you'll like it :thumbsup:
Thanks, I’ll check out the rubber mounts and keep searching for the fly shield. Can you still buy the rubber mounts? I thank you for the recognition of my “chrome dome time travel device”. Lol.
 
Well, as usual, no shortage of weird stuff going on over here. I’ll update you guys on the latest episode of the overall weird saga next time, but for now... the bikes not starting.
Gave me trouble leaving work the other day (took 4+ tries), then the next morning, nothing. I didn’t have time to mess with it so I had to leave it. Tried it again quick today after I got a lift back from work, and both times I tried it: it didn’t start, but you can definitely hear it trying, and it backfired very very loudly.
Hoping to work on it bright and early and if I’m lucky, get myself to work! Did some quick research on the symptoms, looks like it could be anything from being too lean, too rich, fouled spark plugs, weak battery, timing, blown head gasket... I don’t see much logic behind the battery being dead as I’ve been riding it; I would think that if it was the timing I would’ve already seen that be an issue...that said I haven’t checked it yet. Haven’t been 100% on whether I’m rich or lean yet per se...and I believe that can be responsible for blowing that gasket. Wasn’t too long ago that I changed the spark plugs, may be about five months by now though... (fingers crossed that’s it here)
I’m gonna do my best to run through at least obvious ones and fingers crossed it’s one of the easy answers. Anyway I wasn’t going to post unless I got stuck, but thought maybe you guys would have some special suggestions maybe I hadn’t read about and that I could try on the morning go around. Gonna try the kick instead tomorrow too. And yes I have gas haha.

Quick other note—had quite a time trying to find a good looking 12-13mm piston master cylinder. Looks like I’m going to have to go with 14
 
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