Appalachain Chopper Build Thread

so i was looking at carb kits online and i noticed that my bike has the carb holder spacers from mikes xs (https://www.mikesxs.net/yamaha-xs650-carb-holder-spacers-set-2-78-84.html) if i switch to a vm 34 kit should i keep these or should i bolt straight to the head? keeping in mind i'm going to get the aluminum intakes with the thick rubber hose, will it still be necessary to "increase low end power, blah blah blah??"
 
Yup. The green wire on top just connects the positive of one to the negative of the other. 6v batteries are actually (3) 2volt cells in series, 12v batteries have (6) 2volt cells in series. So, it's an okey-dokey setup...
 
okay guys. I was going through the wiring again testing for failed components. The PO had the green wire in picture 1 hooked to the neutral safety thingy(?) in picture 2 covered with a dust boot in picture 3. the wire seems to be going under the engine towards the stator. I was testing the white wires coming from the stator as per curly's guide and got almost nothing on the ac volts unless i touched the green wire to a grounding point. then i was getting around 11 acv. I'm tempted to ground it to an engine mount bolt and close her up again as everything has tested very well the past week.

I should also mention that when the bike is idling the battery voltage is steadily climbing (headlight off) when this wire is grounded and slows a lot when it isn't grounded.

I guess i'll pop that side case off again and double check the wire's origin even though all of my connections have been made as per the diagram.:umm:

pic 1
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pic 2
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pic 3
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and a super quick follow up, the green wire appeared to be coming from the stator. i plugged it into the "safety" and it seems to be doing okay. charging at 13.2 max at idle (no headlight) and a max of 13.4-5 when revved to ??? rpm. I still believe it to be less than 100% though. how much can a bad battery account for the loss of charging volts?
 
That "neutral safety thingy" is really the neutral switch. Sky blue wire goes to that, which provides a ground for the neutral light, turning it on when in neutral.

Need to double check your green wire...
 
Alright, update time. been doing some work but I haven't felt like updating.
I decided to order some new carbs. The pwk's were actually working well, but i wanted mikunis. so i bought mikunis from hoos. So if you want a set of pwks, pm me and you'll get 2 pwks, 2 intake blocks from mikes xs, and a single/dual throttle cable. You'll also get the carb boots but they're trashed.
I also went a little crazy and ordered a builder's kit from visual impact. That was a terrible choice on my part because it was very difficult to weld into all the nooks and get both sides perfect. If I had to do it again, I would just order the finished version and pay more. I also got a set of burly slammer knock offs from a facebook group i'm in. Anyway, here's some pics!

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Both kits showed up within a day of each other. I was a very happy boy! I did have a minute of regret after ordering the builder's kit once i saw how much work was going to be involved.
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I didn't back down though, I went full bore into it and chopped off the butt.

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Here's a general test fit of where I wanted things to end up. I wish I could've gotten the kit with all the angles cut so there would've been less guesswork, but it's done now.

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Here's a test fit of the mikunis from hoos. At this point i was very excited to see them on there until i realized that the new seat rails would interfere with the filters. For right now i'm going to use the mikes xs oval filters. I know they're bad for airflow, but putting pressure on rubber components is also bad. So I'll be using those until I can find something else that will fit and flow better.

Unfortunately I was hellbent on finishing the whole time and didn't take any more pictures. I also ran out of gas after i got the first rail welded on. Had to wait a few days to get a new tank and finish up. but here it is.
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I also gave it it's first full(ish) bath. washed off all the metal shavings and dust. A sharp eye will also notice I ditched the clubmans. I got a set of buckhorns from a friend at work who will be getting my cafe seat in trade. they were a bit longer but I trimmed them down as far as possible.
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they're a bit wider than i wanted, but they're very comfy. Maybe I can take a torch and bend them in a bit. I'll probably just leave them alone.

As you could guess, the battery box I made previously will no longer fit so I've designed and made a mock up for a new one.
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spend some time measuring in draftsight and came up with this.

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Paper cutouts
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And, finally, coke zero box and usps box from visual impact used to make a box for test fitting. I did have to trim the rear section a bit shorter because i'm not very proficient with curves and measuring and draftsight. Next I'll be welding this up, adding some mounting tabs, then refixing all electronics. then i'll get the seat mounted.

Overall, i'm pleased with the progress. I'm in love with the new lines and the new seating position. I also jacked up the front about 6" to get a feel for having longer forks and i've decided I will definitely be getting a set of 6 overs. If anyone has opinions on tc bros vs mikes xs over tubes, please comment.

I also noticed very quickly that I'm going to need forwards. I'll probably save those for later. It annoys me that the tc bros "kit" isn't really a full kit. You have to get the initial kit, then a linkage kit, then you have to find a lever for the shifter and the brake pedal that can accept the linkage. I don't even know where to get those for an xs.

That's it for the updates this time. I'll update after i've made the box and mounted the seat.
 
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water heater pissed all over every power tool i own, so instead of getting anything done today, i had to dry and clean my tools. I did drop by my local toys r us harbor freight and bought an 11 function multimeter and decided to test my reg/rec combo as most people say they're trash from factory. I'm still kind of green with my electrical prowess and could use a second look at my readings.
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this is the test in the manual

and this....
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this is the readings from the mm.

The continuity/discontinuity seems to be backwards unless i'm misunderstanding my terms (which is likely). can anyone comment if these readings get a pass or fail?
 
Show us a pic of your meter. Does it have a "diode" function? What you want to do is use that function and look for about a half a volt drop in one direction and no current flow in the other. Looks like your reading are resistance from an "ohms" setting.

Don't worry about pos. and neg. Diodes don't "magically" change polarity ;)
 
Good! Use that function. It's actually showing voltage drop and not resistance ( like the Yamaha manual calls for). It works better. You want a 1 and no beep in one direction across the diode and a beep with .5v (point 5) or less when you swap the leads (reverse the current flow).

The 1 means the diode is blocking current in one direction and the beep means it's passing current in the other direction.
 
Keep in mind that test only checks the rectifier (the part that converts AC to DC). The actual regulator part of the box is an IC (integrated circuit). I'm not aware of any way to test that part of it other than trying it and measuring the alternator output at the battery.
 
well the problem i'm having is that the revs don't rise with the rpms. it will idle and slowly build a charge with the headlight off idleing and get to around 13.7 but when i rev the engine the volts don't rise. at least not significantly. i think my last test maxed at 13.9. then if i turn on the headlight it can't keep up. of course i've already tested the rotor and stator, both passed. and the brushes are full length.
 
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