First ride, first impressions

[Bentwrench]

The warm weather is here, and the bike is running, so I thought I'd take it out for my first ride on an XS650, and see how she runs.

The good: What a great engine! Grumbly down low, throaty on the throttle, torquey from a stop and sounds just awesome on both acceleration and decel! Of course, you guys all knew that, but I just became a believer.

The bad: My feet are going to fall asleep going around the block. Hands too. Maybe some insoles will help the vibrations, and thick gloves, but man, I feel numb after literally a 5 minute ride.

Also, one of the POs put an extra long shifter on it, which means I'm missing the lever, or getting it into the wrong gear (or into neutral, which gets me dirty looks when I rev thinking I'm about to accelerate.)

Finally, the front brakes seem to only have two settings - on and off. And it's really tough to get them on. I think I'll rebuild the front calliper, and see if I can get it moving a little more easily. Might be an opportunity to switch to braided lines too. Thoughts?

 

[Downeaster]

Vibration/Numbness - yup, they shake, but it shouldn't be THAT bad. A good tune up and careful syncing of the carbs will help. I suspect much of it is just never having ridden a vertical twin before. Us old farts think nothing of it.

Shifter - go back to a stock piece and then try moving it up or down one spline on the shaft if it doesn't feel right. I got big feets, I pretty much always have to move the shifter up a spline on a new bike.

Brakes - Yup, rebuild the master cylinder, check the caliper and rebuild if necessary, and DEFINITELY get rid of the old rubber lines and go with braided. Difference in feel is amazing, tho they're still not Brembos...

 

[CDNTX650]

Check to make sure those motor mount bolts are tight too....discovered one back one loose and one missing...it sure vibed alot more when they were loose.

 

[xjwmx]

My feet are going to fall asleep going around the block. Hands too.

On the stock version the handlebars are floppily mounted in rubber donuts, and the peg covers feel like they're hollow inside. Not much vibration makes it through that sheeit.

 

[XSLeo]

As Downeaster says. Rebuild the caliper. Tear it apart and clean and inspect before you buy any parts. Often just a good cleaning is all they need. Pay particular attention to the groove the square section o-ring goes in. Any crud in there can bind the piston.
Look at the piston, minor rust can be cleaned off. Large pitting can't. You can do the same with the master cylinder, but the size is a bit too big for optimum brakeing. Replacing it with an 11 mm bore will greatly improve the power and feel of the brakes.
Braided steel lines go hand in hand with the new M/C and clean caliper.
The old rubber lines are rotting from the inside out.
I might suggest flushing the master, lines and caliper with enough brake fluid so it comes out of the cliper clean.This may improve your braking till you can do more with them.
A good tune up and carb sync works wonders for the vibes. On my 75 with my spare 82 engine some people found it hard to believe it was running.
you don't mention your bikes year and such. A lot of us put that info in our signature. Year, model, mods. When you have questions having all that in the signaturte helps us help you.
Leo

 

[Bentwrench]

Thanks so much everyone.

Signature updated.

As I was laying awake in bed at 5am this morning, I was thinking that first step was to remove, clean and inspect everything on the front brake. Then make my shopping list. The internet has made it too easy to spend money on motorcycles...

 

[teflon97239]

I wasn't sure what rebuild parts to get for my 1975 with a crusty, noisy, dragging front brake. For all I knew, maybe it had never been maintained since I got this one just 3 years ago. So I just replaced the whole caliper for $90 (Part #08-6008 at Mike's XS). I was prepared to go through the front master cylinder, but the caliper swap fixed everything and it stops on a dime.

 

[Bentwrench]

Thanks so much everyone...

I took the bike for a longer 60 Km ride two days ago. I'm getting used to the vibrations, and the brake definitely needs at least to be cleaned. Fortunately, in a box of parts that came with the bike, there's a second front calliper that I can raid for parts when the time comes.

Different issue, though - my jeans just reeked of gas. And now so does my garage. And my bedroom which sits above the garage. The tank is in good shape, so I assume my petcocks are leaking. There are two of them, and I'm wondering if I can switch them to only one - is there a blank or a blocker that can replace the second? It looks like the carbs have a share tube between them, so I can't think of why there are two petcocks in the first place...

 

[XSLeo]

The tank has a tunnel that fits down over the frame. this splits the tank into two at the bottom. with just one petcock the fuel in the other side won't be available to use. Two petcocks let you use all the fuel.
If you don't let the fuel get below about 1/2 tank it won't matter much.
You can make a blockoff plate.
On my 75 tank I use one petcock one time then the other the next.
Rebuilding a petcock isn't hard to do. There is a rubber washer with several holes in it, often just turning this rubber part over to the unworn side fixes them.
Leo

 

[hmusket]

If the petcocks are leaking, you might also want to double check your oil to make sure no gas is getting in the crankcase.

 

[Bentwrench]

Oh, I'm sure there's gas in my oil, judging by how it looks... New oil is ready to go in, as soon as the problem is resolved up top.

Thanks for the tip!