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Fix along w gggGary
- Thread starter gggGary
- Start date
Oh, yeah, close yer eyes, how many fingers am I holding up?
I'd roll it into the barn, chase everybody out, lock the door.
Then do my thing.
Gotta feel it, smell it, hear it, tweak this and that, mumble a bit.
Dynamic diagnostics doesn't easily translate to the written word...
Good point.
Plan "B"
Turn the tables, make him your "finder".
"Ok, Stanley, I did a thorough investigation.
Pretty bad.
Found the pistons preened, the crank is blared, and the carbs are gnarled.
Plus, the fractal horowitz isn't framming.
I'll give you $100 for it"...
Oh, I dunno 2M - finding a horowitz for an ‘80 Special could take a while.
$50 - tops.
Pete
$50 - tops.
Pete
...and the muffler bearings are toast. It'll never pass emissions testing like that. It's going to get real expensive now... 
Youse guys!
PS set the clutch freeplay last night also. As an experiment, or I was too lazy to hook up the rattle wrench, I used a 12mm offset wrench and smart rap on it's side to free up the nut, success.
With the really discharged battery on the charger I used the e-start with the plugs out and grounded, no spark till the motor stopped spinning, then a steady stream of sparks on both plugs, Looked like a model T trembler coil set up. Theory; that was a result of alternating DC voltage" from the battery charger.
PS the carbs (still on the bike) look very clean compared to the rest of the bike, did I mention it's been to two shops already? That was probably the hook, 2 mechanics couldn't figure this out, can YOU fix it?
PS set the clutch freeplay last night also. As an experiment, or I was too lazy to hook up the rattle wrench, I used a 12mm offset wrench and smart rap on it's side to free up the nut, success.
With the really discharged battery on the charger I used the e-start with the plugs out and grounded, no spark till the motor stopped spinning, then a steady stream of sparks on both plugs, Looked like a model T trembler coil set up. Theory; that was a result of alternating DC voltage" from the battery charger.
PS the carbs (still on the bike) look very clean compared to the rest of the bike, did I mention it's been to two shops already? That was probably the hook, 2 mechanics couldn't figure this out, can YOU fix it?
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That's a pretty good price. Be careful tho, there's a lot of unscrupulous types out there that will sell you an anticlockwise framulating horowitz off a Zundapp. Looks the same, but makes the electrons flow backwards and your baddry will swell up and 'splode. The key identifier is the wire on Pin 3 of the connector. On a Zundapp, the wire is purp with pinkle polkadots. The correct Yamaha unit is just the opposite.
Jumpered the antipodes with a higgins coupler so for testing won't need a framulating horowitz.
A few, but I'm not sure a Public Forum is the place to air them. National Security ya know. Never know when them Rooshuns might be listening.
Overnight on the charger, battery is toast was only up to 25%, it spun the motor with plugs out but no spark other than the trembler sparks from the charger voltage after the motor stopped spinning. 
I bought this for another bike
https://www.walmart.com/ip/YTX14-BS...-Kawasaki-ZRX1200R-Motorcycle-01-05/223953899
Think I will see what it does on the ole XS. I'm still amazed at how light these are! Guessing there's more weight in the case than what's inside. Want to give it a stress test anyways.
I bought this for another bike
https://www.walmart.com/ip/YTX14-BS...-Kawasaki-ZRX1200R-Motorcycle-01-05/223953899
Think I will see what it does on the ole XS. I'm still amazed at how light these are! Guessing there's more weight in the case than what's inside. Want to give it a stress test anyways.
I had a Yamaha dirt bike many years ago that developed a similar issue shortly after I got it. It would start and idle fine but wouldn't rev up. The fix was simple once I looked in the float bowl - the main jet was totally plugged.
Shops are full of people, and like most people in the world, they don't have a clue about old bikes. The $200 Special was sent to a shop because of it's charging issue but they didn't discover the simple cause (cut wires). They just wanted to start throwing (expensive) charging system parts at it, which the owner declined. He never could find a buyer for it at his $900 asking price because of the bike's issues. That's why it eventually became a $200 bike, MY $200 bike, lol.
Shops are full of people, and like most people in the world, they don't have a clue about old bikes. The $200 Special was sent to a shop because of it's charging issue but they didn't discover the simple cause (cut wires). They just wanted to start throwing (expensive) charging system parts at it, which the owner declined. He never could find a buyer for it at his $900 asking price because of the bike's issues. That's why it eventually became a $200 bike, MY $200 bike, lol.
That’s like the machine shop I found in Phoenix when I was looking to get my jugs bored. I found this motorcycle specific shop that told me that to remove the cylinder liners they had to be machined out, and it was a very expensive and time consuming process.
And he wouldn’t even venture to quote me a price for his work. “ It all depends “ he said.
In other words “ Just hand me your credit card”
And he wouldn’t even venture to quote me a price for his work. “ It all depends “ he said.
In other words “ Just hand me your credit card”
OK put in a good battery. (the lithium wouldn't fit) same issue, weak spark. Cut out the ignition fuse holder, usual issue, crap fuse holders, ancient rotted fuse. Soldered in new fuse holder. Same issue, very weak spark, buzz effect after cranking , Hot wired from battery directly to iggy fuse, no change. Pulled TCI at plug, plugged in a tested good TCI, Ta Da! GOOD STRONG spark. Put iggy back together, hooked up test fuel tank, one carb overflowed, shut off gas then started it, vroom vroom, idled (very fast) AND revved. After few minutes turned gas back on, carb held without leaking, set idle stop screw to a reasonable position, it idled, ran, revved good, for bike with no air filters.... after a phone call to mr. flip, I pushed it out to the shed. He'll pick it up next week.
The mystery of the won't rev XS650
The mystery of the won't rev XS650
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....OK, so it wasn't a problem with the horowitz.
Good to know.
Good to know.
All well, but not enough drama.
Only three Ichiban stickers for this.
Scott
Scott
Good find Gary. TCI box strikes again!!!
Im getting to the point of just walking away from those types of projects. had an XS1100 like that. The guy wanted to get it running. I did but then I asked him if he intended to ride it. He said yes. I said not with those brakes. I fixed the brakes. He pickes up the bike and off he goes. 30 min later I got a call with him saying the bike just died. Hitched up the trailer picked him up. Dead battery put a charge on it overnight because he did not want to buy a battery. Pulled out the kick start lever(had a kick start shaft but the lever is stored under the seat). Tried to kick start it but was very hard. Battery is charged. Hit the button and bike runs but with a horendus racket. Bottom line. The kick start gear was stuck and would not return on the shaft and just ratchiting. Would need to split the cases. Told him to sell it. Can of worms
You really are good at this stuff Gary. Me? I would probably still be polishing the fork legs and asking myself, I wonder why this pig won’t start?
