Haha! Thanks Robin! Always thinking of me! 
-
Enjoy XS650.com? Consider making a donation to help support the site.
XS650.com receives a small share of sales from some links on this page, but direct donations have a much greater impact on keeping this site going.
Mailman’s XS2 a full on restoration
- Thread starter Mailman
- Start date
Hey man, just helpin' a brother.
Bob, great job so far. You're really keeping an eye on this process.
You've got the early valves and keepers. Careful if replacing those. Another bulletin for your collection.
You've got the early valves and keepers. Careful if replacing those. Another bulletin for your collection.
Thanks! Filed away. Yet another thing I have to be careful of. I ordered a new set of tappet adjusters with the Allen heads ( I think they were made for Viragos) and then I realized I have to keep at least one of the original ones to be used on my decompression exhaust valve.
I think you can use the Virago adjuster on that left exhaust valve. The decompression mechanism presses on the extended 'tit' at the end of the rocker, not the adjuster...
Oh cool! Now I’m going to have to look at that rocker again! That’s good news, thanks!
The paint looks great. I have just ordered some of the plastic paint protector to protect the paint on my bikes that have been custom painted. I have noticed that the area where the seat rides against the tank is seeing some wear. I ordered a piece 18inches x 12 inches which should be good for all of them. I normally keep the seats up other than when riding. You might want to keep that in mind. It costs to much for paint as it is. Also you may want to protect the area on the headlight shell where the cables run. The paint has worn through form the tacometer cable.
When you get to the point of adjusting the valves I have been running .004 intake and .006 ex. Others may chime in but these tollerances have been work good for me.
I’ve been thinking about doing just that. I had a BMW repainted years ago and I had the back part of the tank covered in 3M protective film. Also part of the back fender ( it was painted ) that was in a high wear area.
I actually paid a guy that had a mobile service come to my house and do it. It was absolutely invisible and worked great!
I may have missed it - but would you have a linky for that valve compressor Bob? It sure looks like a versatile tool.
Pete
Pete
This appears to be the one Bob got but they don't seem to ship anywhere but the U.S. ? .....
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Engine-Ove...sh=item4d4f60afba:g:FzUAAOSwUDxad9IO#shpCntId
Just do an eBay search for "valve spring compressor" and lots will come up.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Engine-Ove...sh=item4d4f60afba:g:FzUAAOSwUDxad9IO#shpCntId
Just do an eBay search for "valve spring compressor" and lots will come up.
Got one using my US address. Thanks!
Gonna report you to customs......
That’s the one! Same seller and everything. Hey by the way, I had the brilliant idea to just borrow one from the auto parts store free loaner program......yeah, not so much. It wouldn’t fit.
I’ll tell you for $17 you can’t beat the one I got. It’s just so easy.
I spent half of my day removing stuck on gaskets. Fun fun fun......NOT. Man, every gasket on this engine was rock hard and cemented in place. Yesterday I took a whole bunch of small parts and applied a low fume paint stripper ( it looks like a clear gel) to all the gaskets, then bagged them so they wouldn’t dry out and let them soak overnight.
Today I went out and washed all the parts off and....still hard as a rock and really stuck on. I eventually won, but crap was that tedious! The other half of my day was spent cleaning combustion chambers and exhaust ports on my head, more tedious stuff. The price we pay to get to the fun part I guess.
Today I went out and washed all the parts off and....still hard as a rock and really stuck on. I eventually won, but crap was that tedious! The other half of my day was spent cleaning combustion chambers and exhaust ports on my head, more tedious stuff. The price we pay to get to the fun part I guess.
Making progress..........still need to lap the valves and about a million other things. But at least she’s clean and I can see what I’m doing.
Great photoshoot, Bob !
Thanks Jeff!
Jeez Bob, why don't you polish those dull pieces while your waiting..??
Haha! I’ve had enough scrubbing parts ( for a while anyways ) my garage smells like kerosene and I’ve burned through a lot of my Dremel brushes. And no I’m not using my electric tools with solvent.
When I cleaned my head a few weeks back, them little wires went everywhere.
Scrub and blow them parts out 'bout a gazillion times!!Lookin' good
