You definitely need to polish that commutator. The book calls for 600 paper. I usually use 800......

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My new clutch friction plates arrived today, so I’ll be able to get after that soon. In the meantime I’ve been doing some other necessary work. I broke out the ultrasonic cleaner and spent some quality time jingling assorted engine hardware in green juice, after cleaning and inspecting all the various nuts and bolts I found that one of my acorn head nuts has damaged threads inside and will need to be replaced. I’ve actually been weighing the idea of ordering some sort of stainless steel Allen head bolt set, there are some surprisingly affordable sets out there. Just not sure if I really want Allen heads everywhere.

I made a rather surprising discovery while messing with the ultrasonic cleaner. I had bought a breather cover on eBay , it was grungy so I threw it in the ultrasonic cleaner, and it also had a rock hard gasket stuck on it.
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After one eight minute heated cycle, the gasket had softened up and was easy to scrape off. Huh!

I’ve also been working on my electric starter. I pulled it all apart and cleaned everything up, checked it out with my multi meter, and checked the brushes. See that pkg with the NOS housing seals for the starter? Yeah I got hosed. That seal is supposed to have square edges, and one does. But one is just a big o ring. Grrrr.....
4FEFBAB5-C06D-4CF1-B0EC-29F0EC72EA4F.jpeg

I installed a new seal in the end of the housing. It’s funny, but it looks like it’s in backward. But unlike every other seal, it’s positioned not to keep oil in, but to keep oil out of the motor.
DD6D953B-5DF7-45F7-9562-874D282A1205.jpeg


Thanks again to Ken Hansen for mailing me these two genuine XS2 starter bolts for my starter! You rock buddy!
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5415AC06-3FEC-4A6E-A793-E66F94BD745C.jpeg
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So , that’s it for now. I’m blazing right along!
BC93FD3D-6461-490A-915F-32B4B3D328A4.gif
 
My new clutch friction plates arrived today, so I’ll be able to get after that soon. In the meantime I’ve been doing some other necessary work. I broke out the ultrasonic cleaner and spent some quality time jingling assorted engine hardware in green juice, after cleaning and inspecting all the various nuts and bolts I found that one of my acorn head nuts has damaged threads inside and will need to be replaced. I’ve actually been weighing the idea of ordering some sort of stainless steel Allen head bolt set, there are some surprisingly affordable sets out there. Just not sure if I really want Allen heads everywhere.

I made a rather surprising discovery while messing with the ultrasonic cleaner. I had bought a breather cover on eBay , it was grungy so I threw it in the ultrasonic cleaner, and it also had a rock hard gasket stuck on it.
View attachment 123444
After one eight minute heated cycle, the gasket had softened up and was easy to scrape off. Huh!

I’ve also been working on my electric starter. I pulled it all apart and cleaned everything up, checked it out with my multi meter, and checked the brushes. See that pkg with the NOS housing seals for the starter? Yeah I got hosed. That seal is supposed to have square edges, and one does. But one is just a big o ring. Grrrr.....
View attachment 123445
I installed a new seal in the end of the housing. It’s funny, but it looks like it’s in backward. But unlike every other seal, it’s positioned not to keep oil in, but to keep oil out of the motor.
View attachment 123446

Thanks again to Ken Hansen for mailing me these two genuine XS2 starter bolts for my starter! You rock buddy!
View attachment 123447
View attachment 123449 View attachment 123450
So , that’s it for now. I’m blazing right along!
View attachment 123452

Bob,
Wherever possible on my '76 build I fitted S/S Allen Head bolts if not then S/S hex headed bolts, washers and nuts.

Maybe not a problem for you in the desert but, in the tropics cad plated steel fittings do not cut it.

GW
 
Today I did more parts cleaning trying to get closer to reassembly on this motor. I still had my ultrasonic cleaner on the bench so I popped the valve covers in there and what a surprise! Another bonus , turns out hot Simple Green is death on clear coat! Who knew? The clear coat slid right off.
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I’m posting the following photos for gearheads that are interested in mechanical photos. I know not everybody has one of these on their bike and I just think it’s kind of an interesting component. I took the de compression valve cover apart to clean, because it was covered in tar like gunk, and was surprised to find yet another engine seal hiding in there, one that certainly didn’t come with my complete seal kit! Given the location, I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised to find it. It was hidden.
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748C029E-23F4-477C-91F0-6F581F6E855C.jpeg
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0943FDDC-30D2-483F-96CD-0CCC9B77F017.jpeg
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After that I started cleaning the outside painted portion of the case to get it ready to paint. And I saw this, it all most gave me a heart attack. It was a crack on both sides of my oil delivery tube mount. I know the case is covered by these casting wrinkles, but this was a definite crack. So I started sanding the paint off to get a better look.
FAEB7425-227D-49B6-8990-FA815A2ADA23.jpeg

Fortunately as soon as I started getting into the metal the crack started disappearing. It was just a shallow surface crack. I’ve said it before these castings are rough!
While I was cleaning I started looking at these epoxy plugs at the end of the oil galley ways. They were chipping and flaking off, so I decided as long as I’ve got this engine on the bench, it’s a good time to remove the old cottage cheese and apply a nice smooth coat of JB Weld. I haven’t done it yet, but I did grind them all down in preparation for the epoxy tomorrow. There are four of these on the front of the case, I’m doing all of them.
This is a before photo.
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And finally, I got to thinking about an interaction I had the other day with a new forum member who was chasing an oil leak under his left side cover and he said it appeared to be leaking from this epoxy plug.
B16D36BB-A34E-4B8E-934B-C102E494AA0B.jpeg


So I thought I would take a look at mine. I pushed on it and when I did, I could see oil squish out around the edges,
So then I pushed on it with the edge of a small flat blade screwdriver.
05492F7E-01CC-4AF9-AC43-4167A4DC967C.jpeg


Popped right off and was all wet with oil underneath. I wonder how many people have oil leaks under the left side cover coming from this? So tomorrow it gets the JB Weld treatment also.

I just keep chipping away.
 
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You probably did mention it before, but rather than have to wade through the last 55 pages, maybe I could ask you again - are you watering down the Simple Green or using it straight?
 
Interesting, I never checked that plug before, but I will now, lol. I wonder if a couple of center punch marks around the ball would help the JB Weld adhere better?

What I plan to do is , yes I will ding the edges of the hole with a punch to better grip the ball bearing, but I will also rough up the surface with a Dremel and clean thouroughly with paint thinner prior to applying the JB Weld.

Also, with regards to the Simple Green, it’s roughly a 50/50 ratio of SG and water. I don’t really measure.

Man Bob, you are the master of detail! Well done, great discovery.

Thanks Robin, I am trying. Haha!

Nice catch, Bob! Now everybody's gonna be checking their engines for all the epoxy plugs (ya know I will be, on "The Phantom Motor"!)

Well you know , for me this all started with the inside of the rocker boxes. There were four of those plugged galley ways that had that crumbling aluminum epoxy, and they all were just hanging on by a thread. I re did all of those too.

I missed that plug on mine also but not leaking I think.

I don’t believe any of them are leaking on my ‘77. The quality control seemed a bit looser on the early bikes.
 
As far as I'm concerned, that's what this place is all about, learning the fine, obscure details about the various models. Your '77 thread covers the middle models pretty good but as you've discovered, there's differences on your '72. Jim's '80G thread covers the later models pretty well, but there's always more we can discover and learn.

Eventually, maybe we'll get threads like this on the very early models (XS1's) and the last late models ('82-'83) with all the added safety B.S. I think it would be very beneficial for someone to spell out how to easily remove that happy horse shit, lol. Oh wait, I might be just the guy for that, lol. An in-depth thread on the early mid-line bikes ('74-'75) with the separate carbs and 34mm forks would be nice too.
 
I'm pretty sure the clear coat changed about 75-76 from an old easy to dissolve lacquer? to a new tougher 2 part? formula. Don't count on a method that works on the old stuff to do much to the newer clear coats.
 
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