Ah man Bob. Hey, spare parts in the carb box is always a good thing!
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My 60th birthday present
- Thread starter Mailman
- Start date
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- Tags
- 1977 xs 650d chain and sprockets clutch pushrod seal cranckcase seal new front master cylinder pamco e-advance pamco ultimate high output ignition rebuild brake caliper rebuild brakes rebuilt carburetors replace clutch solid state rectifier stainless steel braid front brake line starter gear fix steering head bearings vr-115 regulator
I’ve been riding this old bike a lot lately and it was time for some maintenance. Yesterday after a long ride I drained the oil and cleaned the filters and refilled it with fresh oil. This is the first oil change since replacing my clutch a while back and I was curious to see what the oil looked like. Surprisingly clean, very little amount of metal flakes in the oil filter.
I was out riding again this morning and I noticed some drive line snatch when rolling off the throttle and back on so I figured the chain needed adjusting as well. When I got home I threw the bike up on the center stand and measured the chain slack, yup two inches of free play in the chain. I was going to just adjust it, but.....
I’m looking at the chain and thinking it was getting kinda grungy and here in Arizona we get this sandy gritty dirt that sticks to everything, it really needed to be cleaned, but that job is a pain. And then it hit me, this chain has a master link, so I just popped off the link and rolled the chain right off, and I think I might have hit on the best lazy mans cleaning technique ever.
I have this old gallon jug , half filled with dirty old kerosene that I use to clean really greasy parts. Well I just tied a thin piece of wire to one end of the chain and dropped the whole thing down inside, put the cap back on and gently shook it for about five minutes. Then went out under my tree, pulled it up and out and hung it from a branch. Wiped it off with a rag and rinsed it with a hose.
This is absolutely no scrubbing, straight out of the kerosene, and that chain was a grungy mess going in.
Then I just laid it out in the hot sun for a couple hours to dry out.
While it was drying I decided to pop the left cover off my motor and see how well my repairs were holding up.
I had bad oil leaks from both the crank seal behind the rotor and the clutch pushrod seal, and a loose drive sprocket and also a loose starter cover. The first time I worked in there you could not even see the motor it was so full of crud. So here’s what it looked like today, almost a year since I last had this cover off.
Really not bad at all. No oil leaks that I could see. Mostly just gunk that had been flung off the chain.
I also pulled my stator off to have a look in there. The brushes still have some life left in them, and there was some oil film, but no visible leak. If I had to guess it was probably from vapor condensing.
I got everything cleaned up and ready to go back together.
Put some fresh grease on the clutch push rod and reinstalled the cover. Then adjusted the clutch free play.
By now the drive chain was dry and so hot you couldn’t hold it in your bare hand. I wound it back around the sprockets, reinstalled the master link and set the free play. Then lastly sprayed fresh chain lube on the chain and it was Miller time!
It felt good to do a little maintenance on the old girl. She was feeling neglected.
I was out riding again this morning and I noticed some drive line snatch when rolling off the throttle and back on so I figured the chain needed adjusting as well. When I got home I threw the bike up on the center stand and measured the chain slack, yup two inches of free play in the chain. I was going to just adjust it, but.....
I’m looking at the chain and thinking it was getting kinda grungy and here in Arizona we get this sandy gritty dirt that sticks to everything, it really needed to be cleaned, but that job is a pain. And then it hit me, this chain has a master link, so I just popped off the link and rolled the chain right off, and I think I might have hit on the best lazy mans cleaning technique ever.
I have this old gallon jug , half filled with dirty old kerosene that I use to clean really greasy parts. Well I just tied a thin piece of wire to one end of the chain and dropped the whole thing down inside, put the cap back on and gently shook it for about five minutes. Then went out under my tree, pulled it up and out and hung it from a branch. Wiped it off with a rag and rinsed it with a hose.
This is absolutely no scrubbing, straight out of the kerosene, and that chain was a grungy mess going in.
Then I just laid it out in the hot sun for a couple hours to dry out.
While it was drying I decided to pop the left cover off my motor and see how well my repairs were holding up.
I had bad oil leaks from both the crank seal behind the rotor and the clutch pushrod seal, and a loose drive sprocket and also a loose starter cover. The first time I worked in there you could not even see the motor it was so full of crud. So here’s what it looked like today, almost a year since I last had this cover off.
Really not bad at all. No oil leaks that I could see. Mostly just gunk that had been flung off the chain.
I also pulled my stator off to have a look in there. The brushes still have some life left in them, and there was some oil film, but no visible leak. If I had to guess it was probably from vapor condensing.
I got everything cleaned up and ready to go back together.
Put some fresh grease on the clutch push rod and reinstalled the cover. Then adjusted the clutch free play.
By now the drive chain was dry and so hot you couldn’t hold it in your bare hand. I wound it back around the sprockets, reinstalled the master link and set the free play. Then lastly sprayed fresh chain lube on the chain and it was Miller time!
It felt good to do a little maintenance on the old girl. She was feeling neglected.
Good idea Bob and looks like things are holding up well. Good stuff. Nothing like a little spring cleanin'..........eh?
Very good, and just what you hope to see under that left cover - just a little chain fling-off. I go into mine once a year too. If you keep up on it like that, it will never get really bad under there. It'll never get like how we find them when we buy them, lol.
Hey, Bob. Just an FYI.
Your alternator's harness clip is missing.
Here's what it looks like from the side:
And, from the rear:
The clip is supposed to help keep the harness away from the drivechain. 5Twins found a chewed harness at that location in this post:
http://www.xs650.com/threads/200-special.51454/page-2#post-539825
Your alternator's harness clip is missing.
Here's what it looks like from the side:
And, from the rear:
The clip is supposed to help keep the harness away from the drivechain. 5Twins found a chewed harness at that location in this post:
http://www.xs650.com/threads/200-special.51454/page-2#post-539825
Hi Mailman,
while the chain was sun-warmed too hot to touch was the time to lay it in a pan of gear oil to suck some into itself as it cooled.
And the missing cable clip that 2many spotted? Those bastards fall off for a pastime because they are only held on by staking
the cast nubbin over and there's no way the average owner can re-stake it back on.
Likely yours went AWOL the first time the dreaded PO tried to remove the wiring.
At least, that's what happened to mine (I am my own dreaded PO) on my first sprocket change some decades ago.
I've been without that clip ever since and nothin's shorted yet.
Perhaps a replacement clip with a hole or perhaps a P-clip could be held on with a screw tapped into the casting?
That little clip went AWOL the very first time I touched it. It was barely hanging on and I went to straighten it , and well......it came off right in my fingers.
Fred, what you suggested, I actually thought about. Taking that hot chain and just submerging it in a tub of oil would’ve probably worked great. But I’ve got this spray on chain lube that once it drys, resists flinging off and , I JUST cleaned everything up under the cover so the spray won out.
Fred, what you suggested, I actually thought about. Taking that hot chain and just submerging it in a tub of oil would’ve probably worked great. But I’ve got this spray on chain lube that once it drys, resists flinging off and , I JUST cleaned everything up under the cover so the spray won out.
WELL HELL!
This morning sure didn’t go as planned. I’ve done all this maintenance work on my bike the last couple days and I thought I’d reward myself with a nice ride this morning. A couple days ago I changed the oil in my bike with Castrol 20/50 and yesterday after letting my bike warm up, I pulled in the clutch and dropped it into first gear and bang!
The clutch plates were really stuck together and it hammered way too hard for my liking.
So today I thought I’d do what I used to do on my old Triumph and kick it to free the clutch plates. I hadn’t moved my bike yet and I had it nosed into a corner in my garage. With the motor not running, I shifted the transmission into second gear, pulled the clutch in, and kicked the kick starter.
Stupid me! I was not holding the front brake and when I kicked, the bike lurched forward ( even though I was holding the clutch lever in) rolled off the side stand and me and the bike went tumbling over on its left side.
My formerly perfect gas tank landed right on the square edge of my Harbor Freight bike jack and put a nice deep crunch in the tank! AAAARRRRGGGGHHH!!!!!
Damn! I’m not a happy camper.
This morning sure didn’t go as planned. I’ve done all this maintenance work on my bike the last couple days and I thought I’d reward myself with a nice ride this morning. A couple days ago I changed the oil in my bike with Castrol 20/50 and yesterday after letting my bike warm up, I pulled in the clutch and dropped it into first gear and bang!
The clutch plates were really stuck together and it hammered way too hard for my liking.
So today I thought I’d do what I used to do on my old Triumph and kick it to free the clutch plates. I hadn’t moved my bike yet and I had it nosed into a corner in my garage. With the motor not running, I shifted the transmission into second gear, pulled the clutch in, and kicked the kick starter.
Stupid me! I was not holding the front brake and when I kicked, the bike lurched forward ( even though I was holding the clutch lever in) rolled off the side stand and me and the bike went tumbling over on its left side.
My formerly perfect gas tank landed right on the square edge of my Harbor Freight bike jack and put a nice deep crunch in the tank! AAAARRRRGGGGHHH!!!!!
Damn! I’m not a happy camper.
Ohnooooooo!
Should have been:
With the motor not running, in neutral, pull the clutch in, and kick the kick starter until free...
Should have been:
With the motor not running, in neutral, pull the clutch in, and kick the kick starter until free...
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Oh, Bob, I feel so bad for you !!
Yes, its hurtin' time.
Yes, its hurtin' time.
Bob, I am not going to sleep tonight! Hopefully you did not sustain any injury.
DanielBlack
XS650 Junkie
Ouch!
Don't blame yourself, Bob. That jack clearly has it out for the bike. Didn't it buck it off last year during your original overhaul?
Don't blame yourself, Bob. That jack clearly has it out for the bike. Didn't it buck it off last year during your original overhaul?
Just my pride.
Haha! Shhhh , don’t want people to think I make a practice of dumping my bike.
Ahhhhh Bob. Damn I'm sorry man. Good to hear your Ok. You could have been seriously hurt as well.
But ............damn.
But ............damn.
Ok, I’ve been thinking about this. What did I do wrong, besides not holding the front brake! Maybe I can learn something from this and help someone else along the way.
The way I understand it , the outer clutch basket is driven by the crankshaft.
Which in turn spins the friction plates. When the springs apply pressure to the pressure plate, it compresses the whole clutch pack , thereby driving the steel plates, which in turn drives the transmission. So, the way I understood it, the whole idea of kicking to free the clutch plates is, you’re trying to break the fluid tension that exists between the steel plates and the friction plates.
So here is what I thought I was doing. By putting it in second gear I was creating resistance to turning for the steel plates. Then by pulling in the clutch lever and thereby releasing pressure from the clutch pack, I should’ve been able to kick the kickstart lever and easily break the fluid tension between the steel plates and the friction plates.
So what went so horribly wrong here? My bike lurched forward like I hit the starter button while in gear!
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I have always used the "Fred Flintstone"* clutch clearing method, in first gear.
I do it with all my vintage bikes, every time I pull them out to ride.
Easy, simple, effective.
* Credit to Pete for naming the procedure.
I do it with all my vintage bikes, every time I pull them out to ride.
Easy, simple, effective.
* Credit to Pete for naming the procedure.
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Please explain the Fred Flinstone method. Lol
Put in first gear, stand up, stradling the bike, pull the clutch in, and push/pull the bike back and forwards until it frees.
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