My Top Tip today is...

[peanut]

Whats your best Tip of the day ?

There doesn't appear to be a general thread for this topic so I though I'd start one.

What little money or labour saving tip could you share ? it might be a labour saving DIY tool or something to make a job go easier .....a substitute part from a non Yamaha source or just a bargain spare part . Why not share it with the rest of us .

My Tip today has to do with the battery. Every time I remove and replace my battery the stupid little loose nuts fall out on the floor somewhere or into the depths of battery holder Grrrrr
Today I decided to find a solution and looking for something to wedge the nut into the battery terminal on the quick,... I used a couple small plastic rawl plugs. Works a treat.

Wedge them in firmly under the nuts and the plug still allows the lock screws to be fully tightened on the battery lead connectors. When the battery terminals are unscrewed the rawl plugs retain the nuts firmly in place . result !

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

Good one, peanut. I can't tell you how many hundreds of those little square nuts were scattered all over the shop floor back when. Our parts guys stocked tons of the Yuasa 5mm screw/nut kits due to high demand.

I like Paul Sutton's "cardboard idle nudger" tip:

http://www.xs650.com/threads/what-have-you-done-to-your-xs-today.32082/page-140#post-514223

 

[fredintoon]

Hi Peanut,
remember that some list members only speak American. A Rawlplug is the English term (actually a propriatory name) for a wallboard screw insert.
And I got a drawer full of them. Thanks for the tip.
My #1 best tip? Buy a ScottOiler
https://www.scottoiler.com/us/
Not cheap, set 'em right or they'll oil up your blue jeans, at least 5 times the chain & sprocket life, pays for itself the first time you don't replace the chain & sprockets.

 

[xjwmx]

Also, if you're lucky enough to someday get screws that will actually reach the nut, hang on to them!

 

[willis]

Peanut, my solution to your problem has been to take a small piece of heat shrink tubing and bend it in half and slide it under those battery nuts. It creates enough pressure to hold the nuts in place and will also squish back down after you hook up your cables.

 

[peanut]

Peanut, my solution to your problem has been to take a small piece of heat shrink tubing and bend it in half and slide it under those battery nuts. It creates enough pressure to hold the nuts in place and will also squish back down after you hook up your cables.

simple but effective solution Willis . I reckon a piece of kaizam foam would work a treat too.

 

[YamadudeXS650C]

simple but effective solution Willis . I reckon a piece of kaizam foam would work a treat too.

I've been using a little piece of foam, too.
And for the batteries that have an over flow tube, I put a little spot of ShooGoo (great stuff, I use it everywhere) on the tube where it joins the battery. Gives me solace that the tube wont came off.

 

[Paul Sutton]

Good idea Peanut!!

I recently added 2 inline fuses. One for new LED parking lights and another for the taillights. To label them I simply printed a label and attached it to the fuse body by covering with transparent heat shrink:

 

[mrtwowheel]

Paul, I like the idea of transparent shrink tube for labels. I'll have to be on the lookout for some, never knew there was such a thing.

Scott

 

[Bob Kelly III]

When taking the side cover screws out of a bike's side plate I have learned to take a screw driver and put it on the screw and give it a healthy Whack with a hammer first then try to turn the screw out....
sense I got my impact drivers I simply put the impact driver on the screw in between the on/off positions and whack it first... then twist it to the off position and smack it they almost always come off without issue.
and this is with Phillips type screw driver tips not JIS tips like I should have ! ( I didn't know about JIS tips before I came to this site ! LOL)
it's the first initial whack that I believe brakes the screw Loose so it can unscrew easier ....other screws on the bike work this way too like those stubborn control screws that do NOT want to come loose.... a quick whack with a hammer on the screw usually brakes them Loose.
.....
Bob........

 

[Wingedwheel]

You can make your own JIS bit by refashioning the phillips contact angle to 57 degrees from the plane.

 

[Bob Kelly III]

Hummm ! good to know , thanks !
.....
Bob.....

 

[gggGary]

For the battery terminal screws if the battery has an overflow tube I cut 3/8" long donuts off the end of the tube with wire cutters and push those under the nut to hold it for the screw. a short clipping from a tygon fuel line will work also.

 

[xjwmx]

There was another thread about fusing the taillight circuit. I suggest you do it at the ignition switch, inside the headlight bucket, so as much as possible of it is fused. Next you might consider fusing your brake lights...

 

[Paul Sutton]

I failed to mention, the taillights are fused at the ignition blue wire inside the headlight and the auxiliary LED parking lights are powered direct from the battery, hence the position of the fuse in the photo.

 

[Bob Kelly III]

Tip of the day eh?
Make your own tools it's cheaper ! ...fun too !
....
Bob.....

 

[Paul Sutton]

Bob, since you are interested, there is a thread call Homemade and Unique Tools:
http://www.xs650.com/threads/homemade-and-unique-tools.37/

Interesting reading, Very Interesting!!

 

[Bob Kelly III]

Kool thanks I'll have a read see !
....
Bob.......

 

[TimeMachine]

Top Tip o' the day, I like this. Here's an idea. I have wrapped my key and over size key ring with layers of gorilla tape. This not only provides a large, hard to lose easily gripped key with gloves on , but is actually a stash of tape for any un foreseen needs..

 

[fredintoon]

Hi TimeMachine,
while the ol' gorilla tape wrap trick is a great idea for an anti-rattle device and for gripping with gloves on;
a not too long while later that wrap ain't gonna be easy to unwrap for a different use.
Gorilla tape as part of your emergency stuff? You bet. Great idea.
But put a roll of it in a ziplok bag to go in your toolkit, eh?