Need help with my ‘80 650 Special

S

savagetactical

XS650 Member
Messages
17
Reaction score
3
Points
3
Location
Arkansas
im new to the whole forum thing but I need some help. I purchased a 1980 650 Special with a lil over 9k on the clock. Took it out for a long tide last Saturday. Long story short, the rear caliper seized up on me. Ive tried to call my local Yamaha shop to get the front and rear pads. Turns out that what I thought my bike was an XS 650 Special isnt... I tried givin the guy on the phone my VIN so he could look up the part that way and he informed me that I needed 17 digits for my number but I thought that way back then in 1980, there wasn’t any universal VIN code. Anyhow, if my bike is an XS then apparently somebody changed the rear drum over to disk. How can I find out, for sure, what EXACTLY my bike is so I can get the right pads for the front and rear? Any and all help is greatly appreciated!!!
 

Attachments

  • AB13F075-E5D8-4D22-A0E6-D564845166BA.jpeg
    AB13F075-E5D8-4D22-A0E6-D564845166BA.jpeg
    266.1 KB · Views: 167
Closer pics would help us see what brakes your bike has.
 
80 specials came with disk brakes front and back. The tubes used to bolt the rear plunger to the frame above the right side foot peg bolts confirm your bike came with a rear disk. Part 29-3522 from Mike’s is what you need assuming the caliper is stock.
 
Last edited:
Roger that!!! Thank you sooo much!! But im curious. How can I find out exactly what my bike is? What I was told was its a 1980 Yamaha XS650 Special.
 
savagetactical said:
im new to the whole forum thing but I need some help. I purchased a 1980 650 Special with a lil over 9k on the clock. Took it out for a long tide last Saturday. Long story short, the rear caliper seized up on me. Ive tried to call my local Yamaha shop to get the front and rear pads. Turns out that what I thought my bike was an XS 650 Special isnt... I tried givin the guy on the phone my VIN so he could look up the part that way and he informed me that I needed 17 digits for my number but I thought that way back then in 1980, there wasn’t any universal VIN code. Anyhow, if my bike is an XS then apparently somebody changed the rear drum over to disk. How can I find out, for sure, what EXACTLY my bike is so I can get the right pads for the front and rear? Any and all help is greatly appreciated!!!
Click to expand...

Hi savtac and welcome,
the frame identity code will tell you what the bike was when it left the factory and never mind what the Yamaha shop said, that's a 1980 XS650 Special.
1980 sole year (in Canada anyway) for rear disk. Frame's rear master cylinder attachment lugs confirm the year.
Stock paint on the frame was semi-matte black which means the bike has been torn down & re-assembled.
Seat has the same tall seat hump as my 1984 Heritage Special. Coulda been rebuilt or from a later model because
like most XS650 parts, they swap like LEGO.
Front pads from any 1977 & later XS650 will fit. All XS650 rear pads are identical AFAIK.
 
Ohhh ok!!! I appreciate the response! Also, ironically, the top half of speedometer needle snapped off the same night the rear caliper froze up. So, im needing to find a speedometer in good condition or possibly an aftermarket one with maybe a different backlight color or different style on the face.
 
savagetactical said:
the top half of speedometer needle snapped off
Click to expand...
That happens because of the needle swinging, in my experience. There are some rubber grommets where the instruments mount, and also the foam ring that goes under the bevel that usually has turned to sticky tar. New oem rings are expensive but fix the problem. I broke three needles, including one of them twice, I repaired it the first time. No swinging and no breakage after replacing the rings.
 
Were can I find new needles? Also, the speedometer was making a noise that I could hear at low speeds. Almost like a mechanical whining sound. Had the same noise on an 84 Honda vt500 Shadow I rode back in 2012.
 
savagetactical said:
Were can I find new needles? Also, the speedometer was making a noise that I could hear at low speeds. Almost like a mechanical whining sound. Had the same noise on an 84 Honda vt500 Shadow I rode back in 2012.
Click to expand...

Hi savtac,
cut yourself a new needle end out of an aluminum drink can, epoxy it to the broken needle's stub and paint it bright orange with modeller's enamel.
The hard part is prying the speedo's bezel off to access the instrument's face.
Check the tech section
&/or​
ask the search box how that's done.
Also check the speedo drive worm drive & cable to see if they are the noise source.
BTW, if your speedo has that embarrassing 55MPH red zone face, you could swap the instrument for one that don't.
Any round-face speedo from any XS series bike will drop on and work right and it'll be far less hassle than fixing yours.
 
savagetactical said:
Were can I find new needles? Also, the speedometer was making a noise that I could hear at low speeds. Almost like a mechanical whining sound. Had the same noise on an 84 Honda vt500 Shadow I rode back in 2012.
Click to expand...
For me, a new needle wouldn't be worth it. I used superglue with a piece of aluminum foil for backing I think, Lasted a while. But was still swinging so it broke again. If you're going to put on a new pointer, before you take anything loose in there mark the positions of the pointer and something relative to it inside that doesn't move so it's easy to get the new one on in the right position.

The whining noise, I think I've heard it when it hasn't been ridden for a long time. Also bad sluggishness of the instrument. I think both go away on their own. Check the speedo and tach cables for condition though.
 
With Disc brakes, the front and rear pads are the same. Just tell the guy at the Yamaha store to give you a set of front brake pads. Might even get two sets. Then you can do both ends.
If your caliper locked up, it probably isn't the pads or calipers. It's probably the master cylinder.
There is a tiny bleed hole that relives pressure from the line back into the M/C. Brake fluid don't last forever. When it gets bad it can plug this tiny hole.
You can try n on the bike clean out first. Open the reservoir and clean out the old fluid. A vacuum pump works well. A lot of paper towels can do it. I haven't had a rear M/C open in awhile so I can't say just what it looks like inside. There will be a large hole about center in the reservoir. This is the hole that fills the plunger cavity. toward the out put side, where the line hooks on, is a smaller hole. Depending on how the reservoir is made there may be a half circle tab that extends out into the reservoir from the end of the reservoir. Thus tab is over the hole. The tabs keeps fluid from squirting up when bleeding the brakes. You may have to pull the reservoir up off the M/C. That way you can use a very fine wire to probe this hole. Once you knock the crud down into the M/C is can be flushed out.
Once you probe the hole you can replace the reservoir. Unhook the line at the caliper. Fill the M/C. Seal the end of the line with a thumb and finger tip. Now as you slowly pump the brake pedal you can bleed the M/C. Your thumb and finger tip seal the line as you press the pedal, the pressure should be enough to blow the fluid out around your finger tip.
As you let the pedal up your finger and thumb seal the line so more fluid gets drawn from the reservoir.
Pump till the reservoir gets almost empty, refill and repeat the bleeding till you run a few fill ups through the line. This should flush out the crud from the M/C and lines.
Rehook the line and bleed the brake as normal.
You should remove the M/C and tear it down and clean it out. When you first open the reservoir look and see the color of the fluid. New fluid is clear, old fluid is dark. Can be black if old enough.
I might suggest replacing this old brake lines, both front and rear. These old lines are rubber and rot from the inside out. As they rot the bits of stuff can migrate all through the system. Removing both front and rear calipers and M/C's to tear down and clean them all out. Often if careful you can get then all apart and not damage the rubber parts. If so they can be reused.
This gets all the rotted rubber bits out of the system.
This way you know your brakes are working at their best.
Well as good as the stock brakes can work. The front uses a 14mm M/C. Swapping the front M/C for a smaller one such as a 11or12 mm gives you a much better front brake, the rear works great as is.
Leo
 
The front and rear pads are the same IF your calipers are stock. You never showed us a close-up pic of your rear caliper so we can't tell you if it is stock and uses the same pads.

I have to agree with Leo, if your rear brake locked up chances are it isn't the pads. He mentioned the MC but it could also be the caliper. It may need to come apart and be cleaned out. It could also be just really old and bad brake fluid. If it's contaminated with water, it will expand and apply the brakes all by itself when the system gets hot.
 
5twins said:
- - - I have to agree with Leo, if your rear brake locked up chances are it isn't the pads. He mentioned the MC but it could also be the caliper. It may need to come apart and be cleaned out. It could also be just really old and bad brake fluid. If it's contaminated with water, it will expand and apply the brakes all by itself when the system gets hot.
Click to expand...

Me too 5T,
and I'd go further.
The OP should completely teardown & rebuild the entire rear brake system and replace the decades past it's "use by" date stock
fabric brake hose with a new stainless one.
Then think about doing the same with the front brake. Before IT locks up.
 
Roger that fellas!!! I appreciate it!!! Only reason I was goin to replace the rear pads is because I figured they mightve gotten damaged somehow when the rotor heated up so hot that it was glowing red and I figured if im workin on the back brakes, I might as well do the front while im at it. The night it seized up is probably more miles and more rpms that this bike has seen in the last 10yrs or so. My father in law originally bought it way back when. Sold it to a good friend of his. The friend had it a while, did some things to it, such as removing the factory air box and putting 2 k&n cone filters in its place. It has been rejetted though. I found that out this evening. Thinking about taking those cone filters off and getting a factory air box to put back on it. Never liked k&n filters on my bike. Not tryin to sound like a know it all but in my experience, the k&n caused my other bike to get shittier fuel economy. I only got 45mpg that night a few hrs before the rear caliper seized.
 
savagetactical said:
Roger that fellas!!! I appreciate it!!! Only reason I was goin to replace the rear pads is because I figured they mightve gotten damaged somehow when the rotor heated up so hot that it was glowing red and I figured if im workin on the back brakes, I might as well do the front while im at it. The night it seized up is probably more miles and more rpms that this bike has seen in the last 10yrs or so. My father in law originally bought it way back when. Sold it to a good friend of his. The friend had it a while, did some things to it, such as removing the factory air box and putting 2 k&n cone filters in its place. It has been rejetted though. I found that out this evening. Thinking about taking those cone filters off and getting a factory air box to put back on it. Never liked k&n filters on my bike. Not tryin to sound like a know it all but in my experience, the k&n caused my other bike to get shittier fuel economy. I only got 45mpg that night a few hrs before the rear caliper seized.
Click to expand...

Hi savtac,
right after you've completely refurbished the brakes including replacing the hoses with stainless ones and swapping in a smaller diameter front M/C,
ask the search box about Unipods, they are just about the only pod air filter that works nice with stock carbs.
Stock airboxes are OK but IMHO they are a right swine to remove and install which you just about gotta do to get the carbs off.
 

Similar threads

canuck1969
Help-1980 XS850 Frame Label
Replies
9
Views
417
canuck1969
canuck1969
B
Turn signal problem?
Replies
3
Views
382
BACK SHIFT
B
T
Help Needed Identifying Tank
Replies
15
Views
1K
tomkatohio
T
650zeus
Looking for a luggage rack for my 1980 650 Special
2
Replies
21
Views
1K
BACK SHIFT
B
Bjorn
Exhaust max dB / E- approval
Replies
1
Views
97
Jan_P
J
Back
Top