Howlinwolfxs
XS650 Enthusiast
thats what i was thinking weekend, but im new to the bike scene, so i wanted to confirm.
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New 74 xs owner and rider.
- Thread starter Howlinwolfxs
- Start date
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- Tags
- restoration
Howlinwolfxs
XS650 Enthusiast
i have some new pictures, trying to clean her up a bit. Unfortunately, i still cant get it to run again, and my knee is killing me.
i dont get to work on it as much as i wanted to today, due to the fact that my toilet seal is leaking, and the landlord wont come fix it, and i have to help a friend put an electric fan on his truck.
Does the fork look like i need to rebuild it? also, the brake handle angle, is that right?
i dont get to work on it as much as i wanted to today, due to the fact that my toilet seal is leaking, and the landlord wont come fix it, and i have to help a friend put an electric fan on his truck.
Does the fork look like i need to rebuild it? also, the brake handle angle, is that right?
Attachments
On the forks, with the oil staining on the lowers, then seal replacement is needed. Rebuilding them isn't hard. There is a thread By Hugh of Hughes Handbuilt on lowering forks that is very useful for just rebuilding.
The brake lever is bent, but it will work ok. This can wait till more important things get done.
The rear foot peg is mounted wrong, it mounts back on the muffler support not on the front footpeg mount.
www.amckayltd.com/carbguide.pdf will help you get your carbs working right.
Just make sure the ignition is right first. Do a tune up procedeures first and in the right order.
#1 adjust cam chain tension
#2 adjust the valves
#3 adjust the points gap
#4 adjust the points timing.
Once you get these set you can start with the carbs.
From your pics it looks like you are using jumper cables. This works ok but having a good battery in the bike works better, then hook the jumper cables to the bike battery.
I can't stress enough how important a repair manual is. If you don't have one yet, get one. It will be the most used and valuable tool you will own.
Several places to download one or buy one from Ebay. The Clymer and Haynes are good, I like the factory books.
Leo
The brake lever is bent, but it will work ok. This can wait till more important things get done.
The rear foot peg is mounted wrong, it mounts back on the muffler support not on the front footpeg mount.
www.amckayltd.com/carbguide.pdf will help you get your carbs working right.
Just make sure the ignition is right first. Do a tune up procedeures first and in the right order.
#1 adjust cam chain tension
#2 adjust the valves
#3 adjust the points gap
#4 adjust the points timing.
Once you get these set you can start with the carbs.
From your pics it looks like you are using jumper cables. This works ok but having a good battery in the bike works better, then hook the jumper cables to the bike battery.
I can't stress enough how important a repair manual is. If you don't have one yet, get one. It will be the most used and valuable tool you will own.
Several places to download one or buy one from Ebay. The Clymer and Haynes are good, I like the factory books.
Leo
Howlinwolfxs
XS650 Enthusiast
sounds good, i dont have the 30 to 50 bucks to spend on the battery right now, thats the only reason its set up like that.
now.... where did i put that feeler guage
now.... where did i put that feeler guage
Howlinwolfxs
XS650 Enthusiast
so, after checking and tinkering, it will run with or without choke, but the left side isnt firing reliably. before it was the right side.
all the adjustments look good.
all the adjustments look good.
It might be the points are a bit dirty. Feeler gauges have a thin coat of oil on them to prevent rust. This oil gets on the points and can stop them from conducting well.
Use a stiff white paper, like business cards are made of, cut into 1/4 wide strips. Use electrical contact cleaner, comes in a spray can. Squirt a bit on both sides of the paper. Pull the paper through the closed points till it comes out clean. It may take a few strips.
This may or may not fix the problem but will elimanate it as a cause. Also check all the connections at the points, coils and condensers. A dirty connection at these places will give you simular symptoms.
Also useing your meter check the voltage on the red/white wire that feeds power to the coils. Should be the same as battery voltage. If .2 or .3 lower is ok but any lower and you have weak/dirty connections somewhere. Often the key switch or engine stop switch. Both can be taken apart and cleaned.
Any connecter can be cleaned and tightened to improved conductivity. A bit of dialectric grease will help keep those connections clean.
A battery is something you will need sooner or later.
Leo
Use a stiff white paper, like business cards are made of, cut into 1/4 wide strips. Use electrical contact cleaner, comes in a spray can. Squirt a bit on both sides of the paper. Pull the paper through the closed points till it comes out clean. It may take a few strips.
This may or may not fix the problem but will elimanate it as a cause. Also check all the connections at the points, coils and condensers. A dirty connection at these places will give you simular symptoms.
Also useing your meter check the voltage on the red/white wire that feeds power to the coils. Should be the same as battery voltage. If .2 or .3 lower is ok but any lower and you have weak/dirty connections somewhere. Often the key switch or engine stop switch. Both can be taken apart and cleaned.
Any connecter can be cleaned and tightened to improved conductivity. A bit of dialectric grease will help keep those connections clean.
A battery is something you will need sooner or later.
Leo
Howlinwolfxs
XS650 Enthusiast
dont worry, i plan on a battery. thanks leo!
Howlinwolfxs
XS650 Enthusiast
starts, first or second kick consistently. it keeps switching between which side isnt wanting to fire. It seems lean, because when i cover the opening, it starts to draw enough fuel for my hand to get wet, and then starts to fire, and then i can rev it
Just Plain Bill
XS650 Addict
I've just been through a similar rehabilitation process with a '79 XS650 parked since 1986. Because there was obvious dried fuel goo on the carburetor mouth and the contents of the tank smelled like varnish, I totally focused on cleaning the carburetors (and tank) and got the bike running in short order. Even if I didn't do a professional job, it seems like the more it runs, the better it runs - which is probably the work of solvents in the fuel removing crud I missed. In your case, since the bike seems to run well on one cylinder at a time, you might try adding a cleaner to the gas. A lot of people swear by adding an ounce of SeaFoam motor treatment per gallon of gas and which I've used in spray can form to loosen and dissolve crud in the carburetor circuits and jets. Available at Wal-Mart and other fine establishments.
Another improvement would be to get a couple of in-line fuel filters and fit them between the fuel taps and carburetors. If there's any rust left in the tank that gets past the screens attached to the fuel taps, it should be stopped by the filters.
Bill
Another improvement would be to get a couple of in-line fuel filters and fit them between the fuel taps and carburetors. If there's any rust left in the tank that gets past the screens attached to the fuel taps, it should be stopped by the filters.
Bill
Howlinwolfxs
XS650 Enthusiast
im running it off a bottle right now, the tank is really rusty.
Just Plain Bill
XS650 Addict
I didn't know that but no matter, the fuel filter was an afterthought. The fact you can cause a cylinder to run by holding your hand over the carb mouth indicates that the carb is not flowing enough fuel to the cylinder and that the ignition system is fine. Most likely suspect is the enrichment circuit (choke) but there are numerous other internal circuits and orfices that can be clogged with crud and using a cleaner will take care of them all at one time. A quicker fix, would be to drain both carburetors, then re-fill the carburetors with a 50-50 mix of SeaFoam (or equivalent) cleaner and gasoline. Run that for a minute or so to get the mixture into every nook and cranny then let stand overnight and see if the problem goes away. If that doesn't fix it, you will have clean them the old fashioned way; total tear down, soaking in a cleaner, the reaming the circuits with fine wires and compressed air -- or pay someone else to do it. Start with the easy fixes first.
Bill
Don't forget that this is an air cooled engine and overheating will cause serious damage.This engine cannot sit still and run like a car engine.
1974jh5
Curmudgeon.
mrtwowheel is correct. Set up a couple of box fans close to the engine and turn them on full blast.
I'd be willing to bet that the low speed jets are pretty well clogged. It's still a good idea to check all the other stuff (cam chain tension, points, valve adjustment etc) to be certain they are correct. There's few things more frustrating than chasing a carb problem only to find out it was something else entirely.
The low speed jets on my BS carbs did not want to come out. I'd suggest, as others have, soaking the carbs thoroughly before trying to remove any jets. I keep hearing that Pine Sol will dissolve fuel residue, never tried it myself. Lacquer thinner will definitely soften the hard fuel residue crud, but it evaporates real quick. You'd want to dunk the carb body in the stuff and put a tight lid over it.
I'd be willing to bet that the low speed jets are pretty well clogged. It's still a good idea to check all the other stuff (cam chain tension, points, valve adjustment etc) to be certain they are correct. There's few things more frustrating than chasing a carb problem only to find out it was something else entirely.
The low speed jets on my BS carbs did not want to come out. I'd suggest, as others have, soaking the carbs thoroughly before trying to remove any jets. I keep hearing that Pine Sol will dissolve fuel residue, never tried it myself. Lacquer thinner will definitely soften the hard fuel residue crud, but it evaporates real quick. You'd want to dunk the carb body in the stuff and put a tight lid over it.
Howlinwolfxs
XS650 Enthusiast
I get into the bike, and i question everything i do, but i have no problem tearing apart a car. its kinda frustrating.
Just Plain Bill
XS650 Addict
Don't let all the good advice intimidate you: just look at the people who work on motorcycles for a living and know you can do it. And those guys are too busy to offer free advice on a forum.
Howlinwolfxs
XS650 Enthusiast
i know i can do it, i just keep second guessing myself. I think im just going to take a day off, get my house in order and hit it tomorrow. I did start putting together a list of parts i need. (fork gaskets, upper brake hose, and such)
I wonder, when you put your palm over the intake bell and your palm is wet with gas.
Is it sucking through the idle circuit? My thoughts is the gas is from the needle and needle jet the easiest place for it and closest to the plug(your palm).
So are you really cleaning the idle circuit or just sucking the extra through the main and needle jet?
Howlinwolf, I normally poo poo miracles out of a can. In the case of Sea Foam I have used it and noticed a difference/improvement for cleaning/clearing the carbs on the portable welder and riding lawn mower. But both of these tend to set for long periods
without running.
Is it sucking through the idle circuit? My thoughts is the gas is from the needle and needle jet the easiest place for it and closest to the plug(your palm).
So are you really cleaning the idle circuit or just sucking the extra through the main and needle jet?
Howlinwolf, I normally poo poo miracles out of a can. In the case of Sea Foam I have used it and noticed a difference/improvement for cleaning/clearing the carbs on the portable welder and riding lawn mower. But both of these tend to set for long periods
without running.
Howlinwolfxs
XS650 Enthusiast
ill have to look over the carb stuff, and identify exactly which hole is which.
I dont know about cleaning, i was just seeing if it would run if i cut off more of the air to it.
I dont know about cleaning, i was just seeing if it would run if i cut off more of the air to it.
Howlinwolfxs
XS650 Enthusiast
too cold for this. maybe i need a house and a garage...
Howlinwolfxs
XS650 Enthusiast
Schwing! running on both cylinders. Seems it was starving on the bottle....
on a bad note, dont get near exhaust with shorts on. oww
I did find the plug wires are pretty sad, i will replace those and the plugs, and get it on its way!
on a bad note, dont get near exhaust with shorts on. oww
I did find the plug wires are pretty sad, i will replace those and the plugs, and get it on its way!
