On the road again at 40.............the bike that is..........PART DEUX

[YamadudeXS650C]

Rust?? Sh!t....I used to use it in my belly button!!!!

.....hmmmmm....perhaps that was not the "navel" for which it was intended. H

 

[YamadudeXS650C]

Simichrome is another good paste polish for chrome and aluminum.

Simichrome has some grit in it, like polishing compound does. I used it back in the '69's and 70's on my Bonneville's head pipes; effective,
but it dulled the chrome a bit.

 

[5twins]

If you get her cleaned up well enough, especially the carbs, you'll have a very nice bike there. The '78-'79 BS38s are very nice, about the best of the 38s in my opinion. They started getting some E.P.A. mandates, but not as bad as the BS34s, and not bad enough to make them difficult to tune. You can still easily hear the effects mix screw setting changes have on them. One E.P.A. mandate that actually makes them better is the spring-loaded needle. It makes for more precise metering and you'll notice the bike runs smoother because of it in the lower RPM range compared to the '76-'77 carbs.

 

[YamadudeXS650C]

Whatever happened to "Naval jelly " that pink slime ate rust pretty nicely as I remember ?

Naval jelly is still around, but it is powerfull stuff : Phosphoric acid is a mineral acid having the chemical formula H₃PO₄. Orthophosphoric acid. Intense shit.

 

[robinc]

Thank you 5twins.
I have read how you are a fan of the 78-79's.

My 77D came with 74-75's that had sloppy float bowl screw holes and were finally leaking so having them machined as I don't have any bottoming taps. Figured best left to a mechanic/ machinist anyways.

So I picked up a set of 78-79's for it and really like them. Unfortunately they had suffered blunt force trama at the throttle shaft housing. Put them on anyways after cleaning them up and they ran great until they warmed up then wouldn't seal. So they are at the same shop hoping he can clean up the damage well enough to seal.

I hope I have better luck with the carbs on this one. Lol.

 

[robinc]

Naval jelly is still around, but it is powerfull stuff : Phosphoric acid is a mineral acid having the chemical formula H₃PO₄. Orthophosphoric acid. Intense shit.

Man, I feel sorry for Pete's belly button.

 

[5twins]

Yes, with the supply of stock 650 carbs seemingly drying up, we may need to extend our reach a little. I may try adapting an XS500 set. They're BS38s very similar to the '76-'77 650 set. The major drawback is they're spaced closer together .....

This means I'll need to swap out brackets, butterfly shafts, and the choke rod, plus change the jetting of course, but it may be worth it as I don't have much into them and they look to be in fine, unmolested shape. Here's what they came off of, I only paid $25 for the whole bike, lol .....

I got lots of useful 650 stuff off this thing.

 

[robinc]

Wow, now that's a good price for a parts stash....lol.

I will be interested to see how you make out modding those carbs. Fortunately you have bins of donor parts to work with. Lol.

Take care.

 

[azman857]

Will that tank mount up on our 650's? HHHmmmmm

 

[MaxPete]

For some quick and dirty cleaning of a non prize part, I have used the orange hand cleaner that Cndn Tire and other stores have, cleans it up, dulls it a bit, but saves them from the bin. (not that I throw anything out)

True that (I have seen his garage - VERY impressive!!!)

 

[MaxPete]

I haven't seen one of those XS500s in years. That tank would look cool though!

 

[robinc]

Might look nice on a cafe build project Pete. Ya can always ask.

 

[MaxPete]

I've already got an XS750 tank for my projec....although.....

 

[robinc]

Now Pete, ya know there will be another project.

 

[MaxPete]

...yeah....I guess so.....

 

[MaxPete]

Sorry for hijacking - but I want to get the word out about the SE-MI / SW-ON Meet-up on July 15 in Berkeley Michigan (a suburb of Detroit).

http://www.xs650.com/threads/sw-ontario-se-michigan-meet-up.49014/

Be there - or be square!!!

Pete

 

[robinc]

Hey, no worries Pete. I think it's kind of cool when a thread becomes a bit of a gathering place too. But, there are probably places on the forum where you'd get more traction than in this thread.....lol.

That being said, wish I could make it. I'll be with you in spirit.

 

[azman857]

MaxPete, Always liked that tank too on a café racer xs650...

 

[MaxPete]

Thanks Robin. I have posted it in the Regional Forums (Great Laks and Canada) - but haven't had any response yet.

P

 

[MaxPete]

Yup - really excited about building this bike. I am using the beautiful cafe by Brassneck as my inspiration - I just think he did such a nice job!