Stupid questions time...

madmax-im

madmax-im

Yamaha...Go your own way...
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Well first off..I'm still here and I still have the bike...I am about to delve into it..my budget necessitates that i have everything in order so as to not do this in a piecemeal fashion...April is the month..So new tires..used shocks...and perhaps a new chain still unsure about that...Some of my local dirt bike friends who have been doing chains for 40+ years..they say the chain can be cut if it measures within certain parameters...and thus save money..I have been ignorant about chains..40+ yrs riding shaft drivers so its all new to me.. I have spoken with Jetmechmarty..and he says if the chain pulls off the rear sprocket then its time to replace it...and of course that would mean the sprockets too...
My dirt bike friend will stop by and show me the ropes..we will determine if it is reuseable or not...I am inclined to just get a new chain and sprockets and buy quality stuff not Mike's garbage....
I dont know anything about the swingarm..but it appears there are grease gun fittings externally placed on each side of the frame and the adjusting nut is on the right side...Obviously i will need to unweight the swingam to grease and tighten? Looks pretty straightforward...
With the shocks..do I need to remove the rear wheel to replace them?
I know basic stuff..but ya gotta crawl before you can walk...and wait we havent even got to the oil and filter change...
I'm anxious to get this baby roadworthy and dialed in..for me...
 
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madmax-im said:
I know basic stuff..but ya gotta crawl before you can walk...
Click to expand...
First and only reply?
Firstly, it is good of you to post an XS mechanical question and thread.
This has been a very long term situation over the same components for many months. I will only suggest at this point that you could get attention and helpful replies if you actually pick up a tool, any tool and take a pic of you attempting to do a mechanical task on your XS. Any task will do. Get off the key board because reading and writing is accomplishing nothing yet.
Maybe this is a good start? Take a toothpick or something and try to fit it between the rear sprocket and chain. Try to pull the chain backwards off of the sprocket in the farthest rear point. Can you then fit an object such as a toothpick in that space ?
Take a pic and post it ! This or any task.
Post pics and perhaps there will continue to be helpful responses.
Good luck -R
 
Fiirst off i have been making payments on this bike since sept. I finally paid it off this month...My priority was that debt first..Secondly I live on a very fixed income and as such it takes several months to save my money to buy the items i need to do the maintenence on the bike...so in the interim i asked a bunch of questions..no biggie..yeah i'll get off the keyboard...ansd stop wasting the bandwwidth...
 
madmax-im said:
and the adjusting nut is on the right side...Obviously i will need to unweight the swingam to grease and tighten?
Click to expand...
That's not an adjustment nut, it's the nut that locks the steel bushing in place. If it's tight, leave it alone.
 
Center stand the bike.... grab rear wheel.. side to side play ? Since April is go'n to longer then we had plan... swing arm bushings …. you can replace shocks one at a time.... again center stand... remove the one stock.. you'll have to pull the swing arm up a little to mount the new shock. If the bike is a keeper... besides swing arm bushings... get a good set of shocks.... I like Hagon…. Got them on both my XS units. As for sprockets-chains.... replaced in a set.. I like 17-32 sprocket set up..... I had a O ring years ago... didn't think it was worth the add'd $$$....
Again.. if it's a keeper.. we'll work on the front end near the end of the month.
 
… FLASH ! Update.... if there is slight play in side to side s/arm play... sometimes... bend the tab on the s/arm nut... tighten nut a little at time.. ck side to side... until you feel it's the best it's go'n to get. Don't forget to bend tab back. Insure that grease is getting inside.... you should see it extrude'n on the inside of the frame.... if not.. sometimes.. it's clogged zerks replace them.. cheap... one zerk is replaced... you can pump grease in on both sides.. then the new zerks.
 
Jim said:
That's not an adjustment nut, it's the nut that locks the steel bushing in place. If it's tight, leave it alone.
Click to expand...
Where is the adjustment nut? I looked in the yamaha service manual and there is no pic?
 
I believe previously in other threads the swingarm locknut has been referred to as a way of tightening the swingarm pivot. Which in effect it does even if by actually squeezing the frame to do it, adjust it. No it's not technically an adjustment but needs to be of proper tightness?
Anyway, It may be best for madmaxim to understand that to really feel the swingarm display it would be best to have the rear shocks and wheel off which is in the overall plan.
Somehow that Special II of his needs to be on centerstand, maybe even one 2×6 high under there, front wheel too.
We can help him start removing things like shocks and wheel for at least two reasons.
One being progress. And the other being getting hands on experience started.
The bike needs to be in a comfortable secure well lit environment for a good start.
:thumbsup:
 
20200402_122856.jpg

20200402_123050.jpg
 
Machine said:
Which in effect it does even if by actually squeezing the frame to do it, adjust it. No it's not technically an adjustment but needs to be of proper tightness?
Click to expand...
If you're using the nut to squeeze the frame in.... you're doing it wrong. Don't bend the frame in, use shims to fill the gap.
 
Right On ! We can see that the original nut has been replaced by what is called a "Nyloc" self locking nut. There is no tab to bend.
 
Machine said:
Shims are way down the course in this particular situation.
Let's get him started diagnosing?
Click to expand...
I'm responding to questions posed and suggestions made...nothing more. I'll leave the motivating to you. :whistle:
 
There is no "adjustment" nut for the swingarm, other than the nut on the pivot bolt and how tight you make it. I'll run through the swingarm install and you'll see what I mean. The rule of thumb for installing the swingarm is to tighten the pivot bolt nut just enough so that the bare swingarm (wheel and shocks removed) will slowly drop under it's own weight. There is a torque range for the swingarm bolt nut, 36 to 58 ft/lbs. Start at the low end, around 36, and tighten a little at a time until the arm drops slowly. If it won't do that by the time you reach the max 58 pounds, it probably needs bushings, maybe a pivot tube, or maybe some shimming.

For chain and sprocket wear, I pretty much consider a chain worn out if I run out of adjustment on the wheel. I usually replace before that but that would be my extreme case scenario. For sprockets, closely inspect the teeth. You want them to look symmetrical. They will start to look hook-shaped when the sprocket is worn and needs replacing .....

full


I started out with a fresh, new chain and sprockets back in 2005 when I got my 650. Since the 650 is no high powered superbike, I don't see the need for expensive o-ring or x-ring chains. I just run normal or standard ones. My 1st one was a heavy duty one from J.C. Whitney, not much more than $20. I ran it for 10 years and was happy with that for $20. It wasn't completely stretched out yet but I decided to change it. This time I went with what is supposedly one of the best normal chains, a D.I.D. They're not too expensive either, around $40. For sprockets, I used the MikesXS offerings and they're still fine. Now I've heard good things about the JT brand so have laid some of them in for back-ups. A front and rear set can be had off eBay for $50 or less.
 
Machine said:
Right On ! We can see that the original nut has been replaced by what is called a "Nyloc" self locking nut. There is no tab to bend.
Click to expand...
Ah... ofc the PO had to change things up to make people scratch their heads and say..huh?...
BTW I was told by the PO that he replaced the original swingarm bushings with the Bronze bushings..6 yrs ago....Basically i have the bike on centerstand and with everything still on the frame holding the wheel and we have side to side free play...so perhaps it is shims...
I wont post further until i have the wheel and shocks off...
 
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There are also grease seals fitted on each end of the swingarm pivot. They need to be there or the arm will be quite loose in the frame. They're part of the spacing set-up and I found them missing on one bike once. We thought the swingarm bushing must be shot, until we looked closer, lol.

It's also possible the P.O. just didn't tighten the pivot bolt enough. That's what I found on my "new" '83. I thought the bushings were most likely shot because the arm had some play. Funny thing was, it rode OK, with none of the "worn bushings" warning signs (wobbles in corners). When I went to pull the swingarm, that's when I found the pivot bolt loose. Snugging it up took all the play out.
 
Ya, I haven't yet seen a need for shims in the 3 XS's I've greased up.
But those were only 78 & 79 model year bikes.
I've read the later model year bikes seem to be more likely to need a shim.
 

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