The most awesome deal that could ever be had on an XS650... ever

If you washed without covering up those carbs I would advise you to get any water out of the motor that might have made it past the slides.
 
Revanoff2 said:
Haha... I will snap some more photos tonight.

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~Revanoff~
Click to expand...

Did that poor bike get dragged out of a swamp?
 
Very nice. I just bought one for $500 that is not as clean as that. Mine came with a free one too, but motor is siezed and its rough, but will make a good project one day.
 
Fired it up again today. Didn't take much effort. I need to get a few things before it will be legal: Both right side turn signals, a headlight and retaining ring, and swap on my new front brake handle.

~Revanoff2~
 
So yesterday I mounted the right side signals, replaced the brake handle and tried to get the headlight working. I have a manual, but it contains wiring schematics for 15 different models it seems, and I don't know which one I have specifically.

Anyways, seems I have a bunk turn signal switch too, or the solder joints are bad, only left side works reliably. I need the left side air box, filter elements, battery, and probably going to have to go through the front caliper too.

Anyone else solved a dead headlight circuit issue?

~revanoff2~
 
Got the turn signals figured out... bad solder joint!

Also got the headlight working after realizing that the engine has to be running, and the charging system functional to turn the relay on. Now I just need to figure out why the tail lights/license plate light don't work; should be simple.

Blue wire the runs the tail lamp has no power. Need to trace it back. I believe it runs to the lighting control box that sits next to the battery under the seat. If that winds up being the issue, I will likely just wire them into the headlight circuit with an inline fuse and be done with it.

Closer every day!

~Revanoff~
 
5Twins: Thank you for the leads. I was able to fix the wiring off the switch, someone had hacked and miswired a number of things behind the headlight. All the lights on the bike function as they should now.

I need a new front caliper, pads, and a battery now. Took it for a very short ride the other day, those handle bars have got to go! Will be replacing then with the stockers off the Goldwing.

~Revanoff~
 
Got the bars swapped out yesterday for a set of Factory '83 Goldwing units. Much better now!

As of now, there are 3 things left (4 if you count DMV).

Get the front brake caliper un-stuck and replace pads, and get a damned battery! She still smokes like a mother, but I'm going to try a few old-skool tricks today to help in that department. I'm still hoping that the rings will re-seat and it will stop smoking so much.

Here's hoping!

~Revanoff~
 
Here was the problem with the caliper...




Got it cleaned up nicely, lubed just a touch, and it works beautifully. I also placed a battery in it from one of my "car jump" boxes. I even installed the on/off switch so I don't have to unbolt the cables to kill juice.

As of now, it seems the advance rod is getting stuck. It will hang the idle up even with the carbs closed. If I shut it off and then turn it back on while its still spinning, it will idle again. I need to go through that and make sure everything is lubed up well.

Other than the advance rod issue, she get's up and goes!. Rode well the other day... well, that and the smoke. I did not get around to trying anything on it yet, as with the advance rod being funky, I haven't run it much. I bought a set of factory air boxes off ebay, a new instrument cluster (to replace the tachometer on mine), and a tachometer cable... the one on mine is way too long, and broken...

I will also need to replace the tires, I do have one for the front, but I will need to purchase one for the rear.

More to come soon!

~Revanoff~
 
So I don't have an advance rod.... I guess that makes sense because I don't have points.. I have CDI.

So, why does my idle hang? Not sure as of yet, but after reading through the carburetor guide for my stock BS34 Mikunis, there were a couple things I checked on and found that the idle mix screws still had the factory cap on them, and that the clamps holding the carb to the manifolds were "loose". I tightened them as mentioned in the carb manual (tighten so that there is no gap between the ends of the clamp). They are definitely sitting more solidly, and my new air boxes show up tomorrow, so that will help too.

I will fire it up tonight and see if that got rid of my issue. I am also going to drill the caps off the carbs so I can get at the idle mix screws... they are definitely off, and probably not helping the high idle issue.

Will report back later.

~Revanoff~
 
Idle hang issue is cured!

I'm not sure exactly why, but when running it yesterday, the idle climbed all on its own which allowed me to lower the idle screw, and now the problem is cured. I have a suspicion concerning the piston rings as the cause for this.

She is no longer smoking blue, but gray. If I recall, the gray is due to oil burning off in the exhaust pipes instead of the combustion chamber, which would be blue.

I also bought a set of stock airboxes off eBay and got them installed, along with a replacement speedo and tach (although the tach is really... really slow to respond), and cable. I drilled out the mixture screw caps on the carbs and set them appropriately. The bike just sits and idles now. No pops or backfires, and I can rev it, again smooth.

Took her for a short ride yesterday, and she ran well! Can't wait to get the DMV crap taken care of so I can ride this piggie!

Getting excited!

~Revanoff2~
 
Anyone run into an issue with the insurance company trying to get their bike covered?

For whatever reason, there seems to be an issue with the VIN number of my bike in their system. My bike was manufactured in 8/80, which means it has the older style manufacturers VIN/Serial number. Supposedly, in 1981, all vehicle sold in the US were supposed to have the new 17 digit VIN number like we have today.

Since my bike was built so late in the year, it was sold and titled in the states as a 1981 model, but with the 1980 VIN numbering scheme. Because of this, my insurance company has to submit a form to the underwriting agency to make sure the number is legit?

What gives?

I'm hoping that I am not the only one who has had this issue. And it's just my luck that I would have this issue as well. I got the bike titled and tagged Friday, was looking forward to using it this weekend. I did not expect to have an issue with the insurance company, so I've been quite aggravated all weekend.

~Revanoff2~
 
Got the insurance taken care of. Went for the first real ride last night!

I've got some issues to sort out: Rear brake pedal engages too low and doesn't come all the way back up, right cylinder seems to be running lean and causing a crackle in the exhaust when maintaining speed (not accel/decelerating). It's still smoking a bit, but after a few miles, most of it cleared up. Now I really only notice the smoke at idle. I need to determine where the smoke is from yet, it seems that it might just be buildup in the exhaust from being run so many times without putting a load on it to seat the rings.

We shall see. Insurance @ $123/year officially. Yeehaw!

~Revanoff2~
 
wow, looks pretty sweet cleaned up!looks like a old dunlop tire on the front, havent seen that tread pattern in years.used to be pretty popular.
 
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