What have you done to your XS today?

[gggGary]

Put a charge on Madness, Fired up, let warm a bit, aired the tires and rode her up and down the driveways. Had the shadow out yesterday, 10 miles and had to stop partway, get gas, cuz it went on reserve, .
Oh well, fresh fuel for the new season.
Looks like madness is going to need fuel rightaway also.

 

[ThatXS650Guy]

Felt like I was neglecting her a little due to other projects so...
Pulled the cover off, unplugged the tender, started up immediately and we went on a nice 7 mile cruise to the lake and back. Running strong.

 

[yamahama]

View attachment 186529 View attachment 186528 logged on to re-read 'Minton mods'...ft.forks. But, did do something today: Cleaned up this tension rod and dipped it in the por-15 metal etching stuff. Then light hi-phospate Rusolium primer followed by 2 light coats Duplicolor auto grade glossy metallic chrome. Looked great but too shiny/ bright. Hit it with a coat of Duplicolor hi-temp gloss clear ..one heavy coat. That made it look less chrome. handed off my dirty ft. wheel hub to my machinist to go to blaster with the other stuff. Now back investigating my ft. forks. Put a handfull of seals in yesterday...Going to "polish" new chain.

 

[yamahama]

I also learned today that my ft. fork valve tubes had been 'modded' and used w/the 15 5/8" springs and 3.5" spacer tubes. The bottom valve tubes were drilled strait through to +- 0.234" ...edges worked. Up top were 2 small holes not drilled all the way through @ +- 0.063" one atop the other. Think I may have to toss a coin to see if I start just putting back everything the way it was, wait to test or inserting the HD progressive springs I find should be 35 kg/mm and 50 ft/lbs soft/heavy rates...way longer. Interesting reading..2.5 pages of notes ref.'s, links. Need to find a 34mm fork brace.

 

[lakeview]

Super Surplus Squeezeout
Or, Glad I Took This Apart

P O had assembled this bottom end. On inspection, the exterior of the cases had been haphazardly cleaned, the crown nuts had steel washers on them and black sealant was dribbled here and there.
The cases came apart really easily as all the sealer had not adhered to the mating surfaces. What was alarming was the quantity of squeeze out inside the motor, just ready to fall off and get chewed up by the gears and circulated, probably for a brief moment, through the oil pump.
I have some work to do.

 

[5twins]

Lol, yes some guys think that just because they have that giant tube of gasket sealer, it needs to be all used up on one motor.

 

[bosco659]

Well today was a good day. First run of my ‘76 with rebuilt BS38’s. Ran really well even without a final dial in. Many thanks to 5Twins for guiding me along the way to get these carbs up and running properly.

gggGary’s 8 plate clutch ran well too. After a quick run it needed a fast adjustment at the perch but looks like I may be able to find neutral this summer . A bit stiffer on the lever but not bad at all - I’m running a short lever do that doesn’t help either. Very smooth engagement and the cold start chatter I used to experience is gone. Nice upgrade, glad I did it. Thanks gggGary for this.

Bike is back under cover waiting for permanent sunshine. Can’t wait... bike has never run better.

 

[Paul Sutton]

I had to clean a very varnished up generator carburetor today so decided to test out my Ultrasonic bath. I just used dish washing liquid and what a fantastic job. You could see clouds of crap and varnish coming out and only took a couple of minutes. This will become my standard for bike carburetors.

Just why hadn't I tried it before even though I have had the bath for about 15+ years ??

 

[bosco659]

I had to clean a very varnished up generator carburetor today so decided to test out my Ultrasonic bath. I just used dish washing liquid and what a fantastic job. You could see clouds of crap and varnish coming out and only took a couple of minutes. This will become my standard for bike carburetors.

Just why hadn't I tried it before even though I have had the bath for about 15+ years ??

Use mine all the time, even to clean watch bands, tools etc. Lots of good ideas on YouTube on solvents and how to save cleaning solutions.

 

[RustiePyles]

I had to clean a very varnished up generator carburetor today so decided to test out my Ultrasonic bath. I just used dish washing liquid and what a fantastic job. You could see clouds of crap and varnish coming out and only took a couple of minutes. This will become my standard for bike carburetors.

Just why hadn't I tried it before even though I have had the bath for about 15+ years ??

Thats exactly why I bought mine. It does an outstanding job of getting varnish out of those tiny air bleed/ fuel passages.

 

[lakeview]

Fresh Gas in the Test Tank
Can Spring be Far Behind?

Well over 10 C today so out to the garage where the red '76 has been gathering dust after a first start late last fall. Need to finish off the wiring in the bucket and tail light, going to switch out carbs to a set I cleaned last month and see if I can get more than an apologetic cough out of it.
At least the cranking got the oil circulated.

Last Fall With Green Leaves

 

[kshansen]

Well as the temps were in the low 50'sºF today I was out in the unheated barn/shed where the 1982 has been parked since Oct or Nov. Got wondering how the battery was doing after sitting all that time.

First thing I really need to get my butt in gear and try one of the retensioning trick on the horseshoe spring on the starter gear! Yea, every time it kinda tries to start even in warm weather it kicks out of the start position. Anyhow when it was cranking it was turning pretty good. Played with choke position and tank valve position and surprise surprise surprise! It fired up without too much trouble and sounded pretty good for a somewhat neglected 39 year old bike!

Next project was a 10 year newer bike but we won't mention the Sporty that was in the heated garage with battery on trickle charger for several days, ok it did start after a bit!

 

[bosco659]

View attachment 186625
Fresh Gas in the Test Tank
Can Spring be Far Behind?

Well over 10 C today so out to the garage where the red '76 has been gathering dust after a first start late last fall. Need to finish off the wiring in the bucket and tail light, going to switch out carbs to a set I cleaned last month and see if I can get more than an apologetic cough out of it.
At least the cranking got the oil circulated.
View attachment 186626
Last Fall With Green Leaves

I like your test tank better than mine. Lol.

 

[realgoodtexan]

Bought enough vinegar to do the tank of the '81. Looks like rust under varnish. Will take note of results for reference when doing the tank on the '79, which has the bonus challenge of a disintegrating liner.

My carbs are coughing.

 

[timbeck]

Coughing carbs are a "realgoodtexan" sign of Spring...........

tim

 

[Team Junk]

Bought enough vinegar to do the tank of the '81

I would put a quart of cheap ATF in the tank and slosh it around as soon as you rinse out the vinegar to prevent flash rusting.

 

[RustiePyles]

I would put a quart of cheap ATF in the tank and slosh it around as soon as you rinse out the vinegar to prevent flash rusting.

I used Marvel Mystery Oil after a vinegar soak, that way whatever was left in the tank could just be mixed with gas and burned.

 

[Team Junk]

ATF burns just fine mixed with gas and is a lot cheaper.

 

[RustiePyles]

ATF burns just fine mixed with gas and is a lot cheaper.

Truly, I couldn't believe how much MMO cost last time I bought it. I used to buy it by the gallon in those cool looking metal cans, seems they discontinued those and now most store only sell quarts for same price they used to sell gallons.

 

[Team Junk]

I used to buy it by the gallon in those cool looking metal cans

I hear ya. What I'm paying for a pack of cowboy killers used to buy me 2 cartons