What have you done to your XS today?

I got mine back on the road yesterday. I'm ashamed to admit for the first time in a year.:shrug: Going out for a Sunday morning ride in a little bit.
 
Mr paint got the maxi maroon tank redone from my fuel spill :doh: last summer so I got it back on the resto mod, fired it up and took it for a spin. I used the "fat" #26 o-ring from the "fitz none" metric assortment in the red case to replace the skimpy tank to petcock seals. I have used fat o-rings on a bunch of tanks now, some have been on for 3-4 years, they work super. Install per the pics, turn screws to "just" grip the o-ring then push o-ring into the groove, finish tightening, a bit of silicone (lube, not caulk) to help the o-ring slide into place is a good practice. I always remove all the paint from the petcock seal area with a razor blade and sand the metal smooth. This is SOP on every petcock I remove.

petcock oring1.jpg petcock o-ring and brass tube repair.jpg

Also in the pic; repair of a split brass petcock tube, split tubes are common; wrap the end with fine copper strand stripped from some automotive wire, clean the tube, flux and solder end and split, this repair is 3 years old now. don't let it get too "fat", the petcock slot in the tank bottom is narrow.

Good routing for euro bend handle bars with standard length cables; neat, only gentle bends and works great. Note; the cable sides are reverse from the stock positions. Along with slightly straightening the elbow at the bottom this may be the cure to your "fussy clutch", mine is easy to pull and stays in adjustment hot and cold.

clutch cable routing.jpg throttle cable routing.jpg
The prep for the Ozark rally continues.
 
gggGary the tang bracket that the signal breaker hung on. Did you cut that off to get that coil in/under there enough for the tank to fit over it?
 
gggGary the tang bracket that the signal breaker hung on. Did you cut that off to get that coil in/under there enough for the tank to fit over it?

Whoosh that was 4 or 5 years ago, WER, no idear. I do remember I was able to use a stock bolt hole in the frame to get the front mount of the coil. then fabbed up that fancy aluminum "snake" to hold the rear. I did a similar mount for an accel coil on the 77 that went to Joni in Texas. there's pretty good air flow in that area. Gotta find some black high tension wire....
 
Adjusted rear brake, I lock them up easy now. Rebuilt the front calliper, new pads and mounted it on the tube. waiting on brake line. Rode it. Changed the plugs.
 
Today, I went for a ride, DC to Annapolis, MD and back. Had some clutch slippage and then engine spitting and popping at higher revs. The current next plan is remove the cover, change the clutch springs and try again. Then check carb jetting I suspect it's lean now.
 
Finally got my arse in gear and did the rollpin fix on my shaky shift pedal.
Took 2 years being annoyed by the loose shifter, a 2-day garage search to find that yes, I had already used my last rollpin, about an hour to go buy another, a half-hour to find the necessary tools and about 5 minutes to do the job.
 
My first ever engine rebuild saw me hanging on every word Nightflyer says on You Tube as I tried to assemble my new top end. Is it better to fit new Pistons to barrels first and then fit sleeves to rods, or fit Pistons to rods and then slide barrels over the Pistons/rings? Two different methods on YT and I'm not sure which is easier for a novice like me. Slug.
 
Today I am going to replace my valve guide oil seals on my '81 H according to Farrell.
Wish me luck...thanks in advance.
Yesterday I built a new battery tray and ground the 1/2" connector into a
valve spring compression tool.
Later, I hope to ride.
Rob
 
Background out for a ride Sunday on the 79 standard I gave the bars a good slap at about 75MPH and got a strong speed wobble in return.
Some checking found a bit of slop in the swing arm pivot, not huge but slop. Tore it down and even this low miles fairly well maintained bike had wear on the phenolic bushings and the pivot tube. There was lots of grease in the swing arm but it may have gotten dry at some point? I had two all balls needle bearing sets so thought I'd give one a try. Used all thread and various sockets to install the bearings into the arm, cleaned the recesses but maybe should have spent more time, one set of bearings fought going in "all the way". she's back together and no slop but I may be in there again some day. Sure is a pleasure working on a clean well maintained bike now and then! Lot's more to do to get ready for the ozarks run but my damned back is really putting a crimp in things. I have a new tire to go on it also, PO had a 120/80, 9 years old, still looks good but putting on a new 110/80.

Follow up; with the all balls needle bearing kit installed and new rear tire (front is new also) at 70 plus even slapping the handle bars, she is dead stable. A very noticeable improvement in handling also. Instant cornering confidence increase!
 

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Well Pistons are fitted and today started valve lapping. What a learning curve. After attempting to lap the fist exhaust valve I realised that the valve surface had a concave shape - so I went longer using the coarser grit. Anothe hour and still concave. Searched online and found a great article - tells me I'm getting concave because the coarse grit tends to work mainly I the middle as the paste squeezes out the sides. Understand now that further coarse lapping will only make the concave problem worse. This bloke reckons 20 secs using fine paste only on correctly machined surfaces is the way to go - and I've learnt today that he's probably right. Bugger! Looks like machining surfaces is the go now though I'll give fine paste a try for 30 secs first. Learning every day and enjoying the experience. The tips on here that saw me eventually lay the engine on its side so had and Pistons could slide horizontally when fitting was a game changer so thanks heaps for the tips! Slug
 
Got the valve stem oil seals changed. It took about five hours. Huge learning curve. By the last one, I was no longer referring to Farrell's directions, but the colletts on the second intake valve were buggers to get in. My tool was a little wonky after three seal installs.
The great news was that it fired right up and NO SMOKE!
Took it for a test ride and all of my other seal replacements held up. No Leaks!
So, I am going to adjust a few things. Re time and ride her with enthusiasm.
 
Changed the oil on my '71. Epoxied the screen and cut a new gasket out of the bottom of a tissue box and smeared grease on it. Rode it and no leaks!
 
Rejeted mains from 130 to 135, pulls good until he clutch starts slipping at about 4000 rpm. Adjusted clutch, still slips. I got the springs but I got tired so maybe next week I'll change the springs and polish the cover.
 
After engine rebuild, I've always thought that the fouling of the spark plugs would be eliminated. Nope, carbonation of the plugs was still going on, so that ment carbs, carbs, carbs. Lifted the lids, pulled the needles and surprise, surprise, the needle positioning circlips were set in the wrong position making the engine run way too rich.
Something so simple eluded me for months, having the diagram showing the cutaway view of the carburetor and correct needle position instantly alerted me to a simple but very effective repair.....lightbulb moment :bike:

 
Installed the Omar Mile Exhaust that I won last week on ebay. Good grief was it a pita to route the right side pipe.

I have a pair of exhaust port optimizers but there was no way to get the right header to fit over it in the head; nor enough clearance to put the optimizer in the header first. If anyone knows the trick to fitting it I'm all ears.

I need to play around with the mounting a little more, as I cannot get the left sidecover back on (hits the welded mount on the end of the header).

Looks and sounds awesome though! The PO had it Jet Hot coated, and I managed to scratch it up pretty good in some spots.

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After a major carb cleaning, readjusted the air/fuel mixture (forgot to note where screws were set prior to cleaning:doh:) Then followed the instructions on the video gggGary posted on checking bent forks. I wasn't concerned, but wanted to check anyways. Right side was straight as an arrow, left moved about an 1/8", if that. Nice video Gary!

UM
 
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