Working on the 75' XSb

[Orion61]

Well after getting hurt very badly at work and a decade of fighting health issues because of it, I got a couple hours of feeling good time... And tore into my 1975 XS650b, if you have read my previous posts you know just how much I love that old girl. just a few of the issues I was fighting, for perspective (4 knee joint replacements and revisions, a Quadriceps tear and surgery, "these make bending kneeling work tough" a Massive STAFF infection, and 3 heart Attacks along with a Pulmunary Embolism)
WHEW.... SO that was the past, I am over the physical (AND MENTAL) parts of laying dead for nearly 5 minutes on the table before they brought me back....trust me your whole outlook changes, especially when you see things while down... we won't go there...
So back to the bike, Did I tell you how much I love that bike! But it has mostly been in storage for close to 13 years. I was happy finding a heated garage to store her in and when I drove her in and drained the tank, and carbs, changed the oil it was a tight and clean room... That isn't the case now! I was apalled when I got in there,
since my injury I have been mostly home bound, what little riding was on my Suzuki C50 Touring Boulevard.
My Brother left it to me when he passed 2 years ago. But when I looked in there celing tiles were down, and th roof was leaking....BADLY. My throttle cables are hopelessly frozen, worse yet about 5 years ago he had asked me about selling it and as bad off as I was because of Medical bills I said I would think about it and he could have someone look at it. I didn't know they were going to put a battery in it and start it! You guessed it, they didn't drain the fuel and when I got there I saw a gummy mess in the tank!! I pulled the tank, and bowels Worse than I thought. The Right handlebar controller had water dripping directly on it and now has some sort of white paste filling it along with the frozen cables..
I put some fresh fuel back in it with stabil in it, turned it ofer and with a quick squirt of ether it popped of and ran (kinda) boy could I smell the old yuck gas..I had to hold the choke about 1/2 way and feather both carbs individually but it is as strong as ever. I will need to boil the carbs (thank you to the guy that first tried pine Sol.) I ran out of energy, feeling angry, let down and happy at the same time.. I can't be too mad at the guy because he is letting me store it for free, he isn't a motorhead so he didn't know what old gas does.
I didn't take pictures BUT I did bring my camcorder and will have some video, eventually.
Does anybody know what the white junk is in the controller? the shut off and starter buttons still work fortunately! Is there a way to save the throttle cables? If I need to I have 2 carb kits NOS sealed, I for what ever reason bought shorty mufflers, new brake and Clutch cables, and new clutch and brake handles the old handles are showing their age, and the bike did go down on one side during a Near miss Tornado in 100 MPH winds, broke my flasher and dimpled my tank.... The Bike has 12190 miles.
I also have new front seals and covers and rear sway bushings actually bearings.
I also noticed the handle bars are loose, there seems to be a rubber riser or vibration dampener that has
dried and shrunk.......
Boy it was nice hearing her run again!
have a great day folks,
Cousin Larry

 

[Michaelo]

Hi Cousin Larry, man you've had a rough time of it, head up mate, just keep plugging away. your bike is a beautiful machine, I am always looking for comparisons to keep me in check.
The white gunk sounds like aluminium oxide, this is in the righthand controller correct?

Cousin Mick

 

[Orion61]

Yes you are correct, the right but I didn't get a chance to open it up. I was too busy grabbing the carbs.. It upset me, BUT I love working on them, they are just so SOLID, they have a SOMETHING about them i live for to ride. NO PLASTIC, The 650s that are kept clean will keep going up in value. When I parked it I couldn't get $500.00 for it in the Midwest, last Summer I turned down $1700.00. Go Figure, My BRO-In-Law has a 78 that runs great and is pretty clean I think $600.00 would buy it. but my passion are for the 70-75, the 1975 is my favorite.
thanks for the input...
Cousin Larry

 

[TwoManyXS1Bs]

Larry, I don't know about your later model throttle cables, but I've experienced numerous issues with replacements of which you may want to be aware.

 

[nj1639]

On the loose handlebars.........If you pull the rIser rubber bushings out you should find that they are a two piece item. Take one of the bushings to a decent hardware store and find a pair of large washers, one for each pair of bushings, that will cover the outside and inside dimensions of the bushing to use as a spacer. 2 mm thick would be good. The spacer can either be put between the upper and lower rubber bushing, sandwiched per se or added to the bottom of the bushing.

The issue of adding it to the bottom is that the center hole of the washer has to be large enough to accept the upper, unthreaded portion of the riser to be able to compress the rubber bushing. Clear as mud, eh?

 

[Orion61]

Looking at what information I can find on the cables, it looks like Yamaha used 2 different sets of cables. The first set look like the ones you pictured as original and were used from 1970-1975 the other set were a little bit different dimension and were used on the 1976-1983. They could probably be used, but it would take some backward engineering and modifications that I am not interested in doing to my bike. I am going to pull the Right controller and cables, clean it up and soak the cables in some penetrating oil. It may take some time but I hope it hasn't sit too long to have ruined them. The last time I touched the throttle and found it loose was about 2 1/2 years ago.
I will also look into the handle bars, I also have some thick rubber matting that I may be able to use the old rubber as a template and cut new ones and glue together with J6000 rubber cement and replace the old dried ones. I would rather keep it so the vibration is cut down, It is hard enough to see out of the mirrors as it is.Thanks again I Sincerely appreciate your time and effort in taking the time to take and upload the image and also reply with your findings.
Be well,
Cousin Larry