What have you done to your XS today?

[member28833]

Yesterday's BS38 Main jet change out to 137.5's was road tested this evening after work. I hit the local highway after a cruise around the Ft. Vancouver National Park grounds near home to get it good and warm. Then tested the top end out. Made it over 100 ! but it was getting weak pulling and running out of rpm's pretty soon .

I think it's time to start advancing the timing. Pretty sure my plugs are black too.
Mid Range is So good! So nice to cruise old main Street on. Compliments on the corners. Thank yous
Home in the garage it sits with no leaks again. Weird because when the engine is cold it does drip motor oil under by the starter. Still proving this XS out and I have to admit, I ride this thing very "illegally" , and Living it.

 

[bosco659]

View attachment 190264
Yesterday's BS38 Main jet change out to 137.5's was road tested this evening after work. I hit the local highway after a cruise around the Ft. Vancouver National Park grounds near home to get it good and warm. Then tested the top end out. Made it over 100 ! but it was getting weak pulling and running out of rpm's pretty soon .

I think it's time to start advancing the timing. Pretty sure my plugs are black too.
Mid Range is So good! So nice to cruise old main Street on. Compliments on the corners. Thank yous
Home in the garage it sits with no leaks again. Weird because when the engine is cold it does drip motor oil under by the starter. Still proving this XS out and I have to admit, I ride this thing very "illegally" , and Living it.

Great photos, you’re fortunate to have all that great history and scenery around you. We are still in a lockdown type environment where we are only supposed to leave home for essential travel. Another few weeks and hopefully we’ll be able to ride around freely.

 

[5twins]

I recently got these to adapt as small round main "special tools" .....

I'll just need to shape the blades a little to get that perfect fit in the jet slot I'm after.

 

[Stick14ya]

I managed to drill the frame for the gas tank bungs and weld them and fit my sportster tank on.She’s getting there

 

[5twins]

I made up a "new" front wheel for the '83. I had an extra front hub laying around so I got a new slightly wider (2.15") alloy rim from Mikes, stainless spokes from XS650direct, installed new bearings, and a freshly drilled disc .....

I think it came out pretty nice .....

I went with the non-flanged "WM" style rim to more closely match up to the 16" rear I recently swapped back on. It's a non-flanged rim as well .....

Once I wear out that rear tire, I have an alloy rim and stainless spokes for this wheel too.

 

[member28833]

After comparing both 8-10, & 10-12, I turned down two 10-12 lengths. One for stubby handle and other for the mini ratchet.
Collecting a tool kit for a road ride !

 

[5twins]

To tighten and install the jets, only use that finger bit holder, not the ratchet. The ratchet can and most likely will make them too tight. And the funny thing about jets is they seem to get even tighter after they've been in there for a while, so you'll have a very hard time getting them out if you ratchet install them.

 

[Jim]

I made up a "new" front wheel for the '83. I had an extra front hub laying around so I got a new slightly wider (2.15") alloy rim from Mikes, stainless spokes from XS650direct, installed new bearings, and a freshly drilled disc .....

I think it came out pretty nice .....

I went with the non-flanged "WM" style rim to more closely match up to the 16" rear I recently swapped back on. It's a non-flanged rim as well .....

Once I wear out that rear tire, I have an alloy rim and stainless spokes for this wheel too.

Nice pattern! I like the increasing/decreasing hole size. How're you liking those Commandos?

 

[Clutchslip]

Put XS1100 37mm forks on mine, using a XV920R Seca tree! Ain't that sexy?

 

[5twins]

Now that I've baffled the Peashooters, they're pretty good. But honestly, I think those old type Commandos Mikes used to sell and YamahaXS650.com now sells sound better.

The differing hole sizes in my disc were out of necessity really. It was already drilled all over with 3/16" holes using a pattern I made up for that (or 5mm) hole size. That put the outer hole in each "swirl" as close to the edge of the disc as I was comfortable with. From research and a bunch of calculations I did recently, I found that the ideal hole size when drilling your disc is the same as the thickness of the disc. This gains you the most surface area. The inner hole in each "swirl" was already partially off the pad swept area so I didn't see the point of enlarging that one either. So, I skipped the 1st and last hole in each "swirl" and just enlarged the 6 middle ones to about 7mm. Doing some more math showed me that I generated 14 square inches more surface area. That's got to help increase the cooling some.

 

[gggGary]

I'm a slow worker.
View attachment 190263

But meticulous.

 

[bosco659]

Now that I've baffled the Peashooters, they're pretty good. But honestly, I think those old type Commandos Mikes used to sell and YamahaXS650.com now sells sound better.

The differing hole sizes in my disc were out of necessity really. It was already drilled all over with 3/16" holes using a pattern I made up for that (or 5mm) hole size. That put the outer hole in each "swirl" as close to the edge of the disc as I was comfortable with. From research and a bunch of calculations I did recently, I found that the ideal hole size when drilling your disc is the same as the thickness of the disc. This gains you the most surface area. The inner hole in each "swirl" was already partially off the pad swept area so I didn't see the point of enlarging that one either. So, I skipped the 1st and last hole in each "swirl" and just enlarged the 6 middle ones to about 7mm. Doing some more math showed me that I generated 14 square inches more surface area. That's got to help increase the cooling some.

Bike looks great 5T!

 

[member28833]

Great photos, you’re fortunate to have all that great history and scenery around you. We are still in a lockdown type environment where we are only supposed to leave home for essential travel. Another few weeks and hopefully we’ll be able to ride around freely.

Yes, very fortunate. Lots of early American and French fur trader history exactly where my Condo is.
Sorry your riding freedom is temporarily hindered.
I'll gas it on again for you

 

[DaveO]

My tacho has been subject to a couple of repairs where it has fallen apart internally. Currently, it works but its accuracy is limited to "the engine is running", "your going along quite fast now" and "yes, you're blipping the throttle". The bike also ticks over at zero revs. Everything seems OK internally. Perhaps the magnet has lost its magnetism?

I picked up a second hand one off eBay.

I've noticed threads about the "damper" and there's nothing in place on mine. So I pulled off the speedo to see what one looks like.

I may never know. I'm not sure if this is the remains of 50 year old damper or some mastic. I suspect the former as there is the vestiges of a shoulder (the blue stuff).

Also present on the speedo but missing from the tacho were two spacers or pillars.

The internal damage has probably been caused by 50 years of vibration. Vibration makes magnets lose their power too, I'm sure.

I've ordered some steel pillars / spacers off eBay and some 1mm sticky backed rubber and also some 3mm sticky backed foam strip.

There's a thread on this for "75 - 76 dampers" so I'll let you know how I get on and update the thread (success or abject failure).

Dave

 

[bosco659]

Just bled the front brakes. Used my Mityvac to pull the fluid through. Took a while because for some reason the fluid wouldn’t flow until the bleeder was open about 3/4 of a turn. The process reminded me of a funny story. Can’t recall if I already shared this but if I did, it’s worthy of a repeat.

Several weeks ago I went to see a new potential project bike, a 1975 (turned out to be a ‘74) Suzuki GT750 (two stroke triple), original owner (turned out to be the second owner), running condition (didn’t run) bike. When I got there the owner explained to me that this was not a bike for a newbie. He explained that one needed significant mechanical ability to own and operate one. I took his word for it and assumed he was quite mechanically inclined but sensed he really wasn’t.

The bike had quite a bit of rust and the forks were heavily pitted. He said it wasn’t a problem because rubbing compound would clean it right up. That was the first sign.

I asked if the tank was rusted. He said no, it was full of fuel and therefore no rust. I opened the tank and it was empty and heavily rusted. Warning sign #2. I questioned why it was empty and he said he didn’t know why. I asked when he filled it and he answered the last time he rode, not so long ago. Looked at the plate tag and it was ‘06. He said he was sure it would run fine with fresh fuel.

I lifted the seat to look at the battery compartment and noticed the lock for the seat was missing. I asked where it was and he replied he had to remove it because he lost the key. On closer inspection he tried to drill the lock out. Well that didn’t work so why not use a cold chisel and a big hammer to chisel off the part of the frame that held the lock mechanism in place. Warning sign #3.

I tried to push the bike and the brakes were dragging badly. The front brake lever was seized. I inspected the front brakes an rotors were shot. Not a big deal. I then looked at the calipers and this really made me scratch my head. Why would the brakes be dragging when he obviously had been greasing the bleeder nipples. True story. Lol. Sign #4 and time to leave.

Oh well it was entertaining and only a 5-1/2 hour round trip

 

[5twins]

Cheap laughs, lol.

 

[lakeview]

Something to do After the Grass is Cut
Rained all day after the lawn was fertilized Tuesday. I could almost hear it growing this afternoon!
Local shop ordered a pair of K70's for me which came in today and I took in my new rims and got them mounted. I know, I know, a real biker mounts his own tires dry with his bare hands. Not me.
Dealer's shop help needs it worse than I. Besides, I will go in there in a month or so looking to have a bike certified and they already know me.

 

[5twins]

Please let us know how that cush drive rear wheel works.

 

[lakeview]

Will do.
Unfortunately, to mix a metaphor, my seat of the pants has a tin ear.

 

[mick71b]

Picked up my side covers from the painter today. Lousy pic, but they came out really nice. Found all nos mounts and rubber on fleabay to do it right. Young cat near me does really nice work at a fair price (fair, not cheap) lol.