Torchard
XS650 Addict
Oh … weird. My error. Thanks.
LEDs continue to evolve rapidly.
In testing about 6 LED bulbs I did a couple years ago any bulbs that had a "standard" metal base were not bright "enough" compared to bulbs with some sort of external cooling capacity. That might have changed but there is a finite lower limit to how much waste heat needs to be shed per lunem of usable light using LED technology.
Some of that here. https://www.xs650.com/threads/led-headlight-conversions-ideas-good-and-bad.50174/#post-517974
It would be great if you post some before after pics there. I'll try to get out and do the same with some more recent bulbs. Sorry about the link, They are available in the USA. My goto favorite Broview S5 bulb as seen in the thread above is NLA. The ones you bought look to have the correct housing shield around the LED chip to direct light LIKE an incandescent or quartz H4 bulb which is SO important.
I need to do some headlight bulb work on the new to me R1200GS it has some LED aux lights but I suspect they are just ghetto blasters with poor or no shielding for oncoming drivers. The prob with that bike is it's canbus so anything other than the stock bulbs throw a dash warning. I HATE adding resisters to "cover up" for a more efficient bulb, it's just SO wrong.
I think I saw some "British" MOTs reg banning LEDs in older vehicles designed for incandescent bulbs. There is some rationale there. But the market is correcting for some of the early problems of dazzling oncoming drivers.
You can buy packs of grommets from various hobby electronic stores online (used to be you could get them almost anywhere, but meh).No.
I suppose I might try and make up something?
The Great Salt started a week ago. But there's been two days of rain, and it's not as cold now, and today is sunny, and the roads are dry. So out we go!
Opportunistic, almost like a stolen outing at this time of year. Only twenty miles on some local roads but that felt good.
BTW, having applied 5T's advice about getting the clutch adjustment just so I have to say the clutch felt real good, pretty much like a clutch ought to feel.
Spark plugs are the new oil thread , who knew? Like some others here, I went the other way, I installed NGK non resistor plug caps and I am now running Autolite AP63 platinum spark plugs in both of my bikes. They are available everywhere, inexpensive and work great!
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Hello TL and welcome to the Miss November thread.Hey Raymond,
Welcome to the XS fam bam! There are a lot of knowledgable folks on here. These bikes a joy to work on if you like getting your hands dirty! Mailman and Maxpete have helped me numerous times with my classic build. I got my first xs and joined just like you. My bike which I got three years ago now is a 73 TX650! I decided to save it from it’s cafè racer look the previous owner was going for and make it look stock but with some nice upgrades. I started with rebuilding suspension and brakes and carbies. Replaced rear shocks because they were not rebuildable. Brand I went to was Koni or now Ikon shocks that look stock but can be rebuilt later on! Polished the lowers on the fork, wheels and other bits. With the help of my sparky mates the bike got completely rewired front to back. I put on a electric ignition (removed the points) put on a PMA kit (permanent magnet Alternator)
Later on through this forum a lot of folks recommended getting new carbs. Mikuni VM34’s. Set em and forget em. Two years later I rebuilt the engine top to bottom and put the 447 cam in! At that time I did the bushings to the swing arm and all the rubber fittings around the bike with all new nuts and bolts. You can attend to your headset straight away and get tapered bearings! Let the fun begin!! Enjoy and take care!!
Lewi
Knee’s in the breeze
I don’t like change. The old bike works good. The old plugs work good. Please don’t make me change.Spark plugs are the new oil thread , who knew? Like some others here, I went the other way, I installed NGK non resistor plug caps and I am now running Autolite AP63 platinum spark plugs in both of my bikes. They are available everywhere, inexpensive and work great!
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As discussed on What have you done to your XS today, the pilot system seems to have gummed up. Started by taking the r/h float bowl off. Using a cross head bit in an 8mm socket and a small ratchet drive it was not too hard except you are working pretty much blind on the inner pair of screws. But with the bowl off I thought, that doesn't really help me get to the pilot system. So it was off with the seat, the tank, the carbs:
New float bowl gaskets on order from Yambits. Waiting for those will give me two or three days to clean up the carbs.
Must confess I was not familiar with red rubber grease - must've led a sheltered life. But took a look and have ended up buying this:Something I've started doing is smearing red rubber grease all over the diaphragm and applying a little bit in the groove around the top of the carb . . .