Yam_Tech314's official build thread

I’m happy to hear you are still at your job and happy there, doing work that you enjoy counts for a lot !

I have a good bit of work under my belt and still know almost nothing lol.

You’ll be amazed how fast you’ll pick up on things working in that environment. I worked as a welder in a truck fleet garage for nearly ten years and even though my primary job was welding, just being around a building full of mechanics and all that work around you being done, you just absorb it. Also good to see you getting some wrenching done on your 650! :thumbsup:
 
Looking into parts for the electronics side of things this time around.

I've decided to just replace the handlebar switches with some kind of aftermarket ones. Whether they be compact or stock look alikes is up in the air. I wanted to see what others have done, and if you guys had any recommendations.

I wanna tackle the lighting, signals, brake light switches, and other necessary lights and accessories for PA state inspection as well BEFORE I get the bike to a ridable state. Otherwise the teenager in me will ride before it's ready, and I'll have fines to pay. :rolleyes:

I'm also in need of a clutch perch and lever, and a new throttle assembly. I've seen some cheap plastic throttle tube assemblies for single cable throttles on dime city cycles, but how good can a $17 throttle tube be?
 
single cable throttles on dime city cycles, but how good can a $17 throttle tube be?
Years ago, I bought a clutch perch from MikesXS (now Revival Parts). It was junk and broke upon installation. Dime City is also Revival Parts and I'd expect it is still the same part. My recommendation is to see what you can get from Motion Pro or OEM. The quality of the Dime City part depends upon the original source to some extent. Dime City had some good stuff before the buyout. Now, MikesXS, Dime City, Randaaks, and Z1 are all the same parts and owned by Revival Parts. In my experience, they have good parts and junk parts, so buyer beware.
 
I switch to a Kawasaki clutch lever and perch on mine, the reason being the very wide lever pivot they have .....

New Clutch Lever.jpg


New Clutch Lever3.JPG


These were used on most of their street bikes from the late '70s through the mid '80s. You can usually find a nice used one on eBay for less than $20.
 
I’ve been happy with my purchases so far.
I do have a few parts from this site. I also liked the quality. I'm working a TON of OT to try and support my argument for bike parts arriving in the mail when the gf sees em' looking at controls, levers, and a seat. Once they're done, some test riding, then signals, headlight, and other wrapped up odds n ends. Slow but steady from here out.
 
I was working on a Yamaha Kodiak 700 motor yesterday at work, and it brought me back to when I was building my XS motor. It raised a few questions that I'd like to ask and see what everyone else thinks!

What kind of "revv limiting" capabilities does the XS have as a stock motor? The reason I ask is because I installed heavier valve springs and to my knowledge it should increase max RPM but if there's a limited then it'll redline at stock numbers...

The other question is retorquing the head... When should I do that? I had heat cycled it a few times, letting it get good and hot. But it wasn't under load. Perhaps I should check the head torque and just try it...

Finally, my exhaust... I'd really like to reinstall the exhaust to run the bike properly. I had my exhaust gaskets in, and tried to tighten the nuts down (the stock nuts are acorn nuts correct? And I still had a significant gap between the header flange and the nuts... I will likely just match the thread pitch and use regular nuts to ensure proper sealing. The last thing I wanna do is burn up an exhaust valve.
 
Finally, my exhaust... I'd really like to reinstall the exhaust to run the bike properly. I had my exhaust gaskets in, and tried to tighten the nuts down (the stock nuts are acorn nuts correct? And I still had a significant gap between the header flange and the nuts... I will likely just match the thread pitch and use regular nuts to ensure proper sealing. The last thing I wanna do is burn up an exhaust valve.

It should look like this,
B7580CB0-6BC0-4616-818F-D981A0BEB773.jpeg5F7CA7BE-1840-4AED-A914-3C42DD18F1E2.jpegC525750C-0554-4E40-AD5E-476F04EE9B23.jpeg0E7D4E71-F797-4BB9-B0E6-0B7AB1052B74.jpeg00F1F740-4EC6-4621-95A6-D2C5E311CCB0.jpeg
 
Yes, it's time to check the head torque. The heat cycles are the thing, it doesn't really matter if you've actually driven it or not. And plan on doing a few more in the first 1000 miles or so. After that, gasket compression should be done and the nuts should be staying tight. But, it's still a good idea to check the head torque every season.
 
After all this time... (I know you guys are gonna yell at me) my Yammy has finally gotten fresh new spark plugs. 4 of em only cost me $8 (that discount is no joke)

I also (completely) (re)installed my exhaust pipes. The battery was deader than a doornail, so I replaced it with a fillable Yuasa battery that I also got a great discount on (perks of being a tech). I filled it myself, and I'm letting it charge overnight as per manual recommendations. Tomorrow we see how it runs with everything installed properly. I.E air filters, exhaust, chain, side covers, throttle cable.

I still need to install the clutch cover gasket, and get a new clutch perch and lever, I also still need to fill my rear brake system and bleed it.

The headlight and signals need to be figured out, and a seat needs to be purchased or made for it.

It's a step closer to being done and my girlfriend is rushing me to it because she's getting pretty good on her rebel 300 which means I won't be putting many more miles on it.

It's been a long process, and the final touches are the hardest to make but it's almost there.
 

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I got the bike up and running again today. It was exciting to hear it fire up again. It needs fine tuning and much more work before a ride, but it sounds wonderful.

A very strange, truly unbelievable occurrence happened though too. As it was idling my front brake line started smoking and the rubber melted off of it. Caliper, cold to the touch. Reservoir? Cold to the touch... Brake line: toast... My theory? An electrical failure in the twist throttle housing connecting a powered wire to the grounded stainless steel rubber coated brake line. More on this tomorrow... I'm going to find the wire that cost me a brand new brake cable and a fluid flush... I'm just happy it didn't fry my harness, electrical components, or catch anything on fire. It was a first for me. And certainly a first for everyone else at the shop. We were all shaking our heads. Pics of the aftermath tomorrow.
 
An electrical failure in the twist throttle housing connecting a powered wire to the grounded stainless steel rubber coated brake line. More on this tomorrow... I'm going to find the wire that cost me a brand new brake cable and a fluid flush... I'm just happy it didn't fry my harness, electrical components, or catch anything on fire.
Yikes! Never heard of that one before - you ought to be thanking your lucky stars it happened when it did. And not when you were out on the road . . .
 
The throttle housing was the culprit. Specifically the Killswitch side of the wiring. I had it plugged in, but the switch was previously disassembled and not fully reassembled (by yours truly) I must've overlooked a few critical parts, and somehow allowed current to pass through the switch housing into the handlebars that were ground down to bare metal to accept my twist throttle... Path of least resistance must've just been through the bars into the master cyl, then into the brake line itself. I still can't explain why the line got hot and nothing else... But it stopped getting warm as soon as the switch was disconnected.
 

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