Recent content by 13R

The 500 was one of Yamaha's rare failures,, as was the 750 twin.... They should've just stuck with the 650, bored it to 750 and given it a 90* crank like they did with the much later 850. Live and learn...

I've never worn jewelry of any kind - the above are just some of the reasons why.

If it's overflowing, the float level may be too high, the needle valve could be worn out or there could be some debris preventing the needle from sealing. I'd start with lowering the float level slightly by bending the tab that contacts the float needle. Also, with the carb off the cylinder but...

The amount of money people waste on 'carb kits' never ceases to amaze me. If the bike isn't running well because it sat for long time it's almost always because the small passageways inside the carb are plugged up with old gas, etc. A carb kit won't fix that. Unless there is something in the...

From bikeexif

XS650 enthusiasts will be surprised to learn that the most exotic XS650 race bike ever built was created not in the US but in Japan, by Japan's gamble racers (auto race). This is state-sponsored gambling on oval track motorcycle racing. The heydays for gamble racing were the sixties and...

That race he won was, as I recall, on a strange track surface on which there was some kind of rubber matting over which dirt or pumice had been laid. Maybe a horse track of some kind? I spoke with Chuck briefly at San José because I was too young and dumb to know how to build a proper XS and...

San José half-mile, when I was young and foolish. (Pat Hennon 65 (riding a monocoque Triumph, as I recall), Ivan Shigemasa 56Z, Gary Tonda 76Z, Larry Schultz 72, who went on to work with Ira Kanemoto at the GPs) Those interested in reading about what it's like to work for the Yamaha factory in...

KR

No need to break cam chain. You can just remove the bearings from the end of the cam, remove the tensioner from the rear of the cylinder and then slip the cam our from under the chain. Tip 2: if you cut screwdriver slots in the tops of your head/cylinder hold-down studs you can remove the top...

My old Trackmaster

Pilot jets! They are the smallest diameter jets in the carbs, that's why they get plugged. Remove them, take one strand of copper wire from a piece of electrical wire and use that to clear the blockage. (Soaking carb bodies and all metal parts in lacquer thinner, then blowing out with air is...