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After closer examination I found paint on the seal and traces of it in the brake fluid after bleeding. I think that this resulted in an incomplete seal. Definitely not having someone else paint them so i have them soaking in some mek to remove any traces of paint and I'll put new seals in...
Okay so I think I figured out the problem. I recently had my calipers repainted and it appears that the shop didn't take the piston seal out. They were painted black so it was difficult to notice the dried paint on them, I have since contacted and yelled at them. My only surprise is that this...
They used to be black but were worn so I replaced them. The speed/tach housings are chrome but I've seen plenty of special II's with chrome. Additionally my model and engine # correspond with a special II.
Hmm that's a good idea regarding the mc test I will definitely try that as well as sanding down my pads.
I have mag wheels on my 81 and uploaded the best picture I can get of the setup. I have seen many special II's with the same adaption which originally made me think it was stock
Thanks for the replies I'll try to address them all at once.
Before this issue happened I took apart the calipers and cleaned them (yes removing seals and cleaning behind them as well). It's something I do once/twice a season and I've never had an issue before as the brakes have always been...
The front lever will touch the handlebar and the rear brake lever will touch the exhaust pretty easily. Never used to do that. Calipers have been fully cleaned every season (including this one) and all the o-rings are in good condition. My brake lines aren't original but the lower lines for the...
To begin with I understand that there are a lot of threads concerning brakes, however i'm posting because i've been attempting to fix this issue for about a month with little to no progress and have reached despiration.
Both the front (dual disc) and rear (disc) brakes on my 81 xs650 special II...
I know that was a joke :P. I did run it on the center stand but there is no noise and only makes the noise when I'm physically moving; thus I made joke that I could only deduce where the noise is coming from if "I could run next to it".
I took it through the rpm range/gears on the center stand and nothing....doesn't (noticeably) make the noise just the normal valve-train noise/rattling you'd expect. So now i'm very confused and unless I suddenly become Usain Bolt I don't think a mechanics stethoscope is going to do any good. I...
I managed to get some video, the quality isn't that good due to wind but bear with me. One is of my engine just idling. Its kind of a metallic chirping noise but its hard to hear over the lovely valve train symphony that these bikes makes.
Idle:
Vid 1:
Vid 2:
I'm not overly concerned, as I know that I'd have to throw the bike into the fiery pits of mt. Doom to do any real damage and even that might not be enough.
I generally run 91 non ethanol because I'm lucky enough to have a station that has it 5 minutes from my house. I haven't found a thread with a video that sounds like the noise I'm hearing. Gonna take another look at the simple stuff first I'll let you guys know how it goes .
So i'm honestly not sure if this noise is new or maybe I just haven't noticed it before. Cam chain tensioner/valves done correctly about 500 miles ago nothing on the bike has changed. It isn't a distinct metal knocking nor a carb chirp but its something in between the two. I can only hear it...