Miss November XS2 tribute

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:

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/191849821736?mkevt=1&mkcid=1&mkrid=710-53481-19255-0&campid=5338353470&toolid=20006&customid=s:GS;pt:0;d:D;si:2045;ct:;ad:;ii:191849821736;pr:;cd:;gc:EAIaIQobChMIt43U4-DX9gIVdYBQBh2KvwcTEAQYAyABEgKufvD_BwE&_trkparms=ispr=1&amdata=enc:1CLfZjqryTbG4znHASSRJ0A22

Specially formulated for applications where mineral-based grease would give problems so I'll give your idea a try - Thank You for the suggestion!
Cheers Raymond.
 
As discussed on What have you done to your XS today, the pilot system seems to have gummed up.
My condolences to those of you forced to burn E10 gasoline. :thumbsdown:

After I finished servicing my mowers yesterday, I needed to run an errand. I chose the XS11 for the job. The fuel may date back to December, but I can't exactly remember. It started instantly when I thumbed the start button. My leaf blower also fired on the third pull with November gas in it. E0 baby!
 
Today, we have cleaning of carbs.

PICT2853.JPG


Beautiful afternoon, table in the back yard, chair and comfy cushion not shown. Might as well make oneself comfortable.

Parcel Force says the float bowl gaskets will arrive tomorrow.
 
Something else I do when going through a set of carbs is get rid of all the Phillips screws and switch to stainless Allens. The bowls and angle bracket across the bottom get regular Allens, the tops and sides (choke lever, choke housings) get buttonheads .....

Complete3.jpg


Complete.jpg


Complete2.jpg


The stock bowl screws are 12mm long and in my opinion, a bit too short .....

OriginalScrew.jpg


But the next size up, a 14mm, can be a little too long under the choke housing, contacting it before it has tightened the bowl down. So, I custom cut down longer screws to just over 13mm .....

BowlScrewCut2.jpg



BowlScrewFit6.jpg
 
Float bowl gaskets arrived yesterday and the red rubber grease, ooh err, this morning. So it's all back together. Went for a short test ride. The carbs felt pretty good. I suppose there's always room for improvement and there was the odd pop on deceleration BUT the chronic popping & banging on closed throttle has gone. Good result.


PICT2858.JPG




But, there are signs of oil on the cylinder block, l/h side. Might be head gasket? 'Spose I should give the head bolts a check . . .
 
Float bowl gaskets arrived yesterday and the red rubber grease, ooh err, this morning. So it's all back together. Went for a short test ride. The carbs felt pretty good. I suppose there's always room for improvement and there was the odd pop on deceleration BUT the chronic popping & banging on closed throttle has gone. Good result.


View attachment 210424



But, there are signs of oil on the cylinder block, l/h side. Might be head gasket? 'Spose I should give the head bolts a check . . .
Really like the paint scheme on the tank. Like some old R5’s I’ve seen.
 
Thank you, Bosco, was trying to copy the 1972 XS2:

xs2ag.jpg

5T, seems like cleaning the carbs has cured the problem I had the other day. Since posting earlier, have been out for a thirty-mile run and the bike is behaving very well. As you say, a run can settle things down. I suppose a good run lets the petrol wash away varnish build up?

Have just used some Gunk to clean off the cylinder block, so I can see if there is any more oil and where it's coming from.
 
Two days ago, going to Galashiels to talk to the engineer about a mudguard bracket for the Bullet, I felt the XS was slightly more reluctant to start. And didn't feel so nice at very low revs.

Started wondering if the battery wasn't charging properly - I know you need to keep an eye on things like the alternator brushes. So, yesterday, asked my willing helper - she's getting used to this kind of stuff - to help me check the bike is charging. The idea was, I sit aboard the bike, kick the engine into life, hop off, she lifts the saddle and applies the voltmeter to the battery terminals.

Didn't go too well. Usually, Miss November starts from cold 1st or 2nd kick. Uh, nope. Took a good few kicks, choke on, choke off, the odd cough, managed to catch the engine and give a little bit of throttle, but felt ruff. Instead of settling down and warming up, seemed to be running on one cylinder only. Wouldn't settle to an even tick over. However, giving a few revs raised the battery reading from 12.5 is to 13.7 ish, so I think the charging circuit is good.

But with bike turned off, battery is showing a low value, like 11 point something. Put the smart charger on till the green light was illuminated. This morning, took another look and the battery is showing about 10.2V.

Does this mean the battery is on the way out? Is there a good way to check the battery? Or am I barking up the wrong tree altogether?
 
Charging system seems like it's working...and at rest, with a low v after fully charging on your trickle charger, to me it sounds like the battery is on it's way out... or, there's a draw on the battery with the key off, but I doubt that's the case. If it's a lead acid, you could check the water levels... otherwise, may be time for a new battery.
 
Marty, thank you! You led me straight to the problem.

Read your post, thought that sounds like a check for parasitic drain, went to garage, took test bulb, undid the earth cables from the battery. Hello, thinks I to meself, there's usually three cables on the earth terminal, but today there was two plus an odd looking washer. Short search, it had pulled a few inches back behind the fuse box, found the end of the Heavy Duty earth strap, minus it's ring terminal:

PICT0191.JPG

To quote yourself, https://www.xs650.com/threads/2003-royal-enfield-500-deluxe.60842/post-740504

BTW, the test bulb don't show even a glimmer.

I think I know what I gotta do . . .
 
10ga is only 5.26sq mm, which seems light to me.
I'd use 10sq mm or even 16 if I had some around, which I do.
That comes from hating thin welding cables as supplied, and immediately replacing them with beefier stuff, which gives me some useful battery leads for bikes.
 
Back
Top