maintenance

can anyone help please with the part number for the starter motor shaft oil seal? Thats the small internal fitting seal not the larger external oil seal. If not does anyone have the actual seal sizes ID & OD ? As far as I can tell it would be ID 18mm OD 28mm thickness 7mm ? many thanks

Hey guys, My name is Jon, I'm new around here. I passed my MSF safety course in the fall, and got my license, but never bought a bike. Today I checked out a bike that's just about 6 blocks from my house, advertised on craigslist. A 1979 Yamaha XS650. At first I wasn't sure if I wanted to check...

Hello :) Now I have had my XS 650 D '77 for a year and I have just pulled off my carbs for the first time. I took out the airbox cause I wanna try with UNI filters. When I pulled off the breather hose I saw some small tubing in the breatherhole.. should they be there? Bagged and tagged...

To start off, I have a 1977 xs650 that just hit 120,000 miles. I was riding the other day and I went to kickstart it (electric start is so-so) and the carbs popped out of the boots/holders (I have pod filters). This happened twice more before I finally got it started and got it home. Now it does...

Bought this from a guy, who bought it from a boneyard, who found it at their gate one morning. It's had just a bit of get it ready to start work since then. This was the first fire on newly overhauled carbs with new brass, throttle shaft seals and the Nesco full of pinesol treatment.

So a while back I noticed a small leak, very small, coming from the neutral detent bolt. got some advise to replace the gasket, pulled the bolt. when the bolt was out I noticed the source of the leak, a small crack in the threads... then when i went to clean the oil off... it broke, no...

had a friend of mine that run a shop years ago giveme a book he's had sitting around for years. it deals with lots of other yamaha bikes as well.

My gas tank is leaking and i'm unsure why. The fuel lines on the petcocks look fine unless I missed something. Gas is running down the bottom of the left side cover and on the frame a bit. I haven't had a chance to give it a good look yet. Any ideas as to where the leak is coming from?

I'm looking for a good mechanic in or near Huntington Beach Ca. I have a Bobber xs 650. The plug on the right side keeps getting fouled and has oil on it. Oil appears to be coming out of the right side exhaust. I have taken it to shops only to be disrespected by Harley guys. Im aware of a...

Hey, I am replacing the sump filter and I've got a new gasket to put on...do I need to treat the gasket in some way? Also, there are remnants of the old gasket still stuck on the sump plate, any suggestions on removing it? Thanks a ton.

Ok so long time reader first time poster! Is anyone running an inline PSI gauge on there bike? I'm finishing up a couple of tweaks on my 78 for bike week and would like to wrap up my check list with a PSI gauge to make sure my pressure is on point while stacking the miles on. Any help or...

http://www.vintagesleds.com/library/manuals/misc/Two-stroke%20Tuner's%20Handbook.pdf

I'd like to avoid a shop if I can. How difficult is the process of replacing the rear drum brakes on an '81 special?

Just curious , how many miles should I expect to get out of a fairly well maintained XS 650 ? I have seen four cylinder Hondas that had over eighty-thousand miles and I have owned used Hondas that had over 50 and the PO claimed it had never been rebuilt ( I believed him , would have made the...

Hey guys, so in pulling out my air filters yesterday to inspect them, I noticed a hole in each of them about 1 inch in diameter in the yellow fuzz/foam material, both on the sides facing each other inside the air box. Obviously they need to be repaired or replaced. Is there an...

Trying to decide which powder coat shade/texture of black to paint my frame. I was thinking Satin black but when I went to go drop off my frame to the Powder Coaters, They must have had 15 different shades of blacks,textures etc to choose from... Flat, to 10%black on up. They also had these...

I was just looking at pictures of Standards and Specials and now I'm wondering, how easy is it to repair a flat on a Standard model, assuming it has the stock exhaust or a Mikesxs Commando type exhaust. Does the exhaust block the removal of the rear axle, in order to remove the rear wheel?

Machinist's Workshop MagT recently published some information on various penetrating oils that I found very interesting. Some of you might appreciate this. The magazine reports they tested penetrates for break out torque on rusted nuts. They are below, as forwarded by an ex-student and...

:doh::doh::doh:

I'm doing a top end rebuild, new guide, gaskets, rings but I'm curious if I need to replace my cam chain. I know it's probably the best idea to just replace it but how do I know when it needs to be replaced? Is there any way to check while I have the engine apart?