Hi all ,
I've been following the forum since the summer when I bought a 1980 xs650 with 18,000km or 11,000 miles. The bike looked to be in great shape and had hardly traded hands. Once I realized how original it seemed to be my plans quickly changed from a decent sized list of cosmetic modifications that I wanted to make to a very small list. Anyways, I've had the bike since August but haven't had a lot of time to ride it yet and even less time to work on it. Through reading the forum I know a lot of the typical maintenance that I need to do before riding it so im hoping that most of my questions aren't overly redundant and are instead, specific to my situation.
The bike started and ran fine when I brought it home, however, after sitting for a month or so it started to have some starting issues, but I'm not really worried about those at the moment. Last night I finally had a chance to dive into some of the work I wanted to do.
I tested the coil and everything looked good there, I was getting correct readings on the primaries and secondaries. I would have liked to put some new plug wires on but of course with the stock coil I can't, so I cleaned up the end of the wires, fitted them with some new NGK non-resistor caps and put some BPR7ES plugs in. My next job was to tackle the oil leak coming from the left side, my plan was to replace the short pushrod with a long one and replace the seal and bushing with new ones. But first with the cover off I tested the rotor and it read 5.2ohms between the rings, however, there were some scratches on the slip rings, is this okay? I also swapped the brushes, inside brush to outside and outside brush to inside as one was wearing much faster than the other, I'll replace these when I can but even the short one still had some life left. Back to the oil leak though, the pushrod had a lot of play so hopefully this is a big reason for the oil leak. I was able to hook onto the back of the seal and wreck it enough where I was able to grab a hold of it with some pliers and yank it out, it didn't come easy. My next step was to remove the bushing, this is where I got stuck as I couldn't get it out, I didn't notice a slit in it so my guess is that it's stock and I won't be able to bend it. Is using the drill bit method my only option? I tried to hook onto the back of it and pull it out but the lip was small and it wouldn't budge, I think its definitely worn out though as I was able to get the bearing out with the bushing still in place.
I also noticed the sprocket nut was very loose as I took it off with my fingers, I understand this is also common and a likely leak site. I've attached a photo of the sprocket, any thoughts on its condition? I'll eventually replace it with a new chain and rear sprocket but I'm hoping it's okay for now.
Anyways thats where I got to last night, I've attached some photos, im actually wondering if the left side cover had ever been taken off, is there anywhere inside the left hand cover that I need to be careful of when cleaning with mineral spirits? The gasket seemed original and was in bad condition, from what I gather some mineral spirits and a gentle scraping is my best option there.
Lots to do but I'm glad I finally started, it'll likely be a slow process for me based on the amount of time I'll have but here's hoping it's ready to go come spring.
I've been following the forum since the summer when I bought a 1980 xs650 with 18,000km or 11,000 miles. The bike looked to be in great shape and had hardly traded hands. Once I realized how original it seemed to be my plans quickly changed from a decent sized list of cosmetic modifications that I wanted to make to a very small list. Anyways, I've had the bike since August but haven't had a lot of time to ride it yet and even less time to work on it. Through reading the forum I know a lot of the typical maintenance that I need to do before riding it so im hoping that most of my questions aren't overly redundant and are instead, specific to my situation.
The bike started and ran fine when I brought it home, however, after sitting for a month or so it started to have some starting issues, but I'm not really worried about those at the moment. Last night I finally had a chance to dive into some of the work I wanted to do.
I tested the coil and everything looked good there, I was getting correct readings on the primaries and secondaries. I would have liked to put some new plug wires on but of course with the stock coil I can't, so I cleaned up the end of the wires, fitted them with some new NGK non-resistor caps and put some BPR7ES plugs in. My next job was to tackle the oil leak coming from the left side, my plan was to replace the short pushrod with a long one and replace the seal and bushing with new ones. But first with the cover off I tested the rotor and it read 5.2ohms between the rings, however, there were some scratches on the slip rings, is this okay? I also swapped the brushes, inside brush to outside and outside brush to inside as one was wearing much faster than the other, I'll replace these when I can but even the short one still had some life left. Back to the oil leak though, the pushrod had a lot of play so hopefully this is a big reason for the oil leak. I was able to hook onto the back of the seal and wreck it enough where I was able to grab a hold of it with some pliers and yank it out, it didn't come easy. My next step was to remove the bushing, this is where I got stuck as I couldn't get it out, I didn't notice a slit in it so my guess is that it's stock and I won't be able to bend it. Is using the drill bit method my only option? I tried to hook onto the back of it and pull it out but the lip was small and it wouldn't budge, I think its definitely worn out though as I was able to get the bearing out with the bushing still in place.
I also noticed the sprocket nut was very loose as I took it off with my fingers, I understand this is also common and a likely leak site. I've attached a photo of the sprocket, any thoughts on its condition? I'll eventually replace it with a new chain and rear sprocket but I'm hoping it's okay for now.
Anyways thats where I got to last night, I've attached some photos, im actually wondering if the left side cover had ever been taken off, is there anywhere inside the left hand cover that I need to be careful of when cleaning with mineral spirits? The gasket seemed original and was in bad condition, from what I gather some mineral spirits and a gentle scraping is my best option there.
Lots to do but I'm glad I finally started, it'll likely be a slow process for me based on the amount of time I'll have but here's hoping it's ready to go come spring.