22's 1980 xs650 build thread

Yes, I see you left 9 bellows on the fork gaiters. You'll want to remove one more. 8 seems to be the "golden" number .....

83Gaiters.jpg


When we hung the Commando mufflers on my buddy's '80, we had to move the muffler hanger bracket to the rear mount where the passenger peg used to be, and we still had to extend off of that with a strap to reach the mounts on the muffler .....

JoesMuffs2.jpg


JoesMuffs.jpg


We used the hanger straps that came with the mufflers for this. They were the perfect length, even the holes matched up.
 
Yes, I see you left 9 bellows on the fork gaiters. You'll want to remove one more. 8 seems to be the "golden" number .....

View attachment 216515

When we hung the Commando mufflers on my buddy's '80, we had to move the muffler hanger bracket to the rear mount where the passenger peg used to be, and we still had to extend off of that with a strap to reach the mounts on the muffler .....

View attachment 216516

View attachment 216517

We used the hanger straps that came with the mufflers for this. They were the perfect length, even the holes matched up.

But what about pushing the header deeper inside the muffler? I was able to do that and use the stock mounting point but I'm just not sure if it's good to have 6 or so inches of header inside the muffler? I could do what you did as well but personally I prefer the still long but slightly shorter overall length of the exhaust.
 
I guess that would be OK, other than the marks it's going to eventually leave on the headpipes. You'll kind of be locked in to running mufflers pushed on that far. I'm assuming you have the stock headpipes still? My buddy has aftermarket ones that kick up a little on the ends. The mufflers won't slide on past that bend.
 
I guess that would be OK, other than the marks it's going to eventually leave on the headpipes. You'll kind of be locked in to running mufflers pushed on that far. I'm assuming you have the stock headpipes still? My buddy has aftermarket ones that kick up a little on the ends. The mufflers won't slide on past that bend.
They are aftermarket 1.5" headpipes that I got from xsdirect, I really don't what they are though because they have the stock lower mounting tabs like the stock headers and I didn't think most aftermarket headers had those.

Anyways the exhaust is on, I'll probably adjust it a bit but it's fine.

The bike ran great to Paris and back yesterday but on my way home I started to notice some fork oil around the lower triple, any idea what this could be from? Logically it must be coming from the top cap? I measured 7oz fairly carefully and snugged down the top cap carefully as well, mind you I didn't use a torque wrench.
 

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Yes, check that top cap. That looks like a pretty good leak, lol. I think the torque spec for that top cap is something like 45 ft/lbs, so it's more than "snug". There's also an o-ring on the cap to seal it. If it still leaks after proper tightening, check that. Maybe it got damaged somehow.
 
It's been a while since I've had the chance to test the forks again for leaks but hopefully this weekend. I topped the leg up with oil and put it all back together, the o-ring looked fine and while I didn't torque the top cap I snugged it down pretty tight, hopefully it's fixed, we'll see.

I have had some time to do another job on the list, replacing the speedo and tach dampers, they were basically non existent and the gauges were shaking around quite a bit and after reading about the damage that can cause I decided to act quick. I wanted to try some of the home made dampers but after considering several options I ended up splurging for new OEM dampers from Sumo Rubber, sure they weren't cheap but this was one project I decided to bite the bullet on to have the right part and to have the bike back on the road without hassle. The dampers took 8 business days to get to Canada which I'm quite happy with. I do have one question though, does the trip reset knob come off? I've read several threads and some say no, some say yes, I think most eventually say yes but when I look at it and spin it I can't see how it comes off, it appears to be one solid piece of plastic and I tried putting needle nose pliers on the stem but it didn't seem like it was going to work so I didn't put a lot of strength into it. Can someone tell me if the knob does come off a 80 special? and if so, what's the technique? Or maybe I'm better off soaping up the knob and just stretching the damper on?

 
Okay, so once I got the dampers in my hands it was pretty obvious that it's no problem slipping the damper on, anyways it's a bit of a finicky job but it's done and the clocks are nice and still. The only problem I'm having is that the tach cable keeps coming loose and completely unscrews itself even after 20 or so minutes of riding, not a big deal, that was only finger tight, I guess it needs a bit more than that.

I know these bikes like to eat batteries for breakfast but I'm not sure what happened to mine. I bought a new AGM battery last fall and it worked flawlessly for say the 6 or so rides I got in before winter, over winter I brought the battery inside and charged it twice over the course of 6 months or so before dropping it back in the bike in June. I rode the bike once in June without issue and haven't had a chance to ride it again till today. Last week I installed one of the cheap voltmeters, I wired it into the brown wire going to the ignition switch inside the headlight bucket. The voltmeter seemed to be working properly, over 12v with key on and was getting 14.5v at 3,000 rpm, all seemed well except the odd time the meter would show 9.5 or 11.2 or just some random number but eventually it would always go back to 14.5v so I just thought it was because it's a cheap voltmeter or maybe my wiring. Tonight I pulled over for a quick break, went to fire the bike back up and click click it was dead, luckily it had enough juice to kick over and I made it home, I blamed the dead battery on maybe leaving the tail light on or something. Anyways it was again reading 14.5v on the way home so I was hoping all would be good, probably 10-15mins to get home, turned the bike off and completely dead, tested the battery with my multimeter and got like 1.5v. Does anyone have any idea what could be the issue? My hopes/guesses are cheap AGM battery won't hold a charge and I need a new one or maybe I messed something up when I hooked up the voltmeter. Bike ran beautifully otherwise!
 

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Seems quite unusual for battery to go from seemingly good one week and good enough to start the ride and go to 1.5V on a 15 min. ride.

The "random" voltmeter readings previously may have been when the regulator sensed fully charged and cut output - normal.

The ignition would have quit firing below 10VDC, but was being supplied (@ full-tilt) via regulator while running. Faulty battery perhaps. Intermittent short somewhere perhaps, but no fuses blown? The only unfused wire section involved would be the red from battery via solenoid to fuse box. The red is then Fused 20A to the Main Switch , the brown from that switch and to the regulator is fused by the 20A on the red then travels back to the fuse box, fused again @ 10A and out to signal flasher, horn, brake, etc. Minor short on brown circuit section (prior to 10A) with insufficient draw to blow 20A fuse?? Interesting.........
 
Sounds like the problem I had a few years ago. It turned out to be an internal short in the battery. That was fun to diagnose.

I put a new unnecessary rotor in thinking I had an intermittent failure, but when I put the battery on a smart charger it gave an error code. So in the best tradition of mechanical craftsmanship I lifted the battery about 2 inches (50mm) off of the ground and let it thud against the concrete floor in my garage. Suddenly, it was taking a charge again and I have been using it for 2 years since. I tried this based on the same theory of how batteries sometimes get internal shorts from short hair-like growths shorting out the can to the internals. If you rub two AAs together when you think they are dead you can usually coax quite a bit more life out of them. Or, rub them against a hard edge and rotate it as you do. Sometimes just spinning them inside whatever they are installed it can resurrect them. This works for low drain device like remotes and mice, I doubt it would help much for anything motorized.

YMM seriously V.
 
Sounds like the problem I had a few years ago. It turned out to be an internal short in the battery. That was fun to diagnose.

I put a new unnecessary rotor in thinking I had an intermittent failure, but when I put the battery on a smart charger it gave an error code. So in the best tradition of mechanical craftsmanship I lifted the battery about 2 inches (50mm) off of the ground and let it thud against the concrete floor in my garage. Suddenly, it was taking a charge again and I have been using it for 2 years since. I tried this based on the same theory of how batteries sometimes get internal shorts from short hair-like growths shorting out the can to the internals. If you rub two AAs together when you think they are dead you can usually coax quite a bit more life out of them. Or, rub them against a hard edge and rotate it as you do. Sometimes just spinning them inside whatever they are installed it can resurrect them. This works for low drain device like remotes and mice, I doubt it would help much for anything motorized.

YMM seriously V.

Hmmm very interesting, when I got home last night and tested with the multimeter it actually said 12.65 for a second and I was like what the hell, turned the key on and nothing, checked battery again and 1.5v. I just got in from testing it again and again I tested with multimeter and 12.65v, turned the key on, neutral light came on bright, hit the starter and click click click, checked again and 9.5v with multimeter. Makes me think it's a faulty battery, I'm going to see what happens when I put it on the charger this afternoon. When I charged it in June before my first ride of the season, the battery read 80% for several hours before finally saying it was charged and I remember thinking it seemed way too long to get to full. I guess before putting it on the charger I'll drop it from a few inches, see if I can knock some sense into it. Thanks for the tip!
 
"with the multimeter it actually said 12.65 for a second and I was like what the hell, turned the key on and nothing, checked battery again and 1.5v. I just got in from testing it again and again I tested with multimeter and 12.65v, turned the key on, neutral light came on bright, hit the starter and click click click, checked again and 9.5v with multimeter."
That's about text book for a bad cell.
load test with a twelve volt bulb, a decent battery should keep a headlight bright for at least 5 minutes and still start the bike.
 
"with the multimeter it actually said 12.65 for a second and I was like what the hell, turned the key on and nothing, checked battery again and 1.5v. I just got in from testing it again and again I tested with multimeter and 12.65v, turned the key on, neutral light came on bright, hit the starter and click click click, checked again and 9.5v with multimeter."
That's about text book for a bad cell.
load test with a twelve volt bulb, a decent battery should keep a headlight bright for at least 5 minutes and still start the bike.
So again, hooked to multimeter and 12.65v but nothing at the ignition. Put it on the charger and it threw a code.... "The battery voltage is less than 10v after some time charging" (mind you the code appeared within 30 seconds). And the probable cause "The battery is defective or a load may be connected to the battery". Looks like i'll be buying a new battery, or hopefully getting a new one sent to me if this one is under warranty. Of course the obvious question is now, is it possible or likely that the bike defected the battery or is it more likely that it didn't like sitting for basically 6 months or that it was just a lemon to begin with?
 
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I don't know how your wiring is situated, but I'd (at a minimum) visually inspect every mm of the battery + lead to solenoid and from solenoid to fuse box and (unhooked) continuity to frame.
 
Eh, I just had an epiphany (or a brain-fart IDK) regarding your symptoms....

Is your solenoid mounted in such a way that the metal seat base could contact it? Battery + terminal, same?

I'm probably all wet...overthinking
 
I don't know how your wiring is situated, but I'd (at a minimum) visually inspect every mm of the battery + lead to solenoid and from solenoid to fuse box and (unhooked) continuity to frame.

I'll take a look this evening when I have time but here's a photo, I'm guessing you can't really notice anything in the photo though.... essentially everything is stock as far as I know but I have had it all apart and it's possible that I didn't put the routing back exactly as it was...
 

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That wiring looks really nice, original, solenoid boots in-place; all well done. I'm used to seeing missing boots, molested wiring, etc.

I can't really tell from pic: the male end of bullet connector may or may not be fully insulated (circled), that is the type of seemingly miniscule thing that I would be looking for at this point.
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That wiring looks really nice, original, solenoid boots in-place; all well done. I'm used to seeing missing boots, molested wiring, etc.

I can't really tell from pic: the male end of bullet connector may or may not be fully insulated (circled), that is the type of seemingly miniscule thing that I would be looking for at this point.View attachment 219131
And that type of thing could have fried my battery? My main concern here is it happening again to a new battery but not being able to get home next time, is there a way to test that all the connections are sound, aside from visual inspection, once I get the new battery in?

Also, ill check that bullet connector.
 
The primary concern would be the wire circled between there and the fuse box. After that point, theoretically (and practically) a short-circuit should pop the fuse. Unhook it there, put a meter on it, shake it, pull on it, push on it, while checking continuity to ground. Check it thoroughly where it enters the fuse box too. I reckon Yamaha put extra shielding on it for a reason.
 
I'm running two Deka AGM batteries right. Both are at least seven years old. Deka is made in Pennsylvania. I've had several of them and no issues. If they cost more, I don't care. My bikes are an XS650 and XS1100. Both have solid state regulator-rectifiers. Both electrical systems are stock and maintained as well as I am able. I have no battery issue, even if both drop dead today.

I suspect there are a lot of 2nd rate batteries on the market and failures are not uncommon. I used to run flooded wet cell batteries in my 650 Special and they lasted a couple years, maybe. I suspect vibration took them out. I think I've been running AGM batteries for over 20 years now. The first one came from Mike's XS when Mike Lalonde had the business and that battery lasted nine years!
 
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