Bike as old as me

[AWFaneuf]

What I was suggesting was stuff like better quality shocks, sprung for your weight and equivalent fork springs, fork oil, bronze swing arm bushings and tapered steering head bearings or new ball bearings properly torqued. Basic suspension upgrades. Nothing radical.

Great I'll definitely look into, thank you.

 

[AWFaneuf]

Yes, there are many little improvements you can make to these bikes and most don't cost much. Just adding another ounce of fork oil makes the forks work much better, and a little "tweak" called the "Minton Mods" will improve their damping action and smooth out the ride. You can "upgrade" the stock charging system by swapping in an automotive regulator and a newer more modern rectifier from the electronics world.

I will also look into your suggestions I appreciate all your help. I have looked into upgrading the charging system it seems like a lot of people have issues with it, apparently I'm not excluded, funny the timing of you posting this, yesterday my bike wouldn't start using the electric ignition because it didn't have enough juice I had to kick start it. So it looks like I'll be taking your advice on charging the system sooner than I anticipated. Thanks again and ride safe.

 

[Grimly]

Thanks ,the fender is back on, had it off for a day or so, didn't even ride it with it out. I do appreciate the advice though. Just out of curiosity, what benefits would a brace in addition to the fender have, would it be more of an improvement for performance and or handling or merely a safety thing? I'm not a very aggressive rider I basically just like cruising around. Thanks again ride safe.

A brace is noticeable. I have one on all my bikes one way or other.
You don't have to be a track god to feel the difference, especially on the spindly forks of the 70s.

 

[5twins]

Yes, I use them as well. On some bikes, they don't do much but I think they help on the 650. The first one I installed came off my SR500. Being a smaller, lighter bike, I found the brace didn't do anything and wasn't needed. Being that the SR500 forks are pretty much identical to the 650 ones, externally anyway (different springs), I was able to use the brace on my 650. With the 650 being heavier and more powerful than the 500, I feel the brace helped. I use ATK braces. They are no longer made but pop up on eBay from time to time. You can usually get them for a good price (about $40).

 

[5twins]

For the charging system, the first thing you'll want to do is perform the simple charging output test. Start the bike and attach a multi-meter to the battery terminals. At idle, you should see about 12 volts, revved up to 3000-3200 RPMs, you should see low to mid 14s. If the output doesn't change at all when you rev the bike, it isn't charging at all and you definitely have charging issues. If it goes up a little but not into the mid 14s as it should, or goes higher than that, you may just need to adjust your voltage regulator. Your '79 should have the old fashioned mechanical regulator and it is adjustable .....

But, even when adjusted for proper max output, I found this old regulator's output to be very erratic. It would often drop off at higher RPMs when it should have been putting out the max. I think the bike's vibrations affect it's operation and cause this. That was one of the main reasons I "upgraded" to the auto unit. Here's a thread that explains the mod ......

https://www.xs650.com/threads/diy-reg-rec-5twins-and-jim.55842/