CaptCardboard's Quandaries and Questionable Repairs

Incidentally while you’re bolting em down , it appears those foot peg mounts are nutted with cylinder head nuts.
The original chrome dome nuts are shorter and won’t contact the ankles as much.. reducing that massage effect even more 😆
 

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CaptCardboard said:
This, I feel, is a perfect hamhanded example on why the delicate work of disassembling and replacing my shaft seals may not be the job for me.
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If it makes you feel any better, looks like the stud was previously cranked on and cracked... judging by the rust stains. Weakened to the point of failure before you.
...and by the way, you ain't the first to shear one off.
 
CaptCardboard said:
Well today was fun! I took my carbs apart again to see if I can't smooth thing
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My XS ran better each time i went through the carbs the first 2 or 3 times. Aside from getting faster at it, I got a better idea of how they worked, which passages went where and what that meant found beter ways of gettingthem clean. Definitely worth doing some fine tuning of the idle mix screws.
CaptCardboard said:
s out a bit.
I found I didn't secure my s
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CaptCardboard said:
lide to the diaphragms quite right and the right side (the bitchy side) slide had rotated nearly 180 degrees backwards. I reglued my slides and diaphragms, hopefully better than last.
I also took gggGary's advice and drizzled some wintergreen oil on my shaft seals before slathering em with silicone grease.
Put it all back together with new plugs and synced the carbs again. The damned thing hasn't run better in my care!
Fired up on the second kick. No more hesitation on the throttle! I'm still getting a couple little baby backfires once in a while as I decelerate in gear, but not loud pops every single time I slow down to a light. I suppose it could be that my absolutely cheapest possible vacuum gauges aren't reading quite right, but it's a quad set and I swapped the leads around between all four gauges to make sure they were balanced right. I'm thinking some tinkering with the mix screw might be in order at this point.
Either way it's not perfect, but at this point it's perfectly acceptable.

I also finally bought a 36mm socket to properly tighten my sprocket nut. Everything there went fine until I was finishing up and putting my foot pegs back on. Snapped one of the studs off.. dammit!

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This, I feel, is a perfect hamhanded example on why the delicate work of disassembling and replacing my shaft seals may not be the.
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I just noticed a little puff of smoke coming out of the right side where the exhaust pipe mounts to the engine when starting my bike the other day.
Any recs for decent exhaust gaskets? I see two different types on MikesXS that say they fit my bike, but I'm not sure which to grab.
I figure I'll replace gaskets on both sides while I'm at it.
 
CaptCardboard said:
I just noticed a little puff of smoke coming out of the right side where the exhaust pipe mounts to the engine when starting my bike the other day.
Any recs for decent exhaust gaskets? I see two different types on MikesXS that say they fit my bike, but I'm not sure which to grab.
I figure I'll replace gaskets on both sides while I'm at it.
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Are you sure it's not coming from the drilled, double wall, vent hole hiding under the finned clamp?

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I noticed you have/had aftermarket mufflers, if the exit of the header has been shortened you may no longer have the inner and outer exhaust pipes welded together down there allowing exhaust to travel back up to the vent hole. An off the shelf automotive exhaust reducer will close this gap.

548520 1.5 x 1.75 in. Tail Pipe Reducer Adapter​

the 548520 is a standardized exhaust part # often in stock at the local auto store.
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Another possibility is a rusted out inner pipe, ;^(
PS when assembling an exhaust everything in place LOOSELY then snug up the flange to head nuts slowly being sure the pipe is square to the motor when done correctly there will be a THIN but even gap all the way around tween the clamp and head, now finish tightening the rest of the exhaust mounts.
Old gaskets are typically firmly hidden inside the head port, it sometimes takes a hammer and screw driver to dislodge them. With careful removal work I usually can save them for another use with no issues.
Good luck and follow up with what you find?
 
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Thanks for the tips, guys! I'll get the OEM gaskets and closely inspect the pipe once I pull it off.
I assumed it's a bad gasket because I can feel puffs of air around on the right side, but no puffs on the left.
 
Side question, would an exhaust leak on the right side contribute to backfiring on the same side when decelerating? I've synced my carbs with a vacuum gauge, but the exhaust only sputters and backfired on the right side when decelerating in gear.
 
Hokay. I've sobered up a bit from my tow home last week and had a chance to try and diagnose why my XS died on my commute home from work.

My battery was dead.

The road conditions that led to my breakdown last week weren't great. High 80s. Stop and go traffic. I'd barely make it to 25-30mph for a block or so before having to stop at the next light, so I doubt my charging system had a chance to do much. And my battery is a little Shorai lithium iron that came with the bike when I bought it and sat in the bike without running all last winter. So maybe it's in need of replacing.

But now I'm questioning my charging system. I charged the battery up and the bike fired up no problem. Here's what I measured for voltages...
Charged battery, motorcycle off: 13.28V
Motorcycle idling at +/- 1200: 13.8V
Revving to +/- 4k: 13.4V

It's supplying a charge, but that doesn't seem like enough. What do you guys think?
I'm gonna let the bike sit overnight and measure the battery again tomorrow to see if it holds that charge, but of course appreciate any tips for investigating my charging system further.
 
I was afraid of that. I don't live this life every day, but I seem to remember charging system while revved should be closer to 14-15 volts.
I suppose it's time to dive into servicing my charging system, or maybe go for a PMA kit that all the chopper bros seem to love. Not having a battery does sound kinda fun.
 
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