Couple of random questions ..

[Poverty]

Couple of random questions ..( ONGOING)

First question ... am I able to swap a 82 harness onto a 80 .. ?

second question .. I have a leaking head gasket .. whats the level of difficulty in changing this can it be done in a weekend ? .. and what other seals/ gaskets Etc need to be purchased to preform this repair ? I was looking to just purchase the mikes xs premium gasket kit .. but it states that some things are not included in the kit ..
a head gasket is like 25$ but I know other things need to be replaced when tearing the engine down ..

 

[XSLeo]

#1 yes.
#2 It would be nice if the gasket set included all the seals you need but Mike's sells them as seperate sets. Yes it can be done In a week end. While apart you might want to do a little inspection of the internals. Replace the cam chain and front guide.
Getting the gasket set and the seal kits is a good idea. You might need the rst sometime. Buying them allseperate will cost more than the sets.
Leo

 

[5twins]

The only seals you need to go into the top end are the valve guide seals and they're included in the gasket set. So are all the o-rings you'll need. If you haven't tried it yet, many times just a proper re-torque of the head bolts will cure a leak. Use about 30 ft/lbs on the 8 large acorn nuts instead of the speced 26.

 

[Poverty]

Awesome thanks for the reply .. I found a video of a guy doing a tear down .. so this shouldnt be to bad .. So I will order

a gasket kit

Cam chain tensioner pivot arm Assembly?????

and a cam chain ..( is the master link included ??)

anything else before I make my order ..??

thanks for the help ..

 

[Poverty]

The only seals you need to go into the top end are the valve guide seals and they're included in the gasket set. So are all the o-rings you'll need. If you haven't tried it yet, many times just a proper re-torque of the head bolts will cure a leak. Use about 30 ft/lbs on the 8 large acorn nuts instead of the speced 26.

Oh awesome .. I guess I should try that first

I do already have the engine on the stand though .. currently stripping the frame in prep for paint

the bike ran like a champ when I picked it up started first or second kick every time ..idled nice .. but you can clearly see that the head gasket is leaking all the way around not bad Honestly if I wasnt painting the bike I would have just ran it this summer and fixed it next winter ..

 

[weekendrider]

Poverty I purchased an 83 with excellent documentation from the original sale.
Reading through the shop tickets I noticed at a little over 4K they sold the man a head gasket and again at alittle over 8K. We purchased it years later but with just 3-400 miles on the gasket replacement. We added another 7-800 miles when it began to weep again.
Knowing what we know now(the original torque and rubber washers just don't work)
I replaced with copper washers and torqued to 30 lbs. Fixed.
Have you considered putting a torque wrench on them say at 26-28 lbs. to see if maybe
they are loose before tear down?

 

[Poverty]

No Not yet .. I never knew to do the torque thing.. Thats the plan for tmrw .. I guess Im going to do that .. stick it back in if it continues .. ill take a weekend over the summer and change the gasket

 

[5twins]

Here's the thing - those bolts have been on there for 30+ years - they're probably stuck on their threads regardless how tight they are. You need to crack them loose a quarter turn first before re-torquing. If you don't, you may get a false reading on the torque wrench (it says it's tight but it's really not).

 

[Poverty]

I have a few more questions .. (should change the title to my ongoing question thread)

anyways ..

First off is wiring ..

Im looking for a how to that's simple to follow very detailed (pic wise Im a visual learner ) it needs to have a battery, turns , headlight , taillight , and whatever is needed to run those .. minimalistic as possible .. ive search .. and found a few threads thru out the net .. but seems there are multiple ways to do said wiring

next question ..

I picked up a old tire ring to use as a fender .. (way expensive but still cheaper than a new one by far)

Id like to have it mounted to the swing-arm so it moves with .. I have a few Ideas in my head .. but wanted to ask first .. again pics are best for me .. also along these lines how far should the fender sit to the tire but be a low pro as possible ?

now this question involves pics .. EVERYBODY loves pics right ..??

so here we go .. I have these turn signals

and I wanted to drill and mount them into the rear of the new seat rails (these plugs)

but then realized that .. One I would not be able to weld them in .. and second that if I did .. how the hell would I take them out .. I was also planning to run the wires thru the seat rails and popping them out at the backbone .. nice clean install right .. virtually un noticeable to the eye (awesomeness)

but Im unable to weld these .. sooooooo I was thinking .. can I just drill and tap the rail on the bottom and use a set screw to hold the plug in ? does that seem legit or is it a bad Idea ??

I did my shock mounts like so.. red dots represent the turn in case someone didn't follow what I was saying

 

[grepper]

Just my 2 cents from my experience with my bobber.
On the Fender: I have a trailer fender mounted to my swing arm. I have about 1/2-3/4 in clearance, you can go pretty tight. As for mounting it up, I've has my far share of troubles. My setup was one bracket at the base, then two fender stays (bars). As for the bracket at the bottom of the fender, I've had one weld on bracket break, plus two angle iron brackets break. The rear end does a lot of bouncing around. Currently I have it rubber mounted at the base with a piece of old tire. Plus the fender stays are mounted with rubber hose over metal sleeves. So my rear fender essentially floats on all rubber mounts.

As for your turn signals: Pretty neat idea, I don't have much more to say about that, except those tiny lights don't seem like they would be very bright.

 

[Poverty]

Thanks for the reply ... I was thinking something similar so it sounds like im on the right track ..

The turns are actually quite bright at night .. in the day light not so noticeable Im really not required to have them in Va .. but oh well

 

[gggGary]

On the TSig's why not drill and tap the big plugs so you can thread in the leds? Then you can weld the big plugs on the tubes. other wise drill the tube drill and tap the plug that way your screw will suck the plug tight to the tube.

Here's one thread on torquing head bolts that pretty well covers it.
http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2034

What carbs are those?