Well this is my intro to motorcycle rebuilding thread. Forgive me for any newbie questions.
I got my xs650 last summer (July '11). It ran well at the time I purchased it ($700). Petcock's leaked, which I found out quickly was a frequent problem with these bikes' vacuum petcocks. It was missing air filters. The engine was disgustingly dirty (33 years of never being cleaned I'm sure).
I had just turned in my leased car so I used this bike as a commuter as soon as I bought it. To and from work 5 days a week about 15 miles each way. Front brake seemed sticky, almost like it wanted to catch while I was riding on the highway and on hot days while parked it just fully locked up a couple times to the point of not being able to move the bike at all (I know dangerous). The front master cylinder leaked brake fluid once and a while (again on hot days). Other than that it was a dream
.
One day on my way home from work I partially lost power and start bellowing smoke from the left exhaust pipe. I limp it home (seemed to be on one cylinder). Figured it was the rings or a holed piston. Not wanting to get that deep into a project I hang it up the for the winter and just leave it sitting in my garage(money was tight). Then I had to move so it ended up in the storage unit with all my crap (this was March). As the weather started getting warmer I got jealous of all the bikers on their functioning motorcycles. I pulled it out of storage and began my journey.
Sadly I don't have any before pics. Pulled the bike out of storage around May 15, this is the night I pulled the engine out and got to work (May 17th).
Pulled the head to find this...
As expected, holed the piston. Currently, I have it completely pulled apart, broke open the crankcase to clean out the piston pieces. Cylinders had some scoring, boring them to 1st oversize and replacing both pistons. Having the cases thoroughly cleaned. Replacing all gaskets (some where literally glued on and came off in layers instead of all one piece), all oil seals, front master cylinder, sump oil filter, oil screen, all o-rings (some were in pretty terrible shape), carb holders. Converted Petcocks to manual, good bye vacuum! Rebuilt carbs. Cleaned every part, nut, bolt, and washer to shine like new. Replacing clutch thrust washer/bearing to improve ability to get into neutral.
Pulled my calipers apart today to dig into front brake issues, found this...
I think I know why my brake was having such a hard time, new piston and rebuild kit will take care of that.
Right now I'm waiting to get my cases and cylinders back so I can start rebuilding. For the summer I'm not doing anything cosmetic. I just want to get her up and running for the season and then I'll start thinking about design changes I want to make over the winter.
Let me know if you have any suggestions or tips/tricks to watch out for while rebuilding. Feel free to comment or leave questions, just trying to get plugged in. Thanks!
I got my xs650 last summer (July '11). It ran well at the time I purchased it ($700). Petcock's leaked, which I found out quickly was a frequent problem with these bikes' vacuum petcocks. It was missing air filters. The engine was disgustingly dirty (33 years of never being cleaned I'm sure).
I had just turned in my leased car so I used this bike as a commuter as soon as I bought it. To and from work 5 days a week about 15 miles each way. Front brake seemed sticky, almost like it wanted to catch while I was riding on the highway and on hot days while parked it just fully locked up a couple times to the point of not being able to move the bike at all (I know dangerous). The front master cylinder leaked brake fluid once and a while (again on hot days). Other than that it was a dream
.One day on my way home from work I partially lost power and start bellowing smoke from the left exhaust pipe. I limp it home (seemed to be on one cylinder). Figured it was the rings or a holed piston. Not wanting to get that deep into a project I hang it up the for the winter and just leave it sitting in my garage(money was tight). Then I had to move so it ended up in the storage unit with all my crap (this was March). As the weather started getting warmer I got jealous of all the bikers on their functioning motorcycles. I pulled it out of storage and began my journey.
Sadly I don't have any before pics. Pulled the bike out of storage around May 15, this is the night I pulled the engine out and got to work (May 17th).
Pulled the head to find this...
As expected, holed the piston. Currently, I have it completely pulled apart, broke open the crankcase to clean out the piston pieces. Cylinders had some scoring, boring them to 1st oversize and replacing both pistons. Having the cases thoroughly cleaned. Replacing all gaskets (some where literally glued on and came off in layers instead of all one piece), all oil seals, front master cylinder, sump oil filter, oil screen, all o-rings (some were in pretty terrible shape), carb holders. Converted Petcocks to manual, good bye vacuum! Rebuilt carbs. Cleaned every part, nut, bolt, and washer to shine like new. Replacing clutch thrust washer/bearing to improve ability to get into neutral.
Pulled my calipers apart today to dig into front brake issues, found this...
I think I know why my brake was having such a hard time, new piston and rebuild kit will take care of that.
Right now I'm waiting to get my cases and cylinders back so I can start rebuilding. For the summer I'm not doing anything cosmetic. I just want to get her up and running for the season and then I'll start thinking about design changes I want to make over the winter.
Let me know if you have any suggestions or tips/tricks to watch out for while rebuilding. Feel free to comment or leave questions, just trying to get plugged in. Thanks!
