John's Build Thread

[john69]

So I recently acquired a non running 1981 650. The odometer indicates it has 1159 mile on it. Not sure if this is factual or not but the bike seems to be in decent shape. I thought getting this up and running might be fun,
I have had several issues so far and have received a vast amount of help on this forum. A gold star member named Jim suggest I start a build thread to track progress and obtain assistance. Seems like a great idea. I have attached a picture of the bike minus tank and seat which I have. I am in the process of cleaning out the fuel tank which has some rust and other type of junk in it. I did find out it was missing the rotor brushes and brush holder.
While awaiting the arrival of these parts (obtained from a member of this forum) I thought I would do some reading on testing the charging system. I saw several mentions of the rotor slip ring. I am sure this sounds like a dumb question to many but what the heck is a slip ring and where is it?

 

[Downeaster]

"Slip Ring" is a little misleading. It's the conductive (copper?) surface on the face of the rotor that the brushes ride on. I'll go grab a picture. BRB...

 

[Downeaster]

Those copper circles are the "slip rings".

 

[john69]

Those copper circles are the "slip rings".

Thank you very much for the help.

 

[Downeaster]

You're Welcome. It's what we do here...

 

[azman857]

If you can put a Ohm meter to the rings it should read around 5.4 Ohms. No readings to it's frame. Then it's a good 'un! As for the stator, all 3 white wires are connected to each other but, not to ground or rather its housing.
BTW Nice looking machine you have there! Well done!

 

[canuck1969]

Welcome John. Looks like you have a great looking bike to start your journey. Looking forward to seeing your finished product. I finished my 84 rebuild this winter and a hell of a fun bike to ride.

Many build threads here for inspiration. Here is mine I case you get bored.

http://www.xs650.com/threads/project-canuck-84-xs650-project-build.52613/

You will soon realize how much of an obsession it can (will) become. Post often and lots of pictures. Never too many.

 

[john69]

Welcome John. Looks like you have a great looking bike to start your journey. Looking forward to seeing your finished product. I finished my 84 rebuild this winter and a hell of a fun bike to ride.

Many build threads here for inspiration. Here is mine I case you get bored.

http://www.xs650.com/threads/project-canuck-84-xs650-project-build.52613/

You will soon realize how much of an obsession it can (will) become. Post often and lots of pictures. Never too many.

Beautiful bike!

 

[john69]

If you can put a Ohm meter to the rings it should read around 5.4 Ohms. No readings to it's frame. Then it's a good 'un! As for the stator, all 3 white wires are connected to each other but, not to ground or rather its housing.
BTW Nice looking machine you have there! Well done!

If you can put a Ohm meter to the rings it should read around 5.4 Ohms. No readings to it's frame. Then it's a good 'un! As for the stator, all 3 white wires are connected to each other but, not to ground or rather its housing.
BTW Nice looking machine you have there! Well done!

 

[john69]

One probe on each ring?

 

[azman857]

yes

 

[john69]

yes

I got a 5.2 reading. Should be O.K.?

 

[azman857]

It's a good one!

 

[59Tebo]

Looking good, John! And it's got some "shiny" to it, to boot. Waiting to see it with all its "clothes" on. It shouldn't take too much to bring it back to life. Best of luck!

 

[john69]

I pulled off the valve adjustment covers in preparation for a first start in several years. While they are off I thought about polishing them but I want to confirm they are made of aluminum. I confirmed they are non-magnetic.

 

[Jim]

Yep.... aluminum. Every cover on the engine except the little clutch adjust cover... it's chrome.

 

[gggGary]

Yep.... aluminum. Every cover on the engine except the little clutch adjust cover... it's chrome.

cam covers ............

 

[Jim]

.....'cept the clutch adjust and cam covers....

 

[canuck1969]

Pretty sure those covers are clear coated but don't remember which were and were not coated. Definitely the clutch and stator covers are . The cam end covers are not. They are just chrome, at least on my 84.

If you want to polish them up you may need to remove the clearcoat first

 

[MaxPete]

Ahhh - I just read your first post and so I thought I would provide a bit of background info on the brushes.

If you are having charging system difficulties on an XS650, always check that the alternator brushes are not worn down too far. In my experience, that is the most common difficulty with XS650 charging systems - especially at night, in the rain, in the middle of nowhere, with a girl on the back (DAMHIK - it’s a sad story but it had a happy ending - for me at least).

KEY POINT: they do not really look at all like a brush - they’re actually little blocks of carbon about 4 mm square and around 20 mm long. They are mounted in a little spring loaded frame and there are two of them. These devices slide on the alternator rotor and carry electric current from the moving rotor to the rest of the charging system and because of that relative motion, they tend to wear down over time / mileage.

The brushes are mounted in a little frame (which apparently, you are missing) that is mounted inside the left hand side engine case cover. NOTE: there are some variations from year to year, but they are all a bit like this:

The key point is that the brushes wear as they rub on the alternator rotor and if they wear down to less than about 6-7 mm, they won’t make good contact and the charging process will be impaired. Every brush I have ever seen (and I’ve seen a few) has a line scribed across the carbon at the 7 mm length and if that mark is still visible, you should be fine.

There is tons on info on this topic on the Forum and the brushes are not expensive or hard to find. Frankly, with such low mileage on your bike, I doubt they are worn out - but you never know.

Cheers and welcome!

Pete