Although I've not tried it, many report gggGary's method of clamping a tire iron into a vice and levering the fork leg against it works well. Whatever prying method you use, be sure to adequately protect the top edge you're prying against on the fork leg. I made up a "special tool" for this. It's nothing more than a small section of aluminum angle with a "finger" cut into it and bent down. It sits perfectly all by itself on top of the lower .....

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For prying the seals out, I modified a big old square shank screwdriver by rounding the tip on it .....

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The square shank keeps it from rolling while I pry and the rounded tip minimizes the chances of gouging up the seal bore.
 
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This is my fork seal puller, 16d spike. I don't pry on anything. I cut and pull the rubber out of the seal. Then I hook the head of the nail under the metal part of the seal and hit the vice grips with a hammer where the nail meets the vice grips. Granted, my hammer skills are excellent, thank you Dad. This is fast and easy, no prying on the aluminum.

Scott
 
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FWIW, I've always been very succesful at removing fork seals by simply inserting a 3/16 inch thick 90 degree aluminum bracket down into the fork tube to protect the lip of the tube. I then rest the pry tool against that while prying out the seal. Work your way around the seal for stubborn seals. Works every time and never damaged a tube yet. Done at least four sets of seals this way.
 
Fork seal out! Thanks everyone. On to next obstacle. My '72 Yamaha XS2 came with bent fork stanchions. Nice!!! Anyway I ordered and received new ones from Mike's XS. As I compare the old and the new I see there is a difference on the bottom where the inner damper connects. See pic. the old has a circlip much more recessed than the new one. I haven't removed the circlip from the new stanchion yet, and won't until I figure out what I'm dealing with. Has anyone installed new fork stanchions from Mike's? Any installation tips?
 

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Here's a little closer look. The old stanchion on bottom, new on top.
 

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Hi all, my first post here; brief introduction, I'm in the UK, a few years back I had a pristine, all original XS2, 4,000m from new and it looked and ran like it as well, so stupidly, I sold it and have had plenty of time to regret that decision. Just recently another one turned up so I grabbed it; 8,000m, looks nice from 20 feet away, but nowhere near the first one I had.... so it's time to make it good.
20191214_134840.jpg

I have spent a week reading this thread and it's priceless, I can't imagine how much time all of you have spent uploading images and helping out to get it finished.... but it's now a reference work in it's own right.

The trials of the pilot jet and the leaking output shaft were an education in themselves.....anticipating the same sort of grief I put the part number for that output shaft bush into Google images and it came up with this from Heiden Tuning. Excuse me if it's been mentioned but I didn't notice it, and it is pretty much a production version of one of the suggested fixes for the problem from this forum....... Mick.
XS Output shaft bush with seal Heiden.jpg
 
Hi all, my first post here; brief introduction, I'm in the UK, a few years back I had a pristine, all original XS2, 4,000m from new and it looked and ran like it as well, so stupidly, I sold it and have had plenty of time to regret that decision. Just recently another one turned up so I grabbed it; 8,000m, looks nice from 20 feet away, but nowhere near the first one I had.... so it's time to make it good.
View attachment 156498
I have spent a week reading this thread and it's priceless, I can't imagine how much time all of you have spent uploading images and helping out to get it finished.... but it's now a reference work in it's own right.

The trials of the pilot jet and the leaking output shaft were an education in themselves.....anticipating the same sort of grief I put the part number for that output shaft bush into Google images and it came up with this from Heiden Tuning. Excuse me if it's been mentioned but I didn't notice it, and it is pretty much a production version of one of the suggested fixes for the problem from this forum....... Mick.
View attachment 156497
Congratulations on rediscovering an "early love", Mick. She's a beauty. You must be thrilled.
Its kinda like coming across an old girlfriend who you regret having broken up with.

Its happened to me.

Welcome to the forum.
 
Welcome Mick! And congratulations on your new project, I hope you have a lot of fun restoring it! Thanks for that link from Heiden.
I’m going to have to check that out, it looks to be designed a little differently.
Anyways, I look forward to seeing you around the forum and congratulations also on making it all the way to the end of my build thread! Haha! :laugh2:
 
Welcome to the party, Mick! That bike is a beauty! (maybe not a "10", but pretty close!) Best of luck on your restoration. There's an old saying : "...it's only original once..." and she's a "keeper"! Keep us updated, and take lots of pictures (we're nosy! :wink2: ). All the information you'll need is here, on this site. Lots of people (smarter than me!) have contributed countless articles about our beloved Xs's, that will help you with your project. Cheers! :cheers:
 
Thank you, I hope to have fun with it...between the trials....when I bought it, the bike came with a handbook which is a rare thing in itself so I was very happy about that.....and overall I can't complain about the condition, but there was just the one key, :doh: number 2616 which if my searches for a genuine Yamaha key are anything to go by is a hard to find item...... so the photos of your new steering lock instantly caught my eye.....plastic headed key number 2616....it's the only one I've seen in weeks of searching:laugh2:

But.....if the internet and ebay teaches you anything it is, that whatever you are looking for, it's out there, it is just a matter of patience and persistence.....at least I know mine is not an only child..... Mick.
 
For the key blank, I suggest calling your local locksmiths. They sometimes have old stocks of key blanks in their back rooms, as does my local Syracuse NY locksmith, Fradon. I have made duplicates of all my vintage Yamahas there. They always come through.
https://fradonlock.com/
They ship merch around the world.

Older Yamaha dealerships often keep NOS blanks, too. Or try EBay.
Good luck.
 
I went to Heiden to look at that drive shaft bushing. There isn’t anything written about it, but it’s design is ingenious.
The o ring that rides captured in that machined notch, addresses the very problem that plagued me so much. It would effectively seal that bushing where it mates up to the transmission bearing and prevent oil from escaping and being slung all over by your drive sprocket. Simplicity itself!
I also looked to see if Mikes carries that bushing, but it doesn’t.
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Is this bushing what the Clymer manual refers to as the "distance collar"? Is it the one situated between the drive axle bearing, and oil seal? When I replace all the seals on "The Basketcase", I may as well perform this upgrade while I'm at it...
 
Is this bushing what the Clymer manual refers to as the "distance collar"? Is it the one situated between the drive axle bearing, and oil seal? When I replace all the seals on "The Basketcase", I may as well perform this upgrade while I'm at it...

Yes, #25 in this diagram. I dont know if this part is the same for all years or not, be sure to check first.

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I went to Heiden to look at that drive shaft bushing. There isn’t anything written about it, but it’s design is ingenious.
The o ring that rides captured in that machined notch, addresses the very problem that plagued me so much. It would effectively seal that bushing where it mates up to the transmission bearing and prevent oil from escaping and being slung all over by your drive sprocket. Simplicity itself!
I also looked to see if Mikes carries that bushing, but it doesn’t.
View attachment 156508
I'm afraid I don't understand what I'm looking at. Is this an additional part? Made to stop leak in countershaft?
 
Yes. Refer to Mailman's post (# 3217), parts diagram (part # 25), and yes, it would appear to be the same part number for all the 477 series motors. The OEM part numbers were the same for an '82 and my '75. Shipping from the land of tulips, however, might be as much as the part... :shrug: Heiden's price of 14.00 Euros = about $15.54 USD. An OEM part goes for ~ $10.00, so the upgrade might be worth it...
 
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