Miss November XS2 tribute

[Raymond]

After finding bits of alloy in the oil under the clutch cover, a necessary precaution is to filter the oil drained out of the engine:



But fortunately, there's nothing that would cause further worry:



The oil will go back in and I won't fit a new filter until the next oil change.

 

[5twins]

I think it's pretty normal to find a few little bits of metal and black rubber in the filters. I think the black rubber bits come from the rubber ring bonded to the #4 starter gear. It tends to start breaking off in little chunks as time goes on. The metal bits I'm not sure about other than to say this is a rather old and crude motor design and it just does what it does, lol. It took near a half dozen oil changes and filter cleanings on my '78 before the filters started coming out relatively clean. I think it took all that just to flush out the P.O.'s neglect and lack of frequent enough oil and filter changes.

Here's my side filter from a few changes ago showing what I consider to be typical, a few metal and black rubber bits .....

I have since started installing a paper sleeve on my side filters .....

I think it helps, catching more of the fine metal particles .....

 

[Raymond]

Thanks, 5T. It's a bit worrying to find two pieces of metal as (relatively) large as that - see post #1626 - but I can't see me pulling the motor down just to find out where they came from.

Being alloy, they would probably be chewed up into fine particles without seizing the engine if they got anywhere interesting. The main thing is I didn't find any more. I have the reassurance of the screw on filter - nothing much is going to make it as far as the oil pump! The other worry with bigger pieces is blocking an oil passage and I still haven't come up with any ideas on how to check there's nothing like that.

 

[Jim]

I have since started installing a paper sleeve on my side filters .....

I like that idea. Where did you get the sleeve from?

 

[5twins]

Yes, I forgot about those big pieces you found. Hopefully they're from way in the past sometime and just now coming out. Isn't this a different motor you swapped in, internal condition (or history) unknown? May be part of an internal reinforcing rib but really no way to tell until you tear it all apart.

 

[5twins]

I made the sleeves. The idea comes from 2Many. See post #62 here for details .....

http://www.xs650.com/threads/hp-oil-pump-from-mikes.40991/page-4

Very easy and inexpensive to make. You get 18 sleeves from one filter so it works out to be about 20 to 25 cents each.

 

[Jim]

I made the sleeves. The idea comes from 2Many. See post #62 here for details .....

http://www.xs650.com/threads/hp-oil-pump-from-mikes.40991/page-4

Very easy and inexpensive to make. You get 18 sleeves from one filter so it works out to be about 20 to 25 cents each.

Got it. Thanks.

 

[Raymond]

Well, look what arrived this morning:




Long-reach hex bits, thank you for the suggestion, 5T. Now able to apply the torque wrench to Allen screws, which is bound to come in useful again many times. Very good service - ordered these on Saturday and they are here before 10 am on Monday. Have also ordered a kickstart seal from Yambits, so I guess it makes sense to wait for that before it all goes back together.

The weather here today is glorious - about 22°C which I think is 72°F - so I'll head out probably on the W800 for any errands. Just gotta be done, really.

 

[5twins]

Yes, you will get lots of use out of those. I started out years back with just one, the M5. Eventually, I acquired several sets, short ones like I pictured, long ones like you got, and ball end ones that allow you to come in at a slight angle.

When it comes to sealing oil bearing cases, I feel that making all the fasteners equally tight is more important than how tight you actually make them.

 

[Raymond]

Today, the kick-start shaft seal arrived. But weather much too nice to work inside the garage:



More of a struggle than I expected to remove the old seal, but with a bit of careful persistence:



That's my prize tool. See what I did there? Ever since I bent that screwdriver ooh, forty-odd years ago, it's been pressed into use (sorry) for a million tasks where something needed to be prodded, poked, levered or prized out.

Warmed the cover with a heat gun, lick of grease and pushed the new seal in quite easily:



Retired to the relative gloom of the garage and re-fitted the cover. New gasket, very lightly greased on the engine side and a wipe of Hylomar along the edge of the cover:



With copper washers in the specified locations and the screws all torqued up to 6 ft-lbs. Using the torque wrench, felt more confident tightening the screws so they are without doubt tighter than would have done them by feel. Might be that's why the cover leaked?

Off out there again now to put everything else back together.

 

[5twins]

Check the screws after a few rides or heat cycles. A new gasket will do some compressing so you will most likely find a few of the screws loose.

 

[Raymond]

And after a twenty-three mile test run along some local lanes:

there's still no oil leaks. Haha.

Took the opportunity to add some more tightness to the exhaust studs - after the run, they turned a significant amount more.

Crossed in the post with 5T - similar idea of tightening after warming the bike up. Good idea, I'll go and check the case screws as well.

I so enjoyed that short run. On little lanes, high hedges, twists and turns, where you occasionally reach 50 but 40 mph most of the time, Miss November minds her manners and fills the rôle of gentleman's motorcycle very well indeed!

 

[Raymond]

Last couple of days, I think it's getting worse, terrible backfiring when I shut the throttle. Seems, from the saddle, to be the right-hand side. So going down hills, there's almost incessant pops and bangs.Unless I manage to hold the throttle open a tiny amount. Moving along in slow traffic, less than 20 mph, the bike feels hesitant and farty. But once I open up the throttle a bit, seems to run pretty good.

5T showed me how to solve popping the exhaust on the overrun by adjusting the mixture screw. So now I'm thinking, does this new problem suggest that there is a blockage in the pilot system? Would it be a good idea to take the carbs off and blow through or somehow clean out the pilot air passages, esp the r/h?

Ideas welcome before I start taking things apart . . .

 

[5twins]

Yes, you could have a clog or blockage in the pilot circuit in that right carb, it happens. It could be the jet itself, which is mounted in the bowl, so I'd start by just dropping the bowl and cleaning the jet. No need to pull the carbs off just yet, this jet cleaning may fix it. Chances are good the clog is in the jet only and didn't make it up into the passageways in the carb body. Chances are also good it's a partial blockage, not totally plugged, and cutting down on the fuel flow which is causing the lean condition.

 

[Raymond]

Thank you, 5T, that's a good place to start and I might get away without having to take the carbs off. Let you know how that goes.

 

[5twins]

There's a cross-passageway between the main jet area and the pilot jet area that feeds the fuel to the pilot jet. You should probably insure that's clear too. And check the main jet while you're at it. What got to the pilot had to pass through the main first. Maybe it all didn't and that's partially plugged too. I would try to drop the bowl without draining it. That way you can inspect the fuel in it to see if there's any gunk floating around in it.

 

[5twins]

When I brought my '83 back to life, the pilot jet in the right carb got partially blocked again twice in the first few months. Guess I didn't get the carbs as clean as I thought, lol. The choke jet in the left carb partially plugged up too, making cold starts difficult. It's been all good now for about a year so hopefully the carbs finally are really clean, lol.

 

[Raymond]

Raining anyway today. Took the float bowls off, removed jets, blew, cleaned up, annealed the drain-plug washers, reassembled.



Job took much longer to do than to describe. Float bowl screws not easy to get to, might help if wrists or fingers would bend in new ways, thought about possible use of a highly trained small monkey? The re-fitted float bowls show up just how mucky the carbs are.

Third image shows using Captain Cook viewer to check sizes of main and pilot jets - 135 and 27.5, which I believe is correct for year and BS38s?

Two post-op tests performed. Petrol taps on, checked float bowl/drain plug area with fingers and there doesn't seem to be any petrol leaks. Started the engine and ran for five minutes till warmed up. Settles down to a nice even tick-over, picks up smartly on a touch of throttle, goes back to tick-over with no backfiring. But the proper test will be to go for a ride.

Gave that a miss for today - no sense going out just for a test run when its pi$$ing down.

 

[5twins]

Yes, 135 and 27.5 are the correct stock jet sizes for your carbs. Well, hopefully you've fixed the issue. Sometimes the blockage isn't obvious or able to be seen, but it's there none the less. If the problem persists, check your negative battery cable to make sure it's tight. I had a similar issue a few years back and did as you have, only to find a loose battery cable to be the culprit.

 

[MaxPete]

There ya go Raymond - it sounds like you've got yourself a ballgame there.

MUCH too hot here to go out and play. The actual temp is about 32C (~90 deg. F) but the humidex is going to hit about 43C which is a most un-Canadian 110 deg. F.

YIKES - @Mailman - c'mon down!!!