My 20+ year project

[Meddy]

I'm getting close to finishing my bike, really just waiting for the tank, fenders and side covers to be painted so in the meantime I have been busying myself with some small catch up jobs.
I pulled the carbs off the other day to fit the different needles that 5Twins recommended earlier in the thread pictured below.

The 4n8 is the new one, the 4m1 is the one that I had and the 31 is one that comes in one of those generic carb kits.

After fitting the new jets I started up the bike (first time since I started it back in late December) it started easily and settled down into a nice steady idle.
A few blips on the throttle and all seems good though one of the mufflers has a chirping sound which is going to annoy me, they will have to go once the bike is registered.
I hadn't tried the clutch out yet so while the bike was running it gave me a chance to check that out. First couple of attempts putting it into first gear had the bike stalling I then put it into 3rd gear with the bike stopped and pushed back and forth a couple of times to try and free it up, started the bike up again slotted it in to 2nd gear and no problems clutch freed up and seems to be working fine.
After bleeding the rear brake a couple of weeks ago it developed a small leak, the copper sealing washer on the caliper was not seated properly and of course by the time I noticed the paint on the caliper had started to lift, so I had to pull all that apart again clean everything up and repaint it, got that back on today and bled that again, I also did the front brakes as well, an extremely challenging task by yourself but I got there and all looks to be working ok.
Next up is to put in an order from Mike's probably to get a few things to finish off, some footpeg mount rubbers, some new badges maybe some mirrors and a couple of dome nuts and then just wait for the painter.

 

[5twins]

Yes, the Y31 is a generic needle included in some of the aftermarket rebuild kits. It has the proper length for your old style slide but I can see the taper differs from either of the originals. That's not to say it wouldn't work though. If the 4N8 gives you issues, you could always try the Y31.

 

[Meddy]

If the 4N8 gives you issues, you could always try the Y31.

Yes, will be good to have the option of another needle to try if needed once I start road testing.

 

[Meddy]

I'm back,
Finally got everything back from the painter, bit of a marathon effort that was, not to worry he gave me a discount off his quote and the paint job looks good.

I also decided to lash out and buy the commando exhaust system from Mikes as I could not find anything else that I liked and my header pipes were pretty ratty with a couple of dings in them, as per the other thread going at the moment on commando pipes, I found mine were Emgo mufflers too when the system arrived recently.

Here is the full system as delivered which I will hopefully do a write up about when I do the installation.

Hopefully I will be able to get back to working on the bike in the next couple of weeks, I have been renovating a bedroom as a Winter project, and as always seems to be the case when doing reno's be it bike or house you always find more things to do and costs blow out. I'm painting now so fingers crossed.

 

[MaxPete]

This is going to be a nice one Meddy!!

 

[peanut]

nice paint job meddy. ...Reminds me I really must get on and spray my tank and covers before Summer is over.

Your pipes and silencers are the same as mine . Have your silencers got any wadding or baffles ? mine are so noisy I reckon the PO must have removed them

 

[Jim]

Paint looks great Mick!! Guess we're still channeling.... I ordered the Commando's too.

 

[5twins]

I see these systems no longer include the tapped bar to slide in the sliding track .....

I highly recommend you guys make/use some. It distributes the load and clamping force along the entire sliding track much better than just a couple bolt heads.

 

[Meddy]

Paint looks great Mick!! Guess we're still channeling.... I ordered the Commando's too.

Thanks Jim, Yeah I saw you ordered the same mufflers, I tried a quick test fit with them on the header pipes over the weekend and looks like I will have to use all the spacers that came with them, a bit annoying as I thought Mikes's would have supplied mufflers and headers that were a matched fit.

 

[Mailman]

Looking good Meddy! I’m really looking foward to seeing your bike come together!

 

[ThatXS650Guy]

I see these systems no longer include the tapped bar to slide in the sliding track .....

I highly recommend you guys make/use some. It distributes the load and clamping force along the entire sliding track much better than just a couple bolt heads.

Good God. I got these with my mufflers but I didn't recognize what they were for. I've been dealing with the crappy bolt in the track set-up...
What a dolt.

 

[YamadudeXS650C]

Good God. I got these with my mufflers but I didn't recognize what they were for

Blimey !!
So did I !

 

[Meddy]

Looking good Meddy! I’m really looking foward to seeing your bike come together!

Thanks Bob, Me too, I'm hanging out to get back into the shed, just gotta get this bedroom finished.

 

[Meddy]

I've had some free time the last couple of days and have been able to get back to working on the bike
The front and rear guards are fitted which has allowed me to fit up the tail light and finally get all the wiring completed.

I have also been putting some finishing touches to the fuel tank, I had to flush it out a few times with fuel as some of the blast media had managed to find it's way in there. I just put about a litre in at a time and swished it around then removed the old fuel tap I had on it when it was painted and drained all the muck out, repeated that a few times and all looks good.
I had previously bought a new fuel tap as I didn't want to use the twin vacuum taps that were on the bike. (I had already blocked off the right hand tap before the tank was painted by cutting an old tap in two and filling the void with JB weld). The new tap has the option of using 1 or 2 outlets, which simplifies hooking up to the two inlets on the carbies.

I am now up to fitting the Commando system that I bought from Mike's XS, I am thinking I might try an do a guide on installing it as the instructions that come with it are not correct for the system I bought with the kicked up mufflers, we will see how it goes.

 

[Superjet]

Nice build so far Meddy looking forward in seeing the exhaust setup on your bike.

 

[Mailman]

Looking good Meddy! I can’t wait to see it all finished!

 

[Jim]

Lookin' good Mick!! When might we expect a road test?
I'm having the same problem.... finding shop time....

 

[Meddy]

Lookin' good Mick!! When might we expect a road test?

Thanks all,
I'm hoping for a road test soon Jim, just gotta get this exhaust sorted, I'm going to make up mounting brackets for the mufflers like 5Twins suggested and then it's just a couple of little jobs like installing the tank and fuel lines and I think that's about it.
Don't worry I will try and video the first ride so you can all come along with me.

 

[Meddy]

I've been playing around with fitting up the exhaust system this last week, the instructions that come with the system from MikesXS are for fitting a system with straight pipes not the upswept ones that I ordered, so I have had a lot of trial and error getting it right, also missing were the brackets that fit into the sliding track that 5twins mentioned in a previous post so, a set of them are on the way after I contacted Mikes and they said they would send some.
Here's how it looks at the moment with the tank also on for a test fit.

 

[Paul Sutton]

Meddy, I just reviewed this thread and must say you have done a truly wonderful job! I still eagerly await to hear if your disk brake runs silent after the sanding you gave. Will also be interesting to know if the wind shield deflects enough to make riding above 55 mph more comfortable.

Well done....