New owner 82 xs650 heritage special.

[82xs650]

Hi, I just picked up an 82 xs650 heritage special a couple of days ago for 250 bucks. It is beat to hell and needs a ton of work. I made sure to try the kick starter for compression before I took it home and it has compression. I tested it at home with a new battery in and I have 145 on the right cylinder and a little bit over 150 on the left cylinder. So that is promising. I am kind of shocked seeing how the last time this thing was plated was in 96'. So, I already tore apart the carbs and cleaned the hell out of everything on the inside and replaced all o-rings, made sure float needles were sealing and they are. Set float levels. Heres my issue, the headlight does not work, push button start does not work, starter makes some pretty terrible noises. (I jumped the solenoid with a screwdriver to see if it would start). I have no spark. Horn doesn't work. I tested the headlight on my car battery and it works on both high beam and lo beam so this is definitely an electrical issue on the bike. It has an aftermarket accel coil on there which I presume to be good but it is old as well. I got new plugs and wires, and oil change. Oil was clean with no metal flakes or chips of any sort. From what I could see through the spark plug hole, the cylinders looked very smooth with no scoring. So, I have noticed a lot of people speaking about replacing ignition systems on these bikes. Is that only for the older ones? And does anybody have any tips on where to start that may shorten my guess work. I plan on studying the colored wiring diagram that I found on here before I jump into anything. Well, after stalking around this forum for the last week, just wanted to say hi and ask my first questions. Will be many more im sure.

Thanks,
Nick

 

[nj1639]

'82 and '83 came out with some safety relays that can go south and give you the fits. I've removed my sidestand safety and the one that keeps you from starting unless you're in neutral......I've also removed the labels from my wifes iron that tell you not to iron your clothes while wearing them.
Since you've cleaned the carbs I'd say go through the electrical bullet connectors and clean them up, mebbe a bit of di-electric on the connectors and replace the fuse block with inlines. The connection blocks in the headlight bucket can be a bit intimidating but keep in mind- no two are the same, save for the turn signals and grounds.
The TCI on these bikes are great when working and considering the price you've paid.....try to fix what you've got without a big outlay of cash and you'll be way ahead in this game.

 

[littlebill31]

Time to really start reading. The best thing you can do is go piece by piece and check, then cross-reference, then check again.
The headlight won't come on until the bike has been started/running because of the safety relay and reserve lighting unit, which only turns the light on when there is current flowing thru the stator. I think that's how it works. I got rid of all that crap.
A new coil from MikesXS is pretty inexpensive if you wanted to go back to stock, which is my advise.
As long as the TCI is working you don't need to put the money into extra stuff.
Get the bike sorted out and running in as much to stock as you can, then you can start doing other things.
Rememeber, these bikes need to be adjusted in a certain order and adjusted correctly, not willy-nilly. The "tech" section on here and the "search" function are amazing tools, use them.
Good luck

 

[82xs650]

Thanks for the help guys, I will keep posted what I find.