New to me XS 650...

[Kevin Werner]

Not in far enough means it doesn't fully disengage.... clutch drag... means it's hard to find neutral.
Adjusted "too" far in means the clutch never fully engages. That causes clutch slip under load.... like you're experiencing.
It's a balancing act. Not too much lever... not too little... just right.
As far as clutches go, the XS has very little extra travel to play with.

I know guys do it but I don't understand how they make that worm adjustment too tight. Once the freeplay is eliminated, the screw hits a hard stop. Turning it further will start to disengage the clutch, and you just can't do it with that little screw and a screwdriver. The only way I can figure it happening is if they set the adjustment tight when the motor is hot. Then when things cool down and the parts contract, your setting could end up being too tight.

The clutch slippage was diminished with stiffer springs. Going to AK it would let go at 5800 RPM. Last day of riding it was slipping above 4500 rpm. Since then I installed a @gggGary 8 plate clutch and it holds beyond 6000 rpm. That hit at 4500 to 5500 rpm is pretty entertaining.

 

[Tinker Taylor]

Disclaimer: Answer is written in 'Just Ride'.
'TT'

 

[Kevin Werner]

I was zeroing in on jetting concerns when today I experienced rather erratic behavior from my 750 bbk tracker. A garage check indicated 11.20 v at the battery. Further, 3000 rpm was a 12.30v charge. Oh well, tear it down and adjust the regulator to 14.1 v at 3000rpm. @Jim or @5Twinns or all the rest, spark, air, fuel tripod. I am guessing my erratic running was electric induced.

 

[gggGary]

remind us stock charging system or a PMA?
check brushes, then
Ohm out the rotor.

 

[Jim]

I was zeroing in on jetting concerns when today I experienced rather erratic behavior from my 750 bbk tracker. A garage check indicated 11.20 v at the battery. Further, 3000 rpm was a 12.30v charge. Oh well, tear it down and adjust the regulator to 14.1 v at 3000rpm. @Jim or @5Twinns or all the rest, spark, air, fuel tripod. I am guessing my erratic running was electric induced.

Possible. What ignition are you using?
Might be a good idea to list out your bike and what's on it/in it in your signature. Then we won't have to ask.

 

[Kevin Werner]

remind us stock charging system or a PMA?
check brushes, then
Ohm out the rotor.

Possible. What ignition are you using?
Might be a good idea to list out your bike and what's on it/in it in your signature. Then we won't have to ask.

I have the stock charging system with Probe Engineering ignition. It is a 750 with pipes and pods. I can ride today or tomorrow and verify that low system voltage was my culprit.

 

[Kevin Werner]

@Niche delivered pilot jets. I installed 1 step richer 27.5. 77, BBK, pipes and pods with Probe iggy. Holy Sheet the improvement. I was hunting gears for a smooth in town (25mph -35 mph) with always a "wants throttle" feel with what turns out to be stock 25s. The on throttle performance has always been nice and got nicer as I leaned out the 137.5s to now 127.5s (77D). Now the "tooling around town" is almost refined. Before I had to give it throttle through the burbling, now just roll a "little" on. The 2k rpm roll on is really nice now.

 

[Kevin Werner]

All that being said I come in from a ride and my battery is low. 11.7 to 11.9v I have set the core and points on the old regulator and nothing changed. I installed a VR115 solid state regulator and still low battery. @Jim gave me some tips to trouble shoot the problem which was not a problem in AK. Curiously Russ from Kansas suggested I install a voltmeter and I put that on my to do list. Now I am wishing I had done that already so I would know when charging stops and discharging begins.
Batteries Plus did a load test and the battery is good, though only 150 CCA, dated 3/2021. It sits in a rubber sleeve in the battery box and the sleeve has to be in the box before you install the battery. Reinstalling the battery was like sliding a condom on AFTER insertion. Solenoid, battery contacts were shined up with a wire brush. I will run it tomorrow and measure my slip ring resistance after the ride if my battery is low..

 

[650Skull]

Do you have the probe ignition instructions.............If not i have the PDF if you want

 

[Kevin Werner]

Do you have the probe ignition instructions.............If not i have the PDF if you want

Thanks Skull. Early on when I first purchased the bike many members, probably you included, offered up many bits of info including the probe link. Thank you. I launched a sailboat for a really nice Law Enforcement guy today. He has a great attitude and says "life is what you choose to make of it".

 

[Kevin Werner]

I installed a small voltmeter (thanks Russ from the Ozark Rally)and discovered that I had 13.8v while riding. When I turned on my hi beam it went to 10v. I turned off hi beam and it went back to 13.8b indicated. Later when I turned on hi beam it only dropped 0.1 to 13.7. I will mull over that. Rubber mounting the handle bar is the only real change here

 

[5twins]

13.8V seems a bit low for max output. My VR115 gives me around 14.2 or 3 right after electric starting and that drops to around 14 after riding a few miles and replenishing the battery charge. I like that about it. The factory combined reg/rec on my '83 gives me 14.3 or 4 but never tapers off.

At idle, my voltmeters show a drop of around a volt when I turn the lights on, at speed there's little to no drop.

Have you ohmed out your rotor because, like I said, that charging rate seems a little low.

 

[Kevin Werner]

13.8V seems a bit low for max output. My VR115 gives me around 14.2 or 3 right after electric starting and that drops to around 14 after riding a few miles and replenishing the battery charge. I like that about it. The factory combined reg/rec on my '83 gives me 14.3 or 4 but never tapers off.

At idle, my voltmeters show a drop of around a volt when I turn the lights on, at speed there's little to no drop.

Have you ohmed out your rotor because, like I said, that charging rate seems a little low.

I did ohm my rotor. 5 ohms warm. I didn't recheck cold. I do have 0.4-0.5v drop from battery terminals to brown (system +12v) and I wired the voltmeter to system +12 brown.

 

[gggGary]

How is your brush length?
(picture)

 

[Kevin Werner]

How is your brush length?
(picture)

I did not measure, seemed about the same as when I measured 13 or 14mm in November. That is 700ish miles ago.

 

[5twins]

Well, that sounds OK then. Add that .4 to .5 volts and you're getting 14.2 to 3 at the battery. Guess I picked better spots to hook my voltmeters to, lol. Well, I know I did. On my Special, I added a pigtail off the brown wire at the ignition switch specifically for the voltmeter. That way I don't lose any voltage through splits and plugs. On my '78, I picked a power source real close to the switch, basically the first split off it (power for brake warning idiot light in the dash).

 

[Kevin Werner]

Well, that sounds OK then. Add that .4 to .5 volts and you're getting 14.2 to 3 at the battery. Guess I picked better spots to hook my voltmeters to, lol. Well, I know I did. On my Special, I added a pigtail off the brown wire at the ignition switch specifically for the voltmeter. That way I don't lose any voltage through splits and plugs. On my '78, I picked a power source real close to the switch, basically the first split off it (power for brake warning idiot light in the dash).

I did know this would be a "representation" of what is happening. I needed to know when charging was stopping because I would start a ride with 12.4-12.6v at battery and charging to 14+v at 3000 rpm and finish a ride with 11.7-11.9v at the battery (11.4-11.5 on brown to iggy and electronics) and running not quite right. Seems my hi beam sometimes draws a lot so that is where I need to look. And, I have a little 5 inch headlight shell with almost no free space to pick and choose which connections I can make.

 

[Team Junk]

1) Clean you ground connections at the battery and the engine.

2) Check the wiring going past the sprocket from the alternator.

3) check grounding of the regulator.

I did know this would be a "representation" of what is happening. I needed to know when charging was stopping because I would start a ride with 12.4-12.6v at battery and charging to 14+v at 3000 rpm and finish a ride with 11.7-11.9v at the battery (11.4-11.5 on brown to iggy and electronics) and running not quite right. Seems my hi beam sometimes draws a lot so that is where I need to look. And, I have a little 5 inch headlight shell with almost no free space to pick and choose which connections I can make.

I feel your pain about the headlight shell.

 

[Kevin Werner]

My reserve light checker was apparently made by Lucas. It let off enough smoke that I will need 2 bottles.

A garage fire extinguisher is a good idea. A small dry chemical extinguisher has lots of dry powder that goes everywhere. I don't know if the seat pan was pressing on it or if there is a fault somewhere else. This forum has wiring instructions to eliminate the device and since I have neither turn indicators nor a dashboard I will go that route.

 

[5twins]

I've heard they can crap out but I never heard of one burning up, lol. One more reason to get rid of the thing. It's one of the first things I remove, lol.