rescue from kids.

angus67

Welder's penetrate deeper!!
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I just handed back a 1980 special to a friend that picked it up for 500$. he was driving down the street, and spotted it at a garage sale. the woman there said her sons were riding it as a dirt bike, and since there schooling was suffereing, it had to go.
It smoked alittle, hard starting, although the starter system worked fine it would idle sporatikly, and was hard to keep running untill it was warm. and of course the charging system was shot.
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We pulled the motor, and gave it a ring job and a honing, buttoned it back up. I wrestled the motor back in by my self, because I find it easier to heft it in myself, and just have someone else keep the bike from falling over, than have two guys butting heads trying to put it in together. this was a few months ago. he has no heat in his garage, and has some medical issues, so it sat for a few months. I finally talked him into letting me finish putting it together. we live 70 miles apart. He's in puyallup, im in shelton.
He drops it off on a tuesday, and im riding it to the corner store on saturday.
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so, heres what I did. since john's needles are not available anymore (plan on fixing that soon) I purchased canadian adj. needles, matching emulsion tubes, enlarged the pilot to size 46, as per xs john, 140 MJ's, used mikes rebiuld kit for the bowl gasket, and float needles. cleaned them all out.
the bike had a blinker issue. sometimes work, sometimes not. when I was scopin it out, I noticed the blinkers worked when the tank was off, but not when tank was on, so apon close inspection, I found a chafed wire. unfortunately, I burned up the originall blink relay finding the short. but I threw a 533 at it, and it works fine now. threw in some zip-ties to secure it, and put the tank back on to make sure of repair. :thumbsup::thumbsup:
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So, now, its time to clean it up, oh, by the way, it got new rotor and brushes early on.
I took off the seat, tank, bloked off the carb inlets, put the exhaust pipes on, and dumped a can of engine brite on it, every where. let it sit for 15 minutes, and rinsed it good.
the only real damage I found after letting the bike dry in the sun for three hours, is battery acid damage on the left side of the bike. I scrubbed it with baking soda,
plugged in the stator wires, brushes, yellow wire, connected a new , fresh battery, turned the key, and waited for smoke............five minutes go by....no smoke.
hit the blinks, nice and brite, blinking strong.
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check the brake lights, good to go.
final check on valves, .006 intake .015 exhaust, checke cam chain, fresh rotella t-6 oil after drain showed no flecks of alum, but damn that oil was darker than the inside of a cow.
jumped on, turnedthe key, turned on new petcock, full choke, started rite up!
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after a few seconds of choked idle, push the choke in, and idled smooth. I hope bench synching is good enuf. sure sounds smooth. adj. the idle screws, idle set to just above the 1k mark.sweet. Its got some light baffleing. sound sdeeper than my chop with 32 inch pipes and 4 inch baffles( the ones that look like a tube attacked with a can opener)
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I let the engine heat cycle a few times, and retorqeud the head after each cool down(stone cold, 30# on the crowns)
threw the tank and seat on, and rode to the corner store two miles away. (unregistered, sketchy ride)
nice!! smooth carbs. clutch a little strange, poped out of second once, then ok. Adj. later. is deffinately ridable. is the distance in the shifting between 1st and second a reach? or... long? not really sure how to word it. seems I had to pull up on the shifter farther from 1st to 2nd . than 3-4-5.
meh. no more smoke, but the rings still need to seat. so we will see how its treated for 500 miles or so.
Ive never rode a stock 650, nice useable power for a 650. i have a 800 suzuki marauder, and I think I like the torque curve of the 650 better!! although it handles like a tank!! I tried to adj the preload on the rear shocks, but, no, and im sur the fork oil is original. I will prolly switch to atf fluid later, and take off the rear shocks and try adj that way.
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a little touch up acrylic spray, clean/oiled the chain, clean/greased the clucth cable/actuator. cut/ wax on tank/ side covers. looks brand new
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I also baby oiled the blinker lenses, and varius transparent plastiscs
Watcha think?
I only spent about 50 bucks, he was so pleased, he trie dto offer me money for the work, but I turned it down. he was so excited. took it for a spin and loved it. I consider it a learning expeirence. and a favor to a good friend.
He has a 71 650. thats next. hasnt run in years. all stock. all there.
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wish me luck!!
 
Great job. You deserve a pat on the back and a cold beer. I know a pat on the back is not why you did it. You did it because you love motorcycles eh? Because it's the right thing.
 
It looks like a '79 instead of a typical '80 to me.

The black headlight, metal sidecovers, wire wheels, and single bulb tailight suggest that this bike was originally a Special II. It looks as though the gauge and side covers (Special II sidecovers were also metal, but were adorned with a decal instead of a plastic emblem) have been replaced with 650 Special items. The 1980 650 Special II carried over the frame style of the 1978-1979 XS650 Special, minus the disc rear brake.
 
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Good eyes and good info on the '80 Special II. I fixated on the rear fender and seat.
 
he repainted the side covers, so the decal was lost, so he put specia plastic emblems on, and got new yamaha emblems for the tank.
on the valves, should i have gone inlet .004, exhaust .006?
 
If that .006 intake and .015 exhaust measurement you mentioned was in inches then, yes, it's too big. You should be using .003" or .004" intake and .006" exhaust. The specs were originally given in MM (.06mm intake and .15mm exhaust). Those convert to .0024" and .0059" but everyone rounds them off up to 3 and 6.
 
My '78 speced .004" for the intakes but they ticked using that. Switching to .003" made them nice and quiet.
 
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