The Free "B", a 1971 resto redux

[Its been a long time]

Honestly, it's a crazy scheme. The R5 (350cc precurser to the RD350), which also debuted in 1970, has a rear fender that makes sense. I don't think there is any other motorcycle in the world, any brand, any year, that has an as-poorly designed rear fender mounting as the 70-73 650s.

Yes, the engineers understood that the nature of a 650cc four stroke parallel twin was worlds removed from a 350cc two stroke. I too have owned them both. So they tried on the early 650s and didn't get it quite right. It's clear from what you're saying. It's an interesting if small part of the 650s history and development. The lessons were learned. That much is clear.

 

[Jim]

Yes, the engineers understood that the nature of a 650cc four stroke parallel twin was worlds removed from a 350cc two stroke. I too have owned them both. So they tried on the early 650s and didn't get it quite right. It's clear from what you're saying. It's an interesting if small part of the 650s history and development. The lessons were learned. That much is clear.

Not a ton of detail here, but it does talk about the challenge of building the first ever 4-stroke.

https://global.yamaha-motor.com/stories/yamaha-handling/list/vol03/01.html

 

[Mailman]

@Jim, that was an interesting article. Thanks!

 

[Jim]

@Jim, that was an interesting article. Thanks!

Lots of good articles here.

https://www.xs650.com/threads/xs650-road-test.56415/

 

[DogBunny]

Not a ton of detail here, but it does talk about the challenge of building the first ever 4-stroke.

https://global.yamaha-motor.com/stories/yamaha-handling/list/vol03/01.html

View attachment 372852

I think that was the best article on XS650s that I've ever read.
My take-away: the engineers were figuring out their first ever 4-stroke, AND were running into handling problems, so their hands were full, and they couldn't be bothered with figuring out a rational rear fender mounting. What I don't get, is why didn't the R5 team saunter over, look at the plans, tell the XS guys their rear fender mounting didn't make any sense, and say "here, use our mounting system."


My final dealings with the whole fender mount thing. This is the other end of the Free "B" fender stay (the grab hoop thing). One or both of the welded on eyelets is always cracked, sometime completely broken off. You can see a big crack at the bottom, and there is just as big a crack at the top, but only the edge is visible in the pic.
Just one more weak link in the under-engineered rear fender mount chain. The eyelet ferrule should wrap all the way around the stay tube, not half-way.
As the whole fender mount assembly shown in my post #58 wallows out and deteriorates, it puts increasing stress on the eyelet. The cracking always occurs exactly in the same places.


Got my friend-who-welds to repair the cracks. Not his best work ever, but good enough. He used stainless steel TIG rods. After grinding down the high spots, the stainless polishes up nice. How long will it remain looking like this...
I have two other fender stays that my friend-who-welds repaired almost two years ago, and so far they are still looking pretty good.

 

[DogBunny]

The Freebie came with pretty nice wheels with stainless spokes. However, the front tire, which looked fairly good, had a date code that translated to either 1987 or 1997. I've never been a huge fan of safety, and I am hugely tempted to use this tire.


Then I remembered this pair of wheels that I built back in 2020, for my first XS1B project, which is nowhere near completion. Some (mostly people who sell tires, IMO), would say that these 2020 tires are already expired. My thought is that I better use these tires fast, so I put these wheels on the Freebie.


The front and the rear of the bike are mostly sorted out. Waiting as long as possible to put the handlebars and rear flashers on because I am in a narrow space that serves many purposes, and they would be in the way. The front fender has been re-chromed and is excellent. The taillight bracket has been re-chromed. Not sure about the rear fender, but it's pretty nice.
New crummy Chinese re-pop shocks. The other paint is by Jim, originally intended for the same forsaken XS1B project that the 2020 wheels were supposed to go on.


Polished the steering crown. I have to enjoy it now, because it will become mostly hidden by the gauge bracket and handlebars.

When I pulled those 2020 wheels out of storage, I couldn't for the life of me find the rear wheel brake plate. One day when it shows up, it will be like finding an Easter egg. At least it wasn't the front wheel brake plate that I lost...


For some reason, I thought that the rear brake plate that came with the Freebie was chromed (left -- it wasn't), so I found another early rear brake plate, and polished it, right.


The front brake plate that came with the Freebie. Note the alignment of the camshafts. Very typical of the level of non-care that went into the first restoration of this bike. As I've said before, this bike is an interesting mix of very nice parts and poor workmanship.

While reassembling that rear brake plate that I polished, I noticed that the camshafts on my 2020 front wheel brake plate were oriented wrong. Correcting that was a minor annoyance.

 

[DogBunny]

Cleaned the sprocket area in preparation of replacing the clutch push rod seal. Removed the push rod to make cleaning easier, and then popped a 5/16" plug in the hole to keep the crud out.
One of the cable clips was good (blue circle), but the other one had been pulled off by a previous owner (red circle) and was still attached to the wire sheath.
Pulled-off clips are common. I have tried to reattach them, but failed, because I never really properly thought it through until now.


The clip was in good condition, but would not easily push onto it's post. I figured it was worth taking a couple of minutes to make a simple hollow punch tool to drive the clip on without risking ruining it.


Then, I peened the post over the clip. The largest long-shank flat-head hand impact driver bit (far right bit in pic) was perfect as a peening punch. Slipping a 5/16" deep socket (far right) as an extension over the bit gave the needed length.


The clip is VERY secure.
I went ahead and re-peened the other clip.
This is effective and very simple to do. I now think that re-peening these clips should be a standard overhaul or maintenance item.

 

[Its been a long time]

That's a great idea. Unfortunately one of the clips on my 650D fell off when I was working around there. I don't have a clue where I put it. I would definitely follow this idea. I guess they're no longer available to buy?

 

[DogBunny]

Those clips don't seem to have a part number, and were probably never available.

 

[Its been a long time]

Those clips don't seem to have a part number, and were probably never available.

That's what I thought. What a shame I can't remember where I put the one that fell off. Probably put it "somewhere safe".

 

[gggGary]

"somewhere safe".

Where about 90% of my parts are hiding.

 

[DogBunny]

Problems...
The right-side interior megaphone, or whatever it is, is loose and klunks from front to back when you tip the muffler end-over-end. And all of these very similarly-sized, slightly cylindrical pieces dropped out after much end-over-end tipping and shaking. Note that there is no rot, or rust, or flakes, or dust. I think that the interior megaphone must have come loose due to poor welding, and then the cylidrical end or collar broke itself into bits as the loose megaphone rattled around over time.

Outwardly, the muffler looks great, and both ends outwardly look great. But unusable because it won't flow air like the other side does.

If anyone has a RIGHT-side 70-73 muffler, please contact me.

Will also mention that neither side had the P-clamp, which is more or less essential. The right side didn't even have a nut on the rear header tab.

 

[DogBunny]

What's wrong with this picture?
Answer: That's a 1974-1983 battery box that has somehow been shoe-horned into a 1970-1973 frame.
Note the lame damper mounting kluge in the second picture.
More feeble fabbing in the third picture.


Fixed.
That battery is probably quite a bit of overkill for a kick-only 1971.
Note the Newtronic Systems Ltd. control box nestled on top of the tool pouch.


This is the pic I posted when trying to figure out what ignition system I had, prior to my unearthing that control box. Even though I haven't started the bike yet, this is my new favorite electronic ignition upgrade for a points bike. Mainly because it works (very reliable and robust, according to my research), and because it uses the stock mechanical advance, which makes it a relatively inexpensive unit. And you use your stock coils.
You want the YAM6 kit. Kind of a weird site, so here are some links:
Home page:
https://www.motorcycle-ignition.com.au/motorcycle_ei_kit.htm
Instructions:
https://www.motorcycle-ignition.com.au/kitfittinginstructions/YAM6.pdf
Ordering:
https://www.motorcycle-ignition.com.au/cgi-bin/eikOrder.pl
Currently about $228 USD as of right now.

Anyways, back to that picture of the control box on top of the tool pouch in the tool tray:
The thing I don't like about the Newtronic is that the control box doesn't have any mounting tabs, or ears, or etc. They want you to mount it with provided double-sided tape. They want you to mount it on the back of the left side cover. Fine, now your side cover is forever tethered to the rest of the bike by the critical control wires that make your bike run, and that you don't want getting damaged. So, for me, that idea was definitely out.
I struggled to find a better place, but I thought I found the answer on top of the tool tray.


To make the tool tray location work, I had to delete the axle wrenches from the factory tool pouch to allow clearance for the seat.


No problem. Directly behind the battery, and under the tool tray, is a triangular void, perfect for those axle wrenches, and maybe some extra tools.


Another view of that area; pic taken from an @scobman "for sale" forum thread.
You just need to make sure you keep a 13mm wrench in the tool tray so that you can remove the left side cover and access the other tools in that triangular void. BTW, only 70-71 has that void.

So, everything's copacetic, right? Maybe not. After refurbing all of the wiring, I checked to make sure I still had spark (I did), and I also checked the timing (also good). Took just a couple of minutes, but I noticed that in that short time that the Newtronic control box was warm. Uh-oh.
Researched it, and the control box contains resistors, and needs to be located in free air. Where I have it under the seat is really tight, so I'm going to have to keep an eye on it. I may have to take all of the tools out of the tray (except that 13mm wrench), and modify the tray so that the control box fits all the way down in it. That should provide enough air circulation.

 

[FB71]

that Newtronic system is available from Yambits as well.
https://yambits.co.uk/xs650se-newtronics-electronic-ignition-system-p-158242.html

 

[Its been a long time]

Maybe they've improved the reliability of those Newtronic systems over the decades. But I had nothing but issues back in the day. Definitely not my favourite ignition system, partly because it uses the mechanical advance system.

I hope your experience is better than mine was.

 

[Its been a long time]

that Newtronic system is available from Yambits as well.
https://yambits.co.uk/xs650se-newtronics-electronic-ignition-system-p-158242.html

IMHO, far better to spend ~£20 more on a Boyer Bransden kit which doesn't use the ancient mechanical advance, nor the 50 year old original system coils. They weren't much good when they were new.

But who am I to say?

 

[DogBunny]

Maybe they've improved the reliability of those Newtronic systems over the decades. But I had nothing but issues back in the day. Definitely not my favourite ignition system, partly because it uses the mechanical advance system.

I hope your experience is better than mine was.

What were your issues?
The only negatives I found with the Newtronic are in this article:
https://old.xs650.org.au/Technical Info/Ignition.htm
All problems had to do with the installation. Once the installation was complete, the author liked the product. That was in 2007. I don't know, but I'd like to think that Newtronic has fixed the installation problems since then.

IMHO, far better to spend ~£20 more on a Boyer Bransden kit which doesn't use the ancient mechanical advance, nor the 50 year old original system coils. They weren't much good when they were new.

But who am I to say?

Who's to say, and to each their own.
I have had a good relationship with the mechanical advance all my life, and I like it.
In the U.S. the Boyer Bransden is $300. That's more than 30% more than the Newtronic. Admittedly, you get a new coil with the Boyer. But a somewhat more complicated install.

$300 is a lot for me. So is $228 for the Newtronic. A Pamco using the stock advance used to be about $100, and was an extremely simple install. Those were the days. The truth is, I'd rather just keep the points than spend $300 or $228. But if I absolutely had to put an electronic ignition on a points XS650, I'd save the $72 and use the Newtronic.

 

[DogBunny]

Cleaned the top of the engine in preparation for a head re-torque.


Cleaned most of the rest of the engine in preparation of adjusting the valves.

The cam chain adjustment was already perfect, which was encouraging. Things quickly changed to discouraging.
All four cam covers were glued on. No gaskets or O-rings (pre-O-ring covers).
Out of twelve M6 valve cover studs, 11 had to have their threads chased. One was stripped out of the engine and needed a Helicoil (fortunately an outer stud, so easy to get at). One had already been Helicoiled, but at least one entire thread of the Helicoil was sticking out proud above the head casting.
One valve adjuster was unusable (both photos above). The valve stem end didn't look great either, but I think will work.

 

[gggGary]

Change to o-ring valve covers?

 

[DogBunny]

Change to o-ring valve covers?

Yes. Some, if not all, of the O-ring grooves in the covers I used were cut by you in 2020. Thank you.

For the O-rings, I am using ones that came in some gasket set or another that I acquired. They should work for a while.

When you began selling silicone valve cover O-rings year ago, the ones you used had a dash number (size) of 229. I bought 20 from McMaster-Carr. I thought they left too big of a gap between the valve cover and the head, and I didn't like the way that looked, so I only used them a couple of times.

I see you are now using a different size, these:
https://www.amazon.com/uxcell-Flexible-Silicone-Sealing-Gasket/dp/B008MKWE04
I assume these are a better fit?

Amazon is by far the best deal (not including Ali Express which has them super-cheap), but is currently out of them, . Maybe people reading this forum bought all of the Amazon ones?