Waking up dad's TX650 in Colorado

[AUTOMAN]

Welcome to the forum.
1. I'm in the UK so can't advise about shippers
2. As above
3. No, best remove the battery
4. Most of us use the Haynes book. A factory manual is best for your year / model (eBay etc). Or check the Tech part of this site for downloads.
5. First I would lube the bores (Diesel), and check all is free. Then its a plan of recommissioning the bike systematically looking to correct faults found.

I'll follow this; a good bike to start with.

Diesel fuel may swell main seals for crank!

 

[gggGary]

I have a roll of Saran Wrap and a roll of metal duct tape. I have a nearly perfect tank with RedKote in it. I think I need to get it out.

I had a thread on the XS650 Garage site when I went through this before. I believe it’s gone. Wrecking the paint is a worrisome.

Friends don't let friends use RedKote or Kreem.

 

[jetmechmarty]

Friends don't let friends use RedKote or Kreem.

In order to not damage my reputation, I did not install the RedKote. My go to is Caswell epoxy.

 

[JJames]

JJames- 1. Gas in the tank? Unfortunately, it was bone dry when I checked it out and the tank is rusted (see photo). I believe it had been rusted years ago but a tank flush/reline kit will be on the menu.
2. I was surprised to see the miles as low as they were given that we did at least a partial rebuild in the '80's. It's been so many years I don't remember why he took it apart, but I distinctly remember removing the camshaft chain (because he was irritated at having to buy a replacement coupling link when he made a mistake during reassembly on the timing). I think we replaced the piston rings and I seem to remember scraping crud off the valves so we had quite a bit removed. I don't remember if we pulled the entire engine out or just took it down to the bottom half of the crankcase. Given how far we were into it I wouldn't be surprised if he pulled the engine. I don't remember us messing with the electrical system or the forks or anything else at the time.
3. The bike is about 20 minutes outside of Lansing, Michigan. I've got family in western Nebraska so even if someone was only going as far west as central Nebraska we could probably work something out.
4. I don't know if the battery is dead or just needs charging, but I think there's a charger there so I'll see if my brother can give it an overnight and check it out.

Thanks for your reply Bill, just a couple of things. First, western Nebraska? FWIW My dad was from Chadron. Second, and more importantly,spring for a quality NEW battery. I like the agm variety. I've seen to many posts where folks try to hold on to the diseased old battery that came with the bike and then end up throwing hundreds of dollars in parts at the bike because it has "a crappy charging system. " Just because a battery will charge does not mean it's good. Have fun.

 

[jetmechmarty]

spring for a quality NEW battery.

I’m running three bikes with NAPA AGM batteries in them. They’re USA made by Deka. One of them is 9 years old and it’s still a one kick start. My local NAPA keeps them in stock. If I should have an issue it’s a face to face deal. I believe O’Reilly’s battery for our application is the same manufacturer.

 

[grouchie83]

As much as I would love to drive over and pick it up in the bed of my F-150, a back of the envelope calculation tells me it's probably not going to save me much, if any, over shipping by the time I factor in hotel, gas and food to get there and back. That doesn't include my time off work and depreciation on 2400 plus miles on said truck. I hadn't thought about flying out and renting a vehicle to haul it back but I'll have to give that a look.

I like your chain method. I was trying to figure the best way to keep thieves from making off with the bike at the hotel stops.

I don't think I slept for the whole 2 days it took to drive my crap from LA to Chicago. I would start to doze off then jolt awake and look out the window to make sure it was still there. Repeat the process for another 6 hours then another 18 hours on the road. Fun times.

Of course in hindsight, I never thought to lock the trailer to the box truck, so anyone could have simply made off with the whole caboose. Something to keep in mind.

Edit: I suppose you could always rent like a panel van and tie it down in there. One of the guys at work is planning to do that with a little Enduro-type bike and a Sprinter van and go traveling.

 

[Adamc]

Diesel fuel may swell main seals for crank!

Not meant to fill cylinders and soak. Just used as a light lube for cylinder walls that have stood for a while, and to see if it turns over. It would burn off at the first fire up.

 

[5twins]

To seal up the fill hole on a tank with a latching cap, I simply cut a piece of rubber from an old inner tube or some rubber sheet, lay it over the hole, then close & latch the cap over it. This has worked well for me on several different tanks.

 

[gggGary]

 

[gggGary]

Just a shot of failed epoxy lined that was applied to a dirty tank,

Bummer cuz it's a really good tank otherwise.
This stuff was REALLY thick, the tank is noticibly heavy. Don't know who's liner, the tank was a "trade in" @ the SOIR parts depot.
Another plus for POR, it goes on pretty thin.

 

[YamadudeXS650C]

If you are really considering using a tank liner (I would not do so in any case) I suggest reading Mailman's nightmare experience with a liner. He hired a
"professional" to do the liner, and the "professional" totally screwed it up.

https://www.xs650.com/threads/marbl...er-then-screwed-up-the-warranty-repair.58302/





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[Zonie]

Welcome to the group. There is a lot of good advice to be had but I will add my 2 cents worth.
When you drain the sump remove the plate that is bolted to the bottom. Look at the filter gauze and check for holes.
That and the one of the RH side held in place by 2 Allen bolts. When I was bringing mine back from the dead they were in sad shape.
John in Texas

 

[Zonie]

Where are you at?

 

[Leadville Bill]

Where are you at?

Zonie- Thanks for the tip. I'm in the Denver Metro area.

 

[Leadville Bill]

OP back. I wanted to give a thanks to gggGary and wingedwheel for their generous offers to help transport my dad's bike as far west as Topeka; unfortunately the timing was too soon. My stepmom's preference is for me and my brother to move it ourselves so I'm still working through logistics of going that route. In the meantime, I had a question on the gas tank. Someone mentioned that it looked like a

I like 1 1/4" hex head #12 sheet metal screws for tank shaking.
cuz they are sharp n pointy all over and you can get them out with a magnet on a wire.
View attachment 348209
The tank on your bike is a factory Service Campaign replacement tank, that ALSO leaked at the rear seam and was brazed? This is REAL common on 73's but no other year.
View attachment 348210
The original tank had emblems, the replacement tanks had decals.
View attachment 348211

View attachment 348212

View attachment 348213

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gggGary- When these tank replacements were done, did the dealership typically keep the original tank? There's a bunch of junk in my dad's garage and he wasn't in the habit of throwing anything out. I wonder if the old tank might be lurking in there somewhere.

 

[Leadville Bill]

OP here. I wanted to give kudos to gggGary and Wingedwheel for offering to transport my bike a portion of the way (MO/KS). Unfortunately I had to decline as the time just wasn't right. My stepmom's preference is for me and my brother to drive it out and make a road trip of it so that's probably what I'll do next summer when I have the money and the PTO. I still have lots to read up on in the mean time. I'm guessing the tires will need replacement in addition to the battery so that's another thing for me to figure out.

 

[5twins]

Well yes, study up. The 650 is a very good teacher and bike to learn on. It's easy to work on and everything is pretty much where it normally would be. Besides the little fixes and updates Yamaha did to it over the years, there are many little owner tweaks and fixes that have been figured out by folks over the years, and most all of them are on the site here somewhere. And just over the last 15 years or so, many new upgrades have come to light. You'd think a bike this old would have had most everything about it figured out by now but it didn't, lol.

 

[gggGary]

gggGary- When these tank replacements were done, did the dealership typically keep the original tank? There's a bunch of junk in my dad's garage and he wasn't in the habit of throwing anything out. I wonder if the old tank might be lurking in there somewhere.

I don't know My guess is the dealer would tend to keep and or destroy them. I suspect Yamaha wouldn't have wanted them floating around for liability reasons.
Originals do occasionally pop up.

 

[Leadville Bill]

I don't know My guess is the dealer would tend to keep and or destroy them. I suspect Yamaha wouldn't have wanted them floating around for liability reasons.
Originals do occasionally pop up.

That makes sense. So with the originals and the replacements having the leak problem, what has been the solution? Does a tank coating address the issue?

 

[gggGary]

That makes sense. So with the originals and the replacements having the leak problem, what has been the solution? Does a tank coating address the issue?

I've had several with welded or brazed rear seams, no issues for me. I did (re) line the original tank on the 73 I'm working on now. This is the second original 73 tank I've had that didn't have a repaired rear seam. It was pretty rusty behind that first lining job...





pic from an ebay sale

a different 73 with original tank


We all get pretty excited, but a 5% failure rate would be enough to start a recall campaign.

If I put in a liner I'd tip the tank while it dried so the rear seam had a good thick layer of liner and not worry.
It might be there's a seat/tank contact/rubbing problem that creates the leak, dunno.