What have you done to your XS today?

[OutgunnedOverbudget]

Test fit a 3D printed home designed throttle assembly that will take a stock 79 XS throttle tube and cable and facilitate kill/start momentary switches whilst maintaining a design theme running through my current chop build. Test fit was successful, so now to get it machined up.

Very cool! Looking forward to the final product

 

[Its been a long time]

Switch stripped and cleaned. Not really much wrong inside. I have suspected the voltage drop I see on the switched live is mostly from 48 year old bullet connectors getting crusty. Opening the ignition switch 90% confirms that. Polished up the contacts. The detent springs look new, no rust. The pictures below are before cleaning. Lubricated everything and put it back together

View attachment 333679View attachment 333680

I forgot to measure the resistance across the switch before opening it up. But I remembered to measure it this morning. There's a true 0.3ohms resistance between the red wire and the switched wires in the on position. I don't actually know whether that's good or not, but it sounds low to me

 

[Melnic]

Noticed brake light was not working with the front brake handle during my ride. Saw reflection on the chrome grille of a truck behind me. It perplexed me cause I had JUST checked oil, lights, tire pressure before the 1 1/2 hr ride. Pulled over and yup, front not working. Made sure I was pressing both brakes on the way home. Pulled the headlight off later last night and the bullet connector had come out. Simple fix and checked all the other connections in there.

 

[Its been a long time]

I forgot to measure the resistance across the switch before opening it up. But I remembered to measure it this morning. There's a true 0.3ohms resistance between the red wire and the switched wires in the on position. I don't actually know whether that's good or not, but it sounds low to me

Anyway...... I have just put the ignition switch back and reconnected everything back up. Well worth doing as the voltage drop I was seeing on the switched live brown wire has fallen by half. So I now have >12 volts on the brown switched live with the engine not running and the lights on (~0.4v drop). I think that is a good result given I was thinking the ignition switch was in very good condition when I opened it up. I think the reduced voltage drop is a combination of switch cleaning plus unplugging crusty bullet connectors which acts as a cleaning of them

 

[Flash1977]

Just about ready to ride. I've been making changes all year.

 

[Its been a long time]

New fork oil seals fitted today. Considering I put fresh fork oil in the forks about 4 months ago, it came out today absolutely filthy black. And the bike hasn't been ridden in that time. So it was essentially worth stripping the forks down just to clean them out anyway. I was very surprised just how dirty the 4 month old unused fork oil was when I drained it down.

Fork seals change went without a hitch once the forks were clean enough to reassemble. No pictures today, hands were too dirty and oily

One other notable thing to mention, it seems there's dual rate springs inside the forks on my 77 XS650D. I don't know if they're standard springs or not. Anyway, they're back inside the forks now.

 

[jetmechmarty]

One other notable thing to mention, it seems there's dual rate springs inside the forks on my 77 XS650D. I don't know if they're standard springs or not. Anyway, they're back inside the forks now.

My Specials are all dual rate, except for the one I fitted with aftermarket straight rate.

 

[Its been a long time]

My Specials are all dual rate, except for the one I fitted with aftermarket straight rate.

Thanks. Probably the stock springs then. I was a bit surprised that Yamaha were doing stuff like that back in 77. The XS650 didn't have a wonderful reputation for handling. My 76 650C, you could feel the forks deflecting backwards towards the engine as the rear wheel floated off the road. The dual discs were terrific, the 34mm forks were dreadful

 

[5twins]

Yes, dual rate springs were stock in the 35mm forks ......

...... but I've found them to be a bit too soft. Adding about 3/4" of preload really helps.

I've put together a spare set of forks, my "hybrid" set I call them, combining what I consider all the best parts from the 35mm forks. I used '77 tubes and damper rods combined with '78-on springs, preload adjustable top caps, and top out springs. I didn't add any additional preload because I figured the taller tops on the '77 damper rods would do that for me, but they are still a bit soft. I may need a little preload spacer ......

 

[jetmechmarty]

Thanks. Probably the stock springs then. I was a bit surprised that Yamaha were doing stuff like that back in 77. The XS650 didn't have a wonderful reputation for handling. My 76 650C, you could feel the forks deflecting backwards towards the engine as the rear wheel floated off the road. The dual discs were terrific, the 34mm forks were dreadful

The dual rate is very good for a one size fits all.

 

[jetmechmarty]

I completed an oil change over the weekend. The XS650SH got synthetic this time. (Because it was what I could get locally and it was on sale.) I used the bike to run my errands yesterday evening despite the oppressive heat. I noted that the engine runs with less mechanical noise.

 

[Its been a long time]

Domestic chores presently, so I haven't refitted the forks yet. But I got a pack of 10 LED instrument bulbs delivered this morning. So I spent a few minutes fitting them in place of the old neutral and turn signal bulbs. The LED bulbs are a bit taller than the old style incandescent bulbs. But there's plenty of headroom in the instrument light housing to accommodate that. The LED bulbs are brighter to an astonishing degree and will be quite visible in bright sunlight, I think. We don't get a lot of that here though. I photographed the before and after neutral light. The difference is obvious. The picture that looks a paler shade of green is because the LED bulb is so much brighter than the old bulb that shows darker green. The bulbs are cheap as chips. I used three so I have seven spares. I think the pack of ten was £5.65 delivered. Pictures -

 

[Lou_TX]

Haven't worked on the XS lately. Last thing I did on her were some finishing touches like her name label attached to the fuel tank. (silver on silver so kinda hard to see)
But I do enjoy riding her, now that she's finished.
I am now focusing on a new project that is consuming my time and my buddy dragged in another bike that he wants to my help with so I got my work cut out for me. Yay?

 

[Its been a long time]

After fitting new fork oil seals, fork lowers cleaned up with oil and 1200 grade wet and dry followed by a light polishing. Not the intention to have polished forks but removing the obvious corrosion staining. They've come up pretty well and will need minimum attention going forward.

Very shiny new Yamaha front mudguard fitted. A bit of an indulgence but I'm happier having a genuine Yamaha one fitted. It was about the only piece of the bike that wasn't original Yamaha when I bought it. Probably be able to sell the one I took off for maybe half the price of the new one, so not a bad deal really.

The inner faces of the vallanced alloy rims needs the 1200 wet and dry plus oil treatment as there's a bit of corrosion in there. Not polishing though. For now, that's enough. Time to enjoy what is left of probably the one last sunny, warm summer weekend of the year

 

[Grimly]

After fitting new fork oil seals, fork lowers cleaned up with oil and 1200 grade wet and dry followed by a light polishing. Not the intention to have polished forks but removing the obvious corrosion staining. They've come up pretty well and will need minimum attention going forward.

Very shiny new Yamaha front mudguard fitted. A bit of an indulgence but I'm happier having a genuine Yamaha one fitted. It was about the only piece of the bike that wasn't original Yamaha when I bought it. Probably be able to sell the one I took off for maybe half the price of the new one, so not a bad deal really.

The inner faces of the vallanced alloy rims needs the 1200 wet and dry plus oil treatment as there's a bit of corrosion in there. Not polishing though. For now, that's enough. Time to enjoy what is left of probably the one last sunny, warm summer weekend of the year

View attachment 334205

That brake hose makes me wince.

 

[Its been a long time]

That brake hose makes me wince.

Yeah. Me too. I ordered it 12cm too long by mistake, but it works. I'll probably repurpose it for a 2nd disc on the left sometime and order one shorter for the right. These days braided lines are cheap as chips anyway.

 

[MrBultaco]

It looks like it's 10+" to long to me. Turn your fitting 180*.

 

[Lou_TX]

I too started cringing when I saw the line. But as long as you just intend to enjoy one last warm weekend and work on it later, I believe the club can collectively forgive you.
Did you know you can build your own (aka BYO) brake lines? Buy the desired banjo fittings with desired angles, buy the hose, cut to size and install the fittings. Did it to several bikes. Love it. Never going back to pre-fabbed hoses. Plus it works for clutches too.

Speaking of riding weather, ours is about to start. Still in high 90s (35+C) here but it is supposed to start cooling down more and I should be able to ride again. Yay!

 

[Paleomechanic]

Paint ….but not on my xs

Decided on Red for my Sled build

The “Red Sled”!

 

[CaptCardboard]

Man. Who would've guessed fuel petcocks from Amazon would start leaking before the end of their first season?!
Good thing I kept the originals. Looks like a rebuild kit is in my future...