What have you done to your XS today?

A word of warning for anyone buying Daiichi ignition points!
So today the weather was lousy and I decided to do something that had been bugging me for a while, namely swap out the chinesium points for some Japanese better quality ones. I had ordered these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325377252452 a few weeks ago as every time I checked the timing I would find the dwell had changed or something was not quite the same as when I had last set them. Even if it was only a day or two since I last did them and the engine had not been run in between checks, also when using the strobe light the firing point would wander between the F marks. Not far but enough to bug me.
Anyway, what started out as a quick 20 minutes swap out turned into a whole afternoon as when I went to fit them the screw holes would not align. At first I thought maybe I'd ordered the wrong parts but as you can see in the ebay link above they are listed to fit the xs650.
So I ended up carefully filing out the screw holes, making sure that there was enough “hole” to adjust the gaps.
Images below of the new contact set, second image is of the screw hole alignment on the back plate. Third image showing the difference between a new one, a modified one and the chinese one (purchased from Yambits.co.uk). Points are now in and timing all done.
I was planning on fitting a new stainless front brake hose today as well but that has now been postponed for another day. Oh well.
 

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Tiggertoo said:
A word of warning for anyone buying Daiichi ignition points!
So today the weather was lousy and I decided to do something that had been bugging me for a while, namely swap out the chinesium points for some Japanese better quality ones. I had ordered these: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/325377252452 a few weeks ago as every time I checked the timing I would find the dwell had changed or something was not quite the same as when I had last set them. Even if it was only a day or two since I last did them and the engine had not been run in between checks, also when using the strobe light the firing point would wander between the F marks. Not far but enough to bug me.
Anyway, what started out as a quick 20 minutes swap out turned into a whole afternoon as when I went to fit them the screw holes would not align. At first I thought maybe I'd ordered the wrong parts but as you can see in the ebay link above they are listed to fit the xs650.
So I ended up carefully filing out the screw holes, making sure that there was enough “hole” to adjust the gaps.
Images below of the new contact set, second image is of the screw hole alignment on the back plate. Third image showing the difference between a new one, a modified one and the chinese one (purchased from Yambits.co.uk). Points are now in and timing all done.
I was planning on fitting a new stainless front brake hose today as well but that has now been postponed for another day. Oh well.
Click to expand...
They are not correct for XS650. They only fit XS1 and XS2. I bought them too and found they don't fit. I told the seller but he doesn't change the listing.

So that's at least two of us who bought those and can't use them.

In the end having had both bad points and condenser, Chinesium, I gave up. You can buy original points and condensers. But they are crazy expensive.

I bought a Boyer Bransden ignition kit instead.
 
 
Bike has been sitting a week and wanted to take a short 30mi ride. When I went to start it, it did not start in the usual one or 2 kicks from the kick starter and I used the electric start couple seconds of starter to get it to start. Just figured not starting in a while, I did not leave the PRI on long enough. 1 mile from house was headed down hill and lost power. Was not sure if it was fuel or ignition. Coasted to a safe place as I was going down hill. Set petcock to PRI then it started. I then went home and changed bikes. Tonight, I ran the petcock into my big measuring cup and sucked on the vacuum line and pulled just over 1 gallon from it. Well, thinking about it more, I think it was losing ignition.
New Cam chain has about 600 miles on it so figured I'd check timing. Timing is a tad retarded. About 1/16 to 1/8" to the right of the right of the 2 idle marks. It was idling with some misfires. Will try to reset that this week and take a ride in the neighborhood staying at pushing distance.
 
jaybar6 said:
I think my carb is different. Mine has a bolt to drain the carb, where yours has a nozzle. View attachment 337705
Click to expand...
It may not be as difficult as you think to make adaptors.
You do not need to repeatedly open and close the drain during the process. You simply need to seal the bottom of the bowl with the drain open.
So if you can source 2 bolts of the same size and thread as the drain bolt you can cut them to the same length as the drain bolt , do so with a nut fitted even if you have to grind the nut down a bit then you can clean the thread with the nut and you won't damage the thread in the carb bowl, and then drill a hole through the middle so that you can glue a basket ball inflator in the hole, to which you can attach a drain tube.
You already have sealing washers and these are easily sourced.
Thinking about it, it may be better to drill first and then shorten the bolts.
If you go to the trouble keep them in a drawer or a box, other people will be happy to borrow them and you may need them again.
Good luck with it.
It occurs to me that these items might be commercially available on your side of the water where more bikes are still being run, if anybody knows please give a link.
That may seem a bit of trouble to go to but you will find the ability to check and set the carbs fuel level on or off the bike very useful.
 
Last edited:
I drilled a new set of handlebars, ran wire through internally and installed micro buttons and bar end signals. I have done it once before but this time had all kinds of blunders. In the end I found it humorous. I thought about writing a thread about it (what not to do), but don't know if it should go here or in the lounge
 
Hi! I'm still mid-process of breaking down the 1980GII. I have everything stripped off the middle of the bike an the next thing to go is the engine.

The engine has been drained of oil but the bottom of the engine needs some serious cleaning. Is it ill-advised to put the engine on its side once removed? I'm struggling to think of another way to get to the bottom of the engine. In a similar vein, it looks like the reg/rec is located underneath the engine as well, is that correct? If so I'm inclined to move it somewhere else on the bike.
 
I had a very slow flat on the rear tyre, I ve had it since replacing the inner tube; so having changed the valve already, I took the tube out. The tube is a couple of months old and originates from Thailand. I have dicovered that there is no damage. the tube has a section which is porous! I had never encountered this before. I have an old dark green washing up bowl which I filled with water and instead of finding a steady stream of little bubbles there is a section which creates a light coloured misting effect around the tube. I have now converted this tube to elastic bands. If the bowl wasnt a dark colour, I doubt that I would have even noticed.
 
Commuter said:
I had a very slow flat on the rear tyre, I ve had it since replacing the inner tube; so having changed the valve already, I took the tube out. The tube is a couple of months old and originates from Thailand. I have dicovered that there is no damage. the tube has a section which is porous! I had never encountered this before. I have an old dark green washing up bowl which I filled with water and instead of finding a steady stream of little bubbles there is a section which creates a light coloured misting effect around the tube. I have now converted this tube to elastic bands. If the bowl wasnt a dark colour, I doubt that I would have even noticed.
Click to expand...
Another case of race to the bottom with bike parts quality, or lack of. Lucky you didn't ride on it and have an accident.
 
I have never been 100% happy with the way my XS shifts gears - mostly the elusive neutral thing. The bike has rear sets and I’ve always suspected this didn’t help matters. Early this year I did lengthen the shift lever itself and that did help, allowing me to tap it into neutral when rolling to a stop (most of the time). On rear sets, the gearshift lever moves a rod that in turn moves a short arm on the engine shift shaft. The short arm on the foot shift lever is the same length as the small one attached to the engine shaft. On Facebook I saw a guy’s bike whose engine arm (attached to the shift shaft) was quite a bit longer than the one on the foot shift lever. The poster said the bike shifted nicely.

Tonight after dinner I went to the garage and reworked a new factory style shift lever and ended up with a shift shaft arm that is a good 2cm longer. Static testing felt like the shifter worked better but on the road testing will have to wait a couple of days. The longer arm generates a longer throw in the foot shift lever but that’s ok with me.

Stay tuned for a road test report.

Pics: original shifter; longer shifter; shift shaft arm comparisons.

IMG_4714.jpeg
IMG_4871.jpeg
IMG_6711.jpeg
IMG_6713.jpeg
 
TAFFY TIME!

On Sunday I rolled Taffy out into the sunshine (Yes Really!) for a bit of work.
Although I cannot logically see why the Reg/Rec, that sits in the tray under the seat, would cause my intermmitent mis-fire issue, but its the only electrical component I have not changed; and I was concerned about it over heating? I decided to move it below the tray in direct cooling air; should be a good thing anyway.

Old Position below seat in conjested tray:
REG.REC 2.JPG


Removed Below:
REG.REC3.JPG

Excuse haphazard wiring; it will be sorted once fully tested.

New location below tray:
REG.REC 5.JPG

It now sits in the wind above the carbs, exaust runs cool below and behind the unit.

As usual Taffy fired up fist press and idles great. A short ride of 5 miles around the block a few times showed no issues; but is the mysterious mis-fire cured?
A longer ride will need to be done to find out.
 
Adamc said:
TAFFY TIME!

On Sunday I rolled Taffy out into the sunshine (Yes Really!) for a bit of work.
Although I cannot logically see why the Reg/Rec, that sits in the tray under the seat, would cause my intermmitent mis-fire issue, but its the only electrical component I have not changed; and I was concerned about it over heating? I decided to move it below the tray in direct cooling air; should be a good thing anyway.

Old Position below seat in conjested tray:
View attachment 338286

Removed Below:
View attachment 338288
Excuse haphazard wiring; it will be sorted once fully tested.

New location below tray:
View attachment 338289
It now sits in the wind above the carbs, exaust runs cool below and behind the unit.

As usual Taffy fired up fist press and idles great. A short ride of 5 miles around the block a few times showed no issues; but is the mysterious mis-fire cured?
A longer ride will need to be done to find out.
Click to expand...
Good luck with that change, it certainly can't hurt. You say it's the only electrical item not changed it attempting to cure the ignition issues.

I know the bikes are decades apart, but Hinkley Bonevilles 2001 to 15 have a common problem that sounds exactly like you're experiencing. The culprit is the ignition pick up coil. The symptoms are that the bike runs fine until it gets hot. Then shuts down and won't start again until the bike cools down some. Sounds like your issue? Have you tried another known to be good ignition pick up coil?
 
Adamc said:
TAFFY TIME!

On Sunday I rolled Taffy out into the sunshine (Yes Really!) for a bit of work.
Although I cannot logically see why the Reg/Rec, that sits in the tray under the seat, would cause my intermmitent mis-fire issue, but its the only electrical component I have not changed; and I was concerned about it over heating? I decided to move it below the tray in direct cooling air; should be a good thing anyway.

Old Position below seat in conjested tray:
View attachment 338286

Removed Below:
View attachment 338288
Excuse haphazard wiring; it will be sorted once fully tested.

New location below tray:
View attachment 338289
It now sits in the wind above the carbs, exaust runs cool below and behind the unit.

As usual Taffy fired up fist press and idles great. A short ride of 5 miles around the block a few times showed no issues; but is the mysterious mis-fire cured?
A longer ride will need to be done to find out.
Click to expand...

Good stuff Ads! FWIW I run my reg/rec in the same spot you originally had yours and haven’t encountered any issues, that said mine is a new one for a lithium battery
 

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