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What have you done to your XS today?
- Thread starter I am Carbon
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- maintenance
Since I had to fix my chain I figured I’d start with the needed maintenance first. I pulled the carb bowl drain screws to see what would come out because of how she was running the other day. Right side had a nice piece of garbage, LH had some small pieces but garbage all the same. Turned the petcock on a couple times with the drains out to make sure it all washed out.Top-end needed a re-torque for the new gaskets and that went well. After re-installing the chain I used the @Jim suggestion and safety wired it.
I took her for a nice 20 mi ride through some twisties. She ran great!
I took her for a nice 20 mi ride through some twisties. She ran great!
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If you install a LED tail light bulb, that dash brake warning light will illuminate all the time. Apparently the LED draws so little voltage the brake light checker thinks it's burned out, lol. I just removed the bulb at first, but eventually I removed the brake light checker too. Then I used that no-longer-in-use spot for my voltmeter ......
That's a great idea 5t with the voltage meter, I might try that with the oil light i have , think it's off a xs400.
Looks like I'll have to disassemble the speedometer also because the odometer stopped working yesterday.
The speedometer and trip meter still work ok though.
Looks like I'll have to disassemble the speedometer also because the odometer stopped working yesterday.
The speedometer and trip meter still work ok though.
Ha ha, yes. The funny thing is that with the SuperBrite or the Sylvania LED taillight bulbs, this did indeed happen. But with the Philips version it did not. The latter must draw slightly more current.
However, so as not to rely on a particular brand bulb, I chucked the light checker AND the RLU, and used your little unplug trick at the safety relay to enable the bar switch. Thanks!
Yesterday I went for a fairly long ride. In the process I believe I wounded my tach. I had an old spare (that I removed because I thought it was sluggish) so I swapped it out this morning to confirm the tach was wonky vs cable, drive etc. I switched it out and went to get gas. About 4km from home the bike started to buck and backfire. By the time I got to the gas station (another 2km), the bike died. It turned over once but wouldn’t keep running. I pushed it into a safe spot in the parking lot and pulled the headlight off (I was in there this morning to snip the old tach’s lighting wires). I checked all connectors and they appeared to be well connected. I did the old wiggle and pull and tried the bike and attempted to start it and it was once again purring like a kitten. I’m strapped for time today but want to find the gremlin. Any suggestions where I might try to look first? Maybe ignition switch harness? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Btw I got a better appreciation for the weight of the bike. It was a booger to push into the corner of the gas station parking lot. At one point I was asking myself, if I can’t get it going, will I push it back home (maybe 1.5km) or call a tow truck
Btw I got a better appreciation for the weight of the bike. It was a booger to push into the corner of the gas station parking lot. At one point I was asking myself, if I can’t get it going, will I push it back home (maybe 1.5km) or call a tow truck
Yesterday I went for a fairly long ride. In the process I believe I wounded my tach. I had an old spare (that I removed because I thought it was sluggish) so I swapped it out this morning to confirm the tach was wonky vs cable, drive etc. I switched it out and went to get gas. About 4km from home the bike started to buck and backfire. By the time I got to the gas station (another 2km), the bike died. It turned over once but wouldn’t keep running. I pushed it into a safe spot in the parking lot and pulled the headlight off (I was in there this morning to snip the old tach’s lighting wires). I checked all connectors and they appeared to be well connected. I did the old wiggle and pull and tried the bike and attempted to start it and it was once again purring like a kitten. I’m strapped for time today but want to find the gremlin. Any suggestions where I might try to look first? Maybe ignition switch harness? Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Btw I got a better appreciation for the weight of the bike. It was a booger to push into the corner of the gas station parking lot. At one point I was asking myself, if I can’t get it going, will I push it back home (maybe 1.5km) or call a tow truck
Sorry I missed your post Irv.
Voltmeter where you can see it?
One fuse or four?
Guess I'd start by looking at grounds.
Irv?
My bad. Ole fuzzy brain wuz thinking you post on FB as Irv?Irv?
NP. I’ve been called worse than that before.
. I’ll double check grounds. So far, although I haven’t ridden it too much, seems to be running ok again. I’ll have to go for a longer spin later today.One fuse; voltage seemed ok. Odd thing is backfire, sputter, eventually died, then the e start wouldn't work. Dead e start and dying related? All good right now.
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EarthHeavy
XS650 Enthusiast
Maybe the rings aren’t seated? Try this, go down the biggest longest hill you can find with the bike in gear but lay off the throttle as you descend - just coast in gear and let the engine bog - this is a trick to get rings to seat quickly. Try it a few times and see if it makes a difference. Good luck!
Always looking ahead if possible. The ‘75 I picked up last month had a hole in one of the mufflers. Those are VERY expensive to replace and the ones I’ve found aren’t in that great of shape so in the event I have to change mufflers I saw these on FBMP and picked them up for $60 for the pair.. might throw them on the bobber to see what they sound like.
https://voodoomoto.com/products/vc405
https://voodoomoto.com/products/vc405
Careful some of those 7 tube exit mufflers are awful, very restrictive.
Looking inside that grid is just that, a decorative grid.
drilled out all six outer holes in a set before I garbage canned them.
Just a heads up, your experience may be different.
Hmmm. Looks pretty much the same. Thanks for the heads up. Now I do want to try them out. Did the bike just run like $h17? Do you remember the brand?
They were fine at lower RPM but too restrictive to allow high RPM operation. Pulled hair trying to tune some VM34's til the light FINALLY came on.
I think sounding like a kazoo at higher RPMs is what
eventually got my attention.
Well they are pretty heavy and feel well built so we’ll see. At least I don’t feel bad at $30 each vs the $95 new.
Since the engine on the back from the dead 650D hadn't run for at least 15 years and I have no history, I decided to drop the engine oil and inspect the sump strainer and side filter (I previously fitted a Honda paper filter as per Heiden Tuning modification). Of special concern was to see if there was any sign of rubber from the camshaft tensioner and guide. Happy to see the sump strainer was clean, the paper filter was very good and the magnetic drain plugs had just the usual dark grey gunge adhered to them. No signs of rubber or of bearing distress in the drained oil or the filter. I took the opportunity to fit the uprated sump strainer provided by Heiden Tuning. No worries now about whether the stock strainer has split or not.
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I’m running the same setup and have been happy with it so far. Last oil changed also showed no unwanted debris.
