What have you done to your XS today?

Went to start the MCs up for their monthly run and darned if the 650 had a dead battery. I could have swore I just replaced it a year ago. Well, it turns out it was replaced in 2017. It's some kind of weird time/space flux capacitor warp that the calendar speeds up as you age.
I guess I'm buying a new battery. Oh, and the FJR battery is weak too. But that was the stocker and it lasted 7 years.
LOL! I have the exact same thing going on here except I somehow managed to get 11 years out the FJR. Does anyone know if I can expect the same life if I walked into the Yammie dealer and bought their battery? My VFR needs a new agm every 3 years like clockwork. On a side note I replaced the original battery in my 01 tundra 2 years ago. and the 13 german car is ready any minute.
 
LOL! I have the exact same thing going on here except I somehow managed to get 11 years out the FJR. Does anyone know if I can expect the same life if I walked into the Yammie dealer and bought their battery? My VFR needs a new agm every 3 years like clockwork. On a side note I replaced the original battery in my 01 tundra 2 years ago. and the 13 german car is ready any minute.
It must be your weather. AGM batteries go seven or more years for me. The only charging they get is when I’m riding the bike.
 
Top end starting to go together. 81mm with 277 re-phase.😎
 

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So I went out and put the rear wheel on the XS today. After sitting for two weeks without losing any air I guess the reason it went flat really was a bad schrader valve.
Installed a new battery and checked the electrics. Huh, tail light not working and horn not working. Strange.
Well, the tail light bulb had a blown element.
Gee I wonder why. That's just how I found the tail light when I restored the bike in 2016.
I glued it then, not good enough apparently. Usually that 3M trim adhesive sticks like snot.
Maybe I didn't get enough of the old glue off last time.
So I spent a bit of time removing every bit of the old glue and gooped it up again.
I guess I'll take a look at the horn tomorrow.
 

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Will the bulb holder turn to lock it in place by any chance? So much vibration there it's weird it would only be glued.
 
Will the bulb holder turn to lock it in place by any chance? So much vibration there it's weird it would only be glued.
Weird but true.
So I reinstalled the tail light and looked at the horn. I guess it was just stuck, I took it off and tapped it a bit and it woke up.

Then I started the bike.... for the first time since 2018.
It started on the second kick and idled/ran fine.
I took a few laps around the yard. Maybe tomorrow I'll venture further.
A lot of stuff has happened the last four years and the bikes have been sitting.
So anyway, I've been finally been addressing my neglected bikes and will hopefully be riding more again.
(And finally restoring the CL350.)
 
Not today but recently.
I saw an XS650 project advertised on ebay and bid on it. Collected my winnings from a dealer about 60 miles away. Now I haven't done much riding for the last 40 years or so because my wife did not want to do any more home nursing or forego my wages. I was not a very safe rider even at 30 and seeing me with scaffolding on my legs upset the kids.
The kids now have grandchildren, one of whom is riding my '93 SR 125 as his learner bike, and she died so I didn't think the promise held any longer.
The project turned out to need brake kits front and rear and a bit of encouragement to get compression back on one side, chasing the compression I did what I now call a "yankee decoke" which I found on this forum. This involves removing the exhaust to clean the exhaust valves and improved things enough to run the motor through several heat cycles.
After being stood for 16 years that seemed ok to me so I rode a bit to remind myself how joyful a middleweight twin is, there is more to do starting with renewing seals and various rubber bits and chasing the drive side oil leak. The bike is an SG with electronic ignition and now starts and runs acceptably.
You guys are a mine of information and help and I thank you all for the help I found here and will find in the future.
I am going to mine bits of the garage I've not been into for a while, there should be a hardtail frame for an xs 650 motor and a blown motor under the bench.
BigRed.jpg
 
Well done Bill picking up an XS and welcome to the forum. Sounds like you already know you're going to enjoy the bike. Rubber bits - take a look at Sumo, they have good parts which appear made of real rubber, not hard black plastic. Still on the subject of rubber, if the bike has been stood that long you should get new tyres on there asap.

If I have understood correctly, your wife has passed away? Please accept my condolences.

Will watch with interest to see what you do with the bike, Cheers, Raymond
 
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Not today but recently.
I saw an XS650 project advertised on ebay and bid on it. Collected my winnings from a dealer about 60 miles away. Now I haven't done much riding for the last 40 years or so because my wife did not want to do any more home nursing or forego my wages. I was not a very safe rider even at 30 and seeing me with scaffolding on my legs upset the kids.
The kids now have grandchildren, one of whom is riding my '93 SR 125 as his learner bike, and she died so I didn't think the promise held any longer.
The project turned out to need brake kits front and rear and a bit of encouragement to get compression back on one side, chasing the compression I did what I now call a "yankee decoke" which I found on this forum. This involves removing the exhaust to clean the exhaust valves and improved things enough to run the motor through several heat cycles.
After being stood for 16 years that seemed ok to me so I rode a bit to remind myself how joyful a middleweight twin is, there is more to do starting with renewing seals and various rubber bits and chasing the drive side oil leak. The bike is an SG with electronic ignition and now starts and runs acceptably.
You guys are a mine of information and help and I thank you all for the help I found here and will find in the future.
I am going to mine bits of the garage I've not been into for a while, there should be a hardtail frame for an xs 650 motor and a blown motor under the bench.
View attachment 233085

Big welcome from Wales.
Sorry for your losses.
Looking forward to you machine developments.
Please start a separate build thread with lots of photos.
Adam. 😁
 
So I went out and put the rear wheel on the XS today. After sitting for two weeks without losing any air I guess the reason it went flat really was a bad schrader valve.
Installed a new battery and checked the electrics. Huh, tail light not working and horn not working. Strange.
Well, the tail light bulb had a blown element.
Gee I wonder why. That's just how I found the tail light when I restored the bike in 2016.
I glued it then, not good enough apparently. Usually that 3M trim adhesive sticks like snot.
Maybe I didn't get enough of the old glue off last time.
So I spent a bit of time removing every bit of the old glue and gooped it up again.
I guess I'll take a look at the horn tomorrow.
Many times I've sat in a queue of bikes in traffic and noticed the rear lamps of various vibratory twins doing a fine jiggle up and down, worthy of the best belly dancers. That puts a tremendous loading on components inside them, and even the best rubber mounting is no guarantee.
 
Thanks for the welcome.
So today I looked at the clutch pushrod oil seal expecting to see indications of a leak on the sidestand side of the motor, bit surprised that a clean streak was visible.
Oh, guess what I found. An empty gas tank and a fuel tap on prime, probably won't do that then, might explain an unbalanced idle on the sidestand until she warms up..
Removed and cleaned the tap and filter, some jobs you do when you can and the tank was empty, the older you get the easier it is to find the silver lining.
Tomorrow my middle girl is supposed to be riding down from Durham, not so far in Summer but a fair way in Winter. I still speak to her even though she rides a CB500X . (Previously KYM twist and go, then CBR125R which she doesn't like after the CB500X, she passed her test).
I will try and keep images of work I do and tricks I've learned, like using feeler gauges leaves instead of piston ring clamps when the latter are not available and you strip with minimum tools.
 
Many times I've sat in a queue of bikes in traffic and noticed the rear lamps of various vibratory twins doing a fine jiggle up and down, worthy of the best belly dancers. That puts a tremendous loading on components inside them, and even the best rubber mounting is no guarantee.
When I had my '75 XS in the early 80's, I had the headlight go out. I realized that it was the same size as a standard 2 headlight auto set up so I put one in it as they were just a couple of dollars compared to about $10-$15 from the Yamaha shop. It took a couple of failed headlights in short order to realize that there was a reason for the huge price difference, the M/C headlight was designed to handle the vibration.
 
Thanks for the welcome.
So today I looked at the clutch pushrod oil seal expecting to see indications of a leak on the sidestand side of the motor, bit surprised that a clean streak was visible.
Oh, guess what I found. An empty gas tank and a fuel tap on prime, probably won't do that then, might explain an unbalanced idle on the sidestand until she warms up..
Removed and cleaned the tap and filter, some jobs you do when you can and the tank was empty, the older you get the easier it is to find the silver lining.
Tomorrow my middle girl is supposed to be riding down from Durham, not so far in Summer but a fair way in Winter. I still speak to her even though she rides a CB500X . (Previously KYM twist and go, then CBR125R which she doesn't like after the CB500X, she passed her test).
I will try and keep images of work I do and tricks I've learned, like using feeler gauges leaves instead of piston ring clamps when the latter are not available and you strip with minimum tools.
Might be a good idea to check your oil level for fuel in the crankcase from the leaking petcock.
 
Thanks for that, good call, but there is no smell of petrol and the finger end viscosity test is the same as the fresh stuff.
So today my infra red reader arrived, laser thermometer to you about 15 bucks, and once the machine was idling reliably I checked the vacuum balance which only required a little tweak.
Once the speed was steady I measured the downpipe temperature each side and adjusted the pilots for temp as you do, then vacuum again and temp again. Don't forget to lower the speed back to 1200-1400 as it rises, if it drops go the other way, or you will be lifting the needle. Third time round I was happy so I went out with my daughter tailing me. bike redlined in third uphill with no smoke from the exhaust.
Result. Mixture is probably not quite stochiometric but good enough for now for me.
Somebody cleverer than me can tell you why it works, I just know it helps balancing fuel as well as air, so from there you can treat each carb the same when you look for a perfect idle. if your carbs are not equally efficient then your mixture will be wrong at load with small throttle openings but that is much easier to check from the plugs and easier to ride around.If it still misbehaves at large throttle openings you have a leak or a blockage.
As we all know poor idling can be embarassing or worse so if this helps anybody then good, don't forget to drop the temps each side by about 15 or 20 degrees to make sure you're not running too lean at idle which could cause damage.
If you don't find it easy to balance the temps on the pilot screws then hope that a good clean of the carbs sorts it.
If you think your inlet rubbers might be leaking put a couple of layers of duct tape round them to see if it makes a difference.
If not then a rebuild of either the carbs or the head may be in sight because one cylinder is pulling the other along.
 
Well, shocks today . I had to drift out a bushing at the top eye, and I see I will have to narrow the bushings at the bottom, but I’ve always liked the look of these
Now I have to clean the bike to look as good as the shocks!
 

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Nothing just rode it,
daughter followed for 15 miles and reported no smoke of any colour, redex fuel system cleaner must be too old, then I followed her but didn't try to keep up.
So just grease and oil for the minute tomorrow, yes I know the tyres might be old, but try as I might I can find no reason to replace them.
No cracks on sides or between tread blocks even under magnification, good tread, no loss of pressure over 21 days.
Did spin them against sandpaper to take off the dry hardened surface rubber which really increased the grip levels to "Comfortable with those".
I cannot recommend this sort of behaviour for others, much of what I do is of the "Do as I say not what I do" type.
Unless you have plenty of experience, with explosive decompression and tread delamination for examnple, change old tyres before you polish and paint because getting that experience is often not fun at all and sometimes quite expensive...
 
Not much done on the bike itself, but I finally got my degree wheel adapted (well, partially at least) to my Vape PMA rotor. The degree wheel came with a 1" center hole, and the Vape has a flange with 65 mm OD. So a 2 9/16" hole saw is close to perfect. I just needed to machine a centering bushing with 25.30 mm OD (for 0.10 mm clearance) and a 1/4" bore, to fit over the pilot drill bit.
With the pillar drill at the lowest speed, and some Rocol cutting oil, the well used HSS hole saw had no problem cutting through the 2 mm thick steel degree wheel. After some fine adjustment with a deburring tool, it fit perfectly on the rotor flange.
Next, I will figure out some kind of clamping arrangement to secure it to the rotor. Will post again when that is done.
 

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