XS2 Survivor resurection.

Update:
New owner picked up the title a week and a half ago. Got the title work and plates done also insured it. Last Wednesday he picked it up. We had 3 days of perfect riding weather. He texted me yesterday it runs great and the more he rides it the more he likes it. I think he's spending more time on it than he did his first girlfriend that said ok. :rolleyes:
It went to a good home so I am happy.
 
Like a bad penny it's back. When I got back from the Ozarks I had a phone message and a text from my buddy that I sold the XS2 to. He was out riding it and all of a sudden it developed a grinding/whirring noise in the engine plus some vibrations. He thought it was coming from the bottom end and mostly on he right side. He was able to limp it 25 miles home. He asked me what I thought, I said I think you have a problem. Probably a wheel has moved in the crank. One of the weights may have come loose and knocked things out of wack. Wanted to know if I would help him with it. Said sure give me a couple of days to get my shop organized and then bring it over.
Yesterday he hauled it to me and we looked at it. First thing I did was pull the left side cover and check for the rotor rubbing on the stater. Looked good. Started it and left end of crank looked good and true. The engine did have a grinding/whirring noise. Next drained oil and looked for sparkly stuff in it. Oil looked good. Ok off with the clutch cover. Fired it up and there was wobble on the right end of the crank. Pulled the clutch, took the gears off the end of the crank. Dial indicator said .0030 run out. Also noticed that it did not turn well by hand. Very stiff with a notchy feel as it turned.
Told him if you want to fix it only one thing to do pull the engine and tear it apart.
Six hours later it looked like a XS2 exploded in my shop. Some pics of it being worked on.
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GLJ said:
Like a bad penny it's back. When I got back from the Ozarks I had a phone message and a text from my buddy that I sold the XS2 to. He was out riding it and all of a sudden it developed a grinding/whirring noise in the engine plus some vibrations. He thought it was coming from the bottom end and mostly on he right side. He was able to limp it 25 miles home. He asked me what I thought, I said I think you have a problem. Probably a wheel has moved in the crank. One of the weights may have come loose and knocked things out of wack. Wanted to know if I would help him with it. Said sure give me a couple of days to get my shop organized and then bring it over.
Yesterday he hauled it to me and we looked at it. First thing I did was pull the left side cover and check for the rotor rubbing on the stater. Looked good. Started it and left end of crank looked good and true. The engine did have a grinding/whirring noise. Next drained oil and looked for sparkly stuff in it. Oil looked good. Ok off with the clutch cover. Fired it up and there was wobble on the right end of the crank. Pulled the clutch, took the gears off the end of the crank. Dial indicator said .0030 run out. Also noticed that it did not turn well by hand. Very stiff with a notchy feel as it turned.
Told him if you want to fix it only one thing to do pull the engine and tear it apart.
Six hours later it looked like a XS2 exploded in my shop. Some pics of it being worked on.
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Click to expand...
I would love to have you as my neighbor. Better to have you in Mississippi than me in Illinois. This is all part of the joy of the hobby. There’s no stress or argument with the dealer over a warranty claim. @GLJ, you rock!
 
We inspected the crank. The weights had not moved. The right side center bearing is messed up. There is definitely .0030 run out on the right end. My guess is the wheel moved and that's what messed the bearing. Seems like a strange thing to have happen running down the road at 50 mph. Doesn't matter it's bad. So we discussed options. I told him since it didn't run I would give him $500 for the bike. o_O He did not like that idea. Other option is send the crank off and have it rebuilt. I would not trust it without having the pins welded. If it slipped once it will do it again.
He said he had looked on E-Bay and there were a few. But you never know what your going to get. I told him when the used 256 crank store opened we can see what's available. He said what 256 crank store and when does it open? I told him it opens as soon as you walk over to that cabinet and open the bottom drawer. He found 2 cranks in it. We checked them and both look good. Wanted to know which one to use. I have no real history on either one I told him we will use the one that you pick. Tomorrow he's coming back and we'll start putting it back together.
 
jetmechmarty said:
I would love to have you as my neighbor. Better to have you in Mississippi than me in Illinois. This is all part of the joy of the hobby. There’s no stress or argument with the dealer over a warranty claim. @GLJ, you rock!
Click to expand...

Totally agree! Greg is a good friend to have! 😃
 
cra-z1 said:
Not sure but looking at the photo of the crank and weights it looks like they have rotated by the looks of the mismatched lines in the weights to left side of the crank. I have seen many loose. When I did mine I used a 447 crank with 256 rods and had it welded.
Click to expand...
I agree that the weights look strange. Below is a pic of the crank we are going to use. It looks very similar to the one we took out.
I looked at another bad crank I have (small end of rods went bad) and the weights in it look funky. Yes the very best thing to do would be rebuild the crank. If this one goes bad I may buy a 10 ton press and try to do one.
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Back at it this morning. Finished her up. Started up easily, checked timing and looked for oil leaks. All was ok. Motor sounded good, no grinding or whirring noises. I do hope it stays that way.
He took it for a test ride. He said it ran as good as ever. Put it back on the lift, checked again for oil leaks. We re-clocked the rear brake lever.
It's on it's way home now.
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GLJ said:
It's on it's way home now.
Click to expand...

Wow! Your friend is very lucky that he bought that bike from you! A mere six days after he showed up at your house with an engine noise, he’s riding away with a rebuilt motor and a replacement crank. In the world of 50 year old motorcycles , that never happens! Kudos Greg!
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He called said he made it home no problem. Running as good as ever. Still no leaks. :)
I did roll the dice and take a chance on one thing. I did not separate the head from the cylinders. Just removed the nuts for the the head studs and took off the cam cover. Left 3 bolts in place 1 under each spark plug and the small one at the back of the head. Then pulled the head and cylinders as 1 unit. Also left the pistons in the cylinders. Reason I did it this way is it saves time. No cleaning of head gasket surfaces. Have done the same thing replacing a cam chain except I did not remove the head/cylinders.. Also the top end only has 2500 smiles on it since I rebuilt it. At worst it could leak oil or blow the gasket. If it does I'm just out some time and know to never do it that way again.
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I own it again. My buddy likes Specials more than he likes XS2s. (some people have no taste) We made a deal for the 81 Special I just got done resurrecting. I ended up getting the XS2 back. Now I have 3 running XS2s and another one under construction. That might be too many.

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