Yam_Tech314's official build thread

[Raymond]

I see you've kept the single front disk - that's the hot set-up on these bikes.

Shall I get me coat . . .?

 

[G_YamTech_314]

I see you've kept the single front disk - that's the hot set-up on these bikes.

Shall I get me coat . . .?

I didn't want to add so much weight to the front wheel, I feel it'll stop plenty good enough with one disc.

 

[G_YamTech_314]

Im back from hiding... I know. its been awhile. Ive been an official motorcycle technician for JUST shy of a year now. Im learning a ton, and making mistakes as any new tech would... but today Im not here to talk about that... no. Today Im actually here to talk about my XS650 project. Yeah, I know. Im shocked too. She's been in the shop basement since I started here because ive been slamming OT and trying to learn as much as I can about these modern bikes that I just havent had the motivation to do anything with it...

I took it out of the basement today to make room for our dirtbike overflow. We sell more street than dirt around here. The bike failed to start, and I took the carbs off to give em a good once over, and BOY OH BOY was that gas piss yellow.. So im giving them a good cleaning, and I have the bike on a battery minder to see if I cant give it a fresh (again) breathe of life. Im also going to mess with the timing a tad to try and make my starts easier. as well as mess with the air/fuel mixture. I have paper style pod filters on it and want to know if you guys think I should try to lean it out or richen the mixture... I also see a few screws that look to be air/fuel mixture screws with the plastic doodad on the side of em. looks like I get about a half turn out of it either direction max. let me know if im wrong in assuming thats what it is...

 

[5twins]

Yes, those are limiting caps on your mix screws. Pop those off dude, jeez, lol, they should have been gone a long time ago. '76-'77 carbs, right? If so then the factory recommended setting is 1.5 turns out, +/- 1/2 turn. So, they should dial in for best running (fastest, smoothest idle speed) somewhere between 1 and 2 turns out. If they don't, that would indicate your jetting is off, most likely the pilot jet, and most likely due to mods (exhaust and air filters).

 

[G_YamTech_314]

GOOD. i wanted em' gone but didnt wanna do irreversible damage to something that may not have been what i suspected. Im shocked theyre still on there. makes me wonder what kind of life the bike lived...

Ill do 1.5 turns out and see if that helps my starting, and see if it helps it to not smoke so damn bad when it gets a good hit of throttle...

 

[timbeck]

Welcome back.....

tim

 

[G_YamTech_314]

Welcome back.....

tim

Thanks Tim! I really like the group of guys on this forum. I find that this is the best place to come for me to scratch the part of my brain that keeps me connected to my childhood. I just have been dealing with a lot of adulting lately, and trying to build a life for myself and my girlfriend. Its all gotten in the way of this project much more than I ever thought it would, and I would be a liar if I said I would have been willing to give up on this a few months ago... I accepted the challenge 6 years ago to learn from my mistakes with this build, and let it challenge me to be a better technician, and now I can say without a doubt that I still have so much to learn from this bike. I need to keep it just for the wisdom it has to bestow upon me.

Carb clean didnt fix it... looks like Im dealing with no spark. gonna hook it into the tender for the weekend to gimme good battery voltage, and read up on the issue at home.

 

[jpdevol]

I just have been dealing with a lot of adulting lately, and trying to build a life

Commendable Also says a lot about maturing generally when you put needs ahead of wants: some never do. Hopefully, someday you can be an old-fart (like some of us) and do what you want, whenever you want to (or feel able to).

 

[G_YamTech_314]

Commendable Also says a lot about maturing generally when you put needs ahead of wants: some never do. Hopefully, someday you can be an old-fart (like some of us) and do what you want, whenever you want to (or feel able to).

That makes me feel a bit better about it all. I often wonder how fast I'm going to be 60. 26 hit me like a train, and I simply cannot believe I've had this Yamaha a whole 6 years, but sure enough... I have. I'm glad I own it outright and can work on it when life allows it. I do wish that life allowed it more often than not though. I'll get there one day. I'm motivated, and work hard to succeed and set up a comfortable living.

 

[willis]

Take it from me, at 47, life only moves faster the older you get. You are making some great moves maturing in your profession. If that is your passion in life then never give up on it. Time is the biggest thing that holds me up from completing my projects. Once you have kids, everything else pauses for years. But keep that project even if it grows stagnant. For me it’s a quiet place to regain my sanity, even if it’s just fitting a brake line, or the simplest task when I have 30 minutes to spare. Anyway, keep on trucking’. You are a young man finding his way through life, and that’s what it’s all about.

 

[Mailman]

What he said!

 

[G_YamTech_314]

SO. Ive been a motorcycle tech at a dealership for a year as of the first of October. What a fast year that was. To celebrate I think Im going to be purchasing all that I need to convert my XS to electronic ignition. that being said, theres SO MANY different opinions on which brand to get, and what I need/what works...

any advice?

also, I still really like my job, and I couldnt be happier to wrench on bikes and quads, and side by sides all day.

 

[jpdevol]

If you must: I might be tempted to try a Tri-Spark
https://www.xs650.com/threads/installing-a-tri-spark-ignition-system.62687/

I think there are enough reports to recommend against the XS Charge (either version).

I'd suggest staying with points - you're a Tech. - it's becoming a rare skill to maintain a set of points. I don't think there is much performance to be gained (and little reliability) short of a full system such as VAPE, etc. Points you can fix, the others limit you to replacing parts

 

[Jan_P]

SO. Ive been a motorcycle tech at a dealership for a year as of the first of October. What a fast year that was. To celebrate I think Im going to be purchasing all that I need to convert my XS to electronic ignition. that being said, theres SO MANY different opinions on which brand to get, and what I need/what works...

any advice?

also, I still really like my job, and I couldnt be happier to wrench on bikes and quads, and side by sides all day.

I think you should check out Boyer Bransden
Price is about midrange
It is a company that has done it for a long time on Britt Bikes
They should have the know how by now.

And they have a support not suggesting that you'll need one but I like that.
You get answers and there are online fault finding procedures.
There are cheaper systems especially if you keep the advance unit which can be the problematic one
And you can buy much more expensive ones programmable advance curves and so.

If you dont like it you can go back to points

 

[G_YamTech_314]

I think you should check out Boyer Bransden
Price is about midrange
It is a company that has done it for a long time on Britt Bikes
They should have the know how by now.

And they have a support not suggesting that you'll need one but I like that.
You get answers and there are online fault finding procedures.
There are cheaper systems especially if you keep the advance unit which can be the problematic one
And you can buy much more expensive ones programmable advance curves and so.

If you dont like it you can go back to points

Ive seen a lot of good things about the boyer brandson systems. I could always use support lol. None of us know it all. Im one of the ones that actually know very little. I just have the ability to eventually figure out where I went wrong and make it right haha.

thanks for the suggestion.

would I keep my original stator, or would I have to upgrade to a PMA kit? from what ive seen in pictures online it looks like they sell a PMA kit that can be used with points, and Ive also seen posts selling the upper end of the system for the electronic ignition, and advance plate, and shaft. just not sure if I need it all, or if I can run a stock alternator... i kinda doubt it, and with its age, it wouldnt hurt to just replace it. just wanna make sure i get all the right pieces to the puzzle when the time comes.

 

[Raymond]

The BB system replaces the points plate under the l/h cam box and removes the advance plate under the r/h side. Original stator and rotor.

 

[Jan_P]

I think Raymond has it right there
I am no expert on BB setups and what they have to offer
But I believe their design intent was to keep it separate from other sub systems.
Having the pickup at the camshaft end.

Making their ignition usable on all year models
Latter year 80 and on has a alternator pickup

Even though the stock alternator sometimes give up
I think it is first choice trying to keep it
There are inexpensive working substitutions for rectifier and regulator

PMA Regulators that is reliable god quality are expensive

And the only problem I know with BB is that it don't like out of range Voltage
But that might be the case with all electronic ignitions

 

[G_YamTech_314]

I got the bike running again, and might I say, better than ever! I realized once I thought it through (and with some help from a coworker) that I removed the killswitch, and never reinstalled it due to melting my front brake line with the killswitch somehow... (thats what put me on the bench for so long in the first place...) I did some fiddling with the carbs, and read up a good bit throughout the forum on proper BS38 set up, tuning, etc. I'm thinking I'll be needing smaller pilot jets. I was running extremely rich, and getting a lot of popping and backfiring through the carbs when I initially got it to fire back up. I went out to 3 full turns out on each side, and the backfiring and popping stopped completely. I put in fresh plugs to try and get a reading on them, but I fear that I wont get a good read on them until I put the bike under load.
For that to happen, I gotta get this thing moving. Nevertheless, after 5 minutes of run time with throttle, and idle, some revs, etc. I pulled the 5-minute-old plugs to find them charcoal black and wet. not smelling like oil, so I think we are good there. its just super rich. Ill order parts, and get the thing moving, and probably go down a size on the pilot. That ought to make for a better set up. I also did away with my haphazard starter ground lead, and added a much better one. I had to pull the starter to gain enough clearance for the nut to come off the post, but once I did that, it was a breeze. I lost a good bit of oil in the catch pan, and used it as a good opportunity to see what it looked like... METAL FLAKES everywhere. Very tiny particles, likely from the cylinders... Im not concerned with it, but Ill probably do a flush to be safe. The oil currently only has a few hours on it.
I'm happy to have found an opportunity to work on the bike again. I'm excited to see this thing finally move under its own power. Next parts: Clutch lever, and perch, new throttle assembly, and handlebar switches.

 

[Kevin Werner]

Change the oil. With cheap oil. Fire it up again. If you have metal flakes again it is time to plan a further course of action

 

[G_YamTech_314]

Change the oil. With cheap oil. Fire it up again. If you have metal flakes again it is time to plan a further course of action

Good idea. If I find metal flakes I'll cry. This is a FRESH build... Here's to hoping.