What did you do to your Yamaha today?

Yes, it does - look for an Electronic Tach's that has an adjustable ratio and also one that can take both positive and negative pulses - it depends on where you're taking the pulse from whether it's +/-

I've not seen ratio's for digital setups vary much though cos it's about getting electrical pulses from the bike per engine rotation or per 2 etc etc - think it only goes out by 3 in either side - so like between 1:3 and 3:1 as opposed to the mechanical gear ratio changes where you need a much wider scope.

 

60 degrees today.... good 90 minute ride :-0

 

Ooooh, loving that off center stripe! How'd you do the logo?

 

Uncovered my girl, took her out for a ride. Was rough for a bit - I've started her up and run her for 10 minutes or so here and there over the last two months, but we've been encased in a sea of ice.

Was a bit sketchy getting going, as this is what our side roads look like:
But she ran like a champ. There's enough gravel in the ice that gave it enough grip to only be moderately terrifying. Main roads where clear, though, so I could wind her up without fear for life and limb.

Good ride though, ran a bit rough for a couple minutes then smoothed right out. Ran through half a tank of gas and topped her back up.

 

Nice Hudson !!!!!

 

Just paid off paypal....and was on eBay just bought the left and right side covers probably paid more than I should have , already have a right side cover , but now will have a spare so much for paying off paypal

 

Its my neighbor's. Beautiful car, got it running(poorly, but running) last fall, body is in surprisingly solid condition. I'm deeply jealous

 

Fitted seat stay and new clip, thought I would thread the bar and put a nyloc nut on for a bit of extra security

 

It's vinyl decal - applied before a did a 2K clear on the underlying paint

 

Came home from wwork was in low 40's looked at the old girl and tried to start a shot of eather and she came to life ...she has not been started since November .She ran rough fir a few minutes and then cleared out and ran like she should....want to hop on and go for a ride...but got it in area of garage I want it in ....a few more months ..tick tick

 

Colortune plug came in.
One less thing off the list.

 

I have a quick question... I tried a colortune I just got on cylinder 1 only so far as that's the one I can get to without disassembly. From AFM screw all the way in to 3 turns out I saw no color difference until it finally got a little yellow over the three turns... other than that a pretty good looking blue.

How noticeable should the color change be when making small adjustments?

 

I got a colortune but also found it a bit difficult to fine tune. The mix adjustment range where it shows proper color seemed broad. I finally used it to get it "in the ball park" then synched the carbs.

After that, I ran with new plugs, checked plugs, a bit rich, adjust mix, resynch, clean plugs, ride, check plug color, a bit rich, adjust mix, etc. I finally got it to a fairly nice plug color, maybe a bit rich, but gas mileage is back in proper range and its running real well.

From what I read here, running a bit on the rich side safer than running too lean.

I should add, this process presumes you have checked and the valve clearances are in spec.

FYI - if you find your colortune is shorting to the engine, you can cover the end of the extension tube with shrinkwrap where it attaches to the colortune plug.

 

Are you following the directions for the three tests?

 

bike must be fully warmed up then adjust slowly you will need to reset Idle speed as you go along.
are you using a stock paper air filter ?you should.
adjust all four mixture screws check idle adjust if needed. resync check idle readjust mixture screws check idle resync ...........

 

Ok, I'm a bit stuck with my project (also with my build thread on the forum...) because am at the point where I have to decide, shall I do anything else on the bike or is it time for the paintjob and reassembly.
The bike hasn't ran in about a year now but the last time it ran, it ran fairly good. Soooo I'm going to threadjack this a bit with a question:
If you had limited resources and could pick one upgrade out of the mentioned below, which would you pick:
1. New coils (Dynatek coils)
2. Refurbishing the starter motor, new fuse box and starter clutch
3. New regulator/rectifier and starter solenoid
4. Progressive springs (front)
5. Used, but in fair shape XJR rear shocks (Ohlins, or YAMAHA ones)
6. Used or new rear sets from TAROZZI

I know that the starter clutch is a bugger to repair with the engine on the bike, but than again, mine is not slipping...yet.
Or if you have a better idea, please share.

 

fuse box or inline fuse holders
first thing is to get bike running check/adjust valves and clean carbs. a pretty bike that does not run is a paper weight.
check all systems .
ohm out the ignition system
ohm out the charging system inspect brushes and clean the copper rings they ride on.
if the starter works leave it alone.
if the soleinoid works leave it alone
do the diode test in manual for rectifier if it passes it is good. when bike is running test the charging circuit output.
only thing on this list that costs money is valves and carbs
now to spend money
when was your brake system last rebuilt/inspected does no good to roll if you can not stop.
go through the routine maintance list for the miles on your bike.

every thing up to spec and running then think about painting it
bike already has progressive springs or are you talking about the brand?
good fork seals and new oil goes a long way.

starter clutch requires disassembly of motor at that point replace chain guide as well

 

Thank you for a very thorough reply, there are some points listed that I forgot and will address ASAP.
I knew I made a mistake by not posting what has been and will be done in the future.
So the brake system: master cylinder rebuild, caliper rebuild, new brake pads, steel braded hose, new rear brake shoes, new brake fluid.
The engine: carbs cleaned, valves inspected, lapped and reshimed, piston ring inspection and potential repacement, cylinders inspected and honed.
New gaskets: I have all of them, but plan on replacing only the leaky ones.
Suspension: new fork oil, new seals. Exhaust: a new collector (new as in - less rusty and no holes in it), new gaskets upper and lower.
Electrical: I made sure the bike ran and ran well before I tore it down to the bare bone. Only thing I worry about is the charging system.
Bearings: steering stem has got roller bearings. I will replace the swingarm bearings.

The forks have progressive springs in them by default? I taught they were linear springs, I get the feeling I could bottom out on them pretty damn easy....

So now I'm looking for upgrades to the existing (working) parts.

 

Gonna wait until next week when I have time to go through all the cylinders and all the tests... thanks

Got a good hour ride in yesterday after finishing changing all my exhaust gaskets... sounds better, but all the rusty bits that came out of the inside of my muffler may be the real reason I don't think she'll ever sound new like I want her to.

 

A few miles on the sled yesterday.... a few miles on the bike today

 

Just about out of church. 2.5 hours on reassembly .
Didn't run into any trouble, so far so good.
@chacal is the man to get in touch with for all your xj needs. And @hogfiddles for the pointers.
Thank you again.

 

You could live in South Dakota. If you don't like the weather, wait 5 minutes.

A couple weeks ago we had almost a 70 degree swing withing 24 hours. - 25 to plus 50 F. If it weren't for snow, ice and/or sand on the street, I would have gotten the bike out.

 

That's what it looks like never been rebuilt-
I did my calipers last dec. 2018

 

So excited bought an instrument cluster off eBay ,that is almost looks new the faces look brand new , got it last night took it apart and cleaned inside glass it will look good on bike , just waiting till temps go up and I'm going to do the head bearing replacement . The guy selling the parts said bike had 1800 miles , I bought the left and right side covers and the tank , always nice to have spares parts .

 

Stainless steel front brake line 1/29/18
Front EBC performance pads 1/29/18
Castrol DOT3/4 1/29/18
Rear EBC performance pads 2/1/18
DIY Clutch cover gasket from Fel-Pro 3157 2/1/18


Oil + Filter + Clutch + Clutch bolts middle of next week.

Valve shim/gasket job late February '18.

Carb rebuild + boots early March '18.

At this rate, I'm going to need another XJ to work on...

 

Happens to all of us

I've got 2 and a half; and am kinda eyeballing another... And I'm just a newbie

 

It's crazy how easy these bikes are to work on. Read --> Absorb --> Document/Photo document --> Execute. Would love to find an 1100. Might need to make more room in the garage or get rid of a bike for that to happen


Rotella T4 picked up - 2/2/18 - courtesy of the wife
Clutch plate soak in new oil 2/2/18

 

Last two days. Rebuilt calipers with seals and new pads, replaced all brake lines, new front tire, replaced front wheel bearings and seals, replaced cracked blinker.

In the mist of all this, I removed the faring.....and I kinda like the way it looks now! Kinda torn if I want to put it back on now.

 

Is that all?!?! I'm at about 42 and a half---- and I know other guys here that have even more......

Cue music:
"You've only just begun...." K. Carpenter
"Welcome to the Hotel XJ-fornia" The Eagles

 

Sadly, I have two hobbies vieing for my limited funds... My XJ's, and my homelab server addiction. So in the winter, I keep spending my spare dollars on servers, and network infrastructure.

This does create an interesting work space:


Installing Proxmox VE Cluster on one of my HP Proliant DL380's while getting valves sorted on the Seca engine

 

are you bitcoin mining

 

Hah no, sadly that needs GPU's rather than CPU power, and buying GPU's right now is gross. Just your garden variety home media servers, taken way too far (because if you're going to do something, you ought to overdo it!)

 

Now---I wouldn't know ANYTHING about that...........

 

Set the floats up tonight. Only took about 3 hours in total .
Pain in the ass .

 

I have a Vetter fairing that came with my bike... had it for eight years and have never put it on - I also like the way it looks (admittedly I have no idea what it would look like with the fairing on it).

 

It's easy for me. I've always felt motorcycles look worse the more unnecessary plastic/fiberglass they have. Greatly simplifies things

 

kind of did something to my Yamaha
just bought an axle with both axle washers (spacers) and castle nut on ebay in an auction. winning bid $0.99 with free shipping .

 

So much rain! This January had 4 times the rainfall as last year and it continues. We are approaching a new record for consecutive days of rain.

I haven't ridden in weeks! I only get to occasionally move my bike out of the way.

I don't mind riding in the rain but I have also had to drive the kids to school. I don't know what's worse: kids or rain?

The kids might take care of me when I'm old but the rain has never 'accidentally' kneed me in the balls. Hard to say.

I'm impatiently waiting on the arrival of my Gunson Colourtune from the UK. I couldn't find one in Canada.

I'll be in the Philippines for a few weeks in March so I may try riding while I'm there.

 

rain is worse because the kids stay inside , buy a rain suit ride in the rain, then you can tell the kids to play outside when it rains because you do and have not melted yet.

just got 8 inches of snow

 

Found some time this evening to clean the 35+ yr old clutch cover gasket material off the engine block, as well as the clutch cover. That stuff sure has adhered well - it didn't even leak! Hoping it doesn't after the new materials either.. HA

 

Touched up my signals, start, and horn buttons with paint stick from Chacal. Looks like new!

 

Cleaned + installed clutch drive plates & new friction plates.
Push rod needle bearing soaking in oil.
Scotchbrite pad to all the rusty areas of the chrome before bonking.

 

Xj addict here.

Order placed with Chacal.
Picked up new torque wrench.
Installed clutch bolts.
Installed clutch cover.
Fresh oil/filter.

Antisieze - the automotive grade herpes.

Night y’all

 

Shipped out a bunch of orders today, just now getting a chance for dinner!

 

Stripped off the carbs and calipers. Going to have them ultrasonically cleaned tomorrow since I haven't gotten them dialed in since my build. Figure now is the time to do it.

 

Fixed a gummed up side-stand/kick stand switch and went for a ride!

 

Took a class so I get my full endorsement. Passed!! The bikes they have you ride suck. Feel more comfortable on my XJ. Other than that the class was great. Learned a lot. When I rode 25 years ago before the internet I thought I knew it all. This time around I knew I didn't.

 

Broke a stud off the exhaust header trying to find the source of a vibration I have.

 

Well, you found a source of vibration....

 

I wish.....still tracking it down.....