What did you do to your Yamaha today?

Another thing is, can I add a swith to turn off the bike instead of doing it with the ignition key? Also, my front and rear lights are always on, is there a way to turn them off during the day?

 

My bike is in the house in bits. Be busy building it for next year hopefully.

 

#1 and #2 header pipes met the wire wheel and then blue/green polishing bars. New header gaskets installed. The right rear shock also finally got a disassembly and shine-up. Will finish up the pipes up this weekend. Maybe, big maybe, shakedown run to the end of the street and back.

 

kill/run switch does that job or do you want to kill all power to bike?

you can do that too but will need a good 20 to 30 amp switch

headlight is on per DOT spec but you could add a switch to the headlight relay to kill power to the relay

 

TY for all your help, I'll be working on that... Something happened to my bike today, after I visited the car wash, just went back home and I found some smoke below the fuel tank, immediately the bike turned off, so I verified the wiring and it was burned out, the Brown and red/white wires fused each other.

I changed the wires and it's working fine, but the horn and the side lights were not working, do you have any posible cause for that?

Btw, my battery accidentally fell down into the battery box that I made, and the + and - terminals where involved, so I Wonder if this may have caused this problem

Sorry for my english... I'm just learning

 

Well good and bad news! 6 of them came out without much of a problem!! 2 of them were not so lucky.

Any suggestions for removing these headless bolts?

Also while all of this stuff is apart, is there anything I should replace? or clean up? A friend of mine suggested soaking the carbs in Kero to clean them (I have no idea if that is okay or not) and I was going to replace all the rubber hoses.

 

Did they snap off flush or is there any protruding out of head? It is difficult but if it is broke off flush file flush , get several new quality drill bits and a good quality easy out. A 90 degree drill is ideal (sorry I can't recall exact size ,but I have extractors you put in a socket ) the other way you can try is to use ALUMN in the spice aisle of the grocery store. Build a dam of modeling clay around the broken fastener, mix it up and pour into dam, put a heat lamp close to this ...and WAIT it will take 24 to 48 hrs ...the ALUMN will dissolve the fastener but will not harm the head, if you do it right ,you will have a nice clean fastner hole.

 

It helps if you center punch the bolt after you file it to stop the drill bit from wandering.

 

Starting to look like a ride now. Wiring going into the light bucket needs a reroute. Waiting on carb boot clamps now. Tank will be primed this week and plumbed up for some runs in the neighborhood.

 

It isn't flush, there is maybe a 1/8 inch on the one bolt and 1/4 inch on the other. I bought a right angle drill attachment because I figured I would need to punch and drill this out. I can't tell if you are serious about the spice (if so this is awesome)

Thanks guys! I'd love to just get at least one freakin season out of this bike! Since the carbs are out now... Is there a way I can clean them up without tearing the whole thing apart? I'm really scared it will never run again if I open them up. (A friend suggested soaking them in Kero, but I have no idea about that)

 

any You-Tube video I've seen demonstrating this involves boiling the parts on a Bunson burner, something impossible with an entire motor. I've not actually read of anyone having success with this. I wouldn't waste anytime with this. Best method is to thread a nut onto the remaining threads and weld the stud to the nut. Make sure there is some gap between the nut and the head or else it will tighten up when the weld cools. Heat it and go slow, candle wax can assist in penetrating the threads.

You must enter the church of clean. Take many pics of your carbs as they come apart. Your carbs are approaching 40 years old and have rubber parts which need replacing.
XJ550H summarized recently in another post in just a couple sentences what is needed.

 

The carbs are not that bad. I've worked on WAY more complicated car carbs. The linkages will only fit back together one way, just do each carb in it's own bin, numbered. The jets should be diagrammed as you remove them to make it easy, there's only two metering jets you could accidentally swap. The worst part of all of it is stuck screws, especially bowl drain screws and the peened brass butterfly screws. I've removed stripped bowl drain and brace screws with my TIG if you need help with that. If you are concerned about doing it yourself there are people on the group that will do a complete rebuild for-fee.

 

I'm bummed my AGM battery looks like it toast have had it on charge for 3 days , will crank a couple of times and fires if it catches and you can hear it running down. I've got a little over 2 seasons ,almost 3 so got my money out of it. So ordered a new battery 94$ with S&H ,suppose I could have waited but I'm impatient and well when you have a good standing with paypal credit abuse it a little more

 

AGM are use and toss storage. If you go with the wet flooded cell you can use a desulfator on the battery while it is being maintained and used to keep the plates clear of lead sulfate binding. You can also restore 70-80% capacity of most "dead" wet cells that have not had plates exposed to air and do not have shorted cells. Most of the 10Khz AC reconditioners work well, they just take a while.

 

I've had great success with Optimate AGM in the past...

As with most things.....mechanical/electrical, I think if your ( my) XJ is ridden most everyday....incl Winter months, you could see 4+ years out of your battery....I have, in the past, with a wet cell Yuasa.....as I dont ride like that now, I am seeing less 'mileage' from my batteries, whether on trickle charger or not

 

going on 5 years
https://www.batteryspace.com/sla-ba...120wh-with-dimension-151mm-x-98mm-x-95mm.aspx

 

10ah.....does it turn over the XJ quickly??

 

it hasn't failed me yet. it does start easily though
the bad part is soldering the terminals on

 

Brazing would probably be better, no?

Can you 'load' this in any position, like sealed AGM??

the 12AH looks like a very good price.....!

 

to hot, you can't hurt/melt the seal through the case.
it is AGM
https://www.batteryspace.com/prod-specs/LA-12V10-V1.pdf
have to be careful of the size, their a different shape than oem

 

https://ibb.co/jM4FW76

 

Tight fit!! ?

 

SLA are sealed flooded cell, not AGM. That is a different chemistry.

 

Not true. I'm wrong, The SLA are often AGM but not marked that way. It's tougher to desulfate AGM since the mat physically touches the plates.

 

So it really looked like the battery ,was very slow to crank and even with my battery charger only marginally better , finally only the solenoid clicking . Put new battery in ...and only click, pulled starter and put spare starter in and fired right up ....I pulled starter apart burnt brushes ...this starter was off my spare engine , i used it because i liked the black finish ...well i have rebuild kit i will have to dig out ....and have a perfectly good battery , I'm leaving the new battery in the bike . Well that is how it usually goes for me spend more than i have to ,I did not use the KISS principle i should have pulled starter oh well live and learn

 

Looks like the brushes are short on life. Get a battery load tester from harbor freight. Well worth the cost to make sure the battery actually is marginal on cranking amps.

 

Just did the starter, brushes, re cut/polished the armature/commutator, she spins like a whirling dervish now !!

Definitely worth doing

 

I never tore this starter apart , it worked okay till I was in Houston for a week . I went to start bike and it barely cranked . I put new battery in and have it on my digital trickle charger when I came home this evening ,hit start button fired up right away so I'm a happy camper.

 

Finished replacing the two inner mix screws, retune and resync. Seems much better at wot and holding mid revs. Test ride on Sat to see how it behaves without choke.

 

Unsuccessful attempt to get the carbs back in, assembled the left hand handlebar assembly with all the bits, removed the last brackets from previous owners rack, put a rear indicator on, discovered all the repairs on the old fuel tank.

 

Finally got the carbs in (Saturday) assembled everything, added fuel, ignition and choke on.... battery turned the starter a couple of times........ then died.

 

Use your car battery.......just for that initial 'clean start'....

 

Put bike away for winter , cleaned up garage so I can get truck and wifes car in . Rebuilt starter while I was at it . Sad I did not ride as much as I wanted to had so much happen that kept me from doing so I figure I only rode about 700 miles .

 

700 miles more than me Jetfixer my bike is in bits, hopefully it will be on the road in 2020. All the best.

 

Bought a used 1985 XJ700 last week. Didn’t run when I got it so that’s my winter project. Had it sputtering the other day but wouldn’t catch.
Yesterday I changed the fuse for the neutral light so it lights up now. Lots more to do still...

 

Dialed carbs 1 3 and 4 again while test riding around the house. Looks like I am going to have to pull the tank again to get #2 a little richer. Also got the LED headlamp in. Fits well, the voltage noise is going to have to get addressed. The headlight strobing has to stop. Got a plan and a 10A DC-DC rectifier to fix it.

 

Dig it.

 

installed a new fuse box from a kit from Len at XJ4ever. Beautiful kit with great instructions included. Took a few hours because my soldering skills are weak. Maybe I should have just used the crimp connections provided but I wanted to learn a new skill.

 

Changed the engine oil...in the RJ....already done the other Seca, using Yamalube, in both...

I DO need to find a proper copper 'crush' washer x2 soon, I can't stand the aluminum ones

Didn't do the filters.....I usually do those every other change ...and there was very little 'swarf' on either of my magnets

EDIT: my one throttle cable feels 'sticky'.....thoughts.....? Almost feels like its struggling to return/snap......I checked its 'run', its seems fine, and the return springs in the carbs feel 'tight'...

I never know WHAT, if anything to lube 80's cables with..are these ones nylon, like newer Jap bikes?? ( can't remember)

 

Same here, but I can only fit one car in now.

 

Only got the not run for 2 1/2 years xj running.........

 

Top banana!!

These bikes are unburstable, undefeatable.....lol PS PLEASE check that bevel breather with an expert ( preferably Dave...Hogfiddles) before you take a long ride !!!

 

Going nowhere for a while, clutch cable is cream crackered and for some strange reason I own absolutely NO motorcycle gear whatsoever

 

Wouldn't be a massive problem...over 'ere, safety gear..or even a leather is rarely seen (even lids are optional..depending on the State!).......mind you, 95 degreee plus summers, don't help, although at the moment we are at a negative 5 or 10 degrees tonight, thanks to an arctic blast !!

 

Cleaned ignition switch contacts today. problem was intermittent taillight. jostling the key [while running] light on, let go, light off.
seems to have solved the issue. time will tell.

 

Did you put a little bulb grease/silicone grease on the contact plates?

 

no

 

They're brass/copper contacts so it does help with wear. Maybe next time.

 

1o minutes to remove ign.sw. 10 min. clean, 10 min. reassembly.
on another note, when I was done, headlight didn't work, traced it down [with meter] too the h4 bulb desiding to go bad at this particular time.
$8 at nappa, - back on the road.

 

H4 LED conversion and avoid the halogen random burnout