What did you do to your Yamaha today?

Just keep in mind that sooty plugs ("rich") can be caused by fuel mixtures that are too rich or too lean:

"Another good diagnostic tip: a cylinder running too lean can exhibit a periodic orange flame and sooty plug. If the cylinder is too lean to fire, the fuel accumulates for a couple of cycles, then when it does ignite the total fuel charge is too rich (orange flame) with the resultant unburned hydrocarbon deposits resulting (the sooty plug)."

 

I was working on my lawnmower, looked at the bike it has been awhile since I colortuned carbs so out came the plugs was not far out but got a nice blue flame after a slight turn in . Took out for a quick blast running great!!!

 

Having the mixture screws all set the same is just for the initial check. They will be adjusted individually after that so that each cyinder gets the fuel ratio that it needs.

 

Noticed my less than a year old battery had lost some fluid over the winter, so I added some distilled water and put it in the trickle charger and waited for the green light that never showed up. Now I've got an AGM battery order and on the way. No more leaking acid on my garage floor.

 

Went for a short ride , bike was a a little rough at low speed, swapped out plugs for a spare set of used plugs NGK . Bike would not start ??? I had a set of Autolite 63 plugs swapped these in and started right up . So found two plugs would not fire they looked okay very strange. The other thing I did today while riding looked down my clutch pivot bolt was loose noticed I had alot of slop in the bracket . Took lever out and using two brass hammers, one on bottom and the other striking the top a good wack and this took quite a bit of slop out . Checked brake lever did the same , I never really noticed this but just a little annoying thing that felt good to fix.

 

The parts seller contacted me after a few weeks to let me know he found a pair of new-in- unopened boxes EBC rotors in his garage. I looked up the part numbers and they were correct for my bike. When the rotors arrived, I was surprised to find a free bonus in the boxes (a set of unopened brake pads). Everything is on and I'm very happy with the front brake renewal.

 

Spin on oil filter conversion. Oil cooler radiator pipes and manifold are XJ 900f parts.



Bolt spacer and filter plate are off a 600n.








This bolt needs the threads cut more and shortened so the manifold meets the crankcase.

 

Started to recover my seat.. cut out a chunk from the front and spliced in some 1" memory foam (badly) now just need to get me a staple gun...

 

Oh boy! Last Friday I aired up the tires and tried to get it to go in gear while running on the stand but it quit every time. Fiddled with the adjustment so the wheel didn't drag so much with the clutch pulled but no matter what it always quit when I popped it in gear!! About half a day later I realized it can't run with the side stand down... uhhhh! Well, at least THAT was an easy fix, lol. I put my clutch adjustment back to where it belongs and moved the bike over by the garage door... then ignored it over the weekend! hahah. But this morning I did take a little 5 mph ride to the other end of the parking lot and back. FIRST RIDE EVER for me on this bike, so that was pretty cool. And yeah I'm being stupidly careful, I know. But it's a little scary for me since my previous experience riding bikes is limited to the small bike at the motorcycle riding/license course that I took 3 years ago. Got a lot of careful careful ahead before I get out on the road and stuff. But the bike seems to work alright! Had my fair share of help from you guys a few years back when I bought and restored the bike, can't thank you all enough for that.

 

New fuel filter installed now that I put the tank back on the bike. I'm not super enthused about it laying on top of the carburetor, but I'll go with it for the time being until I find a better way to route it.

 

They make a 90 degree inline filter. You can have a little longer fuel line off of the petcock to the 90. Then the rest of the fuel line is straight down.

 

I placed mine so it is off the back of the rack. BTW, your filter is mounted backwards.

 

Thanks for pointing that out. Once I put my glasses on I noticed the directional arrow on the filter that shows the flow.

 

Thanks. I'll pick up one of the 90 degree filters and plan to put it on this weekend.

 

I rode for about 2 hours. First long ride in a while with the original seat on. I've decided that I had better stich up the seams in the Corbin before my backside complains more.

 

New battery in. Ended up getting a Motobatt AGM. Love that it doesn't leak and is a bit lighter. Also installed the 90 degree fuel filter, and the bike cranked right up. Ran for a bit and then died and didn't want to start again. So I'm currently diagnosing that issue. When I last synced the carbs, I was adding fuel straight into the fuel line with a squeeze bottle and I had a cap on the third intake boot stem so I didn't have an air leak. So I'll start with running a fuel line straight from the petcock to the carbs and checking for an air leak with the new vacuum hose. I also need to lube the choke and throttle cables. No idea when those were done last.

 

My batt indication on the Atari has been intermittently been coming on . I ordered a 100 count of 2.2K resistors , they came in today made up a new bypass with two soldered together. Installed and did not work traced the wire to the harness found the wire had rubbed a small area under the seat so was picking up a ground fixed this and rode bike around and light and batt indication did not come on .

 

Been chasing an electrical issue with my turn signals all week. Thought it was the relay or signal canceler. Turns out one of the turn signals from the Vetter fairing was corroded and the problem. Fortunately the PO had given me two additional turn signals for the fairing. I plugged in one of the spares, and problem solved. At least all the turn signal connections are now cleaned. I'm eyeballing replacing the original fuse box next, once I tweak the carbs tomorrow.

 

Finally got the carbs completely rebuilt, bench synced, color tuned and final sync. MASSIVE thanks to the gurus here that helped me get this done!! If you had told me two weeks ago I would have VooDoo running this good I would have asked for some of what you were smokin! I am all thumbs when it comes to carbs, but with help from this site and determination, I got er' dun! Again, thanks guys!

 

hit kind of a milestone on my 550 today
It’s also my birthday

 

Happy burf'day

 

Finally figured out where the oil was leaking from on the underside of the engine. Not sure what kind of gasket job this is, as I started taking the gasket off it looked like part of an older one was stuck under the newer gasket, and the PO had added some kind of clear RTV to the gasket before putting the pan back on. Took a while to clean it all up and now its sitting in the ultrasonic cleaner getting years of sludge cleaned out. The crankcase cover looks to have a similar RTV job on it, but its not leaking. Going to order a new gasket it for that cover while I'm working on the pan.

 

While it is out recommend flushing the low oil qty transmitter .

 

Is the transmitter the same as the oil level sensor?

 

Yes

 

Thanks, will do. I'm going to disconnect it while I clean up all the old oil built up on the bottom of the bike. At least the o-ring on the sensor still looks good.

 

Installed new spark plug caps/boots, installed new doughnuts after the "complete" set I got off ebay had 10 small ones and no larger doughnuts(thanks Len for getting me the right ones) used the install tool Len sells wow what a difference! Lubed the throttle cable and installed new clutch dust cover. Took it for a ride and still have a hanging idle so next step "off with the carbs"!

 

I love the smell of lacquer thinner, body filler, and beer in the evening

 

Finally clear day took off for a ride got about 20 miles and noticed my fairing was moving when I hit bumps , pulled over the bolts were loose on the left side . Went home one of the captive nuts was stripped out , tapped it and got bolt in . Took off and rode back a different route decided to head towards home and about bought the farm a SUV diver turned in front of me had I not slowed down and ironically a cop had someone pulled over was one big reason I slowed down. Recently I fitted a Vista cruise control went to engage it and found it had slipped out of the bracket . Got home was an easy fix ended up rode 70 miles.

 

Replaced the original fuse box on the 1982 750 Seca today...it was way past time. Now to figure out the hanging idle when it's warmed up, thinking it's a vacuum leak, will test with targeted carb cleaner spray.

 

Got the new oil pan gasket on and the exhaust put back in place. Got a hanging idle to sort out as well. Pulled the carbs off and one them definitely doesn't clunk. More work to be done.

 

How did you finally sort it out?

 

I'm working on a hanging idle when I get home in a week and a half. I would love to see what worked for you. Mine is fine when cold but starts when hot the carb spray trick dosen't do much. I have new intake boots to put on as a first step.

 

A while ago I was riding with son and went over railroad tracks fairly fast and there must have been a hole next to the rail because my front end hit HARD. Lately I noticed if I let go of the bars the front end shakes but not noticeably felt when held. Yesterday I checked the alignment of the forks and they were pretty much dead on. I decided to check the fork air pressure for the first time and they had no air. Replaced the valves and added air but each time I checked pressure there would be less. Not sure if because I lose a little from the gauge each time or if the pressure is not holding. How can I check that? Any ideas on the new found wobbling?

 

Could the seals be damaged and can you try a spare gauge to see if the results are the same? Any damage to the tyre?

 

Bent wheel??

 

Hi Franz, as far as I can see there is no damage to the tire (holds air) or wheel.

 

I would think a bent wheel would have some effect with normal riding but is not really felt. I did a quick test yesterday and let go of the bars. I got a lot of shaking on initial engine braking but it quickly tapered off as the RPM's came down.

 

Tyre/wheel balance weights, any missing?

 

Thought of that and don't see where any are missing but it might be difficult to tell.

 

Perhaps the incident at the railroad tracks and your present wobble on the handlebars are not related. Fork seals perhaps?

You have probably seen this thread.

https://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/xj700-x-forks-question.61926/

 

Getting "Catty" ready for the road, replaced the cracked front tire with a new Dunlop D404F.
I liked the way my old CB900C handled with a set of D404 on it.
Now I only need to replace the safety switch on the clutch perch, and take it on to get the safety inspection signed off.

 

Still working out the hanging idle. It occurred recently while doing a running sync and I suspect there's a vacuum leak. The #2 carb also doesn't clunk, its more a slow drop, so its possible it's hanging and causing the idle problem. So I'll start from scratch and take a each carb apart to make sure they're still clean then slowly walk through the system to see what I missed. Eventually I'll figure it out. I seem to do things at least three times before I identify the problem. Which is how I figured out I'd flipped part of the rear brake hardware over when it wouldn't adjust correctly.

I've already replaced the intake boots and valve shims are within spec. I never replaced the original caps from the old intake boots, and I put an inline fuel filter on after cleaning the tank before the sync. Not sure how clamped down the caps need to be on the intake boots or if they are leaking. So I'll check those and sync without the fuel filter on and check the plugs. I've slowly cataloged most of the hanging idle threads in the forums so I'll go through and eliminate everything I can. The main thing working in my favor is that I'm cheap and I refuse to pay $150/hr to my local moto mechanic to get him to figure it out for me when its mostly just going back through the details.

 

Quite the unique front end jack you've got there. Necessity is the mother of invention.

 

The definitely lose some air each time you measure. Are they losing the same amount each time?

 

Broke down the front brake system on my '81 XJ750 Seca. About to update my thread with some pics and such while I chill out in the A/C. Also, will be searching the threads for stuck-piston advice. And (will also check Haynes) is there a reason to take out the pin and separate the caliper itself from the mount? The pins don'w want to budge, thought he parts float along the pin well.

Also, has anyone re-painted their calipers? I'm not a paint guy. Is there an 'easy' way?

 

Spent the day not feeling well and 90 degrees out felt like 100 . This evening I had a tight valve the last time I checked number four intake . I needed a 260 shim and finally got them . Before I tore into it checked compression lowest 130 psi highest 140psi so that was good . Got it swapped little loose on the high end a 265 probably is closer but will live with it for now .

 

Made use of a crusty old brake lever/master cylinder (which I had to clean up, first)
from a YZ80 to unstick my pistons. Also got the calipers off the mounts with liberal use of penetrating oil and a correct sized center punch. Even got my wife to swing The hammer, and she didn't take advantage of the situation and bash by thumb. The original issue rubber boots did not give up easily.

 

Lots of red and a little bit of black primer today!