What did you do to your Yamaha today?

Here you go. I had to do some trial an error and eyeballed the length of each section. I used my hacksaw to make several cuts on the end of each joint so I could tighten them down with hose clamps. Worked great for what I needed.

 

That looks great. I'm a ways away from getting to the point of polishing anything to look that good but curious what clear coat you are using?
In the Pontoon industry, Sharkhide is becoming popular for aluminum pontoons that are not in salt water where it won't protect from barnacles.

 

Today I did nothing with my Yamaha. I spent time with family and friends. Merry Christmas.

 

Rebuilt the front brakes on the 82 xj650lj. Have only had this bike out a couple of time on shake down rides and noticed the front brakes were lacking. Looks like the original brake fluid from 40 years ago when I rebuilt the master cylinder. It took more time removing the crystalized brake fluid than it did to rebuild.



Fortunately, the calipers where not nearly as bad....

As a side note, I found part of my hard starting problems. I needed to remove the tank to disconnect the wiring to the master cylinder. I was giving things the once over under the tank and found the choke cable was not installed properly. After fixing this the choke now opens fully. Lol

 

Be thankful you don't have XJ700 calipers. Two calipers with two pistons each.

 

It warmed up a bit , looked some more at the bike pulled to plugs and put a borscope into the cylinders, they did not look bad , the plugs did not look bad either. For the first time buying a used bike all four plugs were the same !! I wanted to try to crank it , poured Marvel's into cylinders, tryed a jump box no joy . The fuse box is toast and the usual fuse holders and since I don't have a battery and bike is crammed behind my beetle gave up for the day . I did figure no front brakes , clutch cable is seized , choke cable is smashed , throttle cable is damaged. I have those in a tote , will have to dig them out . I have six calipers in my stash so not sure if the ones on the bike are any good . The temp is supposed to get into upper 40's tomorrow I might look at it more .

 

Came up with new bike named it hundo since that was what it cost me. Today I pulled the starter and tested it spun up good , reinstalled but no crank with switch . Jumped direct to post on starter and it spun over , hooked up compression gauge , number one 65psi,number two 270psi( tried it twice same reading) number three 180psi, number four 160psi . I plugged in a spare cluster and it will not work . I checked for spark weak but is sparking . If it was warmer would mess with it more , gave up for the day since I'm using a car battery that is weak .

 

Have just put the whole bike back together and now i have a problem.
When i press the start button, the engine cranks and pistons move, but i get no spark on any of the spark plugs.
I also noticed that the key switch is not doing anything, the start works with or without the key being turned.
Where should i look for problems?
XJ750 Seca

 

Nice temps today. Before I adjused valve clearances on the X last Spring, my compressions were inconsistent across the cylinders. After replacing many shims my compression tests were not any better. Because some of the valve clearances were bad (no feeler gage would fit), I suspected the valves may have gotten burnt if they weren't closing. Today I did leak down tests and the results were not good.
Cyl. 1: 92/20 Exhaust leak
Cyl 2: 90/87 Good
Cyl 3: 90/10 Intake and exhaust leak?
Cyl 4: 90/16 Exhaust leak
I'm not looking forward to the teardown nor the new shim replacments that will be needed after the repairs.

 

Try an actual metric feeler gauge took me awhile to find one but Notrhern Hydraulics had one . Made a more accurate measurement. I had gauges that had both and these were not quite right .

 

Yep, that I what I use.

 

New years eve did nothing to the Yamaha. Got dunk, fell down. HAPPY NEW YEARS!

 

Whooo replaced the start solenoid and the new bike cranks with the start button.

 

I did I think last week..
It was in my xj650 bring back to life thread.
I would push the start button and the start was delayed. I thought it was the button and would squeeze and wiggle it but then I read an old thread about the starter solenoid doing that. (weak coils not moving or maybe the contacts on the output?)
Been great ever since replacing the solenoid purchased from mikesxs.net. With all the fiddling I have been doing, I'd say I've started it 20 times since doing it and it starts cranking immediately with a light press on the start button. I cleaned up the power rail metal and terminal rings while I was at it.

 

This is my 100$ Seca wiring at fuse block is toast , would not crank I had a spare solenoid spinning over great now . Generally speaking if you go to start and nothing happens this is usual cause the solenoid. They are cheap think I gave 12$ for it .

 

Valve cover was leaking at the front right corner and I found a bolt that wouldn't snug - threads were toast. Got a timesert kit and shored it up then went to reinstall the valve cover and another bolt on the other side wouldn't snug. So another timesert. Reinstall again and two more bolts on the right side won't snug now. Thank goodness the kit came with five inserts. Got it back together with the bolts torqued very lightly then let the machine run for a few minutes and no more leaks. woot!

 

No significant time to work on bike this week but the tail light was a tad faded on the top. Bike spent much time covered/garaged so it was not that bad. I forgot to take a before picture. I have used this stuff (part of a kit) on older headlights and it works but sun will fade again in 6-12 months. For a now garage kept bike that is not a daily ride, it should be fine for a long time. I used the kit on the master cylinder window previously (started with the heavier scratch remover). Light coat of wax on top is next.

 

Worked on Seca put another clutch cable on and had a choke cable I installed. Sprayed the boots down with silicone spray to try to soften them up .So made a little progress. I have COVID so have not felt real good .

 

I finally finished rebuilding the carbs on my bike and installed them. I was also able to start and run the bike for the first time since I have owned it. Still need to rebuild the brakes, clutch and replace the tires before I can take it for a ride.

 

Well, finally. In the basement and ready for work.