Got her going today, now to fix the little things...

After swapping the motor from the parts bike, I'm proud to say I have a motorcycle once again!

Now there's a few things here and there that I have to address before I'm fully operational. I definitely want to go easy on this motor until my first oil change, as I have no idea when the last time it was run/what's gotten into it, but it feels fine so far. I made sure the valves were all in spec, and the timing is dead nuts on. Now the next step is building a YICS tool and deciding if I want to rig up a manometer or fab a proper set of gauges to sync my carbs.

A few issues I noticed on the ride:

I had the bike running and charging fine when I tested it the other night, but when bolting it back together, I had to reorient the stator to get the wires to run right to clear the front sprocket/shift lever cover. So I did that, and when I started it up, the bike wouldn't charge, and I had a very weak spark. So I pulled that cover off and cursed because two wires had been rubbing and frayed against the spinning guy in there (magneto? alternator? not sure whatcha call it). So I cut them and resoldered them, and ever since, it doesn't seem like the bike is charging as well. I'm hovering just above 12 V @ 3000 RPM, which seems kind of low. Could my solder job just be shite, or is that something that you just shouldn't do to these wires?

I also noticed a little knocking sound coming from the clutch when sitting at idle. My other engine did this too, but it seems a bit louder on this engine. The clutch feels fine, but I only rode the thing about 3 miles today. It could just be my imagination thinking the noise is louder, but I found this motor with all but two bolts missing from the clutch cover, makes me wonder why someone else was in there.

My speedometer is also making a terrible whining noise, which it was also doing last season, just not nearly as bad or often. Today, it did it for almost the whole ride. I seem to remember a thread on here somewhere about it, hopefully it's just a matter of opening it up and greasing something in there.

Another thing I noticed, if this engine is original to the frame it came out of, it has 41,000 miles on it. Not really sure what else I should go through on it before I put it back into full service. It seems pretty happy, but any advice on that would be great. Like I said before, valves and timing are in spec, checking the carbs are next on my list!

Thanks!

 

Probably the solder job. You should check the resistance on those wires to make sure:

Alternator Brushes and Brush Holder Plate:

Replacing worn or oil-soaked ALTERNATOR BRUSHES is your first step towards a healthy, capable electrical system. We offer the both the brushes (individually or with their holders) or complete brush plate kits to allow you to quickly and easily fix any problems in this critical area.

Before you replace your alternator brushes, you should also check the condition of your alternator rotor and stator unit.

You can do this by following the instructions below; however, be aware that worn or dirty brushes CAN affect the resistance measurements for the ROTOR (as the rotor is what the brushes actually contact), so it may be useful to check the rotor resistance via attaching the ohmmeter test leads directly to the copper commutator strips on the rotor itself (as well as checking the resistance at the wire harness connector).

The alternator STATOR resistance tests should be taken at the wiring harness connector, although they can also be taken at the stator itself.

The factory resistance readings listed below do take into account the resistance of the wire harness leads between the component and the end of the harness lead wire; however, the wire harness resistance SHOULD BE minimal. If any out-of-spec readings are noted, it's best to take readings both at the component and then again at the end of the harness leads, and draw conclusions and follow-up procedures (i.e. cleaning the harness terminals, checking for pinched or burned wires in the harness, etc.) based on such information, and perhaps re-checking measurements after corrective actions are taken.


Checking alternator stators: the resistance across each pair (w1 to w2, w1 to w3, and w2 to w3) of the three white wires (w1, w2, and w3) at the alternator stator lead harness connector, on those three wires LEADING TO THE STATOR, should be as follows:

0.50 ohms +/- 10% for all XJ550 models.


Checking alternator rotors: the resistance across the two lead wires (usually red and green) at the alternator rotor lead harness connector, on those two wire LEADING TO THE ROTOR, should be as follows. Note that worn or damaged alternator brushes can affect these readings, as can "dirty" copper commutator strips on the rotor face (where the brushes contact the rotor):

http://xjbikes.com/forums/index.php?threads/27387


4.5 ohms +/- 10% for all XJ550 models.

This is actually normal, XJ550 engines can make a particular type of “quiet” rhythmic, metallic knocking sound, which will disappear as rpm’s increase………..this is typically caused by a primary chain (inside the engine) which can “flop” around a bit at low rpm’s due to low oil pressure (oil pressure is used to tension this chain). It’s nothing to worry about.

 

Nice bike.
run your idle at 1200 rpm and fill oil to the point where you still have an air bubble at the top of the sight glass
helps with the oil related noises

is that a mac 4 to 1 exhaust? did you use the L bracket to keep the center stand off of the exhaust and chain from dragging on center stand?
is the silver thing on the foot peg bracket for the center stand?

looks like you need a new chain.

 

Thanks chacal! I'm fairly confident in my mechanical abilities, but wires tend to scare me! I'll see what I can do about checking those things, maybe I'll get a picture of those brushes and the alternator next time I have it apart because I have no idea how those kind of electrical components are supposed to look as far as wear goes. Are there any other critical electronics I should go through? Plugs are new, and I'd check the points but I have no idea what they look like or where they're hidden (used to finding them under the distributor cap on our old Fords but here it's not so obvious)! I'm sure I will be sending you my credit card info soon

As far as the exhaust goes, it is a 4 to 1. It's got a Kerker badge riveted to the muffler, not so sure what exactly it is as it came on the bike. I can put up a picture, I've been curious myself to know what it is. My parts bike has the stock exhaust but I've never compared them, (other than by weight, stock exhaust weighs a ton in comparison!). The silver thing is a bracket I made to keep the chain from eating the center stand, the previous owner of the bike neglected that and there's a nice groove in the stand because of that! That was one of the first things I fixed when I got the bike.
The chains/sprockets are brand new, can't imagine why it looks like I need to replace them?

 

that's one thing you can skip

a two bottle manometer is cheaper and as accurate as you want. a set of gauges does cost more though

 

Really? I've read just about everywhere that you had to plug that YICS port to get an accurate sync.

 

they usually have a line on them and you want 10mm past the line.

their under the flywheel on your lawn mower you have TCI ignition [Transistor Controlled Ignition] if the connections are clean and it runs, your good.
you can use a YICS tool but you'll do just as good without it

 

Kerker is a nice exhaust system. not made any more. I have just the muffler left from my kerker system the headers rotted out at the collector, wal hanger
it is part of the 4 stage performance upgrade listed in the clymer manual
yes you need a bracket to hold center stand down with out the stock exhaust. nice bling
your chain was just before my 1st cup of coffee

do you have the left side cover?


why no chain guard?

 

If you call Kerker, and talk really pretty, and falsh some cash, they have been known to find NOS parts for discontinued systems. Things do change though, and they might no longer be so receptive.

 

I bought my two Seca's at the same time from a guy who had bought them separately and decided he had too many projects, so I don't have much history for them. One came from a kid who rattlecanned everything black from the motor to the exhaust, carbs, and repainted all the body parts powder blue. It looks horrible haha. Apparently the tank was so rotten, the guy I bought them from threw it out, so if I were to ever have two bikes out of it, I'd need to find another tank. I'm thinking of doing something custom though. My other Seca that I ride came from an older guy who had everything fairly original.

So I have the regular cover for the motor kicking around somewhere, I just threw on that black one until I find the original one. As for the chain guard, I know I have it in a box somewhere too, just have to find it. I do a lot of moving between school and internships!

 

Pictures or it didn't happen.

 

Dave?!?