What did you do to your Yamaha today?

I am in the process of bringing my old girlfriend back to life, so I have been doing a little to her:



I finally found a tach/speedo assembly that was in good shape. That took over 6 months to find. So I am in the process of making one good one out of my broken one and the one I found.

I also have to pull and clean the carbs which I haven't done yet. I don't know if you can see them in the picture of not but my Seca has Keihin 31's on it. I got so tired of the Hitachis gumming up, leaking, clogging up... So I engineered a set of Keihins from what I believe was a 700 Nighthawk about 10 years ago. At least that is what the junkyard man said they were... They carburate cleanly and work for me. Plus at the time, I could get jets for them at the Honda shop where you couldn't find Hitachi jets anywhere...

I am working on repairing the fuel tank level sensor for the 3rd time in its life. The stupid float has come off all 3 times.

It is a labor of love though.

 

Installed 4 new turn signal lenses. One had broken when I dropped the bike. Mental note - double check that the stand is down! One lens had some stress cracks and Speed and Sport would only take credit card orders over $20.00, so I bought a complete set.

 

Changed out the handlebar controls, throttle cable, headlight, gas tank, front fender, spark plugs and cleaned the carbs. Hopefully, tomorrow will be a reinstall of the carbs and a test ride of the bike. Fingers crossed!!

 

Re-installed the front fairing and lubed the chain...

 

Fabbed up some brackets for my new ROUND headlight instead of the big goofy square one, check it out here: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=10843.html

 

Cleaned out a fuel tank to replace mine old one. Cleaned out the master cylinder and flushed the fluid.

 

I put a dent in the asphalt at work today. I guess I should use something under my kickstand all the time even though it was only 80*F today.

It's ok though, put my metal plate on top of the dent and set the bike on top and it smoothed it back over.

 

went on my first long ride today! it was no endurance test, mind you, but it was the most i've ever enjoyed traveling eighty miles!

 

Replaced the starter, mirrors, and readjusted the winshield mounts.

 

Finally, after all those "how do I" posts I can show some progress here

Cleaned the valves and they seem to be in excellent condition, Will lap them in once the valve seals are replaced (that's next)


Definately trying to stay organized as that has been a very common suggestion in your threads



De-Carboned the combustion chambers and exhaust ports still need to do the intake side



Cleaned the piston crowns (with help from my daughter)



This is what you get when you keep an ear on your kids (only 25 feet away) instead of an eye on your kids.


Well, thanks for all your help... here's to one more sharing in the XJ addiction

 

I put brand new dunlops, front and rear, on my bike. I whimped out and had it done at the dealership. When it was ready it looked like the front was quite close to rubbing on the fender. Sure enough before I got out of the parking lot I was turning around back to the service center.

They had put on a 120 instead of a 100. They swapped the tires, rebalanced, and put it back on while I watched.

Then I took the long way back and started breaking them in.

 

Didn't do ti today but in the last 2 weeks I've:

Pulled 2 sets of gauges apart and installed a new speedo and replaced a broken plastic inner. Swapped over to a spare set of carbs that leaked due to shrunken rubber from sitting for 10+ years... Took best part of 2 days... On, off, on, off, swap this, on, off... you get the picture.

Then replaced both handlebars, both sets of hand controls (including modifying all plugs to fit, swapped old key in to new ignition & petrol cap, new levers, new clutch cable, new clutch perch, took down gauges again and swapped more bits....

Anyway, lots of cosmetic changes that make the bike look even newer

 

Finished all the powder coating on my 650 maxim right down to the last screw head and began redressing my bike. Changed the handlebars to clubmans, fitted a seca seat and tank, started fiberglassing the seat fairing, and sanded the tank, fenders, and plastic down. Then I began working in the electrical. Planned on making my own wiring harness but with my trip closing on me fast I will re-use the crappy stock harness. Received my gasket set in the mail last night so I dead lifted my engine onto my work table and began the de-greasing and cleaning process before I rip her apart this weekend.

Today I pick up a BMW K1100rs and it needs no work.

 

Installed a set of forward controls....

 

IN the past week:

-New Grips
-Rebuilt front brake caliper (Yay!)
-New Right hand mirror and Front brake lever (Dropped- BOO!)

Today:

-New Dunlop 404's Front and Rear (Yay!)
-Brake Light Switch obtained. Installing later.

Tonight:

RIDE..

 

Over the past few weeks.

Dropped bike in parking lot
Broke Flasher
Rode to Houston, TX
Broke the rear brake assy
Ghetto rigged to make back brake work
Went to Tractor Suppy for parts to fix back brake.
Fixed back brake
Put a 130 Metzler on the rear and broke it in
DRAGGED PEGS FOR HOURS
Tuned carbs for last few weeks.
Started cleaning up some ebay bought crome shocks. (man i love steel wool)

 

Went for a half mile ride, first one in 8 years! Still needs some tuning. Took cover of of replacement seat and cut it up for the pattern to make a new seat cover. Replaced side cover grometts. Scrached head while fuel leaked from airbox.

 

Sand blasted my front fender, front shocks, and tank. Sanded for hours and primed them for my weekend paint job. Then I went to work on fixing my seat cowling. I hate fiberglass! Sanded my side covers down and filled the little holes where the emblem attaches. I'll prime those up tonight. My hands hurt.

Then I masked up my rear tire and primed my swingarm and final drive. I had already prepped it last week so I put down three coats of primer and painted it with 4 coats of a semi-gloss black enamel. I'll clearcoat it today.

 

In the last week, I have:
(1) pulled carbs off (yet again)
(2) broke #2 extractor in Carb #2's seized pilot adjustment screw
(3) replaced carb #2 (see above) with a spare off a rack I bought for parts
(4) degunked the YICS chamber (about 2 oz of black "clay" came out)
(5) sealed cracks in Carb #4 cylinder boot
(6)bench-synched/vacuum synched/tweaked over 3 days until 4 plugs are just ever so slightly rich
(6) went for a ride - WOW. It just wants to go and go and go...
(7) enjoyed cold beer with satisfied smirk on my face

 

Yesterday:
Swapped in a 'new' cluster set only to fidn it was about 10MPH slow in the neighborhood of 50MPH.
Swapped 'old' cluster back on.
Replaced alternator brushes I'd ordered last year (old ones still had a bit of wear in 'em, but while I was in there . . . ) .
Adjusted valve clearances and replaced valve cover gasket.
Cleaned funk off valve cover using the "My wife is awesome and let me put parts in the dishwasher) method (I believe patented by RickCoMatic?).
Quick and dirty plug-chop adjustment to account for new valve clearances. Will properly balance/tune as time permits.
Wired in Zumo GPS in a more modular fashion.
Coated highway pegs with Plasti-Dip and sand for traction - I don't think it's going to hold up, though.

Didn't get around to washing the poor girl. Busy day.

Still need to do an oil change before I depart for Door County on Thursday. Also, ordered some new bolts for the crankcase cover from Chacal as I chewed up one screw head getting it out - it was bent to hell for some reason. Replacing with hex-headed S.S. instead. Also ordered some new rubber sealing washers for the valve cover - should have done that sooner. Oh well.


FYI, the clock is at 28,300.