Fast Taker Secaha - a blog

Re: New guy in town

The time has come...
THE test is coming up in just under 12 hours. I'm super-psyched... And very nervous.

 

Re: New guy in town

Try not to be nervous.
That just erodes your confidence.
Just go and give it your best shot.

If you are going to take the test on your Bike; let's hope a tuning issue or some other gremlin doesn't get in the way of you putting down a good test!

 

Re: New guy in town

Time to refresh an old thread, I guess...

As the snow and ice fade away and give room for bare asphalt, I can feel the throttle hand wanting to grip the handles of that sweet ol' XJ...
Carbs have been cleaned and reset, the tank is scrubbed clean on the inside (some rust was apparent), the battery is charged to full, and all parts are mounted.

Tuesday night was a blast. I had to check if the bike would start, and it did - albeit after a little tinkering.
Something with the #4 plug that just wouldn't let it fire.
I cleaned the plug, swapped it with #3, swapped plug wires with #1 and back, and finally all four exhaust baffles were hot.

Now awaiting nicer temperatures at nighttime to take her out. Can't really do that during the day because of excessive traffic around the garage...

And that leaves me to thank everyone here who has helped me along with tips and parts...

 

Re: New guy in town

I finally got the bike out for a warm-up yesterday... and did a carb sync on the end.
I noticed that there was a gas leak from the lower rack screws on carb #1... anyone know what may cause this?
I hit all rack screws with thread lock, and refastened the float bowl screws with tread lock as well.
I'm holding a button on the gaskets being worn after being worked with so much, but I'm open to suggestions from you guys...

 

The bike is parked for this season (in Norway, the season officially ends September 30th)...
I dare not ride the bike anymore, mainly due to the possibility of overnight frost.
Instead, I opted to put her back in her Secave (get it? )...
I also decided to turn my original thread into a blog, so as to get everything into one post. Makes searching easier - at least for me...

Plans for the winter? Total overhaul.
During this season I've noticed a few things that I knew were missing from the PO, and some things that came after me riding the bike for 8000 km...

- Sweating from the engine gaskets
- Adjusting the headlight beam
- Holes in the exhaust collector
- Overall, a loss of power, especially with passenger, attributed to the problems mentioned above
- Turn signals not engaging properly. Oddly enough, the left signal comes on right away, but the right signal needs the left signal to engage before coming on
- Cosmetics: bump in the tank, paint scheme, foam on handlebars lacking, engine paint, etc.
- Electrics check-up

Maybe Robert can create a forum for how to's, and we could make threads based on the parts diagrams from Yamaha?

 

I started with the tear-down of the bike yesterday, and got off most of the rear + tank + mirrors.
I'm really disappointed with the "original" mirrors. They don't provide as big FOV that the universal mirrors did when they came with the bike.
I noticed the air filter can be discarded, as it was full of dust and the occasional spider. I'll be going for one that can be cleaned for the re-build.

 

Re: New guy in town

The front of the seat wore a spot on the tank through the paint and polished the steel. I for one like it that way.
There is plenty of space between the airbox inlet and the seatpan for it to gulp all it likes.

 

Re: New guy in town

Thanks. After posting, I did trick out the edge of the seat with rubber foam window padding. If not vital to airflow, at least it protects the paint on other components...

 

Hockey, almost everything is off the frame now. Only the engine, forks + front wheel, and engine remains.

I've seen the engine tool TimeToRide made, and began to wonder where to fasten the jig...

Once the mysteries of the engine begin to unfold, I suppose I need to take some pictures

 

This would be highly unadviseable. There should be no reason to remove the airbox once you have the engine rebuilt, and reinstalled. You will find that it will be a major task to get that airbox to seal properly again if you do cut it in two.

If you need to remove the airbox for any reason the general procedure is to remove the carbs, and exhust. Then unbolt the front engine mounts to allow the engine to pivot forward giving clearance to remove the airbox in one piece.

If you are trying to make removing, and installing the carbs easier. Just unbolt the airbox, and slide it back. This will give you approximately 1/4 - 1/2 inch more clearance on the carbs.

For air filter replacement. There is a removable panel on top of the airbox under the seat that allows access to the filter.

Ghost

 

@ Ghost:
Thanks for the info. I've tried to remove the airbox with the procedure you described, but there's simply not enough clearance.
The idea is to cut the airbox exactly where the air filter element attaches and mount a thin metal bracket around the airbox, sealing it with black RTV.


By the way, I had a nightmare tonight - after the rebuild, my Secaha would run absolutely silent. As if it were an electric bike. Imagine the horror....

 

might want to look at hogfiddles post here http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=3 ... art=0.html before you cut the airbox.

 

Thanks Mav.. We got it out yesterday by tilting the engine forward. The engine is also out...

The airbox will still be cut, though

I also discovered that there are air valves on the forks... How does that NOT complicate dismantling them?!?

Also, how do I replace the existing ball bearing with a tapered type?

 

If its the same as the 81 seca the air valves aren't complicated at all. They aren't directly ported into the fork tube and just slide off while you are taking the forks apart.

pretty sure the tapered bearings are a drop in replacement. I know a lot of guys get kits from all balls

 

Thanks mav,

I noticed the arrangement of the air valves as I took them apart...

The rear swingarm was cleaned for paint and surface rust. After reading a post about rust near the sidestand, I started inspecting the frame.
My find was substantial. A HUGE crack on the underside, where the frame bends 110 degrees from the sidestand to the swingarm pivot point.
What would be the best way to fix this? I was thinking of cutting the area to a C-shape, putting a steel tube in, and welding on both sides... But I'm more than open for more or less creative suggestions.

 

Finall got to hand the frame and collector box for welding before the weekend, and a buddy has helped me dismantle the engine.
Head cover is off, and so are the camshafts. They both look ok, with minimal wear.

I also got to measure valve clearances:
Intake cylinder #1: <0,1mm
Intake cylinder #2: <0,1mm
Intake cylinder #3: 0,1-0,15mm
Intake cylinder #4: <0,1mm
Exhaust cylinder #1: 0,15-0,20mm
Exhaust cylinder #2: 0,15-0,20mm
Exhaust cylinder #3: 0,15-0,20mm
Exhaust cylinder #4: <0,15mm

Shim readings:
Intake cylinder #1: 295
Intake cylinder #2: 290
Intake cylinder #3: 290
Intake cylinder #4: 285
Exhaust cylinder #1: 265
Exhaust cylinder #2: 265
Exhaust cylinder #3: 265
Exhaust cylinder #4: 270

Any recommendations of change for one too lazy to look it up?

 

I've been keeping up the process, and we're down to the engine block now. Pistons are out and polished. I even managed to crack one of the pistons while polishing... Ebay, here I come. Not to mention that the wife struck back at me for possible heavyhandedness by cutting the tip of my finger with her piston rings...
Engine parts are being blasted with a lesser abrasive form of sand, and the engine internals will be sodablasted once that gets in house.
Using the shim calculation sheet from Haynes, I need 3 new shims for the intake, and 1 for exhaust.

 

Update since last post:

Got around to blasting the crankshaft covers and started on the clutch cover. Remaining are the engine blocks themselves, as well as carbs.

Yesterday, I received the "new" pistons I ordered a week ago. Shame the choppers didn't mark which cylinder the pistons belong to, but I can't imagine that matters all too much as long as I use piston rings from the one I broke...

 

I've ordered parts for a DIY ultrasonic cleaner as described here:
http://deiwhy.blogspot.com/2008/12/diy-ultrasonic-cleaner.html

Only needed the transducers really, since I've got a soundcard, software, and amplifier lying around anyway.


I've gotten the clutch drum out, and cleaned it. After taking off the clutch friction plates and pressure plates (and verifying that they needed replacement), I see that the drum itself looks a bit banged up where the pressure plates meet. Just wanted to check in with you guys to see if that's normal?

 

Update:
The ultrasonic cleaner idea did not work, so I bowed to order a small cleaner from HK for 35 bucks. We'll see how it works in a few days, I guess.
One thing that did work, though, is the soda blasting cabinet I made. It's got an air proof lid, fan that sucks the air out, and a bucket to collect blasted media. Pretty satisfied with that one.