Lots of Questions!

My bike is an 82 XJ650 Maxim YICS.

Questions:

1) Idle. 1600ish right now, too high?

2) Braided brake line for front. Worth the trouble to get?

3) Slightly grindy going into 2nd sometimes. Normal?

4) What are the best plugs for the bike?
5) Shaft drive fluid - what do I use and how do I fill it correctly?

6) Battery- I added fog lights to the tree. Drains battery whilst running.
What battery should I get to allow me to run them?

7) Valve covers... leaking out the front corners.
Should I try and tighten as is, or remove and replace gaskets?
Is this easy to do?

8) Squealing front brakes. Brake noise suppression spray any good?

9) Air shocks. If I turn the knob, what happens? (lol)

10) What to use to clean/lube blinker switch? Right blinker comes on
immediately. Left blinker only goes on 1/10 times or right after right
blinker is used (which is how I use it lol)

11) Is the horn standard wiring? Can I install a mean horn? hah

12) Normal light ticking etc from head at low RPMs?
When I am on it even just a little, it's gone. I have heard it on all my
other yamahas (atv/bikes/mopeds) but want to make sure it should
do this for this bike.

Much appreciated for your help guys.

-dpawl31

 

From the top:
#1. Idle should be 1050 +/-50 rpm.
#2. YES, improves braking big time.
#3. Grindy or clunky? Clunky ok, grinding isn't.
#4. NGK BP7ES gapped at 0.030 is just peachy!
#5. GL-4 85 weight is specified. Any good GL-5 85-95 should work just fine.
#6. You are in for a struggle. First, the stock alternator output is 19 amps, a trickle really. That and you are fighting a losing battle with corrosion on the wire/connectors. As our bikes age, the corrosion issues get worse and the connection resistance increases, drawing more current and generating more heat (reads: efficiency loss). Best bet, clean all of your connections, install new battery, and continue to have issues if you run the auxiliary's too often or too long. Choose a good battery (Yuasa, Diehard, Interstate are all good) and charge it regularly to keep it in top shape. DON'T neglect the electrolyte levels! Top up with distilled water ONLY!
#7. Tighten but not excessively. If you can't nip it in the bud with reasonable torque, spring for a new one piece valve cover gasket. Talk to Chacal, he can steer you in the right direction.
#8. Run a smear of anti-rattle paste on the back of the pads and ensure that the rotor and pad faces are clean and smooth.
#9. Air shocks I am not familiar with, I'll leave that to someone more knowledgeable than myself.
#10. Clean out the turn signal switch with ouchahol (alcohol for you un-initiated). Then tackle the corrosion that inveritably is in the turn signal sockets. Clean them out well and grease with dielectric or silicone grease.
#11. Yes you can upgrade but you will need to wire in a relay. Yamaha figured they could skimp on this one for some reason. Go figure.
#12. A slight tick is normal. Rick, care to chime in on this one?
Best of luck to you!

 

Thank you very much Robert!

From what I could tell, rick has not been around in months. But I could be wrong. I DID go to his house with my junk SECA 650. We tried to tune it, but only 1 out of 4 cylinders tuned.

If he is still around - I would love to show him the new beauty
And this time I can drive it there! lol...

Thank you very much Robert, much appreciated!
I'll have to get some gaskets and braided brake lines now

 

Except for #7: NO NO NO. You cannot tighten the valve cover bolts to stop a leak on a YICS motor. The valve cover bolts have stop shoulders on them and only have ONE "tight." You can't "tighten them up" they're STOPPED against the shoulders. If you try to tighten them further than 'stopped' you'll just strip the head.

You need a new valve cover gasket and the rubber donuts that go on the bolts. Those rubber donuts (actually composite metal/rubber) are what actually push the cover down against the gasket/head.

While you have it off check your valve clearances.

 

ya, were is rick? I think i've only seen him post a couple tmes since he yelled at me.

 

Are you talking about the front forks? They have a rubber cap on top of the schrader valve I believe. With the cap off you can charge the forks with air. Not sure, but I dont think it's much.

 

Great point Fitz, precisely why I said reasonable torque. We SURE do not want anyone snapping off one of those!!! And the new doughnuts are critical to a leak-free seal.

 

Don't worry scooter hes lurking , watching your every move .

 

As far as the valve covers, how much are the donuts and gaskets going to run me?

And for the air shocks - they seem to be plastic knobs almost, like I could turn them and adjust it?
Or do they just pop off?

 

They just pop off and there are air valves under them. I think for yours a gasket is 35 and donuts are 8. PM chacal. He will tell you