What did you do to your Yamaha today?

hmm...started tearing it down, swapped in new signals, took the seat off, pulled the mirrors, and started sorting the electrical on the front end.

Oh, and pulled everything off the rear fender. Fender and bars come off next weekend. (gott apace myself on this project, don't wanna get done too far befor ethe snow clears in the spring)

 

Thanks Robert, did not know that. I didnt run it without a battery, just one that was not holding a good charge. I know that is a way you can tell on cars if the battery or alt. is bad, just disconnect the battery and see if it runs. If anything I would have ran it just a little while with just a bad battery, kept a little juice, just not enough to start it. Is that still bad for it, or okay?

 

Yeah. What he said. 1/32" rubberized fiber material. Plop it down on the sheet, trace around it, cut with scissors. Cutting the inside is the tricky part. I imagine there's a way to have the piece mark the mating surface on the gasket material, but I'm not certain whether it would compromise the sealing qualities of the material.

Nothing artistic about mine, I'm afraid. It ain't pretty, but I think it'll do.

 

Mornin' ya'll.

I posted a message regarding XJ Police bikes here:
http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=3 ... rt=15.html

Not sure if anybody has actually seen it so thought I'd ask here!

Cheers!

 

I'll bet that black marker on the edge of the piece will mark the material without compromising it, particularly if you stick to the edge and don't mark the entire surface.

Another idea that is more work, but won't affect the gasket at all, is to use the marker trick on plain paper, cut that out, then trace around the paper on the gasket material. Plus, in that case, you don't even need to use marker. Anything will mark the paper. Water, WD-40, brake fluid... ;p

 

a light coat of a contrasting shade of grease or possibly using something like charcoal/chalk or marker on the surface of the item you are making a matching gasket for. If the edge is sharp enough, just presssure to make an indentation might be enough.
I usually stick with the grease add a sharpie line (si I can wipe off the extra) and continue cutting. I also cut the inside first.
If you can get a rough shape and the bolt holes at least (be sure to have clearence inside and out), bolting it down once can make very nice marks to follow.

Some gaskets are insanly expn$ive. Some gaskets cant seem to be bought outside of a kit (cars, bikes, whatever). Sometimes your just stuck and have to make do with making your own.
Steve

 

After rebuilding the front master cylinder and caliper of my 81 xj650, I installed them and bleed the brakes.

YAY!!!! Now that was fun!!!!

 

Nice job, Wink!

 

Finally got it inspected by the CHP and I have plates now! Yay.

Almost suprising how the CHP is worse than the DMV here... In making an appointment***, those guys must me swamped.

 

a one hole paper punch from office-max or staples makes nice bolt holes in your home made gasket

 

How would one make a gasket for the valve cover? With those two half circle parts that come down, be kind of hard, or any ideas? Those gaskets are decently expensive for a gasket, I would make one of those if I could.

 

Short answer: you don't. The mating surfaces between the valve cover and the top of the head aren't two perfectly flat pieces. If you were thinking of using the gasket stuff at the auto parts store, the sheets aren't big enough to cover the width of the engine anyway.

As for what I did, I just now finished re-vacuum syncing the carbs, ever-so-slightly opened up the mixture screws on 1 & 2, and even less on 3. YICS in place, floor fan pointed at the engine. If this thing settles down, I ain't touching the blasted screws again if I can help it.

 

My wife informed me that she was done riding for the winter, so I purchased and installed a battery tender for her bike to keep the battery up-to-snuff 'til spring.

 

Changed out my Alt Brushes, ended up not needing to, but since the @$&!ing screws were a bitch, I had to after words, Cleaned the rotor side of the stator, New Air Filter, and New Speedo Cable

 

Wow, This thread took off. :lol:

I finished swapping the seca turbo front end on to my 650 maxim today.

Had take apart and clean the master cylinder, both front calipers, and ran about half a quart of brake fluid through it bleeding with a mityvac. I also traced a short that was constantly blowing my main fuse, and got a chance to ride the bike again for the first time in probably 3 months! Just in time for the cold weather.. :evil:

 

Lastnight I repainted my front fender where it had been scuffed by the previouse owner and then I changed the grips...tonight I went for a short (5mile) ride. You know it's cold when ice forms on the clutch lever! I am new to both XJ's and the Forum. This is my first street bike, it's a 1992 Yamaha Xj600/Seca II.

 

Gave it a light bath, scrubed behind the ears and the belly. Polished her up some more. General inspection, found a few bolts to tighten and inspected the carbs to find a mixture screw to replace. Eyeballed the spark plugs and made #3 a little little leaner, was somewhat black and sooty. Read her a bed time story and tucked her in for the night. She loves the story about the bigger harley that couldnt!

 

Keep that Mono-shock Clean.

Every couple of weeks ... Clean the Operating Rod and then squirt-on some Hydraulic Jack Fluid.
Work the fluid down into it ... then, wipe it clean.

The major complaint with the Seca-ll is that Mono-Shock.
When the Shock you got gives up the ghost ... you might as well line-up a co-signer ... GOOD replacement Mono-shocks do not come cheap!

 

Did a compression test to find out if the leaking oil was coming from my head gasket... thank god it isn't. They read 130, 130, 130, 125. A bit low, but I hear as long as they are equal. Makes me happy i don't have to get a new head gasket. I am thinking the oil is coming from the valve cover. I will doing valve adjustments soon, so I am gonna wait a little bit before I get a new gasket.

 

Rode it 40 miles in 40 degree weather. Actually up in the hills it was probably colder....rode through some snow flurries. I was home for three hours before I started to thaw out!

 

Vacuumed out the air filter just to be sure that it didn't contain a squirrels nest. The hunt for a better running machine continues.

 

What tender did you get? The maintainer I bought before I had the XJ looks for a higher "charged" voltage than the batt will ever achieve, so it overcharges the poor thing.

Also, for polishing metal, many folks have recommended 1000, then 1500, then 2000 grit sandpaper. Where do you get that? Hardware store only had up to about 220 (and buffing pads, of course).

Bought a ton of 10W-40 for all the bikes, and a couple of quarts of 80W-90 for the 650. This Sunday for oil changes all around, I think. Need to get a filter for the XJ.

Took the dials off the 650 and discovered a dead bulb (turn signal) and a near dead bulb (tach backlight). Also found out that the low oil light is good, so the problem is elsewhere. From the looks of things, likely a short in the lead from the oil sensor.

Most of the turn signal wiring - both front and back - is missing. Fuse from the ignition switch has been bypassed. (I should post a picture. Heh.) New garage lights are fantastic for working on the bike at night, though.

Plan to run through all the tests on the voltage regulator and ICU tonight. Hopefully, between the parts bike and the runner, I'll have one of each that passes all tests.

Also decided that I'm going to tear the parts bike completely apart. Totally disassemble the engine and transmission. Ought to be easier to store that way. Ought to learn a few things about how the final drive is put together as well.

Oh yeah. Bought a set of drifts for the upcoming steering bearing replacement project and found the part numbers and prices for tapered roller bearings. Next month, methinks.

"This is why it's called a 'project bike'."

 

I work for CARQUEST Auto Parts, so I bought the one we offer (naturally). At the time, it was on sale for about $30. It's made by someone else, so there are others who carry the same charger under different names. Here's a picture from the last sales flyer of it:

​

I'm not sure what our regular retail price is... maybe around $37?

Those grits are usually used for autobody refinishing. You'll need to visit a parts store that sells paint supplies or go to a autobody paint supplier... or, if you got a buddy that paints cars for a living, hit him up for what you need :wink:.

I found that these filters aren't normally stocked in most parts stores. If you still need filters and were hoping to walk into your neighborhood parts store to get one, you may want to call today and put one on order for tomorrow. Of course, the your local Yamaha dealer (if you have one) should carry your filters (I would hope).

 

I'll give the Yamaha dealer a call, but the one here tends to suck. I need oil filters and I need replacement dash bulbs. If they can't get them, I'll wait for Chacal to get back from vacation and hit him up for them.

 

As far as I know, the only two oil filters are made by Yamaha and Fram.

Most likely, the Yamaha branded filter is actually made by Fram. Not surprisingly, the Fram filter is cheaper. It also comes with a couple of O rings, something that you would have to purchase in addition to the Yamaha filter.

 

I'm back! And BTW, there's also the K&N oil filter which seems to be a higher quality than the Fram/Yamaha filter. Hpwever, you'll have to purchase the housing-to-block and the bypass bolt o-rings separately, as the K&N filter does NOT include those pieces.........

I also now stock the dash light bulbs, too.

 

I started stripping more bondo and paint off the gas tank.
I almost think i should replace the tank.

 

rhys:

You don't need Part Numbers for Bearings.
The Bearings are a Metric Sized World STANDARD!
The Number is laser-cut right on the race.

Juat bring the Old Bearings with you to a Bearing Supply House and save yourself some HUGE money getting the Bearings direct from the Supplier!

 

Sprayed my bike down with a power washer yesterday, spent about 1.5 hours between spraying and cleaning! Put fan on it yesterday night and ran it overnight, got on bike this morning and drove it after I got back from work ha ha ha! Horrid traffic, but I didnt mind, figured as much! Just glad it started easy today, saturdays can be worse than fridays sometimes....

 

I tore my carbs down.... AGAIN! The only things that did not come out were the air jets...
Now I'm done, 4 hours later.
Just took her for a spin -- runs like a scalded poodle! My knees are froze though.

Hell, I can do this in my sleep now... The carb cleaning FAQ is da bomb!

 

When you get really organized at Carb Cleaning you "Add Touches" to get them ... not only CLEAN ... But, Clean and Tuned; too.

Little stuff that adds-up in the long run.

Like, ... Sealing the Bowl Gasket to the Bowl and Oiling the Gasket Mating Surfaces.
Next time the Bowls need to come off ... they lift right off saving the Gasket.

Douching-out the slender, Brass Siphon Tube with an Ear Syringe full of Carb Cleaner.
Working the Bulb like un-clogging a toilet.
Making sure that the Starter Jet and Enrichment Circuit is CLEAN.

Chucking a Cap Screw in the drill and high-speed spinning the Emulsion Tubes to SHINE them using ScotchBrite. Shined Brass E-Tubes take longer to foul than ones you leave partially tarnished.

Re-finishing the Diaphragm Piston Bores.
Gray (Medium) ScotchBrite. Hit 'em HARD all around.
Then, ... Polishing them to Mirror Finishes with a Dremel and Jewelers Rouge.

If you do this ... your Bike is going to be a Pleasure to ride.
The Diaphragms lift-up quick to give you some bottom and rise quickly under load for excellent Mid-range and WOT.

Drop like wet bags of cement ... for Engine Braking when you close the Throttles needingn rapid deceleration and respond fast for matching rev's when shifting down to put some big power on!

Throw away every fastener you take-off the Tops and replace them with Allen Cap Screws to accentuate their high state of readiness.

Scrub the Bodies with Mothers using toothbrushes you steal from the restroom at the Dentists Office.

Aaaah, the glimmer of fine Cast Aluminum Alloy ...

Zen foe dee "Peace-dee-rezizz-taunts" ...

Using tweezers to dip the Pilot Mixture Screws in Tarn-X ...
Then, ... runnin' a M6 X 0.5 Bottom Tap down the threaded holes them Pilot Screws set-in for Maxim-mum Tweakage when the time is right!

Nothin' like it!

 

When you get really organized at Carb Cleaning you "Add Touches" to get them ... not only CLEAN ... But, Clean and Tuned; too.

Little stuff that adds-up in the long run.

Like, ... Sealing the Bowl Gasket to the Bowl and Oiling the Gasket Mating Surfaces.
Next time the Bowls need to come off ... they lift right off saving the Gasket.

Douching-out the slender, Brass Siphon Tube with an Ear Syringe full of Carb Cleaner.
Working the Bulb like un-clogging a toilet.
Making sure that the Starter Jet and Enrichment Circuit is CLEAN.

Chucking a Cap Screw in the drill and high-speed spinning the Emulsion Tubes to SHINE them using ScotchBrite. Shined Brass E-Tubes take longer to foul than ones you leave partially tarnished.

Re-finishing the Diaphragm Piston Bores.
Gray (Medium) ScotchBrite. Hit 'em HARD all around.
Then, ... Polishing them to Mirror Finishes with a Dremel and Jewelers Rouge.

If you do this ... your Bike is going to be a Pleasure to ride.
The Diaphragms lift-up quick to give you some bottom and rise quickly under load for excellent Mid-range and WOT.

Drop like wet bags of cement ... for Engine Braking when you close the Throttles needing rapid deceleration and respond fast for matching rev's blips when shifting down to put some big power on!

Throw away every fastener you take-off the Tops and replace them with Allen Cap Screws to accentuate their high state of readiness.

Scrub the Bodies with Mothers using toothbrushes you steal from the restroom at the Dentists Office.

Aaaah, the glimmer of fine Cast Aluminum Alloy ...

Zen foe dee "Peace-dee-rezizz-taunts" ...

Using tweezers to dip the Pilot Mixture Screws in Tarn-X ...
Then, ... runnin' a M6 X 0.5 Bottom Tap down the threaded holes them Pilot Screws set-in for Maxim-mum Tweakage when the time is right!

Nothin' like it!

 

Soooo Rick you like working on Carbs?

 

He's an ordained minister in the church.

 

Ummm... The bike doesn't come with tapered roller bearings. The stock bearings are ball bearings. I said I got the part numbers for the tapered rollers. I wasn't talking about the Yamaha part numbers...

Went over the electrics some more last night and found a lot of good news. The wiring for the flashers IS still on the bike. Found it buried under about 15lbs of electrical tape. Wiring is sound. Turn signal switch, though damaged, works okay. Found some spare bulbs and replaced the turn signal indicator and tach backlight in the console.

So what was the original problem that caused the PO to remove all the flashers? Flasher relay. Classic symptoms. Clicks once and then the lights just stay on. Relays from both 650s do it. Need to get a new one. Once that's done it'll be time to re-attach the front flashers, buy the back ones, and test out the cancelling unit.

For some reason, I have four regulator/rectifiers. Tested all the diodes in all the rectifiers and all are sound. Need to put the runner back together (gas tank is missing the mounting bolt!) and test the regulator part. I assume that since the bike fires up and runs that the ICU works properly. Bike wouldn't run otherwise, right?

Untaped the stock fuse box. REALLY need to replace that sucker as soon as possible and un-bypass the ignition fuse. Also still need to take the front wheels to the shop to see if they're true...

Spedometer cable appears to turn regularly and smoothly with the front wheel. Need to give it a few more spins just to be sure, but I think the problem is in the meter itself. Will have to take it apart and see what's broken/corroded/etc.

Also cleaned enough grease from the front end to lube the chain on the CBR. The PO had fiddled with the valve covers, but may just not have cleaned up after himself last time. Will have to watch that for leaks.

Oil light still doesn't come on. Will have to test the switch when I change the oil (soon!).

 

You don't have to use Ball Bearings when you rebuild the Steering.

You can convert to rollers.
Much easier to maintain and smoother ride.

 

The 750 turned 40K today! So.... I transplanted the windshield from the 550 onto it.

whaddayathink?

 

Sweet!

 

I removed the carbs and ordered a bunch of jets today. I figure, with the different sized jets I purchased, I should be able to get this bike tuned in fairly well.

 

What bearings do you use? I manage a branch of a national bearing and PT distributor and when I rebuilt my bike I tried to find tapered roller bearings (cup and cone style, some call them "Timken" bearings because Timken is the major manufacturer of this type of bearing). I could not find a set that had the proper inside/outside diameter combination. I'd be really interested in what parts people are using. I have a 1981 Maxim.

 

I don't remember the Brand Name.
I think it began with the letter "M"

They were sealed roller bearings.
I did my front wheel, rear wheel and steering head with them; two years ago.
I'll look for the invoice and the sizes.

 

I managed to blow my engine up.

Burning a whole load of oil, fuel getting into crank case and oil on headers 1 and 2, down that side of the engine and on the fairing.

My babs has died.

 

Maybe you only blew a Head Gasket.

Did anything come through a case or was there severe knocking when the "Blow-Out" occurred?

The Cooler weather is a Head Gasket Killer. Particularly, if you don't warm-up the Engine for a few minutes before setting-out for a chilly ride.

The Block is Cold and the Head gets all the heat. If there's just enough differentiation in the warming-up process ... the Gasket blows-out between the Number-1 and Number-4 Cylinders.

Not waiting for the engine to heat-up can be an expensive mistake to make. The gasket alone is in the 50-dollar or more range.

 

Well this morning after a period of rain and snow with the thermometer reading -3C (26F) she fired up first spin. The only question was - will there be any ice along the way to work because the road looked dry at the house. A few patches of ice but nothing serious.

Lots of nice late fall temps coming this week, so it looks like bikin' season (Bikin' Season...Wabbit Season) is on for a few more days. Yippie-oh-ki-ay.

 

Pulled the battery out.

 

I actually rode it. Between work and bad weather hadn't been on in nearly a month.

 

DUCK SEASON!!! :mrgreen:

 

The fairing look sreally good. Which fairing is that? I have been looking at a couple of universal shields, but I live in a small town and none of the dealers carry many choices and I am resistant to buy one without knowing how it will look on the bike.

 

I was playing with the idle a bit today and I noticed that the bike really doesn't want to run unless the Petcock is set to the Prime position. It get's starved for fuel in the On position (still runs, just misses and sputters). Otherwise I can knock the idle down to a grand and watch her idle and have great throttle response. I also noticed what seems to be a backfire or something it's not a loud pop but more like a cough at idle ans low RPM's. Time for some cleaning or tuning??

 

Replaced the clubman bars with a set of Superbike bars, had to remember which way the cables needed to be routed stock, so it took a little while. No more monkey hugging a football look for me and my back has stopped hurting so bad. Seems clubman bars or clipons must be for the younguns, cruzerjd