What did you do to your Yamaha today?

took the starter apart and cleaned it. it was dirrrrty.

 

wednesday-lit it on fire
today-lookin for a new tank

findind and waiting for a tank will give me time to prime/repaint some of the frame, which is good in a sense becuase i'd always choose to ride it ahead of work on it

 

Painting a 750 tank.

 

Painting a 750 tank.

 

Pulled the seat and tank and am about to check the valve clearances! Wish me luck, lol. Thank God for the how-to's on here about the subject, woo-hoo!

 

Re-built the front forks and installed Progressive Suspension springs.

 

Getting a new to me XJ 750 tank ready to go on my XJ 650.
Currently it needs to dry dry dry and then I will start knocking the orange peel off with buffing compounds. After that, lots of clear coat.

 

Looking good BillB! That clear coat will really set it off! Are you putting the yammie emblems back on?

 

Finally tracked down the source that's been giving me a SLEW of problems -- the clutch!

I developed a knocking noise that I though was an out-of-sync/lean motor, except it wasn't near the cylinders, and it goes away when I pull the clutch at idle. Rats! Also when holding the throttle a good bit in neutral (4k or so) there would be an unusual vibration, which would mostly go away when I pulled the clutch. Double rats! I also noticed in the past couple weeks there wasn't quite as much pull out of first and second gear, and it felt almost like it was losing power for brief moments but the engine would still accelerate like normal. The clutch wasn't really slipping like a slipping clutch would, so I wasn't considering a clutch problem, more of a carb/top end problem. But given the other symptoms, I'd say it's safe to assume the clutch needs attention.

Point being, tonight I started the clutch rebuild.

 

Just rebuilt my clutch as well, now it stalls when I shift into first, lol, hoping Fitz or someone can give me some guidance. Did you have to search for neutral as well?

 

finally looked at my gas tank since the horrible night. The paint on the tank looks pruney, but I think the tank and petcock are still okay. we will see

 

Finally got the carbs back on after cleaning and bench sync. I didn't lose my temper.....much.....well ok I sort of did. I'm glad Mr. Yamaha wasn't there because I probably would not have been nice to him. Those stinking intake boots! There is no wonder there is so much discussion here about pods. Anyway, they are on and it fired right up and actually idles at 1100 rpm without dying!!!! Thanks to all who wrote tutorials. Couldn't ride tonight, still rainy here but tomorrow afternoon I'm planning to test ride and then on to the sync.

 

Got my new battery and new ignition switch (26.50 on eBay) in the mail today. Installed the switch. Cleaned the battery box up. I'm waiting for my wiring harness to get here and then will fill and charge the battery.

I also ordered two proper ignitor boxes , a regulator and the mounting panel for them off eBay. Just under a hundred bucks for all four parts. I figure at less than $50 each if both work I have a spare and if only one works I still spent the curret ball park average for a used one on eBay. Both came from reputable sellers.

This weekend I'm going to start on my initial pass at the carbs and fire up the blast box to strip the tank and the headlight housing as well.

Got a line on some possible switch module/pod replacements earlier today as well. Are the 80 750's the same as the 80 650's?

Sun going down so time to come inside and build a new racked PC for the studio. Always something around here to tinker with. Life is good.

Will post some pix of the bike in it's initial new to me state later tonight or tomorrow.

 

Nope, it shifts and engages just fine, I can just tell there's something loose.

 

Yesterday evening I reset the air mixture screw to 2,5 turns out. It really changed the bike's behaviour, to the point that I had to use a bit of the idle screw to get to idle right.
Still getting a bit high RPMs when the bike is really warm, but not nearly as much as I used to...

 

Replaced the jerry rigged start button I had previously installed with the correct one from Len. Disassembled the starter solenoid, repaired broken wire at the coil, dressed the contact area. Starts first touch now. Used to click, sometimes not engage at all.

 

Clutch maintenance today! Man this is way easier than I thought it would be. Although I need to get the hub off, and must acquire the drum holder pliers.

 

Made a single seat out of an older seat pan... hacked, padded and wrapped with covering from Kawi vulcan.

 

Finally finished changing out the clutch plates and springs. Was a big pita and I'll need a new gasket now (from installing/removing the clutch cover so many times), lol, but so worth the fight! I was so pissed at one point I almost got washed up and rode to the dealer to buy a new bike, lol, big mistake that would have been on the $ wallet.

Mac

 

Ordered new valve cover gasket parts from Chacal.

Switched to "classic" throttle position based acceleration enrichment, and really lowered the added fuel curve, which finally got me to some quick, crisp, response when stabbing the throttle from idle.