What did you do to your Yamaha today?

taz65, Lose the SOS Pads their steel...

I used the stripper on a bike a while back to remove th clear coat, worked good. Then polished it up with 800 grit where it was scuffed up bad, then a 1000 grit and finally a 2000 grit(all wet dry). Then the Mothers to buff it to a shine.

For the Oxidation removal I used cheapo Brass Brushes so I wouldn't scratch the Aluminum. Then I followed up with the wet/dry where needed. This was mostly around the fins, head and tight spots. The 2 bikes I did were really oxidized as they were sitting down by the saltwater in a barn for 8 years. Pics in my Gallery of the Honda Rebels before and after.

I'm getting ready to blast my front wheel and paint it along with the rotors. Finished the rear and It came out pretty good. (pic in the gallery)

 

Got the new handlebars on and all of the controls back in place. Had to open the headlamp to get some extra slack now that the controls are a little further away. Bought some black zip ties to clean that all up when I'm finished. Had to open the headlamp a second time, since I managed to disconnect the front brake switch.

Also managed to completely snap off the clutch switch (wires that come out of the clutch perch). Will have to replace that.

Got a new battery charger. Old one just wouldn't charge this batt. Hopefully haven't killed the batt from allowing too deep a discharge.

Replaced the clutch cable. Once batt issues are resolved and I can get the bike started again, will have to spend some time adjusting it. Needs lube, too. Real stiff (but better than the old one, which was starting to rust).

Finally got the piston out of the spare front brake caliper using compressed air. Took quite a bit of time, but finally came loose with a BANG! Inside was FILTHY. Debating whether to bother rebuilding this caliper at all, though the disassembly was still quite instructive. Piston is a little pitted in places, but probably servicable, in a pinch.

Need to find out whether I have a spare clutch switch. And at some point, I'm going to have to get down to giving the old girl a good cleaning. Function before flair, though...

Also spent a bunch of time just cleaning up my work area. Was getting to be a real dump!

 

Just looked at her wishing i could afford to get her road worthy. (SIGH)

 

Got it running again. Went to the parts tore and ordered a new clutch and springs.

 

well i fitted the throttle cable to my missis bike,as i made it up,its very responsive now, tuned the carbs up.done plugs,now try and find some forks for it,dooooh

 

Put a K&N air filter bought from ebay in the stock airbox.

 

Jump started it from wife's car, proving that I have once again killed the battery. <sigh> Did manage to get the clutch close to adjusted properly. Might still be a little loose, but I won't be able to do the good test (let the clutch out in 1st and see if it dies) until the battery is fixed.

Bike runs fairly well, though, even without the clutch switch. Got a little electrical work to do and need to get the mirrors adjusted in a sane way and a new batt in there and it's finally ready to get licensed!

Then it'll be time to cut into the brakes again. Front brakes still aren't that great, and I want the STOCK master cylinder on there with the STOCK mirrors so I can SEE behind me. (Thanks to chacal for the parts.)

 

Rode it for the first time since getting the enrichment circuit cleaned and the bike starting when cold!

 

Crimped on a new bullet end to the left front blinker "running light" lead and closed up the headlight shell again. Bike no longer looks like a cyclops and blinkers work reliably. Got my sister-in-law's husband to help me set up the mirrors. Time to get this baby insured, inspected, and licensed! Woo hoo!

Also, with chacal's help, figured out how to remove the clutch switches from their perches (I have a spare from the parts bike). Both are shot. Will have to get a new one. It'll run fine without that, though. Front brakes need an overhaul at some point as well, but the bike is safe enough to ride as it is. Can't wait to get those steel lines, though!

I want to take this opportunity to thank all of you who have helped me figure this bike out. Your advice has been absolutely invaluable. I could never have gotten this far, this fast without you. Hopefully, I'll have the money to do it all again with the 750 Seca!

Looking forward to a fun summer on this thing....

 

Well yesterday the roads were dry, so all I did to her was a clean-up, a little tour, and some photos:

 

Put in new wheel bearings and seals. New front tire - Bridgestone Spitfire- balanced both wheels.

 

Well not today; but, the other day, browsed the owner's manual for my bike on my new XJCD. I noticed the instructions for how to switch ignition from Off to Locked position. It turns out you just need to push the key in once and release. Then it easily turns from Off to Locked. I tried it out and darned if it didn't work! Much better procedure than the fiddling and cursing I have been doing since getting my bike months ago. )

 

Hahahaha! Awesome! I had assumed that my lock was broken! Now I can actually lock the silly thing!

Of course, the lock is fairly stiff and the key is worn, so there is still a lot of wiggling and cursing. I'll have to see about spraying some WD40 or similar in there to loosen things up a bit.

Nice tip!

Oh yeah, minor adjustment to clutch perch so that mirror is in a more useful place. It's fairly tricky to get those just right...

 

Ah...... so that is what the lock is. I wrongly assumed it was some steering lock thing that was broken. It works as well, thanks guys.

I rode today from home to work, 80ks of single lane highway, not much traffic and great scenery. My usual 70 to 100 kmh gives plenty of time to have a look around and enjoy the ride. Weather was perfect, no wind and around 15degreesC. Put a couple of pictures in the gallery taken from my favourite part of the road.

 

hmmm.. i didn't know, I knew you pushed down, but i thought, push and turn..

then i wiggle and jiggle and curse and finally it goes..

so i just depress it once, and turn it. NEATO

i haven't gotten to do much on the bike, it's been below 40 and raining

 

WHOA!

Another one joining the "holy crap you push in the steering lock then turn, I used to just jiggle the hell out of it until it worked" club.

 

Made rearsets.

 

Sold it

 

Rode it like a mofo.


Oh and if I was smart I would have been in this thread all winter.

 

Made an appointment to get it inspected next week! Woo hoo!

 

Removed Carbs from the 80 XJ650 Maxim I picked up. They were completely covered in Varnished Fuel on the outside. Someone had opened the petcock with the line off and drained the fuel all over the carbs and motor quite a while ago.

Rather than disassemble the rack and soak each one, I elected to tape off all of the openings and bead blasted the carbs at work today. Pilot plugs were still in place. I wish I would have had a pic of the before but I'll definetely take one of the after. They cleaned up like new.

I got started opening them up one at a time tonight at the house and they were not as bad as they looked from the outside...Removed the pilot plugs while I was there so they could be cleaned. All Emulsion tubes except one were really clean. That one carb (#2) had alot of varnished fuel in it so I soaked the float bowl in a gallon of carb cleaner for an hour and it cleaned right up.

Picked up a battery and some supplies(antiseize, carb/brake clean, fork oil) at the auto parts. While I was there I had them look up the filters for it... Amazingly they had an oil filter on the shelf for it ! $4.44 with O'rings!

Hopefully I'll be able to pop it off tomorrow.

 

I finally got sick and tired of all that oil collecting on the left side of my motor. Tonight I removed the left crank side cover, removed the ignition pickup and rotor, and replaced the left crank shaft seal.

No more leaky. Now I'm much happier.

 

Boy busy weekend here....finally hit the 50's so had to finish off refinishing the engine parts that were all pitted,crank case cover,fork legs,grab bar. Waxed the painted bits and went for my first (although illegal ride) no inspection yet.
Hopefully get that done this week and away we go

 

I may have made the appointment to get it inspected, but that doesn't stop me from working on it! I decided that I didn't like the way any of the cables up front ran, so I got out the cable routing diagrams, and after much cursing, jumping up and down, and candle-burning (inside, not in the garage where there are fumes), I was able to decipher them.

Got clutch, choke, and throttle cables all threaded through that little bracket in the center of the frame that holds the coils on and over the lil gas tank nubs. Funny how there's the right amount of slack and cables don't pull in turns when they're run properly.

Problem is that now I have to adjust the clutch cable... AGAIN. I hate doing that, because I'm never quite sure if I have it right. Seems to shift okay and the engine doesn't race during a hard acceleration. If I nose up to a wall and let the clutch out (first gear) the engine dies like it's supposed to. However, there is *no* freeplay in the clutch lever, which is odd compared to my other bikes, which seems too tight. If I put the bike on the center stand, put it in 1st, and clutch in, the rear tire still spins, which seems to *loose*.

Eh?

Replaced the battery again. Keeping this one on the charger. Even ran the bolt-on leads to make it easier this time. Bike starts in less than 1s now. Also ordered alternator brushes. I haven't even looked at them yet, but after everything else I've seen of this bike, what are the odds they're in good shape?

Workin' my way through it all...

 

^^^ Rear tire spin on the center stand in neutral or any other gear with the clutch disengaged is pretty normal. I wouldn't worry about it.

 

I tried starting it again ..didnt work so I yelled at It . Still doesnt start . Untill tomorrow . Ill my digits in the carbs again .

 

Finished replacing the fork seals on the Turbo.

Finished cleaning up the 650G and took it for a short ride.

 

connected all vacuum ports together into one, and dented my tank
@#$%$#@*&%$#@#

 

So, today I got sick and tired of waiting for the warm weather, so I untarped it, chucked the battery in and STARTED it!!!! WOO HOO!!!

She was a little reluctant to go at first. Sorta like she was saying "get the %$&! off me and let me go back to sleep". Just when I was about to say "CRAP" she fired and died. One more blip on the starter and away she went. 2 or 3 minutes of warm up and she idled. I just sat on it and twisted the throttle a bit, so she could get reacquainted with my butt. It was wonderful!

She was idling a little rough at about 1,000 rpm. I had gone out and found some Seafoam today, so I figured it was a good time to give that a shot. I dumped about a quarter can in the tank and gave her a shake to mix. She started up instantly (always does when warm) and idled rough for a couple more minutes. All of a sudden she smoothed out almost completely and the idle went to about 1,600 and rock steady. Instant response to the throttle, too. Sweet! 8)

I'm smiling like a pig rolling in sh_t right now. And the missus is giving me that 'look', too, which is always a good sign. The look that says I'm way too excited about my 'donor-cycle'. That's the name they use at the X-ray department where she works.

Still gotta change the oil, change the exhaust gaskets and see if I can get the front brake to stop dragging. My mechanic buddy thinks I just need to back out the adjustment screw on the brake lever at the master cylinder. He's the one who got it running for me when I got it last fall and also gave me the parts list to order from chacal. He knows his stuff, so I'm crossing my fingers that he's right again. Also need to brush up on Rick's 'Old School' carb synch info. Got access to a vacuum gauge, so gonna give it shot. The way it's running right now, if I can get the carbs really synched and get the idle to set at about 1000 - 1100, all I'll need to worry about is the cosmetic stuff.

Anyway, the forecast is for +19 C (mid to upper 60s for my friends south of the 49th) by Sunday. Methinks I'll be making some miles by the weekend!

 

Replaced the clutch and springs. Changed the oil. Does anyone know what a good break in period is? This is my first clutch change on a motorcycle.

 

Raised the float needles a couple of clicks

 

installed some new pod filters.

 

Got the 650 inspected, insured, and licensed! Woo hoo!

Sort of.

After picking up my shiny new plates at the DMV, the bike died on me on the way home. Lost power fairly quickly and the thing died (took a few seconds). Pushed it home. Fortunately, I was pretty close, and over half the distance was downhill...

Interestingly, as I approached my house, I was able to pop start the bike. Battery didn't seem to be dead, though, since I was able to make several attempts to start it normally, and it cranked pretty well.

I have several culprits in mind, starting with a need for new plugs (paranoia) and alternator brushes (more paranoia). I haven't had a look at either one yet, due to time constraints, and a chance to run a fresh tank of fuel or two through the system probably wouldn't hurt it any either.

If those things don't help, I'm thinking plug wires or coils. The bike actually did this several times today, where it started losing power after the engine warmed up, but I could usually keep it running by giving it a little choke. That would normally suggest fuel or mixture problems (which means taking apart the carbs and cleaning them, which I DON'T want to do), but a weak or intermittent spark from failing plugs, wires, or coils could behave similarly.

Also discovered that the brake light is on all the time when the key is in the Lock position (turned all the way counter-clockwise). That isn't supposed to happen, is it?

Started eyeballing the 750 today. Getting plates on the 650 - other troubles or not - was a major milestone.

 

First off, CONGRATULATIONS!!!

You've turned it past 'lock' to 'accessories'. I did this once only to discover I ran the battery down.

 

Thanks! It took me almost a year to get to this point. It's a big win.

Yeah. Quite possibly something that contributed to the death of my second battery. LONG LIVE BATTERY #3! I'll play with the lock some more and see if I can reliably find all the positions tomorrow.

It must be late. The idea of "trying different positions" with the XJ struck me as really funny.

 

When you push in and turn all the way to the left.
The bike has a "PARK" position - rear light comes on so your machine can be seen (at the store in the lot) its just for temp stops 5-10 min.

Back in 1985 I found out what was for: I left mine on all night and was late for work the next day!

 

There is a position on the ignition switch called "parking" which locks the forks AND lights the tailights. It's a European thing that somehow migrated over here to the colonies..........

 

Does this sense of humor of yours have anything to do with your avatar? Huh?

Go ahead, tell the truth........

 

COINCIDENCE! YOU CAN'T PROVE ANYTHING!

* rhys runs off to the garage and hides.

 

Well, the weather FINALLY did something right today. 20 C (70 F) made it a perfect day to spread some tools and parts on the driveway.

Today I intalled my new spin-on oil filter adapter. What a neat thing! It was a piece of cake to install, too. Except for the part where I had to disconnect the exhaust headers from the engine to make enough clearance to get the old filter can off. What a PITA. This is the first oil change I've done on it since I got it late last year. It will be so much nicer (and easier and cleaner) to change the oil in the future.

After the change, I went for a nice 30 mile ride. First of the year! What a feeling of freedom after a long snowy winter.

Also, while I had the headers off, I installed new exhaust gaskets. This WAS going to be a task for later, but it feels good to have it done.

 

Stock exhaust?

 

As far as I know ...

It's a black 4-1, some surface rust but basically sound.

 

Ahh, okay, had me worried when you said that the housing wouldn't come out from between the exhaust header pipes if it was still a stock exhaust.

A 4-to-1 style exhaust is not stock! Your bike would have originally had chrome header pipes and a 4-into-2 chrome exhaust system.

 

friday i debadged the tank and side covers of the 'new' 82 seca 750...

 

Just painted carbs and added some EMGO pod filters.
I'm just curious about something, though. Seeing as how the carbs used to be suspended between the engine and the air box, now all the weight rests on the carbs mount to the engine. Should I build some sort of bracket for extra support or is this okay?

 

Last night I almost started mine on fire. I was doing a couple things and had it running and took the seat off and seen some smoke and then noticed I fried a connector. Good thing is I found a new one for $4, just got to order it now and put it on.

 

Taking the ignition switch off to see if i can have a another key custom cut. My two year old son did god knows what with the old one and its gone. :x

 

cut my fuel line and put on my fuel filter...

does it get anymore boring?

 

Well, I've been thinking about changing for a 4-2. Probably next year though. With all the money I've sent to you already this spring and a bit more to come, I think, that'll be enough for this season. So, where are you going for the vacation I paid for? :wink:

 

oops double post