What did you do to your Yamaha today?

i ripped my bike apart and finally hot the pesky starter out...now al there is to do is get it re-built and get riding again...its only been a week since i was able to ride her but it seems like forever.....

 

i fixed the stand safety switch (was just dirty) and lubed my kickstand so it's pretty much effortless to throw it down now =) much more convenient.

 

i got bored, so i grabbed my cans of paint, and stack of sandpapers and went to town on a few rough pieces, tell me what you think.

 

i put seca bars on my maxim! i LOVE them on this bike!

 

call me crazy but i dropped my wiring harness into the ultrasonic cleaner for 20 minutes...

 

I finally installed an electronic flasher relay so I can quit using hand signals all the time but I am having a hard time getting used to not having the auto cancel. While I had the tank off, I checked the plugs for the first time since I bought it and cleaned the carbs (700 miles) and much to my suprise two were about dead on, one was a TAD lean and one was a TAD rich. Made a small adjustment to each and it seems to run/idle better, hard to say. I also painted the front fender to almost match the orange paintjob on the rest of the bike. Finally, I adjusted the clutch cable a bit to reduce the jump when I drop her in gear. Like a moron I didn't lube the clutch cable when I had it off the lever to reroute it some...I'll have to get back to that.

Next on the list is new fork seals and try to replace/recover my steel panned seat...

I am still averaging over 40 MPG now that I get into her a bit more during my city driving.

 

Changed my leaky valve cover gasket. I'm happy now no more leaks.

 

Installed my engine guards, thank you again Bobby!. Discovered a small problem with number 2 plug cap (got rid of most of the miss I was hearing)

 

Well, on my way to work this morning i had a float or something stuck in my carbs. when i got to work there was gas leaking out every little crack and crevice. So, guess what i got to do when i got home, clean and check the carbs, again. Cleaned em up good, put em back on, and fired right up, started even better than ever, even cold.

 

Speedo cable broke yesterday. Figured it out today. Ordered new one. That's something.

 

I blew it up i think #3 piston broke or shattered. I'm needing an engine if anyone has one that's in good shape. Otherwise i think the XJ is gonna get parted out =( ....Dang and i just got done putting a new O-ring chain and sprockets on it

 

After letting my bike sit for the past 4 years, I'm just now starting the process of putting things right. I re-built my petcock, my tank is sitting with my battery charger hooked to it, doing the electralsis thing, getting out all of the old rust. I've re-built my master cylinder, and both front calipers. The steering head is off and I'm going to clean, paint the fork clamps, and grease that tomorrow. Sorry to say, but I farmed out my carbs, and have yet to check them out. I've already done a ton of cleaning up of the sick metal. At the end of the month Chacal will be getting another order from me for more parts. Got alot more to do before I can fire it up, but she'll be back on the road again soon. After years of faithful service, the least I can do for the old girl is to set her right again. There is still too much life left in her to just let her go, and way too many good memories of great rides that still bring a smile to my face.

 

Yea, I can finally post here about the bike I am getting.
I went over to my bosses house and snagged the carbs off of the bike so I can get started on them. My roommate thinks I am nuts but I might just be able to ride the thing home at this rate instead of waiting for my friends to get their trailers tires fixed. :^)


Maybe I can just bring it home a few parts at a time, lol.

 

Tweaked the mixtures more, resync'd with water in the tool instead of oil, worked much better. I'm pretty sure the wrong size boots from the airbox to the carbs is installed. It doesn't even look like it's supposed to fit the carbs right. Broke off one of the bolts that hold the airbox on.. 25 year old bolts shear pretty easily hahahah replaced both bolts, and slapped her all back together/ I think that's all i'mma do before winter. Then the fun begins goin through the carbs, and replacing old crappy boots, hoses, fasteners etc.

 

I got my XJ650J running after sitting in my garage for over 20 years! It's running strong and I put a couple hundred miles on it over the weekend. I had a 3 day license from AZ DMV. Took it to AZ emissions yesterday, and it failed It's running rich (the CO was slightly high). Ordered the colortune plug and a couple other things from Chacal today. Hope to getting it retested again after this weekend... The plan is to make it my daily rider.

Last weekend:
New seat cover - Sargent
Cleaned tank
New petcock - Chacal
New foot pegs mikesXS
Fixed front brake issue

 

put my repaired starter in my bike and....it cranked right up.....easiest its cranked since i bought the bike.....its only been out of comission two weeks but a am sooooooo relieved to have her purring again.....

 

You mean that in AZ a 26 year old bike has to pass emissions tests?
That's crazy.
Glad I live here after 10 years you no longer get hooked up for emissions screening.
The emissions test involves a visual check for parts and make sure the gas cap clicks when you tighten it.
:lol:

 

emission tests?.....guess i am lucky i live in middle georgia...they dont do emissions test at all......ever.....they actually dont even every inspect the bike....at all.......

 

Took carbs apart last night all but the rack and they're comming apart in just a little while. Wish me luck, lol

 

I just finished to spray the primer on the tank, then in a few minute i'll begin with the colour.

Monday morning, 7:00 am, MUST be running and ready, as the car of my ol'lady did not pass the annual check by the transport department, so she will stole my car for going to work...and i'll need the bike to commute.

 

Yesterday I put my new Chacal-special speedo cable in and in so doing spotted a nasty crack in the mounting bracket for my Vetter fairing. I took the fairing and bracket off (much easier than expected even with my crap selection of tools (more on that in a bit) and brought it in to work today. The mechanics welded and painted it up for me.

On the way home I'm stopping as Sears an picking up a 260 piece tool set. My days of holding bolts with oversized crescent wrenches are over. Pre-ordered it and got it on sale (thanks, Labor Day and random coupon code from the interwebs). Happy early anniversary to me, I guess. Very overdue purchase.

 

Finished taking carbs all the way down to nothing, lol I must be crazy!

Cleaned everything and am now ready to put back togather in reverse order. I am crazy!

Thanks to Chacal, Rickomatic, Bill and several threads.

Wish me luck!

 

Good luck ricklees, just take it slow, one step at a time, being very anally-retentive on cleanliness, thoroughness, and precision, and all will be well!

 

I rode it to fill in for my wife at work in the rain... and tried the clutchless shift thing on the way home(no rain) It was suprisingly smoother than I thought it would be.

 

Finally got around to replacing the clutch on the Turbo. The R&R was painless. Steel plates were in good shape and needed minimal cleanup. Got away cheap, $69 for new clutch friction plates and springs and $20 gasket.

 

made a little locking mechanism so i can lock my helmet to my bike, and i stared a tit and reved it up a couple of times, gosh it sounds sweet, if i could only drive it..

 

For the first time since I bought it 2 months ago,I just rode.What a great feeling taking the bike from a spider's nest on wheels sitting in someone's back yard and restoring some of it's former glory.

 

Rebuilt the petcock. Got all but two ehaust valves re-installed in the head after lapping them. Trying to get the valve stem collets back in while releasing the valve springs was rediculously hard untill I broke out the axle grease and "glued" them to the valve stems. Is that the way your supposed to do it or did I stumble across an ingenious sort of cheat?
Anyway, I'm headed off to upper Saranac for the weekend we'll revisit the xj when I get back.

 

Hmmm another NS rider onboard.... Nice


Just been riding it daily to work.... mostly in the rain ......

Still need to replace the levers and grips and SS brake lines (or just rubber if I can't locate a reasonably priced line soon)
.....

 

well i started it up again, reved a little bit, i did this about 6 times today.

 

I picked up a project 81 Maxim 650 on thursday, spent friday looking in the local boneyard for a few bits and pieces, and bought a few parts...filter, plugs,etc:

I pulled the carbs and went thru them this AM, while they were soaking I dumped the old oil and filter, gapped and installed some new plugs.

Put the carbs back together after supper, fired it up and then spent the next hour or so fine tuning the carbs. Got it to run pretty good, idel well after giving it a bit mor enrichment, it's at about 3 1/2 turns out.

As I don't have a seat yet I made a ghetto seat from a old camping sleeping pad and 1/2 roll of duct tape....looks real fast !! It was about 8:30 PM when I got to take it for a spin, of course thats about the time it started to rain, but I put 1 mile on it anyway. Should be a decent ride when I get the seat and front turn signals, need a few other piesed, but it's a winter project.....

Pretty satisfied with my day all in all.

Tommorrow my son is getting married, so I won't be able to play with it again till tuesday most likely. Looking forward to getting a real ride.

 

Rode mine off to hudson leather in ohio yesterday, bought me a tool bag to cover the front forks since im havin trouble finding the emblems, while i was there i got a paint ideal, came home and started. finished painting and decaling last night. need to finish clearing today!

 

Just went on a 200 mile poker run yesterday and had an awesome time! Got a little sun and wind burnt though

 

havent done a poker run in several months, been too busy working on the bike on weekends.

 

Finished complete rebuild on carbs, put them back on bike.

I need to address the gas tank before i start it though.

Bike sat for 9 years with full tank of gas, stupid me!

 

I use the same trick to keep the acuating rod in place when replacing a GM fuel pump.

 

Ages old trick.
Recommended procedure in Chilton's Manuals and in The Complete MGB.

I use a variation of the theme to hold-down Diaphragm Rubbers in the locating groove when I replace the Chrome-domes on Carbs.
Not only does it "Glue" them in place ... it also aids in making an air-tight seal.

 

I finally drove it, got it to about 85 mph, showed it to my grandma, found out I had a bad fork seal, and got asked by about 4 people why i would ever buy something this old, and needs some work to it, do i started it up and took off like a bat out of hell, that is after i idled itno second cuz its broke, but i know i showed the up lol. Yup, lots of power, im happy.

 

Actually I did this about a week ago. I went to replace the oil seal and o-ring inside my tach drive. Took a pair of pliers to loosen the cable from the housing and heard a snap! Not happy but live and learn.



I have a new housing coming. It should be here just in time to get the bike stored away for winter. Sorry for using the "W" word!

 

Sitting here feeling sorry for myself, since I can't ride. Then I decided to test my coils and use the multi-tester I bought in the spring.
Coil #1 Primary = 2.7
Secondary = 11.91
Coil #2 Primary = 2.8
Secondary = 11.48

Temperature was only 56*F (13*C)
From what I've read these should be acceptable readings. I didn't check the resistance with the caps attached. (Gives me an excuse to spend more time in the XJ shed at a later date. :wink: )

 

Didn't do this today, but over the last few days I've:

Rebuilt my clutch.
Replaced stator brushes
Replaced Clutch Lever switch
Fixed choke cable (it works again!)
Replaced horn button
Replaced light in speedo


Today I'm going to rebuild my brake caliper...inside (its raining).
I get a new brake line tomorrow so I'll be installing it, the SS lines, and a new MC tomorrow.

Then its off to the Talimena Drive all weekend (if we don't get rained out ):

 

Today I rechecked all my specs and compression. Reset all my Mixture Screws. Retested my Sync. Tested Battery charge. Tested Coils. Cleaned plugs. Marvel Mystery Oiled my valves. Checked airbox and filter. Started it up, and proceeded to bang my head on the table. Then I limped it home and parked it again. One of these days I'm going to post that I went on a long ride through the mountains and it ran perfectly, and I'll explain in detail how wonderful it was.

 

Shad:

I don't mean to "Burst your Bubble"
But, with those low compression numbers its going to be pretty unlikely that you are going to go for any long rides without doing something about the Piston Rings.

With Compression Values below 90 psi ... The Plugs are likely to be Oil Fouled in just a matter of minutes.
Without higher Compression ... EVERY time you fire the Bike up and run-up the rev's you risk "Throwing a Rod"

The Compression in a Cylinder not only compresses the Mixture and makes it viable to Ignition from the Spark Plug ... Compression also "Puts the brakes on" the upward movement of the Piston.

If there isn't enough Compression in the Cylinder to act as a force against the weight and upward motion of the Piston ... the Piston is going to KEEP on rising with NO opposing force to check its upward motion.

This places enormous stresses on the Connecting Rods which can't handle the continued action of having to Stop the rising Piston and nearly immediately having downward force applied to them.

Eventually a Connecting Rod will not longer be able to withstand the extreme forces applied to it and breaks.
You "Throw a Rod"
It can thrash about in the engine.
It can become wedged and immediately seize the engine.
It can punch a hole right through the side of the Block.
You could get hurt.
If your Bike was an aircraft it would be "Grounded"!

I don't think it's a good idea for you to be running that Engine without addressing the low compression.

Something bad is just waiting to happen!

(This Post also PM'd to the Member)

 

I rode HER today, Rode HER good and hard.
I've been laid up with a broken ankle for 9 weeks, 6 with a cast and 3 more with a "Frankenstien" brace.
I've been gimping out to the garage at least once a week to fire HER up and listen to the purrrr.
Finally the doc said I could do what I want to the tolerance of pain.
Well there was no pain as SHE got warmed up and lept through the gears.

It was 50 degrees tonight on my ride into work, the only thing on me that was cold, was my teeth from the huge grin on my face.
hahahahahahaha
Should be at least 45 for the ride home in the morning.

 

Two days ago I used some 3/4 " gold pin striping to cover the SECA 550 emblem on my side cover. The striping had some wrinkles in it that remained after installing it. It still looks better than it did before. I give it a B+.

This morning I hooked up the battery charger. Haven't ridden in over four weeks. Waiting on parts. At lunch time today my new tach drive housing arrived. I skipped lunch, installed my new seal and o-ring, courtesy of Chacal, in the housing and installed the tach drive. Petcock to prime for a few seconds, choke on and hit the starter. Started instantly and I spent the last 10 minutes of my lunch listening to it rumble. The weather is awesome today so I will be heading out on the road as soon as work is over.

 

Ranger experiences the a Hollywood Moment: another happy ending!

 

Took it for a ride after work, bought some oil and did an oil change. Took it for another ride after supper.

 

well i put the carbs back on
they where sent out to be completely clened checked and adjusted.

runs nice and smooth but if i rev it there is a lag in returning to idle.
if i push down on the right side adjuster it goes back down to a proper idle.

 

Shoot some Carb Cleaner on the Throttle Shaft pivots when it running.
You might have a problem with Air leaking-in through the Throttle Shaft Seals.

Having to "Touch" the linkage to get the Idle down is a hint.

 

i'll check that.

it's almost like it's not returning all the way, when the throttle is released