What did you do to your Yamaha today?

Yeah, i know, i have just picked up the 'tubeless tyre valve stem.
Gonna fit it tonight.
Also got a new Metzler to fit.

I now have new front tyre
New loud horn (Accumen)
New float valves & bowl screws (can't fit the screws yet...long story)
some new tools
Just can't ride it until i get another float bowl.

 

Cursed and cursed as it refused to roll over. Lots of juice, dash light comes on, oil light comes on, a click is heard, starter sits idle. After a few moments, the starter rolls and the bike starts. This is an intermittent problem, but it is happening more often. Not a temperature issue, as it would do it in the summer too. Not a power issue, I have a new 20A gel battery. Leaves the starter and the handlebar switch - which is more likely?

And the Yamaha dealer here that has served me so well is out of business. The Provincial government has meddled with ATV regulations, bringing those sales to a halt. ATVs are (were) a source of year 'round income but no more.

 

last week tuesday my gearbox wouldnt shift anymore up.

Only first and neutral were available.

Called the workshop i allways go with my bike troubles, the guy over there knew the problem:

Some plastic/rubber nob can break from the shifting fork. and will seat itself in a hole in the shifting control drum (?)

Solution:

Tip the bike over and lay it (gently) on the right side.
Remove the gearbox lid from the gearbox.

we were able to see the nob sitting in the drum. tryed to pry it out but the nob fell into the oilpan, were it can do no harm, so we let it that way.

unfortunately I was unable to make a picture from that nob.

Within half a hour my bike was running and shifting like new!

 

I'm finally doing the build-up of the engine ... case is ready to put back together!

 

Took rear wheel off of parts bike. This wheel has a newish looking tire.

Took rear wheel off of the daily rider and replaced it with the wheel frpm the parts bike. The daily rider tire had a lot of dry rot.

Went for a ride!
Stopped at gas station where 87 octane is $1.699 today.
41 MPG on 96 miles. Have not done any highway driving yet because I was afraid of a rear tire blowout.

Time to schedule a longish road trip.

Its supposed to be 55 degrees here this afternoon. May have to go for another ride.

 

I installed a brake light modulator I received in exchange for some computer work I did for a co-worker. Pretty easy install, really. One sensor wire went to the existing brake light, the other to the running light wire. Then one for fused power and one for ground. Turned the key on and had LED running lights. Pulled the brake lever and saw several quick, bright flashes before the LEDs stayed on steady. Pretty cool!!!

 

I rode my Yamaha today for the first time in a week... and it felt good!

(Well, actually it was yesterday, but still. And why has no one posted in this thread since the end of November??? What's up with that? Did we all suddenly stop working on our bikes?

Oh, ya... BUMP!!! :lol: )

 

Today I enjoyed a short trip to the inlaws house to look at some free lumber. Maybe tomorrow I'll take the truck to pick kit up (then again, it is going to be 60deg again..)

 

finisihed up fine tuning my 650 today & man it screams.

 

Waiting for a nice day to get to the shed to get some stuff done .....
Until then .... I did clean my carbs and polish them up a little.......

 

ordered new turnsignals. and am polishing my new "ebay" headlight bucket and trim ring. Glad spring's not to close cuz the XJ is starting to look a little like the parts bike in the corner. less and less on it, lol

 

First took my carbs off, took them apart and cleaned every piece inside and out. put back together. Keep my fingers crossed everything works right.
also removed rear passenger left side foot peg bracket + gear shifter and polished them the best I could by hand and on the buffing wheel.
Little by little, its getting there. Can't ride it, might as well polish it up.
I wish Spring would hurry up !!

 

Adjusted the screw that tightens front brake lever, noticed screw is bent, but tightened it enough that the handle doesn't wiggle so much. Took some play out of clutch cable down at the lower end, still have to ride to see if it needs fine tuning at lever end, I adjusted it the other night but clutch wasn't disengaging enough, might have been too tight, but the knurl knob at the lever was WAY out, now I have some room either way to adjust it at the handle bar end. Also, noticed the adjuster on the throttle cable (little plastic thing below the grip on the cable) is broken, put a hose clamp on it for now, as it was it wasn't exactly keeping the cable tight, since it was just hanging on the cable split in two pieces!

Maybe you're noticing a cable theme going on, I sure am.

 

Installed oem chrome mirrors(came with black plastic mirrors).Also installed cruise control.

 

whoa, its been awhile since this thread has been posted on... i took the gas tank off the other day to put it on my cb750

 

Rode it to my trig exam. Which is saying a lot. Has taken so much to get it starting consistently and running. It was beautiful out today so took it for a spin after my test as a reward for doin well! Yay for the treat system

 

finished my valve cover and started polishing , oh and recorded valve shim #'s but can't read three! guess i should have know it was going to be the hard way!
Shaun

 

Reinstalled carbs, painted air box, took off carbs, found gas leak, installed inline fuel filters, reinstalled carbs, said yes dear about a hundred times.

 

Started my first ever carb rebuild/cleaning project. Broke the rack and slowly disassembled carb #1. I got everything apart except for the pilot screw bits. These carbs sit have the pugs over the screw. Looks like it will be "fun with the dremel" time tomorow...

 

Don, have you seen the posts by rickomatic on how to pull those covers? If not you may want to look them up as the brass screws behind the covers are easy to ruin if the cover is not pulled correctly.

 

Thanks for your concern, wamaxim.

Yes, I've read rickomatic's posts. In fact, I think I've read his carb cleaning how-to in the FAQ section about five times in preparation for this job. As I said, it's my first go at it, so I wanted to make sure there are no surprises.

Thanks again and wish me luck!

 

I am attempting to make a bracket to mount the windshield I stole off the buell my husband decided to buy. And have failed miserably so far. Was able to peel that stupid sticker off of it though. So it no longer screams buell blast.

 

whoa whoa whoa! we've got a lady on this forum!!!

 

Success!
:wink:

 

In addition to all the work on the 750, I had another look at the steering head and forks on the spare 650.

The forks are looking more and more straightforward. I have one leg nearly stripped down to just metal parts, all of which need cleaning, but look servicable. Need to go get that Circa 1850 stripper that was mentioned elsewhere for the lower leg. Anyone have any genius ideas for the insides of the two main sections? I was planning to use carb cleaner, the damper rod tool, and shop towels to clean them out.

The steering head looks like more trouble. Got it mostly disassembled with no trouble - other than the expected greasy balls bouncing around - but I have some trouble with the races. I had intended to replace them with roller bearings, but I don't know how to get the races out of the steering neck. Ideas?

 

rhys, i saw a post here about heating and cooling the metals try to find that through search or maybe someone here can remember what its called if you do it right the races should almost fall out!
Shaun

 

I saw something about freezing the new ones so they'll seat easily. I haven't seen anything useful about pulling the old ones, other than using a punch and tapping gently.

 

What did I do to my Yamaha today?

I wrote another story about it on my tour from Canada through Eastern Europe last summer.

The latest story can be found here:

Imprisoned in the Garden of Eden

I can't wait to get back to Europe next summer and continue my ride east.

 

I replaced the bent handlebar on my '82 after I took a little spill yesterday.

 

lets try again .

I bought a NEW P.e.t.c.o.c.k. off of ebay for $28.99usd

 

Finally got her running again.....

 

bitched and yelled because i left the petcock on prime and flooded the engine and crankcase, just shoot me now...

well, she needed an oil change, i guess now is as good time as ever


also took the valve cover off to inspect the valves
most are alright on the low end of spec, but i have 4 that are under spec
one intake and 3 exhaust

tightened the timing chain

 

Cleaned the inch of dust off,(I know I should keep it covered) polished it up all nice and pretty, fixed the broken windshield mount, filled up the tires, told the boyfriend I wouldn't be home for a while.

 

Took the back tire off, for replacement, now a little cleaning, a little paint, a little tweaking,..... engines ready to put back in !!! ahhhh I'm almost finished!
My wife says I'm obsessed with this bike ... that's just crazy! .... umm yes that is real gold leaf.

 

Gamuru,
looked at those pics and I'm glad nothing serious happened to you. One of the reasons I don't take my bike out too early, is the sand from the salters is still on the roads. Making a turn and have to slow down to a crawl. Cagers don't like that and wonder what'swrong with me. Waiting for those spring showers to wash the roads clean. ,

 

I put 130 miles on mine. Galamb's right. I took it nice and slow around curves on the twisty farm roads today because of all the salt and sand residue. The cagers have no patience for this. Gamuru, I'm glad you're ok. Hell of a story.

 

The wife and I took a long, slow trip through the neighbourhood. We just moved here and it was nice to get to know the area. Lots of kids and dogs. And a lot of sand, et al. Yesterday we took a trip across town and I was very nervous with her on the back. Almost enough to go home and get the car. The road cleaning trucks have been out sweeping up some of the sand. It is nice, but they miss it in the turn lanes and on the inside of corners.

 

glad to here your ok gamuru, it's amazing how fast it could happen to any of us.
Shaun

 

Thanks, guys. I appreciate it.

 

Took another shot at getting the races out of the steering head on the parts bike. Realized that the upper race is not coming out without a gear puller, since some trauma has happened to it causing the metal of the frame to smear over the edge of the race in two places.

Not sure why the lower one won't come out, except perhaps similar amounts of time, corrosion, abuse, and the fact that it's damned near impossible to see in there.

At least I have a shiny new long 1/4" punch for use as a drift. Perhaps that will be all I need for getting the races out of the other 650.

 

Started it up after installing the carbs, I cleaned them inside and out real good, the bike was sitting almost 2 years. Took a couple of pictures of it. Its really coming along nicely. I got it in the beginning of Jan and just took this pic of it.
What do you think?. getting there? I've spent a few hours polishing etc. Here's a couple of before pics (the day I got it) and now. Hey, its a hobby..




Cheers.
Boomer

 

Wow! Looks like a totally different machine. Great job!

 

RODE IT! (Yesterday--Sunday--actually) It was 38 deg F. It was 53 on Saturday but the fusebox picked an inopportune time to disintegrate.

 

I spent all day yesterday on an 04 R6. About 7 hours in the saddle, all said and done. I gotta say, more fun than my seca, haha. I miss the old girl though, glad to be buttoning her back together finally.

 

I went to the local motorcycle salvage.
We went in and asked if he had any Secas. He didn't even look up and said ''In the back. Way in the back."
This meant ALL the way back in the back of this dimly lit old warehouse. So my uncle and I armed with some tools start searching. (Next time we'll bring a flash light)

We passed piles and piles of stuff. Finally we find the section for Yamaha. It was a sight to behold. Secas, Maxims, Viragos all piled on one another. Some sitting in the aisle.

We start digging. I found a gas tank, sliver with the blue stripping. No Yamaha on the side. It was in worse shape than my tank so I decided to leave it.

Then we found it. It was like the clouds parted and Handle's Messiah started to play.

A Seca XJ650RJ. The thing was mostly stripped of the stuff I really could have used and wanted. We did manage to get an air box, rear wheel, handle bars, brake lever, turn signals, and a speedo. I gather my little treasures into a card board box, pay $50.00 cash and head home.

I cleaned up and replaced the brake lever (I dropped my bike and broke mine >.<) cleaned up and replaced the rear wheel.. I noticed the rear tire doesn't leak anymore.

Next weekend we are thinking of replacing the pod filters with the air box. The reason for this is because the bike runs really lean, and is a b*tch to start when cold. Maybe that will fix my problem. (The bike had been rejett-ed, then the original jets were put back in by the PO) My shocks are on the way. I'm debating on putting on the original handle bars, speedo and the turn signals are for spare.

Oh and I bought a new light weight armored jacket for $75.00 on sale.

I'm scratched, bruised, dirty and tired. But damn it was a good day!!

 

The Seca got a new set of mirrors (bar-end type), a new throttle cable, and a good cleaning in and around the battery compartment. At some point the battery drain tube fell off, hosing the area with acid over time. Now everything's clean, zip-tied, and all the connectors are cleaned and siliconed.

I also reworked the rear brake switch and installed a brighter headlight bulb.

 

Lol...I tried to paint my headers black, with hi-temp paint. Of course the directions say to "run the engine for 60 minutes" to cure the paint. Ok fine, I'll go for a cruise.

Only problem is, it's so cool out that the rushing wind kept the pipes too cool to cure the paint! After riding for almost an hour, I touched the headers and didn't burn myself. I'll strip 'em and try again in the Spring.

 

Took another go at the disassembled fork. Managed to get it mostly clean, inside and out. There is some rust at the top of the fork tube that I couldn't get loose, but that is pretty easy to get at later.

Using the damper rod holding tool and some shop towels soaked with carb cleaner like a barrel swab, I got the tube and lower leg cleaned out.

I tried using some paint remover to shine up the lower leg. While it's shinIER - it removed most of the dried oil and other road crap - it didn't remove the corroded metal as I had hoped. Will need something better for a real shine.

Tempted to re-assemble it anyway, I got out the new oil seal and tried to press it into place. No luck. Retrieved my socket set from the basement (long story) and got the biggest one I have (30mm). Not big enough. Need something with an outer diameter of about 45mm.

Sadly, I decided to call it a day. Maybe better luck tomorrow. I'm taking the other oil seal to Sears to find an SAE socket big enough to pound the seals in. (Don't worry. Socket and rubber mallet ought to get them in w/o damaging them.)

 

Today I swmy stock handlebar for a drag bar.

It took me aabout $0 min. I had to move some of the wiring around and re route the throttle cable and also the clutch cable. the clutch cable still needs some re routing. The clutch cable is not kinked, but it feels a bit harder than it was. I think I have to fix the angle on the clutch lever as well. I'm waiting for my new grips to arrive. Another thing. I thook the bike for a ride this afternoon, and I realized, the mirrors are good for nothing now with the drag bar. Time to buy some cafe style mirrors that mount at the ends of the handlebars.

Before:




After:







Let me know what ya'll think.

 

Got the XJ550 back together and running! Just finished colortuning it and syncing the carbs. Runs Great! The Mufflers had a bunch of oil that had been pumped into them...Needless to say I had to heat them up with a good ride to clean them out.

This Video was just before I Synced the Carbs:XJ550