What did you do to your Yamaha today?

Lefty, still way too much at $400!

There's enough carb clean info on this site for you to read through.
You can strip them down yourself and clean them up, make new float bowl gaskets with some gasket material. Bench syncing the carbs is easy, on bike syncing requires guages.

One step better would be to order new needle and seats, I got mine from the New Zeland ebay seller that's always offering them. New butterfly shaft seals a bit harder to locate but possible. New fuel line o-rings between the carbs available from Yamaha. With this stuff ordered and on hand you could strip the carbs right down to individual bodies and soak in carb cleaner overnight, reassemble and tune them on the bike.

 

I got me a Chrome Front Fender off eBay and slapped that baby right on the Old Girl making her ... look ... FINE!

I'm counting down the minutes. But, right now, the weather ain't being too cooperative for going-out and getting the rear-end tweaked for all-day riding.

Anybody in Vermont?
I'm thinking about going over there and running the Old XJ up the Motor Road to the Summit of Mt. Equinox.

 

I went for a ride with my little girl and stopped at the hardware. I bought a grommet for the right side cover that everyone tends to lose. My old ones were not holding anymore. I put the big one on and bought a smaller one to fit over the upper right side stud. Came home and put the cover on and it is as snug as could be .

 

TODAY i found out i won a set of headpipes on EBAY for $68.00...

will have to pay for them and ill be ready to mount them when i get home from the National Rifle Matches in ohio...

i still need a wrinkle free front fender to make it look better. the ones ive seen for a 650 look an awful lot like they would fit my 550. does anyone have any info on parts compatibility?

david

 

I have the xv920 forks on my xj650 and my fender fit that so you should have no problem putting a 650 fender on a 550

 

Removed the wiring harness and rear mud gard. Looking realy naked now

 

Sold her :-(

 

The Sun came out ...

Rode mine!

 

Had a really nice ride today, 2 up with the wife, went to The Crater of
Diamonds State Park, the only diamond-producing site in the world open to
the public, in Murfreesboro, AR

Jim
1985 XJ700X Maxim X
32000 miles and climbing

 

Rain stopped.
Rode-in to Boston
Kenmore Square
Stuffed the bike in a private lot by scoochin' 'round the gate.
Stood outside Fenway Park and listened to The Police Concert.

Busted-it going home on 93-North
80 MPH Speedo's SUCK

 

replaced the #@!% blasted speedo cable that got mysteriously chewed up. Took it out for a short spin... 102F outside... Farmer's tan central.

 

Changed oil.

 

Mounted a completely rebuild and cleaned 31A carb. Synchronized Carbs. Runs really better now. Front wheel is coming up a bit when giving fire. Discussed the possibility to give it 1050 ccm instead of 846 ccm. Need to think about it...

 

Presently installing oil cooler set-up. I had to make a bracket to hold the cooler in place.

The thing I have a question about is do I need to add more oil and how much? The way it looks the oil will drain back into the engine from the cooler when its not running making the level to high. If I do not add any will the oil level be to low? Does anyone know the answer to this?

 

Changed the oil and filter today. I took a little ride to make sure everything was buttoned up good. When I got back my little girl chewed me out for going for a ride without her LOL ! She has the bug.

 

I put-in all the Sound-deadening rubber bumpers that fit between the cooling fins on the Engine.

Damn, if they don't work great. Not only do they quiet the Engine down, quite a bit; they also do some anti-vibration ~ anti-resonance quieting-down of the Engine ... especially, at high rev's.

Anybody got a few of those things for sale or trade?

 

Did two oil changes. The magnetic tip of the oil bolt was totally surrounded by dirt. I then drove ten miles and began the second oil change, including a new filter.

I could hear my Midnight saying thank you with a softer roar at high rpm.

What do you guys do with the oil containers? They won't take them at Schuck's anymore and I think I am not supposed to stuff them in the trash can...

 

Here they take oil jugs (empty) in the recycling. The city has a place where I deposit the oil.

 

I ended up welding in a hand made bracket to the frame to hold the oil cooler in place. What a PITA that was. The bike got a oil and filter change while I was at it. Then I notice I have a crack in the drain bolt. I guess I get to pick one up on the way home tomorrow.

 

After doing the oil change I later went out and removed the air filter and cleaned it. I was amazed that even though I didn't think it was that dirty after I cleaned it and put it back in I immediately noticed the difference in the idle.

 

Yesterday I took a 21 year old motorcycle virgin out for her first ever ride. We cruised around town and I took her out on the highway for about 10 miles. She held on pretty tight when I accelerated at a brisk pace! It's been quite a few years since I've had a female on board that wasn't my wife or one of my kids. We got home and she was smiling and giggling. She started talking about getting a bike!
I had told her a couple weeks ago, that at my age, when I see young, good looking girls like her, that I usually think, "I wonder what her mom looks like".

 

I found out how easy it is to reset the cam chain tension, and did it. (no, it didn't click, guess it's good to go )
I checked the length of my alternator brushes. (one was 11 mm the other was 12, so I'm replacing them)

 

Had three of the four bolts holding the fairing on take an unscheduled trip on me today during a quick blast around the city - that was fun! Stopped as soon as I noticed it jiggle over a bump, got out my trusty toolset that I keep in the saddle bags, and rigged up a couple of temporary bolts to get me the 3km home.

Also, the lock on the fairing storage jiggled its little arm off as I was gently creeping home.

I'll be investing in some Loctite tomorrow (yay payday) as well as the new fuse box that's so highly recommended here. Anyone have a recommendation as to which type of loctite I should get for general use on various bolts and such on the 650?

C

 

Replaced the #4 cylinder plug cap b/c resistance was 7.4kOhms. Then replaced the #1 and #4 plugs to see if that fixed my slight backfire. Then took it out for a 30 mile ride on the Blue Ridge Parkway. Good day, only back fired once when I first left the house. Hope it won't happen again.

 

The family went to Lake Tobias (Animal Safari here in Pa.) today. My little girl and I rode the bike together on the way down. It was very warm out today so she rode back in the car LOL ! It was about a 117 mile trip. Great day for a bike ride And a fun time with the family. After we left looking at a camel we looked back and my little girl was being drug back by the camel with a mouthful of her back pack ! LOL !


Older pic of us. Not taken today.

 

Today the wife and I rode about 250 miles, up through Ouachita national forest (Albert Pike area).

 

Yesterday I changed my oil and filter, which requires removing the header on my aftermarket 4 into 1 system. While the exhaust was off I used a wire brush drill attachment to clean off some minor surface rust and scale and repainted the exhaust with some flat black heat paint. This winter I'm going to be tearing into my engine. If I decide it's salvageable, one of the purchases I will be making will be a MAC chrome exhaust. I'm sick of taking this one apart whenever I change the oil.

 

Well, I put new rear shock absorbers on my queen. CDA Bitubo. Great stuff. Fantastic surfin now!

 

I replaced the non-stock airbox filter with a OEM one. I was hoping that would solve my leaness issues. But no go. Pulled the carbs, and going to give them a good cleaning. Oh, and bought some in-tank carb cleaner for afterwards.

 

Polished the Header Pipes.
Polished the Chrome Collector Hiding Pieces.
Polished the Silencers.

Buffed the tail light lens with Blue Diamond Classic Refinishing Compound.

Looks better than New!

 

I just put foam grips on my handlebars . Came off pretty easy. The left side went on nice. The throttle side I had to work with awhile but they are on and look and feel great ! Should help with the vibration. I also use a Throttle Rocker which helps a lot.



My grips. Around $8



Throttle Rocker or Cramp Buster. Bought at www.lockitt.com

 

I think I may soon attempt to polish my aluminum. The one's I've seen done look great.

 

had the clutch cover hole welded up over the weekend and started to grind it to finish profile...

polished the crank covers (the part that says yamaha). started with some 180g mesh, followed by 400g, 800g, 1500g and 2000g papers. they arent as shiny (chrom-ish) as i would like but MUCH better than the oxidized things that they were...

my wife is getting antsy for me to be finished. ill be sending out the mikunis soon and ill finish up the rest while they are gone. i hope...

d

 

Polishing is a whole lotta elbow grease. You ought to see if you can fine a electric D/A Sander (Dual-action).

The D-A cuts the work way down and really helps with the finish when you get to real extra-fine finishing papers.

>>>>>
I got my rear shocks cleaned and polished and I put a nice finish on the brake housing. I'll be pimping for a couple more days until it stops freakin' raining.

 

Short ride today (not counting my 50 mile round trip daily commute).
Something is rattling on the underside, I figure it's a heat shield.
Flying to SC on business in the morning. I'll have to check it out when I get back into town next week.

 

If you have "Beauty Pieces" welded to the outside of your collector ... those welds ain't the best you've ever seen.

See if you have a Rattlin' Chrome Cover.

 

Moved it to the side to work on the Kawasaki.

 

Rick,
What do you think about wet sanding ? I know years ago I had an old car that needed sanded and buffed and was told to wet sand with emery cloth. Would this be of any benefit with sanding the aluminum ?

 

Yes.

When you get to using paper 800 and up ... you can wet sand. Work your way up to 1200.

Then, buff with #-5 and #-6 Jewelers Rouge.

Mirrors. Pretty. Better than Chrome. Look at the parts I polished in my album.

 

What did I do today ...

Rode it and brought her home with 17,000 Miles showing on her.

17,000! If I take care of this bike I'll never need another bike for the rest of my days!

 

Bought a new fuse block from radio shack

Cleaned the carbs now i am polishing (MOTHERS)them to a mirror finish with a electric tooth brush

and thinking of clearcoat to preserve the shine any other ideas?

 

Fixed the timing chain issue, changed the oil, put 'er all back together, and rode her home. Zoom zoom!

Tomorrow I resume commuting the 10km each way to work. Yay!

 

Tire Pressure Checks ...

It's been in the 90's. Those tire heat-up and the air expands. If there's grunge around the inside of the rim ... they can expel some of their air.
Now that the "Cooler" (Hi-70's ~ Mid-80's) weather is back ... you might find a soft tire!

 

Removed back wheel and suspenion, swinging arm. Just to take off the center stand and then the fram will be ready to be taken to the powder coaters.

Had a good look at the tyres, both have plenty of tread but only the front one is cracked. The aliminum case of the final drive is corroded on the outside and I was going get that powder coated but that would mean stripping out the final drive unit and as it is not faulty, I think I will leave well alone. So that will be a rattle can job later.

 

Brass wire wheel.
Angle sander.
220, 280, 320, 400, 600, Finishing papers.

Want to go crazy? 800, 1000, 1200, 1500 -- Buff. Mirror!

 

What did I do today.

I recently discovered that my petcock was dribbling, even when on RUN or RES, so rather than deform the petcock so the O-ring could seat further in, I pulled the spring from my petcock and stopped by the local Ace Hardware. I found what appeared to be the closest match and went home. There, I snipped the new spring to a point a little longer than the existing spring, widened the spring end a bit (it was a wee bit smaller... and stronger than I thought, as it turned out) and installed. My concern was, would it open up to feed fuel?

Indeed it did! <insert Hallelujah Chorus here>

Oh, and while I was at the hardware store, I found they had some stainless M6 allen head bolts, so I grabbed some for my left crankshaft cover and put those on.

 

There are GREAT Deals on eBay for Stainless Kits that allow you to do-up all the Case Fasteners with Stainless.

There are also Stainless Carb Kits that let you replace every single fastener on your Carbs with Stainless; too.

Yes. I did.

 

I washed and waxed my bike. Cleaned the chrome and started experimenting with polishing the aluminum. I just used some 1500 wet/dry sandpaper on the round faces of the cases. Then I used Mother's Aluminum polish. Just with doing that minimal amount has shined the metal up very nicely.

 

pulled the pilot screws and realized the o-rings are shrapnel. Had to blow out the pilot passages with compressed air to get the rubber out of the pilot passage. Also sealed the valve cover so it won't seep oil anymore...I hope.

 

While experimenting with polishing the aluminum case round faces below is how much the face polished up just wet sanding with 1500 grit paper and Mother's Aluminum Polish-