What did you do to your Yamaha today?

Wastin' away again in Carburetaville,
Lookin for lost pieces that rolled down the hall...

 

Some will tell you that using modern oil with "friction modifiers" in it will cause the clutch to slip. I'm not sure if the fancier versions of Rotella uses those or not but it could well be the issue. Generally speaking I use the plain Jane "dinosaur" based Rotella or the semi synthetic version for that reason. When you consider that these bikes where designed and built 40 years ago I do my best to stick to what would have been appropriate at the time and the extra zinc in Rotella fits that bill nicely since it provides the "extra" lubrication that was available at the time

 

That's about where I'm at, I read some of the earlier posts and honestly didn't give it much thought beyond the Rotella label until I looked closer. I've since dumped & replaced the oil with the conventional Pennzoil and during the check ride didn't have much slip towards the end. Basically I tied the clutch handle in and used a small pump and hose to douse the pack while rotating the rear wheel.
Changing the oil is a real treat with the 4-into-1 header pipes right under the drain plug and the limited clearance to work the oil filter out of the casting... Kerker could have engineered this one better.
Our temps are dropping into the 20s this afternoon so riding is on hold until the weekend.

 

I mostly starred at it. I rode it briefly yesterday, today is stormy.

 

Some people claim, that there's a woman to blame........

 

Converting to the spin on oil filter from xj4ever would make changing oil easier, converted my two secas , best part if you ever want to go back to stock it is easy to do so., this won't help getting to drain plug. I have a seca sitting in garage with a Vance and Hinds four into one exhaust and can confirm it is not real easy , but doable as long as Moose Cholock has not put drain plug in . Lol

 

This might happen in the very near future and the drain plug might be addressed with a drain cock similar to what is used on the Onan RV generators, the DKD model uses a Kubota engine with metric threads that look like they would fit.

 

Well, it is pretty enough that just sitting and staring at it is appropriate. Also your garage is clean enough and not cluttered enough that the sitting and staring is easy. I am still trying to understand the lack of clutter.

 

He needs more bikes or more project bikes

 

I had the entire garage moved into a 26" u-haul last October (and the bikes in my parent's garage). The floor was done and I insulated the rest and put up plywood and paint. So, still the same amount of junk in the garage, but it's slightly more organized and looks a whole lot better! I've mopped the floor a few times over the winter to keep it clean. I love having a nice floor in the garage!

 

Heh, I have 2 Yamahas, this and my '90 FZR1000. I also have a '68 BSA Spitfire Mk IV in pieces in my basement. Working on refurbing the front forks right now, then to get the frame blasted and powder coated.

 

I did notice that floor and looks NICE!

Planning Some Garage clean up this weekend. Hockey season almost over and I have goalie gear and spare scrimmage jerseys I collected for the County and am turning that in as Daughter is graduating.
Also have some stuff the throw away.

Looked at the darn AGX fuse box of my project '82 XJ650 and was going to put a blade fuse holder but the darn cafe style seat has a spacer boss right in the way. Going to have to look at this again at how the previous owner hacked at it. Having AGX fuses is painful to keep spares and to acquire any while on the road.
I'm also trying to finish putting in different turn signals than what the PO put in which are not very visible from behind and in front of the bike (safety issue to me). Hoping to also spend some time tearing down 2 spare carb sets I have and rebuild them. I think I'll then sell one set.

 

I would have that floor covered in projects.

 

I sent "Maxie", '80 650 Maxim, to a new home where I hope he will be well cared for and well ridden. Another bike that had been neglected and unloved for quite a while. Next up is the previously named "Baby" Maxim 750 to be rehabbed and back in the rotation. This bike really is a survivor as it started up and ran with little effort on 8 year old gas! And settled into a nice idle! I think it will get the Shoei frame mount fairing.......

 

Put another hundred miles on today that is until I felt the crunching of the liners in the rear brake giving out. Found a set of new shoes at our local powersports dealer so they're going in tomorrow. My bigger question is what is the consensus with radial tires for these? Right now I have Metzeler ME77 front and ME888 back with plenty of meat on them but I'm looking for something a bit more modern that isn't going to break the bank.

 

The problem with putting radials on these bikes is the narrow wheels. Radials like and are built for wider wheels that won't fit the XJ's without a huge amount of modifications to fit those wide wheels in and make everything work. You can probably get radials on to the stock wheels but the profile is going to very pinched together and not work as designed and the way that causes the bead to seat is not going to be "right". It might work and then again it might not. Modern replacement bias tires are really good and have more capabilities that I, at least, can exploit. That is as close as I am going to get to the dreaded "tire thread". I have my favorites but tires choices are like oil choices or religions, not always to be discussed in polite company.

 

$6.31 shipped fleabay starter solenoid arrived friday. Installed this morning.

 

It was a beautiful sunny 65F day here in Ohio. Had the turbo out on some twisty back roads. I'm loving the Michelin Road Classic tires. They might be pricey, but they have lots of grip.

 

I buy two so have a spare, I once had a no crank pulled solenoid apart it was FULL of corrosion . Put new solenoid in and no more problems.

 

Changed out the rear brake shoes today and found what I expected, the aluminum under the epoxy had corroded and the liners broke loose making a twisty mess inside the drum. I also cleaned & greased the bearings plus changed out the drive lube so all is well in the back. Good thing I did this before my ride this evening, was cruising down a county road and being ever vigilant of the gravel roads I'm watching this knothead who is messing with her phone while making a right turn into my lane giving me three bad choices all of which involve hard braking. One is to the left into oncoming traffic, right is into the ditch or my third laying the bike down. Thankfully I had just enough brake power to slow down to take the left and narrowly miss an oncoming truck while passing Miss Oblivious who was doing all of 25 MPH, she had the gall to blow the horn at me so I slowed down again and pounded her door hard with a thanks for pulling out in front of me with my foot never dropping the phone.