What did you do to your Yamaha today?

Took bike out for an hour ride!
Hot day out!
Bike still running smooth over a year after resurrecting it.

I have 5 bikes now, rode 3 of them yesterday 1hr each. Nice thing about having that many bikes is that I MUST regularly ride to keep them exercised.
I have not been taking the XJ650 on group rides but I think I may do so the next time we have a 3-4hr group ride.

 

Keeping them exercised is going to be a full time job.

 

My buddy has a VTX-1800. What a beast. I've only ridden it once, a couple years ago when my only active ride was my WR250R. A larger difference in rides is hard to imagine. I was always amused riding with him - over 2L of displacement but only 3 cylinders between us. At least on the Seca I contribute a few more CCs and double the jugs. Not sure he'd have bought it for himself, but his wife surprised him one birthday (she bought it off a friend/neighbor) after he'd been without a bike for 2 decades. His last was a 1985 V-Max, so, yeah, he liked big . . . displacements.


As for me, nothing too exciting lately, just commuting when I can. Hope to get a weekend ride in soon.

 

They were begging to go outside and play......

 

Got the oil pump and pan, shifter, clutch and side covers on. I've been contemplating painting it black with a bare aluminum head, so this is probably the stage I need to paint before proceeding.

I took all the disassembled case parts of this motor to be hydroblasted some time ago. While it did make for a nice finish, and cleaned up a fairly oxidized and stained motor, I won't do that again. Cleaning the grit out is very laborious, and even after all that time I'll still run a bolt into some threads and get some crunchiness from some leftover grit.

It would be a good process on an assembled motor so the media only touches the outside.

 

I've been rollin' the miles on my 750 like it's nothing. Two trips to Brainerd MN so far this week, each is 165 miles round trip plus the everything else going on. Totally rock solid without a problem and I can hit the century mark without trying. Been averaging 46 MPG on these runs according to the gas pump & odometer math and maybe a quarter of a quart of oil over the past 4250 miles I've been riding it. I keep looking at the topic and honestly I don't have much to contribute, only thing I can think of is pulling the front off the ground in 2nd doing a stoplight shootout with my neighbor in is 2023 Mustang... its fast but I still got him.
Nothing like starting out smooth then pouring the coals on taking it to the redline on each shift, love that sound!

 

Yep, the hydroblast people seem to be really negligent (lazy?) in regards to the after-processing clean-up, had that same issue with 2 different companies that do that process, and the 2nd job I made sure to explain in advance that they need to come back clean-clean-clean with no leftover slurry in them.......turned out it was like talking to a wall.

 

And P.S.: once that slurry dries and hardens, it's a beast to remove...........

 

Yes for sure. Before I had this done, I talked to the owner about my concerns, having read varying opinions on the grit removal. He said the parts were thoroughly cleaned afterwards, but I believe "clean" is relative, depending on who does it.

Still, it is hard to get that level of clean between the cooling fins and other difficult to reach spots. But if I were to do this on an assembled motor, I'll probably just do it myself with the grit siphon attachment for the pressure washer.

I also searched for a place that would blast with dry ice, but couldn't find any that were semi local.

 

Had a weird problem today, cruising along not suspectin' nothin' while inching my way past 5000 RPM's when the engine started to breakup and the tach was jumping all over the range. Backed off the grip and things mellowed out so I started with the mental diagnostics... trigger pickup, TCI itself maybe a pinched or chaffed wire while making my way off the road and under about 4000 things smoothed out and sanity prevailed until I passed the 5000 mark again only this time it smoothed out towards 6000. Weird. Got the bike home and started really looking around for the problem and decided to run it up in neutral. It was getting dark by this point and I just happened to be looking near the TCI while revving the motor and saw the blue flashes under the seat. What's happening is the airbox cover was resonating right around the 5000 mark hard enough to shake the fuses out of the clips and it was the fuse for the TCI that was jittering the power and arcing, explains the jumpy tach as well. Tomorrow I'm going to fashion a damper and reinforce the plastic lid and see how that works out.
Thought I'd share this with the group.

 

If you have the original Yamaha fuse setup change it for a bladed one. The clips get weak and break. They cause electrical problems on our older bikes. The airbox cover won't be able to shake the fuses out of a blade type fuse box.

 

Got this done this morning before it got too hot. Out with old greasy (and bum starter clutch). Not quite ready with the new one to go back in.



Once again my lashed on 1/2" pipe removal method was easy, and a one person job. Maybe 2 minutes from starting to lift to setting the motor on the dolly.



And the other motor looming in the background. I got a coat of paint on it last night, but need to let that cure and also get the starter and alternator cover painted, then file off the paint on the fins and YICS. Guess I should adjust the valves while it's out as well.

 

Actually I did replace what was left of the OE holder with an Amphenol design that is used in telecom equipment and the clips have a very firm grip, the resonance of the lid is quite strong but it wouldn't capture well on video. Too damn hot out to do much of anything today. 91F with a 74F dewpoint. That little circuit on the top is a +12 to +5 bucking regulator for the Garmin GPS, far more stable than the lighter socket adapter.

 

so how do you do that 1 person engine removal with the pipe method?

My guess, having studied the pic again is you lift the whole bike onto the pipe using a pair of stout stands, then having removed the engine mounts lower the bike and move it sideways, but what holds the engine level as you move the bike?

 

The pipe is lashed to the back of the cylinders. The timing chain tensioner is removed.

One end of the pipe is suspended by a engine hoist, or in this case the chainfall hooked to the rafters. Then you lift the other end of the pipe by hand, so you're picking up a bit less than half the weight. Leaving the pipe long enough let's you swing the whole thing sideways. And the pipe just behind the cylinders is a good balance point so you can lift it one handed and twist for rotation, leaving the other hand to give the chain hoist another turn, or wrestle with the drive shaft boot. The bike doesn't move during the whole process.

 

Whew! Thought I would have to he-man this one...

 

Sounds worth a try!

 

Impressive I read some posts by members and it blows me away how knowledgeable they are .
Good work

I just started a barn find June 2024 it ran idled and super clean tank 500 bucks . Has not been registered since 2017 replaced tires, bearings front and back, brakes front and back clutch cable, replaced seat cover, It seems that the more I clean the more it needs more cleaning lol. Ran the bike today just in driveway about ten minutes. Throttle response was great idle no problem but seems I have an oil leak. Noticed smoke from under motor on pipes. Kind of bummed out. Maybe I am in over my head with this project.
But it’s nice to read posts about projects going well for people. Very informative

 

Don’t panic over “smoke from under the engine on pipes.....” it’s likely simply just oil that has seeped out while sitting, and/or gas leered out from the valve cover gasket (regardless of whether it LOOKS like head-gasket or not..... appearance can be deceiving), And now that you’re running it— the oil is just burning off. It’s NOT A big deal.