What did you do to your Yamaha today?

Got my custom exhaust on .
Flipped the bike back onto it's wheels.
Put the carb rack back on.
Cranked it over...NO SPARKY!!!

POOP!
The exhaust looks good though.

 

Today I replaced the beat-up headlight bucket and trim ring (thanks, Mixam).

While I had that off, I also changed the front signal stays (thanks, chacal). Now I've got some signal light issues. Probably bad connectors. First the left one wouldn't flash. Took everything apart again and rechecked the connectors and then 'jiggled the wires'. Working again. Put it all back together and hit the road, now the right one won't flash. Sigh. Time to take it apart again and jiggle some more wires.

 

Ventured into unknown territory.

The 650 died on me the other day on the way home, and I figured I was going to have to dig into several things, so I went ahead and started.

First, I had already purchased new alternator brushes, so I took the alternator cover off for a look inside. Tore the gasket, of course. Will have to replace that at some point. Also discovered that working on the alternator is going to be a lot trickier than I thought, though not impossible. Decided it was more than I wanted to get into today, so tried to put it back together.

Long story short, I had to unmount the starter motor, which meant removing #1 carb's pod filter, all just to get the alternator cables back in their little boot so I could put it back together. Not horrible, if you're patient and don't just cram it together, but obviously not something to do every day.

Did get the bike to start after all that, though. Since it started after switching the petcock to PRI and then back to RES, there is obvously a fuel issue somewhere. Petcock may be clogged or I have a vacuum leak that prevents it from working correctly. Will have to look into that.

In any event, I also figured that at some point, I'll have to learn to disassemble and clean the carbs, so I dug out the spare rack from the other 650 and did some poking around. They aren't as scary on the inside as I was afraid of, but Rick is right about having a nice clean space and being very organized or I'd never get one back together. Played with the spares for a while - got them tied back together as a rack, sort of - and put them away.

Dragged out the 750, literally. Front and back brakes partly seized. Also leaks oil from somewhere, and looks like it has an electrical system from hell. Main fuse completely bypassed, along with some other oddness I haven't figured out yet, and the remains of the wiring for some fog lamps the PO must have removed. Battery is stone dry, as is the tank. This is going to be fun. I'm tempted to hook up a good battery to it as it is, just to watch it smoke, but I still have hopes that the ICU, VRR, and the Atari up front are still good enough to justify repairing the rest.

 

Let see. Installed two new LED bulbs in the taillight. Stripped the old clear off the forks and polished them. Touched up the paint on the swingarm, frame downtubes and footpeg ends. Put my wheels back on. Finished using varsol and brushes to clean off the bottom and front of the cases. Put my nicely painted pipe back on(with anti-seize of course). Installed the battery -after topping the water up, hooked up the pigtail for my new electric vest and after all that, I fired that puppy up! First time running this year. I let it run for quite a while to bake the paint on the pipe. I might even ride it soon. :lol:

Before


After. Left tube is done. Can you tell I had orange coveralls on?

 

Nice job on the forks! What did you use to strip? It's on my list of things to do.

 

I used Circa 1850 paint stripper. Wear gloves and long sleeves because it stings on bare skin! The metal polish cloth used is called Ouater but I'm sure the Mothers polish cloth would work as well.

I forgot, I lubed my cables for the first time ever as well.

 

WOW - nice work on the polishing. Seriously jealous here, but using my XJ as a daily driver and working 60 hours a week, time and energy to polish takes from ride time. Nice, nice job, man!

 

I replaced the fork selas on the 550.. I polished the forks, although they don't look anywhere near as shiny as RangerG's. Also, I lined my "new" tank for the 750 with POR-15 (it's da bomb!). So now it's ready for primer and paint... and some tuning fork decals instead of the ugly stock ones.

 

So far this morning... I rode my Yamaha to work in 38 degree weather.... I need something to cover my neck, otherwise it was ALL good.

Oh, and I have a Joe Rocket Pheonix 4 mesh jacket on order from newenough clearance!! WOO HOO!!

 

^^^ I wear a balaclava. It's thin, but does the job of keeping the cold out.

 

Yea, I gotta get me one, or at a miminum a scarf!

 

Today on the ride to work at -6C (23F) my front tire went down. That was a scary experience but I am glad it happened at city speeds rather than highway. The loss of control was unpleasant and shook my confidence in my ride.

Blame me for not watching the tire pressure closely enough as temps went from 15C to -6C (59F to 23F) in a matter of hours and I think had a lot to do with the issue. Was lucky to be close to a station that had a pump. Seating the bead was a neat trick at o-dark-thirty!

Please check your pressures!

And by the way, a balaclava is perfect for cold weather riding - great advice gamuru.

 

i rode my bike today and waxed and polished it i broke a bolt that i was tighting for my rear brake lever i replaced the two light bulbs on the tail light i found out what was wrong it was a two filament bulb but the running light filament was melted to the break light 1.39$ fix for two lights
i drilled out the bolt about an hour ago and tomorrow im going to go buy the bolt for the rear break lever and ohh yes i found out that i have an ACC on the bike also i see what you guys are saying ohhhh quick question i have a knocking sound a low RPM's after 2000 RPM it stops knocking does any one have the same problem if so how is it fixed and it sounds like its comming from the transmition

 

Installed my new halogen H4 headlight. Painted the Seca 550 emblem on the left side cover.

 

Flushed the Front Brake Master Cylinder and both Front Calipers with fresh Brake Fluid.

Got out the Buffer and buffed-up the Cases a little bit.

ArmorAll Festival on all the rubber parts and hoses.

 

Yesterday finished up the electrolysis and acid rinse of the tank and installed new signals on the rear. Today will be painting the tank and working on ideas to mount the front signals.....mount new mirrors...

Still need to pick up a new brake line and new bolts for the master cylinder cap (then clean/fush and install new line)

After that it's just some cleaning...

 

Lets see...rode to work...rode home. Really not much more to do to mine other than cosmetics. I did get a Kerker K Series exhaust off ebay that I am waiting for now. I have started cleaning up the valve cover lettering and raised area's with a dremel to polish it up a bit, may rebuild the starter soon as well. Worst problem right now is the weather, Oregon is a bit cold and wet this year, more so than normal. Rode last year for a solid month by April 15. cruzerjd

 

Well, actually this was last night. Picked it up from the ground...... So last night before I go to class, I figured I had enough time to hang out in the parking lot and sip on a cold one (soda.) I go into the school to buy a pop and when I come out, the guess yell over to me, "is that your bike, because dude just hit it!" I'm livid, because I just got the bike up in running. I go over to the bike and she's all on the ground spewing gas. And I'm like a cat and ready to pounce all over this guy. Luckily a class mate of my came to the guys rescue and talked some since into me. I picked the bike up, wiped the gas off of everything, and started it up to makes sure she was okay. The only thing damaged was the mirror and the helmet.

 

Did anyone get the plate of a description of the gut who knocked it over?

That's "Leaving the scene of an accident" in my book!

 

Bent my kickstand so now my lowered bike doesn't want to tip over any more... One dent is enough.