What did you do to your Yamaha today?

This evening told the wife I was going for a ride as it finally cooled off and I finished replacing the oil seal and timing belt on sister in laws car. And she was like I haven't seen you all day. I was right out front the whole time babe still going, FINE. Off I go and along the way I figured I would pick her up some chocolate and popcorn for the G-kids. Oh and the Walmart that I went to was 48 miles round trip
Got home and asked wife to come over and help me and she came over and when she saw the chocolate and the popcorn All was WELL.
On another note SAFETY
I was coming down the road 4 lanes two each way with a middle lane. Out comes this car and I am thinking oh they are just going to slide into the middle lane until I pass but then my Motorcycle side of my brain says NO THEY ARN'T and low and behold that's what happened. Let off the throttle from 45 mph the posted limit and rolled right up on them-like blinding them with the headlight Low Beam. They moved over rather quickly and when I pulled up beside them I get this look like what your problem.
I just shrugged it off and kept on going there is enough stupidity out on the roads as it is.
Just another reminder of ALL WAYS be alert to changing situations on the roads.
Ride Safe People!

 

All most forgot I stopped by the auto parts store to return some unused items and there is this Virago.

So I go inside and ask who owns the Virago and a wiser man (60ish) says that it is his. So of course I am like what year and he responds 83, how many miles you got on her close to 100,000. Really and any problems he responds with a smile it is the best bike I have ever owned and other then needing a new battery (current one has been in there for 5 yrs.) nothing. Damn what CC is it he states the it is a 920 that one through me off. Not sure if that is a stock displacement of not either way still very nice bike with lots of miles.

 

Bravo! Good move on your part, it is often too easy to go to anger - then you put yourself in a dangerous place.

 

Yes Yamaha made a 500,535,750, 920 ,1100 Virago 81-93 as I recall . I had an 82 750 loved it and cursed at it .. learned a lot about starters went thru 4 finally got it right on the 4th starter when I got Dr viragos starter kit .. Got carbs straightened out , got it running good and wife said sell it , put it up for sale for 1500$ sold it same day I put it on CL . I miss that bike , but got others along the way.

 

1000 cc also - 1984

 

Pickup with tinted windows pulled out on me the other day. Laid on horn, swerved to right shoulder and past him. Couldn't see driver.

Next morning a guy who works down the hall came down to apologize. He was the driver, said his pickup has big blind spot.

Always be looking for other guy to not see you, and road rage accomplishes nothing but more problems.

 

always assume that no one can see you

 

Man! I wish I'd known at the time! I made it through two starters... the bike got stolen before I knew about the fix kit!

 

I have learned through the years that getting angry is a waste of my time and energy and solves nothing.
Be the wagging dogs tail much more enjoyable.

 

I am not sure how often everybody else changes their oil but I change mine every thousand miles + oil filter.
Just like I am in the process of currently (waiting for oil to drain). I also do this after a good 20+ mile ride.
Anyway my point being is that I just recently read in the manual that Yamaha recommends changing the oil filter every other oil change. WHAT,
although Yamaha recommends it I feel better about changing both oil and filter at the same time.
On another note I also change the gear oil every other oil change for poops and giggles.
I run 80/90 gear oil as the temp in this area runs 70 to 110 F. on any given day from May to September.
Well work week starts tomorrow hope everybody has time to go riding over the weekend I sure did.

 

Today I started prepping the brake system I pulled off an XJ750 for my XJ650! It's 20-30 years of gross in the reservoir, and maybe 3-4 teaspoons of liquid out of the rest. Have to clean it up like Crazy. May end up buying new pistons too.

 

Well the brake pads look good lots of life in them .
The reservoir yeah that's gonna need some work and more then likely new pistons. The are actually really cheap also since your already half way there might as well.

 

Just scared the living daylights out of myself.
Topped off the oil went to start up the bike and oil started running out of the filter housing.
Reached for the off switch grabbed the oil drain pan,
socket and extension started to tighten up the filter housing and the next thing I here is POP!
First thoughts are how much is this gonna cost to fix- thinking that I just stripped out the oil bolt.
Next thought I wonder if I will be able to switch over to a spin on adapter kit if the damage is not to bad?
Upon investigation I realized that the POP was the top tang of the filter housing. I must of not had it properly aligned between the two fins on the engine housing.
Relief that was all it was.
Next thought Wonder how much oil I just lost-about a 1/8 of a quart. No biggie-
Amazing the thought process and how quickly you run the from worst to best case scenarios in a matter of millisecond's.
The adventures of being your own Technician- Good Times

 

Looked at her as I walked by to attach the wood trailer to the Subaru. Firewood is needed for the Winter, Alas priorities.

 

Responsible adulting? Gross!

 

Sometimes you just have to....

Cutting and splitting has been on my list all summer.... I better get started.

 

Winter is coming.
Better ride today.

Lucky Matti- heat comes to me through a metal tube. Costly, but easy!

 

Rode around the city, took a picture, then rode through it on the way home. (ET. 1.5 hours)

 

Oh boy! I don't know that I miss winters in Toronto... but at least I didn't have to split wood!

Now, I'm somewhere that i have to try not to sweat all over the poor bike while workin'.

Speaking of which, today the calipers are broken down and waiting for the rebuild kit to arrive. Then, brakes are completely done!

 

Not a fan of our Calgary winters but at least the dinosaur gas my furnace eats is far cheaper than wood; warmness just comes out of the vents, effort free!

Today, hoping to get into my Maxim 's engine, but the wife is demanding I do the adulting thing too and build shelving for the basement first.

 

Rode to work this morning and after the debacle of changing the oil all is good no leaks from oil canister !

 

The girlfriend and I put a nice 80 miles on the maxims today. Little on the muggy side but still a nice ride.

 

Helped my buddy work on his 82 Maxim 1100... he just got it... nice bike but po put kawaskai kehin zx1200 carbs on with pods... we both hate pods.. po for some reason the left petcock had a plug on it and the fuel line over it!!!! The engine was surging before got it running smoother . He is looking to put stock airbox and carbs on at some point. Felt good that I was able to help out.

 

Finally fixed the X that was broke on my bike with a new X.
All complete now.

 

Thought about rechecking my wet set since I finally polished my float needles and seats... and then get those carbs back on the bike.

Instead:
Tended to the bees, cultivated the upper plot, rotated the garlic on the drying racks, ran into town and then thought about splitting wood.
We have propane also, but last winter was our first year with a really nice wood stove - there is something about the heat from it that seems 'warmer'.

 

Drove my XJ750 Maxim over to test drive a Honda VTX1800F1........what a powerful bike.....pure muscle bike.....I can't not believe how it pulled in 5th gear.....in all gears.....is bike was Honda's answer to Harley's V-Rod....

My XJ750 had a very sad look to it when I got back......just kidding...I will keep it for right now....

https://sandiego.craigslist.org/csd/mcy/d/2005-honda-vtx-1800/6270180911.html

Yes...salvaged title.......but rode awesome......

 

My neighbor Vern is 88 he cuts and splits his wood in the spring
He has a 4 bay garage that he uses for wood. seasons his wood for 4 years.
every spring he replaces the wood he burned that winter
drives his John Deer every place he goes

 

Harder and harder to find a man like that in today's world.

 

My dad does that. He enjoys it, so all the power to him, but my natural gas costs me $40 a month through the -40C winter, and that's both heat and hot water. I couldn't get wood that cheaply if I wanted to... And can't imagine wanting to spend all the time dragging wood around, cutting and chopping... I've enough nightmarish memories of doing that as a young lad.

 

Just opened up the valve cover on my Maxim to get to those valves measured. The front left inside valve cover bolt didn't... Feel right. Was curious why, left it be and continued around. The valve cover came off pretty easily, revealing this example of prime PO repair work:

This prompted some excessively foul language, and now taking a break to have some coffee and contemplate how much I hate people who are way worse hacks than me. I mean, really. Getting replacement caps there isn't hard, there's lots of XJ motors parted out all over the place. I mean, it looks like he tried to... weld a helicoil in there? I don't even.

 

for the love of everything holy - wtf?

Hurry put the valve cover back on, if you can't see it, is it really there?

I recognize the 750 looks much different than my 650. Sorry you have to face that. Some PO's are POS's.

 

Another order to Chacal is in order.....oh my......cant believe the PO did not replace it.....

 

Replaced it already - I have 3 motors here, so parts aren't a huge problem.

Just completely flabbergasted that the PO elected to try welding it, THEN installed it after so utterly botching the welding job, when a new (used) cap wouldn't have been a problem to get at all.

Anyways, replaced that, then checked valves, and swapped some around to get slightly too-tight intake valves into spec. Too dark to finish now, gonna get the valve cover cleaned up and gasket prepped and installed tomorrow.

 

PO was an idiot.......you are doing it right......keep up the good work......you are making a lot of progress with your bike.....

 

Yeah, been there, done that! On the other hand, I still remember the day my dad handed me the CHAINSAW!! Nightmares for everyone!!

 

Remember the PO nightmare thread? This would work there... Could be an award winner! I can't find the link.

 

We should start another PO idiot thread

 

Found the old one:
Starts to take a side track on page 3, but what do you expect in the Hangout Lounge?
http://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/previous-owner-masterpieces.57929/

Ughs. Photobucket strikes again. Most of it is still available...

 

-

 

You say the PO is an idiot but what you don't know is that was an emergency roadside MacGyver fix made hundreds of miles from civilization in the Canadian wilderness during a blizzard in the middle of the night with nothing but the contents of his pocket and the handy XJ tool kit.

And I know it was a he because a she would have had the replacement part in her giant 80's purse.

 

I was in a mall parking lot in 1984 in Chicago suburb. At the time I drove a 1980 Honda Accord. My friend and I saw a young lady with an Accord that would not start. We first tried push starting. No luck. Looked at her spark plugs. Shot. She said, "I have replacements in my trunk." So I installed them. Still would not start. Pulled distributor cap. Rotor and cap were shot. She had replacements in her trunk, including new plug wires! She said her boyfriend was planning on a tune up.

Installed it all in a few minutes, car started and she drove away.

I wonder what else she had in the trunk?

 

Riding home yesterday after work I was riding with my inner sun screen down and my clear visor at the first click or 3/4 down.
I see this yellow flash and the next thing I know this BEE goes inside the visor past the sun screen and down through the bottom of my helmet and goes inside my jacket through the opening of my work shirt and freakin stings me in my right shoulder. I didn't realize that it was a bee until 15 minutes later when I got home. No Bee but the stinger was stuck between the shoulder and the collar bone.
I haven't been stung in like 30 years.
Bees are like water they always find a way to get ya!!

 

A few weeks or actually a month ago I ordered new front pads Sintered HH for my XJ700X. What I thought was going to be a pad slap turned out to be a total rebuild of the front calipers. As when I removed the current pads one side was almost gone while the other looked pretty much brand new. Not sure if it was the rebuilding of the calipers, new Sintered HH pads or both but my braking has increased immensely. My realization, today I was braking for a stop light and I felt as though the rear end was going to come off the ground. No, I wasn't doing emergency braking I just had an opportunity to really test the front brakes and I liked the feeling the rebuilt calipers and the new sintered HH pads gave me. Sometimes or at least for myself when ever I buy something new for my bike I go up one grade-
clutch springs- When I replaced the clutch and the metal disc's I went with the Heavy Duty clutch springs and with a cable clutch my left hand is a bit stronger LOL.
Brake Pads- Sintered HH supposed to be for the sportier bikes yet I like the feeling and the confidence of the stopping power.
Tires-As these are what keeps you glued to the ground I'll gladly spend the money.
I started or the bike originally came to me with Kenda tires. The front tire after a few thousands miles produced a bubble replaced immediately, both front and back.
Second set where Shinko Tour Master 230. Actually got close to 13,000 miles and still had tread left.
Third set Bridgstone Battle Axe tires. Only got 4,ooo miles on them so far. Holding up well.
With each set of tires that upgrade to I get a different feel of the road and the handling is getting better with each upgraded set I buy.
My weekend begins today-Happy Cycling

 

Bees (and other such stingy insects) are absolutely the worst. I think everyone who rides has gotten a bee stuck in their helmet at least once, and it's about the most panic inducing thing that can happen to you... And I say that as a guy who's been in a few high speed motorcycle accidents. They're big enough and yellow enough that you KNOW it's a bee that's stuck in your face/ears/neck, and are just waiting for that OW!

Edit: I will say, though: For all the trouble I have taking a helmet off with gloves on normally, the times I've gotten a bee stuck in my helmet, I've somehow been able to get that helmet off so impossibly fast every time. Pull over, helmet comes off RIGHT NOW.

 

Finished reassembling the bike, after the RTV on the valve cover gasket had a nice 24 hours to set. Started her up, let her run a bit - no obvious leaks yet, which is awesome given it's a used gasket off another bike, with a different valve cover, and lacking one valve cover bolt. By rights, it should leak oil all over the place. Sadly, my super-hacky clamp-instead-of-valve-cover-bolt plan didn't pan out, my 2" C-Clamp is a bit too small, even after a bunch of creative grinding (Of the clamp!!) and the 3" is too big to fit. Hoping it holds well enough till my brother in law can help out with getting a new helicoil in.

Now, just got to get in one last shim, the valve cover bolt hole fixed, new donuts, and the original valve cover nice and prettied up, then I'll install it with my new gasket and she should be good for a good long time.

 

Well, a commute to work was interesting and educational.

All my intake valves where a bit tight(single shim value change each). I was able to shuffle shims for all but one (now all 0.15) but the fourth(well, third actually) is still 0.10.

I have not resynchronized the carbs, or adjusted anything else as I need that shim, no point doing it twice.

There was noticeably more engine vibration, and the idle was decidedly more lopey. Really interesting that getting some cylinders into spec but not all made such a big difference there. I didn't really expect to feel anything substantial after changing those shims, as they were very small changes.

Overall very beneficial for me, as if my bike has always felt like this, I wouldn't think it was a tuning problem and just would have assumed it was normal. Makes me question a lot of the "buzzy XJ" comments I've seen. I mean, it's a certainly noticable difference, but the bike (leaving out the comparison) doesn't feel like it runs badly. It's just less smooth.

 

^^^ And as you recognized, the sync needs to be re-tweaked.

 

Once that last shim is in...and you re-sync and color tune the plugs.......your will fly down the road....these XJ's once dialed in, sound sweet and have incredible pulling power

 

the reason it is stressed that valves need to be in spec BEFORE sync and colortune has become clear to you .
change in valve clearances affect how well each cylinder runs and fight amongest them selves

 

Yup. I mean, the advice made sense of course, I just wasn't prepared for how much of a difference small changes in valve clearance made, particularly with regards to engine balance, and just how much that impacted vibration. Crazy.