What did you do to your Yamaha today?

Thank you for the heads up. I haven't had much issue with it yet. Hopefully, I complete the swap in the next week and can see how it rides.

 

Annual "wake up from hibernation" day yesterday. Oil change on the 750, wrestling the octopus on the 1100, looking forward to the extra evening daylight now. Some of you guys have been riding all winter, but just have thicker skin than me! Warmer weather is coming...

 

Yesterday I went to my son's place to work on our bass boat. He has three bikes stored under a large tarp for the winter. His Kaw, on the right side, tipped over towards the right and pulled my XJ700 on its left and his Honda to the left of the XJ, over. Broke my clutch lever off (at the base!). Took a while but got it running. Today, I think, I'll start up the Maxim X, hopefully, and take a spin. Should try to hit 70 F later today.

 

That was my Ex and the tentacles in my wallet befire I was traded in for a newer model.


Put some KM's on the SECA today, we hit a max of 49F and I really didn't feel like dealing with anything or anyone. Gotta say it stores well in that all I've had to do so far really is open the fuel, add a quarter pull to the rich lever and it fires right off. Now the cold front is blowing thru and it's going to spiral downward for the next week or so.

 

Even with a bit of wear and tear, she’s still a handsome devil, isn’t she?


Have had an eventful offseason. Replaced handlebars, replaced MC (just to get one that sits flat), added heated grips, replaced wheel bearings, rebuilt forks, replaced a valve shim, and did the performance shifter pawl upgrade.

Rides great, though apparently I’m slipping out of gear sometimes when I’m in second. I’ve heard this is a problem with worn shift dogs, but since I replaced the pawl and springs beneath the side cover, I’m somewhat suspicious that I mucked something up. Not a big deal anyways, just gotta short shift into 3rd and I’m fine.

 

I'm liking it. Nice Maxim.

 

That Maxim looks so much prettier than mine!

Where'd you get the MC? I'm still running the stock one on a set of Daytona (Japanese "standard" style) bars, and while it works OK (hasn't leaked or sucked air yet, anyway) I know I'm in for an adventure when it's time to flush the brake fluid next fall.

So the electrical system's up to handling heated grips? That's good to know.

 

I got the MC from chacal, he sells one that’s pretty close to the style of the original and sits flat on the Daytona bars. Those are exactly what I have, and I’ve been very happy with that MC.

I have had no problems at all with the grips, but I changed out the gauge cluster backlights, the tail light, and the license plate light for LEDs. These Oxford Heaterz draw 4 amps, which equates to something like 50 watts. I’m pretty sure changing the incandescents saves a good bit of power draw, so I can’t verify that these would work on a stock setup.

 

Well I do know form experience the XJ regulator won't go much higher than about 240 watts so 4 amps at 12 volts is 48 watts and going with the LED's gives you a good margin.

 

Ran the snowblower and cut a path in the 6.5" of snow, weather geek is threatening 60+ later this week so I want to be ready. Lets see if it happens.

 

Yeah, we had heavy rain all day Sunday, about an inch of snow Sunday night, then a couple days in the 20s, another inch or so of snow tonight, then 40s on Wednesday, 50s on Thursday-Friday, 60 and sunshine on Saturday. We don't really have "spring" in the midwest; it's more winter days mixed with summer days, slowly turning from mostly winter to mostly summer by the end of April... or sometimes May.

I really need a string of days when it's wet and drizzly out but warm enough to work in the garage, as I have a ton of bike projects to get done. I have a pile of parts for the Himalayan, which will get valve check and a bunch of electrical accessories that require removing the gas tank as soon as I ride it another 450 miles. The Yamaha's carbs are still sitting in the garage, waiting to be reassembled with a slight adjustment to the float limiter tab (the one that is supposed to keep the floats from dropping far enough to stick open when the carbs are empty), level-set, put back on the bike and synched, plus I have to finish the Seat Rationalization Project (raising the rider portion by about two inches so my fake knee and hip stop screaming at me).

Luckily, there should be plenty of these days in April... which is good because I'm hearing the clock ticking. The Slimey Crud Run weekend is less than seven weeks away, and I really hope to have the Yamaha ready for that ~600 mile trip; and I'm leaving for New Orleans on the Himalayan all of three days later. My "riding season" is all year round, but things do get a lot more intense between May and October.

 

Today i re-fitted some standard forks to my XJR which i had powder coated and removed the fashion victim USD's.

 

I'm really diggin' that XJR1200. That big boy would look great next to my SECA 750.

I'm somewhat familiar with northern Illinois weather having worked for Motorola at Schaumberg for various training and other duties. Some days were hot and other days not but the wind was a constant. Was a good gig until Google screwed it up and cut the company in half.

 

Took out the 1982 XJ750 after working on it over the winter. Went to lunch with my dad, he has a 2003 Vstar 1100. Was a good day to get the bikes out to stretch their legs.

 

Wow! Very nice SECA

 

Put some miles on the bike today bring it to just under 100 away from the magic 50,000 point. Runs great but seems to have an intermittent miss that feels like a coil is briefly dropping out so I will be addressing the connectors in the coming days.

 

I love those OEM control units, much nicer and cleaner than the ones on my 1982 XJ650. Never understood a three post killswitch when you could just do on/off

Also tell me about those grips? They're beautiful

 

Thanks. Not sure where the grips came from. They were on the bike when I bought it.

 

Almost done with the handlebar swap. Picked up a shorter clutch cable, and will fit that tomorrow. New pro grips are nice and comfy compared to the ones I took off.

 

Tank cleaning round two.. perhaps someone noted it somewhere i missed.. but it turns out it is more important to get vinegar neutralized and tank protected than it is to shake out nuts and bolts.. had to do it a second time cause i was so focused on getting agitators out the tank flash rusted on me..

 

What did I do to my Yamaha today? Well, I didn't push it off a cliff or call the Click & Clack Donation Hotline (yet). That's something, given what a frustrating day it was.

The sun came out and the temperature went up to a balmy 55º, but instead of riding one of my running motorcycles I decided to make some progress on the 650's carbs, the ones that have had this overflowing problem that at times seems to have come from a bit of rubber stuck in the float valve and other times seems inexplicable. Last fall I pulled the rack to clean things out, then moved on to taking the rack apart and going through the carbs. Today was the day to put things back together.

But first... I went through all four, polishing the float tangs with my Dremel tool and slightly bending the stops that restrict how far the floats can drop when the carb is empty. Then... back together, time to set fuel levels. I did this one at a time since I had them apart and it's a lot easier to drain one carb than four every time I need to bend a tang a tiny bit. I came up with this high-tech fixture:



This is the pesky #2 carb, which had been overflowing before I split the rack apart. Notice the level to assure things are straight.

Fuel level check:



Parallax makes it hard to photograph things well, but the when I sat with my eyes at the level of the carb and sighted down the edge of the bowl, I got them all into the 3+/-1 mm range. Each carb got checked twice to confirm no overflowing. So far, so good.

I put the rack together, using a piece of plate glass I keep around especially for this task. Then it was time to put the rack onto the bike. I set the airbox boots in the sun to let them get nice and flexible (that 46-year-old rubber is still surprisingly supple) and greased them up with a bit of No-Mar tire mounting lube, so the neighbors were exposed to a minimum of handy expletives.

Install the tank, turn the tap to "prime," and... dribble dribble dribble. Gas pouring down around #1 again. WTF? I checked that carburetor at least twice and maybe three times, and there it is dribbling gas. At that point I shoved the bike back into the garage (after turning the gas back off) and called it a day. The alternative, as I said, is to push it off the end of the pier or call the donation hotline.

I am in a very unhappy place with this bike right now. It makes no sense that the float valves would stop working as soon as I assembled the rack. I am having flashbacks to other old vehicle fiascos, in particular a British sports car that I got cheap, got going pretty well, and which then rewarded me by having everything start failing. I feel like I have spent too much money (when I stopped keeping track in the fall of 2024, I had put over two grand into this "free" motorcycle, though about $400 of that was just to get it titled by the State of Ill-Annoy) and way too much time on this bike, and been rewarded with relatively little actual use (about 4000 miles). Sigh. I am on the verge of trying to cut my loss by listing the thing on FB Marketplace as "runs but pours gas on the ground."

There is one more possibility I intend to check tomorrow: I noticed the carb-to-carb fuel connectors turned really, really easily, and I wonder if the o-rings on them have given up the ghost and are leaking. I figure that I can do an approximate fuel level check tomorrow to see if the carbs in fact are not overflowing but gas it dribbling from the fuel lines. While it looks like they're overflowing, gas moves in mysterious ways on metal surfaces. It is a thing I can check without too much work. Of course, if the o-rings are shot, then the rack has to come off and come apart... again...

 

Yeah... been down this road a few times. If you can pull the level tube as close to the mouth as possible so this way you can get the best idea of the level with the parallax error. As for the dribble... you will have time as I'm sending some of our cold your way, just thought I'd share.

 

@ScottFree, the fuel rail o-rings. It must be an epidemic or pandemic or some such as in the last 2 weeks I have had similar issues with the racks of carburetors from my Kawasaki Concours and a Honda Nighthawk 550 for a friend. Some new o-rings and neither is currently appearing to dribble fuel. Good Luck, at least the XJ carbs are easier off and on that either of these 2 beasts.

 

I had this exact problem with my bike when I bought it, so that’s my bet too. Especially if fuel is dribbling out “around” one of the carburetors as described. I think if the carb overflows from a stuck float, it’ll flow into the airbox instead of out around the carbs.

I also experienced the exact same “too easy” movement of the fuel rails that @ScottFree described above when I first split the rack. Just a thought of “hmm those came apart really easily for parts that are supposed to be watertight…”. With proper o-rings installed, they are a very snug fit.

 

Lately I've run my carbs dry at season end. In the Spring I set the petcock on Prime and get ready for some overflow from a sticky float. Rapping on the bowls tends to release the floats if stuck and I am good for the season (after throwing absorbent litter on the spilled gas).

Edit: Forgot to mention, the fuel overflow is out one or the other overflow lines, not the connecting tubes or bowl gaskets. I did have to replace the supply tube on one bike with a new brass one with actual o rings because the original was too loose.

 

"April is the cruelest time..." —Deep Purple (back when they were still good)

The average high for the second week of April in the Chicago area is 62º F. Today's high will be 48º (14 below average); tomorrow will be 42º (20 below average). Both days will, of course, be sunny. We get a warm-up starting on Wednesday, eventually reaching 70º on Sunday, but (of course) heavy rain. There is a window of potentially nice riding weather on Wednesday (mix of clouds and sun and 64º) before the rain moves in, but given that's two days out I wouldn't trust the weather prediction. That's the basic rule of spring in the midwest: if it's sunny, it's cold; if it's warm, it's raining... though rainy and cold is always an option as well.

Anyway, back to carbs: this afternoon I intend to pull the tank, hook up the extension hose I use when synchronizing the carbs, turn on the gas and see if I can spot the fuel rail leaking. And check the fuel level in the carbs--may not be able to do it with perfect accuracy, but should be able to verify that the carbs themselves aren't overflowing.

Hadn't thought of that, but it would make a great deal of sense. When mine dribble gas, it always seems to appear on the joint between bowl and body--so either the gaskets aren't doing their job, or the gas is coming from somewhere else... outside the carburetor itself. Sigh. I just spent a lot of time this winter searching for a leak in my house plumbing; of course the deposit of corrosion was a couple feet from the actual leak...

Good to know. Mine required approximately zero force to slip into place, and the one I could grab between thumb and forefinger (the longer one between carbs 2 and 3) could be easily spun.

One of the rebuild kits I bought included what may have been replacement o-rings, but they did not seem to fit: a bit loose on the pipe itself, but didn't want to go into the holes in the carbs (kept walking out of the groove on the pipes). Typical Chinese stuff--"it's close enough for Amazon!" If I do conclude that mine are leaking, I'll be ordering the Viton ones from Len.

Anyway, thanks for the input. Further reports when I find the smoking--or dripping--gun.

 

After adjusting, polishing and still getting caught by overflows, this has become standard practice for me as well. Turn to prime and then play whack-a-mole on all 4.

 

Well, the weirdness continues...

The good news is that I got the bike running and took it for a nice (if short) ride this afternoon. The bad news is that I'm still not entirely sure what the problem is/was.

This morning I pulled the tank and inspected for any signs of fuel around the carbs. None to be seen. Next thing I did was perched the tank on the back fender, hooked up an extended fuel line, and turned it on, hoping to catch what was leaking.

Nothing, that's what. No leakage around the fuel rail, no leakage around the float bowl gaskets, no nothing. I hooked up a hose to the drain on #1 and found that the fuel level looked (within the limits of what I could see) correct. WTF is going on here? I have heard that the o-rings swell after exposure to gas, so perhaps sitting overnight did something. Or perhaps... I installed an inline filter last fall. It's pretty crowded there, and it is not entirely outside the realm of possibility that I did not get it fully hooked up to the petcock and it was leaking from there. Maybe.

So I cut a new, longer piece of fuel line (without a filter for now) and installed it. Made sure the hose was all the way on the petcock. Then I turned the key, hit the switch... and she fired right up. Went straight to 4000 rpm, which turned out to be nothing more than where I had set the idle speed knob when I assembled the rack. I went for a little ride, across the river, down the other side, back, about 10 miles. Got it warmed up and got the idle speed down. It was still having problems with idling; the speed kept going up as I rode. When I got home, I got out the vacuum gauges and went through the synch procedure. It was a little frustrating because the thing never wanted to simply idle. Often, a small adjustment to one of the synch screws caused it to either stall or slowly run away to 2 or 3000 rpm. The screw on #2 is particularly hard to reach, too. I need one of those Harbor Freight carburetor adjustment tools, the long and flexible tube with the speedo cable screwdriver on the inside...

Anyway, I got it to about where it was last fall: it runs pretty well, drops back to 1050-1100 quickly after I shut the throttle, but then slowly loses speed and stalls after about 30 seconds. Sigh. I need a Carb Whisperer™.

I still plan to get new o-rings; even if they have swelled up a bit and are now sealing, they are marginal at best. But at least the thing runs, and it is still fun to ride.

 

Handlebar swap looks great. New flatter master cylinder was very quick to bleed, which makes me feel it was too easy. The brake handle is very firm, no sponginess. Went to a single line instead of the two line. Ended up with a custom HEL line. The challenge I'm encountering is finding mirrors that don't hit the windscreen on the fairing when turning. I'm going to be stubborn and keep the fairing, and may end up with bar end mirrors as a compromise for now.

I drained the tank to clean it, and put in a new fuel filter. The amazon fuel line is hard as a rock, so I'll change that to a better line, and will pull the bowls off of the carbs to see how gunked up they are, and if they're bad, I'll pull the carbs and clean them without breaking the rack. Ran fine last time I cranked it, so we'll see what the bike has in store this weekend.

 

Small question, not sure where else to ask: those cool roll stands like this:


Is there a way to make those work with the XJ? I'd like to get a pair of them, and yes, there's the center stand, but I'd really like both tires lifted off the ground during winter storage. I wasn't sure if there was a safe spot to rest on one of these on the front or back.