XS Fever, Its getting worse

[Pat Kelly]

Thanks!! That sounds even easier.
A suggestion I read on the XS triples site is to remove the rear motor mount bolts and some of the front ones. Then tilt the engine to gain space.
I have 2 to do. Both the E and LG have rotten boots. Bought new ones from Bike Bandit last year.

[HobbyMan]

Must you pull the shaft to remove the swingarm? I should be able to pull/push the shaft out when the swingarm is off. I need to clean all that bad grease out. Gonna get those sockets for the swingarm nuts. What are those, like 26/27mm? I need both so I might as well get them. Gonna head down to the auto paint shop tomorrow to find out the paint that I should use. I don't care if I have to shoot it on with the spray gun. I just want it to be right. I want to get this bike done in the next few weeks. I really need to start my trailer project.

[HobbyMan]

Well, its all back on now. Swingarm is painted( not %100 but it will work well enough) and reinstalled. I greased the shaft and all that jazz. I was surprised at how much torque goes on to the pinch bolts. Is the frame supposed to spread apart? Anyway, the battery box is painted and the airbox is in. I am going to use electrolysis to remove rust on the exhaust headers. If I use any abrasives, the chrome is going to scratch. I may have them re chromed if it does not work well. There is/was a chroming facility nearby. I hope is still exists. The last time I went there was quite some time ago. I may try to chrome the headers myself if it isn't that bad. Its should not be that hard to use electrolysis to re chrome them. Anyway, as soon as the rest of the parts arrive (fork seals, fuse panel, grommets, reg/ret, etc) it should be back on the road. have yet to dig into the burnt carbs. They don't look that bad (burnt wise), but they are carbon ed up. Some new rubber pieces should get them going. OH yeah, the fairing wiring harness was junk. What do all those wires go to? The PO really cut and sliced the fairing adaptor harness. The old harness of the bike was cut up too. I put a spare on so that end is good. After I got the signals and headlight working properly and wired correctly, I set the other wires for optional 12v. The red is always hot for clock lighter whatever. The 2nd spare is hot when the ignition is on. The third is hot when the headlight comes on. This setup required no modification. The plugs were already free.

[HobbyMan]

Well, you can add and LG to the list now. 80G #2 is almost done. Wheel bearings are on there way and the brake kits should be in with them. Are front wheel bearings as easy to install as it looks? Its going to take a lot of polishing hours to get this thing looking good. I still don't know what I am going to do about the exhaust. Right now the cheapest option is best. Besides traveling expenses, the entire rebuild and initial cost of the bike is going to (hopefully) come out well under $1k. THat is a big plus ++.

[Czekus21]

What is a pristine, full dress, an low mileage 80G worth with original paint?

Depends on the time of year. Around the beginning of rideing season or at a big bike rally would be the best time to sell.
I guess someone, awhile bake, bought a perfect XS off Ebay for around 10,000.00
My guess is should maybe bring ya around 3-3.5

[fredintoon]

What's it worth?

Hi Hobbyman,
what would a "nearly a virgin" '80 sell for?
Most likely you'd get back the money you'd spent and find the time you'd put into the resto was worth about 15 cents an hour.
But what is it worth? Priceless.
Ride it in good health.
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[fredintoon]

Wheel bearing install

Hi Hobbyman,
the only hard part is getting the old bearings out of there. Yamaha's design is a a bit daft in that respect. If the centre tube won't slide sideways for you to access the bearing with a drift & tap it out,
try this as a last resort. Reach in with a Dremel tool or other and remove the outer ball cage. Slide all the balls around to one side and remove the race's inner track. Now you can press on the centre tube to remove the other race and finally reach in to tap out the destroyed race's outer track.
Carefully press in the new races.
Don't forget to replace the spacer tube.
Never hammer a race directly, always use a pressing block. Never press on the inner race when putting a race into a housing, the race don't like that.
New seals work best.
Fred Hill, S'toon.