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I know there is already a dumba$$ thread, but I feal that I may, over time, need my own. 
I'll keep a running commentary of my work on the XS as a warning to others, that they can learn from my idiocy, I've always had more nerve than brains when it comes to working on things better left to proffesionals, from cars to carpentry to plumbing/ heating. I think my wife has developed an aspirin addiction over it
So, Monday night, I got home from work and parked the bike, so far so good. When I went to ride it a couple of hours later, I found the front tire completely flat. Tried a can of liquid jack, which promptly dissipated completely since the tire and rim were no longer on speaking terms. Being as how it was late and dark, and I had places to go, I hopped in my wife's minivan to run my errands, leaving the bike for Tuesday.
Got home from work yesterday (driving my own van, which really should be off the road until I fix it) and went after the tire. Lacking a bike jack, and any form of common sense, I verified that the fuel valves were closed, and lay the bike gently on its left side in my lawn-- nice soft grass. It wasn't until I had the tire off (a fairly long ordeal since I had no idea what I was doing, and didn't think until too late that I should grab the manual) that I thought of gasoline in the carbs. Sure enough, nice little killing my grass. (wife popped 2 more aspirin)
Since I didn't take the front fender off (idiot) I was able to pick up the bike and rest it on the front forks, thus stopping the flow. Of course, this still left me having to put the bike back on its side to get the tire back on, but what hey, that patch of grass is now shot anyway.
Took the tire to the gas station down the street and filled it. brought it home sprayed it with soapy water, no leak. At this point the wife, too distressed to watch anymore of these antics, insisted that I take her to the mall to finish the back to school shopping. So, off we go, leaving the poor bike with no front tire, to the mall. We got home well after dark, so I went ahead and waited for the wife to go to sleep before attacking the bike again, figuring I should spare her more for one day. Put the bike back on its side, and installed the tire. In the dark and on its side like that, it took me 2 hours to get the tire lined up, and when I finally got it settled, I found that the break pads wer not seated quite right. At this point, I had one of my rare moments of clarity, and decided not to screw with it anymore. Will need to go at it again tonight, have already told the wife that she needs to disapear when I get home from work for her own mental health, and went to work in her car, leaving the bike reassembed and upright in the middle of the yard. I have since read the instructions in the Yamaha repair manual, so I should be able to take it back off and install it properly if that turns out to be necessary. I will keep this updated as I work/ fumble.
I'll keep a running commentary of my work on the XS as a warning to others, that they can learn from my idiocy, I've always had more nerve than brains when it comes to working on things better left to proffesionals, from cars to carpentry to plumbing/ heating. I think my wife has developed an aspirin addiction over it
So, Monday night, I got home from work and parked the bike, so far so good. When I went to ride it a couple of hours later, I found the front tire completely flat. Tried a can of liquid jack, which promptly dissipated completely since the tire and rim were no longer on speaking terms. Being as how it was late and dark, and I had places to go, I hopped in my wife's minivan to run my errands, leaving the bike for Tuesday.
Got home from work yesterday (driving my own van, which really should be off the road until I fix it) and went after the tire. Lacking a bike jack, and any form of common sense, I verified that the fuel valves were closed, and lay the bike gently on its left side in my lawn-- nice soft grass. It wasn't until I had the tire off (a fairly long ordeal since I had no idea what I was doing, and didn't think until too late that I should grab the manual) that I thought of gasoline in the carbs. Sure enough, nice little killing my grass. (wife popped 2 more aspirin)
Since I didn't take the front fender off (idiot) I was able to pick up the bike and rest it on the front forks, thus stopping the flow. Of course, this still left me having to put the bike back on its side to get the tire back on, but what hey, that patch of grass is now shot anyway.
Took the tire to the gas station down the street and filled it. brought it home sprayed it with soapy water, no leak. At this point the wife, too distressed to watch anymore of these antics, insisted that I take her to the mall to finish the back to school shopping. So, off we go, leaving the poor bike with no front tire, to the mall. We got home well after dark, so I went ahead and waited for the wife to go to sleep before attacking the bike again, figuring I should spare her more for one day. Put the bike back on its side, and installed the tire. In the dark and on its side like that, it took me 2 hours to get the tire lined up, and when I finally got it settled, I found that the break pads wer not seated quite right. At this point, I had one of my rare moments of clarity, and decided not to screw with it anymore. Will need to go at it again tonight, have already told the wife that she needs to disapear when I get home from work for her own mental health, and went to work in her car, leaving the bike reassembed and upright in the middle of the yard. I have since read the instructions in the Yamaha repair manual, so I should be able to take it back off and install it properly if that turns out to be necessary. I will keep this updated as I work/ fumble.
a spare tank off my 400 
, and then can get to it
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