Finally a pic of my little baby!

[XS11NEWROSS]

It is until you look too close. It has 85,000 miles on it. It's a great runner.

You know Marty, I don't know about you guys over there but here we have some really bad roads and conditions most of the time.

I can tell you that there is nobody on the planet who made engines and bikes of the quality that the Japs did, the engineering is 100% on these machines and with an oil change or two, you'd never see the end of them.

We have lots of Nissan/Datsun cars still running here from the 70's, the chassis might fall out of it but the engine will be sitting on the road purring like new! 80,000 miles is only a mid-life crisis.

[Gmac]

That is

One pretty ride.
Congratulations!

Marty, even at 85k your bike looks great and is proof that Yamaha over engineered these bikes to allow them to be energizer bunnies that keep stacking on the miles with seemingly no harm or wear.

Both bikes really look great.

[TopCatGr58]

She is handling like a pig, all over the place. I am going to replace the rear shocks next and also pull out the forks for a good look. I could not have done any of this without the help of all you guys and this site. I did a lot of fooling around with bikes in my young days but these bikes need things done correctly and it has been invaluable.

Thanks for all the kind words guys.

Hey there Paul,

The bike looks great, and you've done a lot of good work to get the engine running right. What you described above about the handling rang a bell. With it sitting for a long time, especially if it was outdoors or in a non-climate controlled environment, as well as just age.....the bearings and grease in the steering neck gets all hardened, caked, and such, and will cause binding and stiff action which will cause the bike to feel like it wants to wander all over the road instead of holding a true straight line course.

SO....pull the Top Triple Tree off, pull the upper bearing out, drop the lower TT down out of the neck, remove the lower bearing. INSPECT the lower neck race for notches, indents. If otherwise smooth....then clean the races, bearings, and then repack and reassemble, set the travel just snug enough to just let the handlebars drop completely to one side from center with just a slight nudge.

My bike sat outside for 9 years uncovered. When I started to rebuild it, the steering felt very bumpy/notchy....but it was just the old caked/hardened grease. Once I got it all cleaned up, it was just like new!

T.C.

[XS11NEWROSS]

Hey there Paul,

The bike looks great, and you've done a lot of good work to get the engine running right. What you described above about the handling rang a bell. With it sitting for a long time, especially if it was outdoors or in a non-climate controlled environment, as well as just age.....the bearings and grease in the steering neck gets all hardened, caked, and such, and will cause binding and stiff action which will cause the bike to feel like it wants to wander all over the road instead of holding a true straight line course.

SO....pull the Top Triple Tree off, pull the upper bearing out, drop the lower TT down out of the neck, remove the lower bearing. INSPECT the lower neck race for notches, indents. If otherwise smooth....then clean the races, bearings, and then repack and reassemble, set the travel just snug enough to just let the handlebars drop completely to one side from center with just a slight nudge.

My bike sat outside for 9 years uncovered. When I started to rebuild it, the steering felt very bumpy/notchy....but it was just the old caked/hardened grease. Once I got it all cleaned up, it was just like new!

T.C.

Cheers T.C. , I think I will take your advice. I did check that the bars were moving smoothly and they are pretty good as far as I can see but I think it would be better to take it all out and check the whole thing completely once and for all. I checked the spring length and it seemed perfect but now it seems I can move the forks up and down a few inches without any resistance or little. Now I'm wondering if the PO put regular std springs in and no spacer! I may have used the wrong spring length myself when checking.
Out with the whole lot next week. Thank you very much for your advice.

[jetmechmarty]

Paul,

Put the bike on the center stand and let the forks extend all the way. It would be best to block it up a little and get the front tire off the ground. Measure from the top off the slider to the bottom of the lower triple tree. Write down that measurement. Put the bike down and sit on it like you're riding it. Get one of your friends to balance it at the rear, and another to take the same measurement again. Ideally, the difference between the measurements should be 25-45 mm. Depending upon your weight, I would expect stock springs to be a bit more, but this technique should answer your question about sloppy springs.

Modern springs are all much shorter than the original. My springs are only about a foot long, or so. The space is made up with a piece of aluminum or PVC pipe.

[XS11NEWROSS]

Paul,

Put the bike on the center stand and let the forks extend all the way. It would be best to block it up a little and get the front tire off the ground. Measure from the top off the slider to the bottom of the lower triple tree. Write down that measurement. Put the bike down and sit on it like you're riding it. Get one of your friends to balance it at the rear, and another to take the same measurement again. Ideally, the difference between the measurements should be 25-45 mm. Depending upon your weight, I would expect stock springs to be a bit more, but this technique should answer your question about sloppy springs.

Modern springs are all much shorter than the original. My springs are only about a foot long, or so. The space is made up with a piece of aluminum or PVC pipe.

Cheers Marty, I'll try that first before dismantling.

[XS11NEWROSS]

Finally a few more pics and a video

Video Walkaround this morning



Walkaround pics Jan 2016 - Repairs still pending! (-1c this morning)

Happy New Year to all you guys, safe motoring for 2016.

[tomcos67]

she is beautiful......who says that about motorcycles!!!!!

[XS11NEWROSS]

Thanks Emerson. Some decent weather to go with her would be nice!