Newbie with a new bike w/pics '78 XS1100E

[rlundy]

Bikerphil, thanks again for that thread. Have only been testing with the bike's ignition switch on, will test some more with the bike running. Mt problem is somewhat different-all four lights come on, all the time, which is why I'm thinking something is shorting all the wires at the bottom of the switch.

Interesting stuff about the auto flasher relay. Mine had one off an old toyota or Nissan-nippondenso and cyndrilical. I picked up a new auto unit at the local auto parts place. Really don't want to drop $75 on a flasher relay with yamaha.

Tarzan, good advice-I do want to balance the carbs out once with the carb tune tool. The bike actually runs decently right now, idles well, etc. But I know the #3 cylinder isn't firing at idle (cool header), but is firing at higher revs-to me, clearly a sync problem. We'll see once the tool comes this week.

Axel, I did get the oil drained and changed. Thanks for the heads up. Wish the bottle had a warning about that. Hopefully, I didn't hurt anything, it was a slow speed ride. And, I do hope the seafoam cleaned out some carbon & misc in the crankcase. Will do another oil change when my filter arrives.

[Axel]

Better safe

I doubt if you did anything harmful , just best to err on the side of caution . There is a youtube vid on Seafoam somewhere showing them adding to the oil in a diesel engine and I am pretty sure they recommend it for gas engines but the methodry is somewhat vague . I am in touch with some people who have used Seafoam extensively and have tested different uses beyond the cans recommendations and my suggestions come from them .
Here is a friends website with a great article on Seafoam . Not too much on crankcase use but interesting .

http://www.maxim-x.com/seafoam.html

[XSPastor]

But I know the #3 cylinder isn't firing at idle (cool header), but is firing at higher revs-to me, clearly a sync problem.

Sounds more like a clogged pilot circuit than a sync problem. Even out of sync, it should still fire at idle.

[rlundy]

Pastor, I would normally agree, except for one thing:

When I first got the bike running after a simple on bike carb cleaning, it was idling at 3000 RPM. Almost like someone had compensated at some point for dirty carbs by adjusting the idle screw. What I did wrong was thinking that the sync screws were the idel screw-and I idled everything down. If I put everything back close to where it was and let it idle at 3000, everything fires, I would just need to adjust the idle screw.

#3 is the reference carb, in terms of sync. I'm thinking the sync is so out of whack at this point that its too lean to fire at the current 1000 rpm idle (the idel was adjusted down using the sync adjustment-by accident!). I may go out and readjust the sync manually to get back close to where I started and adjust the idle. Most of this problem was caused by dummy me-when I couldn't find the idle adjustment (it is hard to find w/o the manual and the tank on the bike).

[jrplumber1]

3000 rpm

I dont think it would even go into 1st gear at 3000 rpm! anything over 1300 and mine clacks and jumps when its put in gear!

[rlundy]

OK, finally found some time to mess with something other than the turn signals (all 4 lights are still on) since I need to get to the plug under the tank to clean it (getting low volts at the switch right now). I finally got my filter and wanted to do a full oil change, so I didn't want to pull the whole tank yet.

Well, the seafoam has been in the tank for about three weeks now. Didn't want to start, seemed like carbs. Pulled the drains, got some brown smooch draining toward the end-seafoam must be loosening stuff up-filled the carbs with cleaner through the drain hole. So even though my quickie cleaning worked to get it running a few weeks ago, this is going to continue until I pull the carbs and really clean them. I did get the bike running and got the old oil filter out and completed the oil change. lots of stuff in the filter, this thing had been in there a loonnggg time. I also did the cam chain tension maint.

Xmas activities and business travel have kicked my @ss this month in terms of finding time to get some work done. And I'm still waiting on my caliper rebuild kits, old bike barn sent a delay notice for stock.

I did go ahead and pull the old fuse panel off-the new one from topcat arrived a couple of weeks ago (thanks topcat!). Opened up my box of a million electrical connectors and found I needed 5 more termination plugs than I had. At that point I decided to go in and watch the Bucs lose to the chargers. I should find time over the holidays to finish the fusebox and pull the carbs for a good cleaning.

[rlundy]

Getting started again...

Can't believe its been december since anything has gotten done. I finished installing the new fuse panel (thanks Topcat) around new years and was rewarded with nice bright lights on the panel and no more flickering.

Today I finally started tearing into the front brake calipers with the rebuild kits I got a couple of months ago. One caliper was stuck pretty good, but I was able to pump it out with the M/C. The other came out fairly easily with just a pair of pliers. Lots of gunk in the groove, pistons better than I hoped with just a bit of rust. Cleaned everything well and installed the new seal, dust seal and circlip and reassembled.

I should mention that a PO installed an aftermarket or used (don't know what it is) M/C on the front. It seems clean and definitely made enough pressure to pump out the one piston, so it seems ok from that perspective.

Mt problem came during bleeding. The left caliper bled well and plenty of fluid was coming through the tube. The right caliper never had as much flow, though it does seem like I got all the air out. The brakes to grab and release, but it takes a full pull of the brake lever. The carbs are still dirty/untuned so I couldn't take it for a ride. There is not a tremendous amount of stopping power here, though you can't move the bike by hand when the lever is fully pulled. Guesses:

1. The brake lines are original-I can still see the "11/77" manufacturer date on them. Old rubber brake lines tend to close up over time and get blockages, right? Could this explain my minimal flow issue during bleeding?

2. Could it be the M/C the PO installed? I don't know enough to recognize a sub-par M/C from one thats OK.

3. Is there an adjustment I missed somewhere?

4. Should the banjo bolt on the M/C have a double hole? (not sure if mine does or doesn't-something to check)

I found a galfer SS brake line kit for $105 shipped, something I was planning to do anyway, and it should be here this week. Anything else I can check before it arrives?

All help appreciated.

Oh. I did find a turn signal switch, complete, on ebay for a decent price-I'll see if this fixed my turn signal problems. Gotta pull the tank next weekend to work on carbs anyway.

[DGXSER]

1. Did you get fresh clean brake fluid through the line to the right caliper? Could be you have some gunk blocking that line and yes it could be a deterioration issue in that line with pieces of rubber flaking and blocking the line. Sounds like a great idea to go to the SS lines.

2. No Idea really.

3. have not had to do it, but I think there is an adjustment on the fornt brake lever for free travel. If you grab the lever and it moves more than say 1/8"-1/4" before it starts puching the MC, probably needs to be adjusted.

4. The stock setup had one double banjo in the system. It is not at the MC in stock system, but many have discussed eliminating thet intermediate single lien form the MC to a coupler that splits into two and putting both lines direct from the MC to the calipers. So you should have one double banjo in the system, but it may or may not be at the MC.

[rlundy]

DGXSER-

Thanks for the reply. Yes, the fluid did flow clean-just not as much flow as with the left caliper. I've seen brake lines from old volkwagens where the interior slowly bloats and chokes off the flow. When I bled the brakes right after getting the bike I saw similar results with the left caliper. We'll see what the SS brake lines can do.

Although the rear brake has worked OK, it started to grab the last time I had the bike running in December, so I'm going to tear into it this week. Does anyone have a source for a replacement rear brake line? Rubber would be fine in this case, but I'll go SS if thats what it takes to get something new.

Robert

[petejw]

Hi rlundy,
have you tried bleeding the master cylinder?

If its still on the bike wrap a rag around the master cylinder and crack the banjo bolt while depressing the lever, lock up the banjo bolt b4 releasing the lever.
just becareful of the escaping brake fluid.
might make a difference.
and as dgxser said, there is also an adjustment for the front brake lever that can make a big difference.

[rlundy]

petejw-good tip. Before trying it I decided to wait until my new SS brake lines arrive and also looked at the assembly sequence-the PO, or whoever added this MC must've lost the little copper crush washers, because there are none there-it also looks like there is just a bit of seepage around the banjo bolt. I picked up a couple of crush washers at the local yam dealer ($2.05 ea, GEEZ!).

In the meantime, I got my turn signals in order thanks to the help from swamp thing Randy, got the tank pulled and drained, petcocks pulled, sending unit pulled, cap & trim and all emblems off. The tank needs to be coated inside, which I hadn't anticipated, as looking down through the filler hole you only see a couple of rust spots-most of the rust is down in the legs. No giant chunks of rust, but lots of surface rust, blowing through the openings with my air compressor pushed out lots of tiny rust particles (like a rusty wind) so I might as well bite the bullet. Did some reading here and bought a POR-15 kit. Seems straightforward enough. Picked up some 16ga sheetmetal to make some blanking plates for the petcock holes and sending unit holes, along with some gasket materials.

The brake lines and POR-15 should be here by next weekend, so with some luck I may have it all back together in another 2-3 weekends. Still have to pull & clean the carbs, then re-sync. Maybe another couple of weekends......

[rlundy]

I'm still waiting for the galfer front SS brake lines from 1tail.com. Apparently, for some older bikes, Galfer doesn't keep stock on hand, plus there is shipping to 1tail, then shipping to me. Been almost two weeks since I ordered.

So, this was going to be fuel tank weekend. The POR-15 kit did arrive on time. I spent most of saturday morning making blanking plates and gaskets for the petcock and sending unit holes. These worked out well-no leaks and no paint damage. It was a pretty straightforward process, if time consuming. Rolling a tank around the grass in your front yard makes you look like an idiot. In terms of drying the tank, using the "blowing" hook-up on my big shop vac dried the tank fast. From looking in the fill, sending unit and petcock holes, it looks like I got a nice even coating. As an FYI, wear rubber gloves with the tank sealant. I was tired and forgot and even acetone won't hardly take the stuff off your hands once it dries.

And yes, I know I need to get some paint on the underside of the tank-I got some POR-15 with the tank kit and will tape and spray before remounting on the back.

Here is a shot of the tank with the blanking plates and gaskets mounted.



Finally, since I'm too klutzy to try and balance the fuel tank above the carbs for performing the sync procedure, I ordered a thru bukkhead fuel fitting and made a day tank out of a big windex bottle. I've got the appropriate Y fitting and reducing fitting (to go down to 2 1/4" fuel lines). I should be able to back the bike halfway out the garage door and suspend this from the garage door. The motion pro people want like $55 plus shipping for a tank like this, which is sort of a ripoff since the fitting is only $13.90 from West Marine.

Here is a picture:



Carbs will hopefully get pulled one night this week. I've got a 4 day weekend over the holiday am going to hopefully get the carbs cleaned, remounted and synced and rebuild the petcocks. Maybe everything can go back together by monday. And maybe the front brake lines will be here by then.