New owner

[CatatonicBug]

Just be aware that Mobil1 is synthetic, and most folks avoid sing synthetic in these bikes, as it has been reported to cause clutch slippage.

[draketrumpet]

Oil Change and *Sigh*

Ok, so tomorrow is my first oil change. I have 4 quarts of Mobile1 15w50 oil (I know, only put 3.5 in) and a filter with 2 gaskets (one big, one small). I've looked over the manual and maintenance page and think I'm ready. Just to make sure I take the right thing off:

In this picture, is that the filter casing so beautifully displayed in the front center of the bottom of the engine? That's what I'm going to take off, so if I'm wrong, please holler.

I got my original flasher today, and sure enough, auto off works like a charm. Sadly, a short time later, my right blinker stopped working, and my speedo and tacho lights went out and took the headlight with them. *sigh* I hope that is just some of that mess of wires I can play with tomorrow in the daylight.

[DGXSER]

Hmmm....make sure your in Neutral? Check your clutch cable adjustment?

[CatatonicBug]

Sounds like you need to clean out the spooge hole in one or both of your Master Cylinders. It is the tiny little port that allows the brakes to release once you let go of the brake lever. It gets clogged over time, and is very common for new owners, especially if the bike has sat for any length of time.

It would be a good idea to completely disassemble your entire brake system (master cylinders AND calipers) and clean out all the rubber bits and the grooves they sit in. Do it thoroughly once, and you won't have to mess with it for quite a while.

[draketrumpet]

That was embarrassing

Thanks for all your great replies. This place is awesome.

So, I was out picking up a few parts to recover from a recent center-stand-dismount-fail that resulted in breaking most of my mounting screws for my windshield when I go to push back out of a parking stall. The bike hardly budged. I push, and yank, and push some more, and it is hardly moving. It was very frustrating. Eventually, I turned it just enough to squeeze out around the car next to me and drive home. When I got home, it backed up just fine, and has since.

Has this ever happened to anyone else? Any ideas as to what causes this kind of thing and how I can prevent it or fix it when it arises?

[cywelchjr]

If the bags are vetter detachables, throw a strap through the handles and over the seat to make sure you don't lose one. I wouldn't doubt what the PO said about the mounts...

If you have vetter bag mounts that are not holding the bags on securely anymore, Craig Vetter has a replacement spring kit to fix that. Once they are clipped in, I have a struggle a bit to get them off, the springs work pretty good on them. But I do understand that they can go bad and then they don't hold the bags on right.

[oseaghdha]

The missing piece from the top left of the battery is.................THE THING THAT HOLDS THE BATTERY IN!

It's a diagonal piece of strap steel that tabs into a slot at the bottom right and bolts to the part that goes across the top of the battery. You should get one. It actually just clamps the top bar down. Your battery probably wont fall out because of the + cable, but it keeps it from bouncing around.

You probably need to rebuild the petcocks (fuel switches?)

[skids]

If the bags are vetter detachables, throw a strap through the handles and over the seat to make sure you don't lose one. I wouldn't doubt what the PO said about the mounts...

[crazy steve]

....I think it is an original fairing that came with the bike, but you guys are the experts, not me.

That's the 'factory' Pacifico fairing, but these were either dealer or owner installed at the time. Yours looks like it was added later due to different fading.

....Could someone please explain the fuel line switches to me? I think I know what the different positions are for, but I'm not sure.

There's 3 postitions: 'ON', which is where you want to leave it, as this automatically turns the fuel on when the bike is running, off when it's not. 'RES' is reserve (if you run out on 'ON'), 'PRI' is prime; the fuel is on all the time.

....Personally, I think the fairing is kind of ugly. Is it hard to take off? It looks real complicated to me the noob. I have enjoyed the windshield though. Now the tire well (I don't know what else to call it, tire guard?) is an aftermarket ugly thing. As best I can tell, my forks are stock, but I don't have the brace thingy.

It's not all that hard to remove, but you'll need a headlight bucket, mounting ears for same, front turn signals w/mounts, and maybe some wiring harness bits. All this stuff was removed for the fairing, so unless you got these as 'spare parts', you'll need to pick these up. Yeah, that front fender is pretty ugly, so I'd ditch that too. These are all over Ebay or contact Andreas. Make sure you get one for a 'standard', as the special fenders won't fit. Your forks are stock. In fact, the whole bike looks pretty unmolested and in very decent shape all-in-all.

...Those tube thingys on the left are a bit cracked, but the ones on the right are new. I know the PO had just done a bit of cleaning in the carbs. Is this where I saw somewhere to spray wd40 and see if the engine revs to know if I need to replace them?

The intake rubbers could look better, but if they're not cracked all the way though, paint 'em with plasti-dip and they'll be fine.

...I'll have to get a new side cover too, or figure out some way to make the latch work again.

It looks like you still have the 'tab' on the cover, so try fixing/lubricating the latch.

...Pretty sure those are the original pipes too.

Yep, they are. Not in that bad shape either it looks like.

...Yeah, that thing is pretty sun rotted too. Do you think I need to replace it? Also, right above the starter button there is a 'lights' switch with 'on' and 'off' settings. Is that switch supposed to do anything?

The sun-dried master cylinder resevoir is pretty common, and good 'standard' model replacements seem to be hard to come by. You can't use a 'special' piece, as it mounts entirely different even though it looks the same from the outside. I think that some of the other XS models use the same resevoir, so that may be worth a look. If the cosmetics of it don't bother you, it's probably ok. And no, the on-off switch doesn't do anything, as there's a relay that automatically turns the lights on when the bike starts.

'78E original owner

[madmax-im]

Hi Drake...Welcome to the site...I am almost certain that fairing was not from the factory. In '78 they just didnt come with them...some previous owner put it on. On the whole the bike looks pretty good. There looks to be a fair bit of rust..particularly on the gas tank filler area...you might have more in the tank itself...there are threads dealing with how to remove the rust.No doubt you'll have to clean the carbs too...check the tech tips as well... If this is your 1st big bike...be aware that these are big and heavy machines. In their day they were the fastest production bikes on the market. Even today an XS in good tune can still run with 90% of todays bikes. If you have no real riding experiences aside from 50cc machine I suggest you invest in a Motorcycle safety foundation BRC (beginners riding course) and a good helmet and jacket. You have found the best site dedicated to keeping these bikes alive and well. Best of luck and dont be afraid to ask questions if you cant find what you need to know....BTW those rubber intake boots on the carbs look bad...if the right side was replaced then i would do the left side as well

[draketrumpet]

Pictures!

So, I finally got my camera out by my bike and took way too many pictures. Oh, and more good news. All those disconnected wires, two of them were somehow connected to the blinking thing, so that's all working now. And it turns out there were at least 15 loose wires (I stopped counting once I realized one of them just made the blinker blink).

Now, to the pictures:

Missing from these pics are the matching saddle bags. They were detached when I got the bike, and are a wee bit filthy. PO said something about the latches being broken, but I'm unsure if he was referring to part of the attaching mechanisms or the lid latches as they looked ok. I'll worry about those later.


Now, I believe this bike has seen a lot of sun due to the discoloring on the fairing. I think it is an original fairing that came with the bike, but you guys are the experts, not me. You can also see that the trunk has been well used. Curious about that other bike? Check the other bikes forum for an upcoming post.


I'm not sure if the bike has ever been laid down, but there that nice mark along the fairing. Not sure how I feel about the highway pegs, but I haven't ridden more than 2 miles without needing to shift yet.


Did I mention, I finally got it up on the center stand! The first time I had to grab both sides of the seat. This time was easier.


There is a little corrosion on that connector, but that's on the list of things to do later. So far, now that the blinkers are fixed, electrical seems to be fine, but I haven't tried the cigarette lighter yet... Also not a stock flasher, but one of those is in the works thanks to nice forum member.


If you look where the VIN is on the engine, it looks like I have a little gas leak. More on that in a sec. Could someone pleas explain the fuel line switches to me? I think I know what the different positions are for, but I'm not sure. You can see that nice black oil too. Don't worry, that's next on my list.


So, I believe that carb in position 1 has a bit of fuel dripping somewhere. I have no idea where. If that is what is leaking, I have no idea how it gets over to the right side of the bike.


Here is part of my mess of wires I get to deal with behind the instrument panel . At least the blinkers and running lights are working fine.


What is supposed to go on the bracket at the top left of the battery? connectors here are decent, just some rust on the one end.


Personally, I think the fairing is kind of ugly. Is it hard to take off? It looks real complicated to me the noob. I have enjoyed the windshield though. Now the tire well (I don't know what else to call it, tire guard?) is an aftermarket ugly thing. As best I can tell, my forks are stock, but I don't have the brace thingy.


If y'all see something that looks wrong in any of these, please tell me.


Those tube thingys on the left are a bit cracked, but the ones on the right are new. I know the PO had just done a bit of cleaning in the carbs. Is this where I saw somewhere to spray wd40 and see if the engine revs to know if I need to replace them?


PO also said he cleaned the tank out recently.


After the oil change, I'm going to get a new seal. It's got some cracks, and the tank 'sings' to me whenever I park it.


I'll have to get a new side cover too, or figure out some way to make the latch work again.


Discs look a little ridgy, but feel mostly smooth.


Anyone know a good way to get stickers off of forks without scratching the forks off or breaking fingernails?


Pretty sure those are the original pipes too.


Yeah, that trunk has a lot of sun rot on the top .


Not sure what the stock seat feels like, but this one sure is comfortable.


I find the purposefully dented pipes amusing.


Yeah, that thing is pretty sun rotted too. Do you think I need to replace it? Also, right above the starter button there is a 'lights' switch with 'on' and 'off' settings. Is that switch supposed to do anything?

Well, I hope I haven't bored you to tears with all these pictures. Please don't feel obligated to respond to any/all of those questions. However, I will be very appreciative of any you do answer.

Thanks for looking!

[vileneeds]

Good information

Thanks guys. This was going to be in my future posts.

[oseaghdha]

So, the bike I've ridden before now was a 50cc, it topped out at like 40, 50 down a big hill (that was scary, never did it again). It had 4 gears and when I went 25, 4th gear always felt right. It didn't even have a tachometer.

Well, this baby is a little bigger. The red line is around 8500 and I have no idea where a good cruising RPM is for getting the most out of my bike. Around town I go 30 in 3rd at about 3k RPM, but I could do it in 4th at around 2k. So, my question is, when I'm not picking my gear based on how much power I can get out of it, what is best for my bike? What is best for MPG?

I tried searching the forum, but the best I got was don't take it to 7500 often if you want it to last. Check, not too interested in XSive speed as SWMBO would have my head. So, what RPM makes my bike happy?

I usually run around 3-4K. The bike shifts smoothly, and there is enough torque to squirt between cars and get away from idiots.

[DiverRay]

You can run it as low as 1,000 RPM, if you want. The vacuum advance/retard on the bike allows it to work well in a WIDE range of RPM's. I usually run my bikes in 3rd or 4th around town, and I'm in 5th by 45MPH. Most of the people here don't run their bikes at that low an RPM, but I DO get almost 40MPG on my 80MNS.

[CatatonicBug]

I remember asking the same question about 2 years ago.

The main jets in the carbs kick in at about 2-2.5K rpm. Really, anywhere between 3-4k in town is comfy for me, and a bit higher once I'm out on the slab. It may not be the "perfect" number, but it works for me.