New owner

[draketrumpet]

Noob RPM question

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?

[draketrumpet]

12, count 'em, 12

So, I opened the switch box, and I didn't see any corrosion at all. But I do know there is some on my terminals that I'll take care of another day (darn law school getting in the way of my new toy)

But I was investigating a running light that didn't work and I found 12 loose end wires: 3 inside the fairing and 9 behind the instrument panel but not in the fairing. I was fiddling with a few of them in the dark and one of my blinkers got brighter, so I figure my blinking problem is a little more than corroded connectors .

Oh well, back to the books, look at it more another day.

[mro]

Hi draketrumpet,

If I say things wrong, please correct me.

As long as you have a sense of humor I might reply

Turn signals should work fine when engine running, even at idle.
All mine do and the only XS I don't/haven't had is a 78E and an 81 MNS.
Right near the top of my list of things to do on a “new” XS is to clean all the electrical connectors and fuse box ( a couple have TC’s new box and I’m adding one to the current project). Pretty good improvement. With a fully charged battery mine normally flash just with the key on. I’ve replaced the lug on the main grounds on a few and that helped too. (actually replaced the whole wire as they can get short trimming back to clean wire XSpecially on the battery ground)

mro
BTW, welcome to Channel 11

[CatatonicBug]

I would definitely take the switch apart and clean the insides. There are lots of little springy connections in there that move a lot, and tend to collect corrosion. Some dielectric grease added to the switch once you get it cleaned out will help prevent it from happening again. As Tod mentioned, it's not uncommon to have the flashers not flash when at idle. Cleaning every contact (especially all the ground connections) in the entire electrical system helps to clear up that issue. Changing the brake lights to LEDs helped mine too, at least for while stopped at a light waiting for a left turn.

[trbig]

What may be happening is you aren't getting enough juice to the switch or the blinker for it to work. The XS has a bit of a weak charging system anyway, so at idle it may not be providing enough volts. Does it help when you rev it a bit? You could also be having corrosion at the connections causing a drop in the useable voltage getting to where it needs to go. When I first got my bike, I found that I only had 9+ volts getting to the headlight even though there was 14 at the alternator plug.

As for the switch itself.. just two screws on the underside of the assembly. Take it off and clean it up. Might be helpfull if you take a couple pictures as you disassemble the switch. Seems I remember having a bit of a time remembering the proper order to the pieces even though there's only like 3? I'd use some dielectric grease instead of WD-40 though. You can get the stuff in a little blister pack at the autoparts store for a buck. A little bit will go a long way.

When is spring break for you? If it's in April, you may want to consider this...


Meeting of the Minds rally

It's a get-together in Hurst, TX between Dallas and Ft Worth. We all get together and work on bikes that need it. Something to consider.


Tod

[draketrumpet]

I just purchased an 1978 XS 1100. It's my first real bike, and of course it needs lots of little work. I don't mind doing the work (I've done all but major repairs on my cars), but being new to motorcycles, I'm hoping to use this thread to post questions that a person almost totally new to bikes has, and get some helpful feedback. If I say things wrong, please correct me.

My first repair is going to be my blinkers.

When I was looking at the bike, I turned the blinker on, and it worked fine. Switched it tot he left, and it didn't blink any more, just came on solid. Now it does that on both sides. I'm guessing it's the flasher. I was miffed that there was a two prong in a three prong plug, but saw some other posts explaining that. Can I just stick any two pronged flasher in there, or will only certain ones work? The one in there now is a Wagner/Stanley 223 12 volt.

Related, the switch is sticking on the blinkers, making it really hard to switch them off manually. Can I just use some WD 40 in the little slot to loosen it up, or small machine oil? Or should I take it apart and spray/clean it.

Thanks for the help, excited to become a part of this community.