Damn it!!!!!!!

[natemoen]

I was hoping (and honestly believing) that I would have my XS running tomorrow or Thursday and now I don't think its going to happen.

I was out working on it today and it decided that it would not idle for me unless I had the choke on full and then suddenly it just died and wouldn't restart. In the mean time while I thought about that I pulled the rear master cylinder off to clean it and found it to be completely rusted, I cant even get the thing apart. I am in the process of trying to chisel out the snap ring because the ears have rusted off of it and it is rusted into the channel (still haven't gotten it out but have given up for the night). I then figured I would do one thing that would be a quick fix to make me feel better. The horn was loose so it wasn't grounding tightened that up and tried it, nothing. Went to check the fuse and saw that the main fuse was loose. went to put the fuse back in and the clips holding it in snapped off

I really did not want to change out the fuse block at this point but I guess I really have no choice at this point. I bought this bike less than 2 weeks ago. The thing was in great shape figured it would be a quick cleanup and it could be a work in progress daily rider. Its not turning out to be that at this point.

Now for the questions. (I am too pissed to think for myself right now)
1) Anyone have any suggestions for the poor idle and suddenly dieing?

2)Is there anything I should look out for when I change out the fuse block?

3)Is there any method to drilling out the airbox, or is it basically just cut out on the bottom side inside the filter area?

This ends my rant. Thanks for listening....

Nathan

[motoman]

Actually may want to re-think the "hurry up and ride it" idea. You might actually want to remove and clean tank, carbs, brake system, etc. Besides wanting it to stop normally, you may not like pushing it home when it quits for some unknown reason......just sayin...

[Bigfoot]

I have seen master cylinders that were all nasty and gunked up with old chrystalized brake fluid but never one that is rusty like yours seems to be. It may save you alot of time a greif to try and find a replacement.

to try and answer your other questions.

1. Have you had the carbs off and cleaned them well? It wounds like you will need to do that before it will run correctly.

2. Changing out the fuseblock is pretty straightforward and one of the best upgrades you can do on these old bikes.

3. I would really suggest getting the bike running well first before you start cutting holes in the airbox. Get the carbs cleaned and working correctly before you start introducing other variables.

[XSokieSPECIAL]

+ 1..

..on what Bigfoot said.

Get it running right before you start changing things otherwise you don't know if a problem is a result of what you've done or if it already existed.

[BigRed]

The loose main fuse may have been at least part of what made the bike idle poorly and quit. Try it again once you replace the fuse block. One question though: I'm not familiar with the '79, but I've got an '80 Special, and my main fuse wasn't in the crappy fuse block with the other fuses; it was on its own on the left side of the bike. IIRC, a black rubber box with red wires to it. You open one end of the box, and the glass fuse slides out. There's still an ignition fuse in the fuse block though, so if that was loose, it could have been your problem.

Don't get discouraged! Once you figure out what's causing you grief, you're going to love these bikes. Here's a list of things that were keeping my bike from running and then running well once I got it:

Dirty carbs with blocked jets
broken pick-up coil wire
ballast resistor combined with high resistance (non-stock) coils
dirty/corroded electrical connectors
bad ground connection at voltage regulator
broken fuse block
leaky intake boots
corroded brakes (front and rear)

None of these things were hard to fix. Funny thing about this list is that pretty well everything I looked at had a problem, so I would think "there it is... now I've fixed it!" only to find that it wasn't fixed. The good news was that the bike would still run through most of these repairs; it just wouldn't run well. I thought it was kind of a testament to the over-design put in... that there could be so many things wrong, but it would still run.

One quick check to see if you should be looking at carbs or wires would be to look for spark. If there's no spark, you know there's a problem with wires (note that no spark doesn't rule out a problem with carbs).

The guys here were a huge help in figuring out what my problems were and how to get them fixed for cheap or free, so you're in good company.

Good luck!

[natemoen]

The PO had the carbs professionally cleaned and set up a couple months before I bought it from him (he had the receipts for it). The tank was pretty clean with little rust at all in it. The PO had also taken the front brakes off last year and was going to clean and fix them (but never did) so I already had to clean and rebuild the front MC and calipers. I will go to RC and grab a fuseblock this morning and hopefully get that put on. I will leave the airbox until I get it going and see what happens. Thanks!

[DGXSER]

Now for the questions. (I am too pissed to think for myself right now)
1) Anyone have any suggestions for the poor idle and suddenly dieing?

2)Is there anything I should look out for when I change out the fuse block?

3)Is there any method to drilling out the airbox, or is it basically just cut out on the bottom side inside the filter area?

This ends my rant. Thanks for listening....

Nathan

1. Check the plugs, you may have fouled them from running on full choke. Then I would pull the carbs and go through them cleaning. At this point, a few days of work now will save you ALOT of grief and struggling later.

2. Just carefully watch which wire provides power into the box and mates up with which wire out of the box. Honestly, most all of them get fed from the same wire with other smaller gage tan wires spliced into it. But you want to match smaller gage in with smaller gage out, or more importantly the larger gage in with the larger gage out. When I do this work, I move one set of wires at a time over. Meaning I move one fuses in and out wire, then the next, then the next.

3. The airbox drilling is just a matter of drilling holes inside the filter as you indicated as that is the dirty side of the system. I do agree you want to wait until you get it running well before changing that. It is unlikely, but it could be enough to cause you to need to rejet the carbs which will make your job of getting the carbs straight in the first place VERY tough.

This is like any other elephant, one bite at a time and before you know it, your done. Look up my thread titled "A project begins" and you will see this is not uncommon that you find one of these beast that seems like it just needs some cosmetics but then you end up knee deep in crap.

And I agree, if ti has sat for long at all, go through the brakes well before you ride the bike. These bikes have plenty of power to spare, but stopping was over rated by the engineers, meaning they are underbraked from the factory.

[TomRodgers]

I can print up a reciept that says "profesional cleaning done to XS100 mikuni carbs", and have my kid spray some gumout over it and dry it off. I can even charge you $150 bucks for it.

If it were me, (some of you may remember a few months ago i was a 'bit' nervous about tackling the carbs on 'Sunshine) i would pull the carbs, triple clean, and check your tank (you said 'with little rust at all')....a "little" rust will give your carbs SERIOUS indigestion!!!! in-line fuel filters!!!!!!!!!

When you said it wouldnt start, what exactly WASNT it doing?? Wont turn over, or wont fire up? IF it turns over, like stated, check for spark...clean/replace plugs. check your intake boots. not wanting to idle unless it has the choke on leads me to believe that it was sucking air somewhere... If it wont turn over, definately electrical somewhere.

As far as the brakes go.....i can PERSONALLY HIGHLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU DO NOTHING WITH THE "GO" UNTIL YOU HAVE THE "NO-GO". The last thing you want to do is attempt to test drive the beast and have brake failure......I completely rebuilt my front brakes from M/C to pads for under 200 bucks. I am in the process of redoing the rear (so far about 70 bucks) and i will putter around the back roads that way, but no highway and big twisties without the rear.....I made that mistake once a few years ago...... not a pretty outcome.

The weather by me hasnt been very favorable for much riding...yet...so take the time to do the work right, that way when good weather hits, you'll be 2 wheeling right along with it!!!

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Nathan,

I know you're in kind of a hurry, but you won't find a decent fuseblock at Radio Shack, at least not one that holds the newer solid styled ATCO fuses.
You don't want to go back in with the glass holders!!

I provide/re-sell a fuseblock replacement along with a set of 90 degree insulated crimp on connectors for $10.00 includes S&H! This late in the week you would not see it till early/mid next week, but it's a decent quality unit especially for the price, and it fits under the sidecover as well. See the tech tips for photos and ordering info! I have them in stock, ready for shipping!

The bike dying while idling is probably a mix of carbs, as well as electrical...the charging system doesn't work well at idle, and will slowly drain the battery, and once the voltage gets down close or below 10.5 volts, the TCI won't work, and no sparky, no runny! You could put a booster battery on it while idling. Also, check your battery, recharge it, and then with it running, check the charging voltage at idle and then at 2500 rpm, should be 14.5 volts, if still near 12, then it's not charging, will need to trouble shoot that as well. Along with replacing the fuseblock, check, clean the 3 large white plugs BEHIND the fuseblock, they are from the ALT!

T.C.

[tadtl1]

a word to the wise

What TC said !! His fuseblock is legendary here, and his help with the wiring put me in a good place. Thanks TC.

[natemoen]

Thanks Everyone!

Thanks TC. You are right about not finding anything except the glass fuse blocks at Radio Shack. I ended up getting the individual blade fuse holders and putting those in. Someday I will most likely switch to a block but now I can wait a little while. Thanks everyone!

Nathan

[usmc_scott]

i just bought the glass fuse block at radio shack when i first got the bike. works fine cheaper too.