Not sure about my front end

[mack]

The LH I'm

restoring now was picked up for a song because the PO didn't like the way it handled. When I first got it back to my shop and tried to wheel it around, the back end had a grinding/squeal coming from it. When I took it apart I found that the caliper thrust plate was installed on the wrong side of the rubber grommet where it slips into the frame. To compensate, someone had removed the left coller so the wheel could be slipped further to the left. Then when I got to the swing arm I found the left spacer was also missing so the swing arm was also pushed to the left and not centered at all. It's supposed to be centered with in a mm or so. I phoned the PO and told him about it and that who ever was doing his maintenance was trying to kill him. he said that it dove in the corners so bad that he only put a few miles on it before he got rid of it.
Someone else has mentioned it , but check your swing arm for center. If it's off, it will handle like a drunken sailer.

[Lonerider62]

I'll check everything out. I was wondering if the fork oil was replaced propperly but so far I haven't checked it. Because of some of the other maintenance, or lack of, that I've found, I feel it's a crap-shoot as to what may or may not be correct. It just seems strange that a bike is so good in over-all appearance and yet some of the mechanical issues I've found were just because they were overlooked. HUGE mouse nest in air box, lots of vacuum leaking via bad hoses, lube like tar in mid and rear gear cases?? Glad I'm in Arizona now instead of northern MIchigan. At least I'm not freezing my rear-end off trying to work on it.

[ddragon63]

sounds like no ones changed the mid or rear gear oil in a decade or 2 if its full of tar.... flush it out with some seafoam (or equivalent).. I'd pull the FD off and make sure the shaft is grease properly. If your gear oil has turn back into crude I'm pretty sure your shaft grease will need to be chipped off.

All it takes is a good bike cover to keep it looking nice... its whats done inside of it that matters. Trust me... When I pulled my Dads bike out of storage of & years it still looked good, But boy she needed some TLC. and still does

Good luck on your adventure... keep us posted on your findings. Give the old bike a chance. Once you get her squared away she should treat you right.

[mack]

Maintenance

Scroll down the forum page to misc. then open that. Look for what to check on a neglected XS. Open that. Lots of good tips there. Lack of maintenance and jury rigging is why I allays tear my bikes down completely and service everything properly before I turn a wheel under power. You won't believe what you find.

[Lonerider62]

I drained and refilled the forks this morning and checked the bearnings front and rear they are OK. Everything checks out according to spec. but I'm still running the tires that came on it and they haven't been worn a lot but they are quite weather checked and probably hard from the exposure to sun and air. I have a new pair at home but didn't have time to mount them so I'll do that when I get back home. I took the bike out for a nice spin today and have found that it does handle pretty well between 70 and 80 MPH. It's when just putting around that it feels so heavy in the steering. I guess I can deal with it but my own tastes like a steep fork angle with as little trail as possible. Cruisers are usually heavier and slower in steering than most sport bikes or even most UJM's but at 150 lb.s I don't have a lot of "fluff" to throw into the maneuvering of the machine and my FZ1 has been my main ride for over three years except for a year (2010) when I had a Triumph Speedmaster and even the Speedmaster was a pretty decent handler. Hopefully if I can get three or four thousand miles on the XS here in Arizona I'll acclimate to it's handling chracteristics.

[XS1100_OEM4ME]

Fork

On one of my bikes (KZ), it would want kill me in the corrners. After checking everything, it ended up one of the forks was just slightly bent, not enough to see it just looking at it. After I had it straitened, handled like new

restoring now was picked up for a song because the PO didn't like the way it handled. When I first got it back to my shop and tried to wheel it around, the back end had a grinding/squeal coming from it. When I took it apart I found that the caliper thrust plate was installed on the wrong side of the rubber grommet where it slips into the frame. To compensate, someone had removed the left coller so the wheel could be slipped further to the left. Then when I got to the swing arm I found the left spacer was also missing so the swing arm was also pushed to the left and not centered at all. It's supposed to be centered with in a mm or so. I phoned the PO and told him about it and that who ever was doing his maintenance was trying to kill him. he said that it dove in the corners so bad that he only put a few miles on it before he got rid of it.
Someone else has mentioned it , but check your swing arm for center. If it's off, it will handle like a drunken sailer.

[bikerphil]

I drained and refilled the forks this morning and checked the bearnings front and rear they are OK.

Have you regreased the steering head bearings? If the original 30 y/o grease is in there, your steering won't be smooth and it's gonna be slow. New grease/bearings and the proper torque will make a noticable difference.

[ddragon63]

Have you regreased the steering head bearings? If the original 30 y/o grease is in there, your steering won't be smooth and it's gonna be slow. New grease/bearings and the proper torque will make a noticable difference.

good point Phil... (as I add that to my list of crap to do this winter)

[BA80]

Have you regreased the steering head bearings? If the original 30 y/o grease is in there, your steering won't be smooth and it's gonna be slow. New grease/bearings and the proper torque will make a noticable difference.

+1.....makes a WORLD of difference.

[Lonerider62]

I pulled the front end this afternoon, and sure enough, the neck bearnings were dry as a "popcorn fart" so tomorrow they'll get cleaned and greased. I guess they are one of those maintenance items you could say are out of sight, our of mind. Another simple item on the scheduled maintenance list ignored!

[Rasputin]

Cool that you found that issue. You will not believe the difference in handling once you properly set up the front end..

[bikerphil]

Run your finger on the surface of the races and check for dents/flat spots. If they are smooth, a bearing repack should be fine. If there is damage, best to replace bearings/races.

[ddragon63]

I pulled the front end this afternoon, and sure enough, the neck bearnings were dry as a "popcorn fart" so tomorrow they'll get cleaned and greased. I guess they are one of those maintenance items you could say are out of sight, our of mind. Another simple item on the scheduled maintenance list ignored!

it happens... trust me! I've got a list a mile long I need to hop on... I've just been happy to ride mine the last couple summers. But its time for serious maintenance before pops shoots lightning bolts up my ass for not caring for his bike.

[Lonerider62]

I checked the races and the rollers and amazlingly, everything was good. As stiff as it was, that was quite a pleasant surprise. Now it turns stop to stop with ease. I'll take it out tomorrow for a test run.

[ddragon63]

Good deal...