80G Pilot Jet buggered, air screw plugs

[Bonz]

Just finished the FD/shaft spline drill. Used black moly grease inside, don't know the content of moly though... Same stuff I used on the SG with the FD swap, should be good.

Sealed the shaft housing/FD interface with the rust-orange silicone used on the SG.

Nice to get the wheel off, clean the shaft housing/swingarm, cleaned the FD housing (looks new dang near) with it off the bike, already changed FD/MD fluid. With the shock off, cleaned it, shining like it should now. Will take off the right shock for the same treatment. Got the damping adjusters clicking slick also.

Coming along I tell you, coming along... Once I get the front brake kits and piston, I can get that back together and the front will be buttoned up.

Semi-dropped the exhaust, to get the rear axle out, looks to me like it'll be easiest to do the exhaust work with the full system off the bike?

[CaptonZap]

Semi-dropped the exhaust, to get the rear axle out, looks to me like it'll be easiest to do the exhaust work with the full system off the bike?

That it will. When you start to cut the mufflers off, do not take a hack saw to them where they are welded on, and cut clear through.
The weld is at a point further forward than the back end of the down pipe.
So start cutting, but only cut through the outer sheetmetal of the muffler, leaving the inside pipe full length.
If you can get the one that is cracked to pull back, you will see what I mean.
This leaves a solid piece of pipe to slip the new mufflers over, and clamp to.
Did you find some Sportster mufflers?
Later, CZ

[Bonz]

Looks like PM's aren't working still, or are back off-line.

Haven't done anything on the Sportster mufflers yet.

The right side pipe that is broken at the weld, is cracked clear through, so don't know if I can make it work on that side like you are suggesting.

Thoughts?

Is there any empirical evidence that shows the crossover is a "must keep" when doing a muffler swap? I've seen opinions both ways, so I am 50/50 at this point as to which side I would agree with.

If yes, that would be the reason I would graft on the Road King muffler ends after cutting off the rusted outlet ends, instead of doing full Sportster muffs. If no, then the Sportsters would be the logical choice.

[GLoweVA]

Keeping the crossover would be nice, but in my opinion, not really needed.
The MAC 4 into 2 aftermarket pipes didn't have a crossover, so is it really needed?

Here's a link to the thread where TC mad some replacement headers for my G. Maybe it might help you on your pipes.
http://www.xs11.com/forum/showthread.php?t=36430

+1 on what's been said about that zerc fitting. I never even thought about it until just a few weeks ago when I had the final drive off my SG and really looked into the shaft housing and saw that the 'sleeve' coupling kinda hides the splines from the zerc. So there was no way for the grease to get into the splines.

[crazy steve]

Keeping the crossover would be nice, but in my opinion, not really needed.
The MAC 4 into 2 aftermarket pipes didn't have a crossover, so is it really needed?

'Needed'? No. Desirable? Yes. Yamaha went to the trouble of fitting the crossover for several reasons; one was a reduction in sound output (and likely the primary reason for fitting it) but the power gain to be had is a nice side benefit. There's been plenty of Dyno tests of exhaust crossovers and virtually all of them have shown a power gain (some big, some small), usually in the mid-range. The various exhaust 'x-pipes' for sale are nothing more than free-flowing crossovers.

Harley installed a crossover-type exhaust system on Sportsters in the early 70s (the infamous 'siamese' exhaust) that was worth about 5 hp; quite lot in those days. But 'traditional' buyers hated it's looks and it's 'oriental' name so most were removed by buyers and dealers. Those are worth serious money these days when you find them...

Now, adding a crossover to an exhaust without one may or may not give up a noticable power increase as there is some science involved in designing one, and the effort it takes may not be worth it to some, so it's a choice you have to make.

[Bonz]

Well then... If I do away with a crossover, am I creating a mid-range dog for a motor? I've also read in a sticky thread that the Harley Muffler has a larger outlet, thus mitigating the need for a crossover, as they flow freely and don't need to share, per se...

[crazy steve]

Well then... If I do away with a crossover, am I creating a mid-range dog for a motor? I've also read in a sticky thread that the Harley Muffler has a larger outlet, thus mitigating the need for a crossover, as they flow freely and don't need to share, per se...

No, it won't 'kill' power. It's been proven that a properly designed crossover will give a nice 'bump' in the mid-range (mostly a torque gain) but most people won't notice the difference as you can simple open the throttle more. Outlet size has little to do with it, although if the outlet is small and you don't have a crossover, that can hurt power. A crossover works not so much by giving a 'larger' exhaust path as by using the opposing pulses to help scavenge the exhaust.

[Bonz]

Gotcha! Appreciate the info guys.

[Bonz]

Crappy brake piston

Got my order of stuff from MikeXS, among the parts was a brake caliper piston. It was lying LOOSE in the box, and the surface is blemished and dented in a few places (see pics)

Sent them a polite email with these pics, requesting a new caliper piston.

Just a heads up, as I am frustrated. I don't like to throw stones, but it was STUPID how they packaged the piston!

I have no idea if they are good at customer resolution in cases like this or not. Any other folks have experience of any type with MikesXS? I ordered a few things years ago, and all was fine with that order.

[DGXSER]

Howard, a few years back or less, Mike sold out of the business. Whiel this helped out us XS11 owners not having to lie and knive to get their coveted XS650 parts for our mutant unbefitting XS11s, it also brought a change in quality of parts from a few things I have seen.

[Bonz]

I sent them an email with the pics this morning, let you guys know (not that you actually care, but what the heck...) how it goes with their response/response time.

[Bonz]

With that said, I don't know the quality of the part when it left MikesXS, but bouncing around in a cardboard box filled with shipping popcorn all the way from Florida didn't help a bit with the finish on the piston... Such dumb-nutts....

[crazy steve]

The caliper pistons I've bought (not from Mikes) all came wrapped in padding and/or a box. Somebody doesn't give a rip....

[Bonz]

I would agree, really poor choice on someone's part to ship it like that...

Here is their response to my email I sent. Somehow, I feel like I'm working with someone on the other side of the world that pushes a button for a canned response...

"I will review this with our team and get back to you asap.

MikesXS"

It goes without saying, what about the pictures I sent and the situation needs review with a "team"?

[Bonz]

Is this thread the SAME as "removing stuck carb jet" that has now been started?

I'm as guilty as most of starting threads, however it does help to save some bandwidth on the forum if the search function is dusted off before hand....

Just sharing...