1979 F Issue with it running perfect

[IanDMacDonald]

Yup, you read that right. With the bike running so good, it leaves me bored and wanting to tinker. I cannot think of anything I want to do with it yet besides a fuse box from TC, and maybe a fork brace. If I did not have other bikes, I'd upgrade the suspension and brake lines.

[clcorbin]

Come on over to Albuquerque! I would be HAPPY to let you work on my F! I never have been able to get the low speed mixture perfect. Maybe you will have better luck!

[James England]

Yup, you read that right. With the bike running so good, it leaves me bored and wanting to tinker. I cannot think of anything I want to do with it yet besides a fuse box from TC, and maybe a fork brace. If I did not have other bikes, I'd upgrade the suspension and brake lines.

Put a Geezer made rectifier regulator on. Green 3 ohm Dyna coils. Bypass the ballast resistor, if it has one. Put carbon fibre core silicone HT leads on. Fit iridium plugs and remove the resistors from the HT caps and replace them with a piece of copper. Put a Dynojet Stage 1 or 2 needle/jet kit in the carbs. Fit a K&N free flow cotton air filter. Check your rear left wheel bearing and replace it whilst I have 7 left clean every single block connector and electrical terminal, especially the ones behind the battery, with De-Oxit spray. Fit progressive springs the forks.......... Slightly beyond tinkering but there's loads you could do!

[IanDMacDonald]

I read your list of mods, and feel no need for any of them till something breaks. The bike runs like a 1979 bike should run. The dynojet kit sounds more like a bandaid to improper tuning, and since my bike is close to stock, I see no need for it. As far as the bearing is concerned, I'm not sure how to check it.

[natemoen]

Gotta pull the rear wheel and give a finger feel

[James England]

[QUOTE=IanDMacDonald;417190]The dynojet kit sounds more like a bandaid to improper tuning, and since my bike is close to stock, I see no need for it. As far as the bearing is concerned, I'm not sure how to check

No, no...Dynojets arent a bandaid for anything. Dynojets, and many other modifications, address the original detuned state of Japanese motorcycles, done deliberately in order to meet varied global noise and emissions regs. They are far from properly tuned when standard and "running as they should"... But, if you are happy with yours the way it is, that's the main thing.

An inexpensive and important mod is the ACCT and that's well worth doing for the tinkering factor. Also, it prevents engine destruction which would certainly make you wish you were bored again......

You'll need a bandaid on your rear wheel all right if your bearing's shot. Or rather, to continue the analogy, minor corrective surgery and a transplant. But...you'll need the organ to transplant and they are few and far between.

My XJR1300, with only 1800 miles on it, running "as it should" had the following OEM deliberately engineered detuning..... standard jets and needle meant for every country in the world but not specifically mine, ignition timing retarded by 4 degrees so the bike would run on the worst quality of fuel worldwide...in the west, we have excellent fuel and therefore the timing should be advanced by 4 degrees...a lot. But, worst of all, the inlet manifolds were seriously restricted so that the bike would meet the noise regs of only one European country..... Have a look at the pic below which shows a restricted, "running as it should" inlet and an unrestricted one....... Reversing these barbarities increased the efficiency of the machine a the rear wheel by over 10%.

[IanDMacDonald]

Interesting James.

[James England]

Interesting James.

Thank you, kind sir

I think the rear wheel bearing might fall into the tinkering category and its well worth a look. To date, I've sent 444 of them worldwide. This bearing tends to be neglected on routine maintenance and they're often running on 25 year old, dried up grease.....

[ESJr1642]

Ian,

Take James word for it, grease that wheel bearing. Shame on me, I have had this bike since 1979, and failed to take care of it properly. Don't let this happen to you.

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[skids]

Is it missing a needle bearing? It looks to be oozing grease.

[ESJr1642]

There were 5-6 missing.

[IanDMacDonald]

What are signs of a bad wheel bearing?

[bikerphil]

The way I first noticed a bad rear left bearing was a clicking noise when traveling at a very low rate of speed, like less than 5 MPH in a parking lot or approaching a stop sign. For front bearings, when riding a straight line and hitting an imperfection in the road causing the bike to suddenly track in a different line.

[IanDMacDonald]

Hmm, no, not any of those issues. I always wondered if it was my bearing causing my bike to be so heavy to push or walk with my feet. Sometimes it feels like my brakes are dragging. Maybe I'll check into that.

[ESJr1642]

After I moved to Florida, I was trying to get my garage in some type of order. I was moving the XS, and it felt twice as heavy as my Venture!! Put it up on the center stand and the rear wheel felt like the brake was froze. Removed the caliper, same problem, so I knew it was time...

I found my bearings and seals at Speed and Sport, but figured I might as well have a spare or two and ordered 2 from James.

Ernie