What am I missing??

[TopCatGr58]

Just thought I would update the progress. I found 4 stock needles and installed them. The carbs are completely stock and the bike runs great. I took it for a short ride yesterday and it seemed to be a little swirly in the front end. I'll check it out more when time is available. For now I'm happy it runs as well as it does.

Hey Rob,

Of course it's a little swirly, it has the swirly XJ curved spoked wheels!

Now, if you meant Squirrelly, then we would need to ask a bit more of a description of how it handles as to why you are saying "squirrelly"? As you stated at the beginning of your recent posts....it has been 4 years, and so your front tire is now 4 years older than it was....how old was it then?? It could have hardened and that will make the rubber slippery and not want to track properly.

Or...your front wheel bearings are worn and need replacing.

Or...you need to R&R the steering head bearings/races...either just a good cleaning and regreasing, or possibly replacing if prominent pits/dents found in the races when you take it apart. The grease can get dried/hardened and cause binding and such making the bike not want to hold a line but feel like you have to keep trying to STEER IT because it will wander/drift from side to side requiring constant steering input.

T.C.

[XJ Rob]

Possible clutch??? I hope....

I was able to check things out a little better. YES T.C. the tires should be replaced. Each front tube/fork have an air valves on them. (Is this stock)?? I checked the air and there was nothing there. NO air. I used a bicycle pump and put 10psi in each one. It seemed to help. This bike just feels different to ride compared to my XJ. The whole reason to take it for a ride was to see if second gear was OK. AND It's NOT. Not exactly. It doesn't come out of gear when I get on it hard, BUT it does seem as though the clutch could be slipping a bit. IT DOES stay in gear even if I stay on it hard in second gear. I'm not sure what the beginning symptoms of "Second Gear Syndrome" are. Is there someone that can fill me in???

[wingnut]

First congrats on getting it to run well. Once again stock is good. Your XJ will feel a little different than the XS but the wandering front end is most likely the triple tree bearings are dry. Prop the front end up so the wheel is off the ground. With the bars all the way to one side you should be able to gently push them to the other stop with very little effort and not feel any notch in the middle. I had that notch in the middle at XS East last year and holding a straight line was almost impossible. Take the front end off and do a clean and repackage on the bearings. Re torque to the manual specs and it will improve a bunch. On the clutch make sure the throw out bearing and cables are adjusted correctly. If still slipping after you test ride it for say 50 miles you can put a set of Barrett springs in the clutch and it should fix it. Also using the correct oil can make a difference. Not wanting to come out of second is a new one on me. Maybe pull the left hand cover and check the pins, pawl, and adjustment as per the manual.

[XJ Rob]

Not wanting to come out of second is a new one on me. Maybe pull the left hand cover and check the pins, pawl, and adjustment as per the manual.

The bike shifts just fine. It shifts out of second gear but doesn't slip out like what I've read about the bad second gear. The bike sat for many years before it come to me and sat here for the past 4. Before I could ride the bike, I had to pull the clutch in and rock the bike back and forth to get the clutches UN-stuck. Also when I pull the clutch lever IN to switch gears, it takes a second before the clutch disengages. I know THAT is not normal. That's why I'm leaning towards clutch and maybe springs for the symptoms the bike is having. I've only been able to ride this bike a couple miles at a time. It's over half mile to the closest paved road. Although the main road is 55mph, and I have not seen many police around here in the past 9 years, Someone is going to get sick of me ripping up and down the road in front of their house and call the police. This bike is NOT registered. Heck I don't even have the title here. Dad has it 40 miles away still in the PO's name.

Getting the front wheel off the ground maybe a problem. There is NO center stand on this bike and I think the 4 into 1 header might prevent me from getting a jack under the frame. I'll be going out later to check it out. I'll let you know what I find.

[3Phase]

Rob,

Have you checked the alignment of the shift lever, shift drum and the shift gears and pawls under the left-hand transmission cover? If those are out of whack the transmission won't shift correctly.

Someone may have had the 2nd gear slip and tried to hold the transmission in 2nd gear with the shift lever. That'll bend the shift fork in the transmission or just plain wear it out and it won't work correctly.

Someone may have already done the 2nd gear Dremel fix and back-cut the dogs and slots on 2nd and 5th gear with too much taper. That'll make the gears pull together just fine and dandy but they won't separate easily under any kind of load, that's why the dogs and slots on 1st/4th and 2nd/5th weren't originally made with a back-cut.

.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Rob,

Aside from the clutches/springs being either sticky or worn/weak, another thing that can cause actuation problems is just a sticky/rusty/corroded CABLE! Check its' routing from the handlebars to the engine side to make sure it's not making any sharp bends. Then take it off and LUBE it thoroughly, if it's sticking/binding it will NOT release the clutch all of the way and that can cause/mimic a slipping clutch.

To test the slipping clutch, you want to have it in 4th or 5th gear around 5k rpm and then give it full throttle....if the clutch is slipping you'll then see the rpms rise, but the bikes actual speed will not increase. Without the bike being registered/licensed it can be difficult to get it onto a smooth road long enough to test the clutch slipping.

The others have already posted about checking the alignment of the shift pawl mechanism. Learning to do a little bit of a blip of the throttle and then release/let off of it when doing the shifting, along with just preloading/tensioning the shift lever with your foot can help in easing/facilitating the shift action.

A center stand is helpful....you could possibly take the one off of your XS and temporarily put it on the Xj for the work. IT won't have to be able to fold up properly....where it could hit the pipes anyways....just to be able to drop it and put the bike up on it. I didn't check before starting to write this, and I'm easily confused...your username is XJ rob, but is this new bike you're working on an XS or and XJ? If it's an XS and a special.....then the Centerstand will work with the Special since they both have the same sized rear wheel. However, if the bike is a Standard, the rear wheel it taller and the centerstand may not properly support/raise the bike up enough off of the ground....you might want to place a couple of boards under both the centerstand and the rear wheel first to get it further up off of the ground, and then remove the board from under the rear wheel so you'll have more lever room to weight the rear or gently jack up the front frame to get the front wheel off the ground.

The Standard centerstand is a little taller because of the taller tire.

[XJ Rob]

The bike I'm working on IS an 81 XS special. This is my dad's bike. He came and took it for a short ride. He says he wants to keep it so there will be new tires put on it. Install new tube seals (leaking).. Fix everything that has to be fixed or serviced. Plate it and ride it. Looks like I'm in it for the long haul. We're going to need a few parts so I'll be contacting Andreas for some of these. I'll keep posting on the progress and problems. Thanks for the help/advise thus far.