My XS build, need some advice!

[WMarshy]

If you dont mind me askin, how much were those rods and why did you decide to have some made? Are they lighter and/or stonger than stock? Not sure of the clearances the OEM rods had but the OEM rod has a healthy radius that helps clear the engine case at 10-an-2 o'clock position of crank rotation... I assume your aftermarket ones clear fine as well..?

What all did you do to the engine, balance blue print, new crank bearings, agressive cam?


If you plan on riding it agressively then plan on rubbing a hole in that collector. I'd suggest you fab up one where all 4 pipes come together horizontally or make a 4-2-1 setup and route it around the filter bowl so it doesnt have to come off every oil change. More pics of the megaphone please. Looks good.

[PMKXS11]

First post has engine specs, forgot to mention new bearings. The rods are lighter and stronger and have no clearance issues at all. Rotating assembly spins nice and tight and smooth. Rods were $750 and about a 2 month turn around time. I sent em my oem rods and bearings and they measured em and contacted me asking what I want my end result to be and told em lighter, stronger and able to rev higher. They made em and included ARP hardware and a spec sheet. Crazy idea but why the hell not? Something to make my XS unique.
This is the second exhaust I built, I'll post up a video of the first one on my dinner work break.

[jetmechmarty]

Jawa in signature sounds interesting. Info I have says Californian was introduced as a 1967 model. Perhaps you can tell us about it in the "other bike" forum some time.

[PMKXS11]

This was the first exhaust. Consisted of cut up and lengthened factory head tubes, a collector, and some 45* elbows. I scrapped it after a little bit because the fit sucked and it was completely unrestricted. But I loved the look of the rear part, so I used that for the 2nd exhaust.

The video kinda sounds like crap when I walk up to the front because it was just tacked up, not fully welded, so you hear it whistling a little bit.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3cze...ature=youtu.be

[PMKXS11]

Jawa in signature sounds interesting. Info I have says Californian was introduced as a 1967 model. Perhaps you can tell us about it in the "other bike" forum some time.

Hmmm I'll have to take a look at the frame and title. It looks a little different than your picture. But I'll grab some pictures of it and throw em up in the Other Bike forum.

[PMKXS11]

Lost the auction on the S&S pipes, so I bit the bullet and ordered me up a 4-1 flat collector like Marshy suggested and luckily the headpipes I made for cyl 2 and 3 wont have to be redone to work with the new collector, just a minor tweak for 1 and 4.

[WMarshy]

That stinks man, I get disappointed when unique parts like that get sold and you never get to see or hear them installed... Anyways, talke a look over at the xs11.UK site. They have a library of images for aftermarket exhausts... Kep is posted.

[MaximPhil]

Lost the auction on the S&S pipes, so I bit the bullet and ordered me up a 4-1 flat collector like Marshy suggested and luckily the headpipes I made for cyl 2 and 3 wont have to be redone to work with the new collector, just a minor tweak for 1 and 4.

That seems like a much better idea. I look forward to seeing a picture of finished installation. Remember to take the tie wraps off before you fire it up
Phil

[cajun31]

I know with

your fabrication skills you could have made those S&S pipes work. I watched that auction after you posted it to see how much they went for. I noticed though that they were specifically designed for the Standards not the specials. Of course with your skills you could have probably modified them to fit your special.

[PMKXS11]

your fabrication skills you could have made those S&S pipes work. I watched that auction after you posted it to see how much they went for. I noticed though that they were specifically designed for the Standards not the specials. Of course with your skills you could have probably modified them to fit your special.

That's kinda what I was thinking about doing. I love the way the rear portion of my pipes look so I was thinking about using the front from the s&s and merging em, but that was a little too much for something that I'd just chop up. The collector and another 12 feet of tubing was just under $100.

[PMKXS11]

little update, started doing the wiring, ran into a minor issue with the neutral switch. The physical harness has a sky blue wire going to the switch and the diagram shows a black wiring that's spliced into a white/red wire. I'm running an aftermarket gauge and when I hook the sky blue wire to the signal wire on the gauge, nothing happens in neutral. I'm not sure what to do here hahaha.

Another quick question... I went to go hook up my oil pressure switch and am I correct in assuming it's supposed to be normally open? The wiring diagram is drawn with it open. The switch I took off the bike shows continuity between the lead wire and case ground. Is this correct, or am I missing something here? Also, what pressure should the switch make contact at?

Thanks!

[crazy steve]

Both the neutral switch and the oil pressure switch work by closing/going to ground to operate the indicator light. So for the neutral light, you apply power to one side of the light, the other side goes to the switch. When in neutral, the switch closes and completes the circuit. If you're using a led light, polarity matters...

The oil pressure switch opens when oil pressure is above about 2-3 lbs; these don't have a ton of oil pressure. Again, the same wiring method and if using a led, polarity matters. If replacing the switch, make sure the thread matches; IIRC, Yamaha uses a 1/4" BSP (British standard pipe) thread, not the 1/4" pipe found commonly in the US. Very difficult to tell apart by looking, best to use a thread pitch gauge to be sure....

One last comment... you may want to replace those Vesrah clutch springs with Barnetts as the Vesrahs have a known history of losing tension rather quickly.

[PMKXS11]

Both the neutral switch and the oil pressure switch work by closing/going to ground to operate the indicator light. So for the neutral light, you apply power to one side of the light, the other side goes to the switch. When in neutral, the switch closes and completes the circuit. If you're using a led light, polarity matters...

The oil pressure switch opens when oil pressure is above about 2-3 lbs; these don't have a ton of oil pressure. Again, the same wiring method and if using a led, polarity matters. If replacing the switch, make sure the thread matches; IIRC, Yamaha uses a 1/4" BSP (British standard pipe) thread, not the 1/4" pipe found commonly in the US. Very difficult to tell apart by looking, best to use a thread pitch gauge to be sure....

One last comment... you may want to replace those Vesrah clutch springs with Barnetts as the Vesrahs have a known history of losing tension rather quickly.

This is the gauge in question
http://www.kosonorthamerica.com/koso...ges/t-t-meter/
And the wiring for it.
http://www.kosonorthamerica.com/inst...s/BA035K00.pdf

The way you describe it, I need to have 2 wires coming out from the neutral lamp, which the gauge only has one, right?

Noted on the clutch springs, I will order em up pronto.

[crazy steve]

...The way you describe it, I need to have 2 wires coming out from the neutral lamp, which the gauge only has one, right?

While the diagram gives info on the rest of the wires, not much for the neutral/'warning' lights. First, check if the OEM switches are working right; engine off, the oil pressure switch terminal should read to ground, no reading when the motor is running. Same for the neutral switch if the bike is in neutral, no reading to ground if in any gear. Check good?

If so, then check to see if the neutral/'warning' lights work; with the gauge input power and ground wires hooked up and powered, try grounding the wire(s) to each light. If each lights, then the issue is in the wiring harness. Still no light? Try connecting each wire to 12V + (battery power). If the lights work now, you'll need a relay set-up to power the lights. If they still don't work, either the gauge is defective or there's some 'other' parts needed to interface with the OEM switches.

[mrhammer2u]

Just want to say, looks awesome so far. Stock is fast so this should be a real blast! Looking forward to finished product pics!