Big Al's Thread

[alaskey2]

Hi Everyone,

I feel like I keep making thread after thread of simple questions, so I'm going to start a thread to just be.

Anywhoo, I'm going to take a trip to New Orleans soon and I have a few issues.

1) Front end dive. What's the general tip for sprucing up the forks? I just got new rear shocks from mikesxs.com and now I can REALLY feel my front end moving, I'd like to update that.

2) Stalling, when I sit at idle the RPMs fall and the bike will stall, this happens over about 90 seconds. I just took it for a ride with the petcocks set to PRI and it still happened, so if it's a vacuum issue it's not at the petcocks (I think??).

I plan on checking out the pickup wires and borrowing a carb synch tool, but it's been a big weekend (new tires, new shocks, put the bags back on, changed final and middle drive oil, greased the final drive up real good) and I just want to sit down, have a beer, and enjoy my porch.

3) I know that I can set the pre-load on my new shocks, but I don't know why, or to what I would set them. Anyone care to elaborate on this?


Lastly, PICTUREs!!! I'm gonna put so many pictures up guys.

IMG_1750[1] by alaske2, on Flickr

IMG_1755[1] by alaske2, on Flickr

[SFerinTEXAS]

Stalling, when I sit at idle the RPMs fall and the bike will stall, this happens over about 90 seconds.

One possibility is a battery problem ,at idle thats all that that keeps it running.I pulled carbs thinking pilot jets for that same symptom and had just checked the battery a few weeks before so did not consider it. Found clean pilot jets and low battery water. New battery problem solved.

[IanDMacDonald]

Lookin' good Al! Love those original Yamaha bags!

[bikerphil]

Take those rubber plugs off the top fork caps, and use a large flat head screwdriver and turn each screw clockwise a click while pushing down. This will increase the spring preload. It will be easier with the bike on the centerstand or with no weight on the front wheel. There are 3 clicks on each adjuster, soft, medium, and firm.

[alaskey2]

Thanks guys, I'll go hook up my battery tender/check the water and give the forks a click.

I'm super excited that I got the original Yamaha bags! I don't have the key anymore, but 3 of them are unlocked. Are there other clips that use the same holes? I'd like locking, or just more secure clips to hold the bags closed.


The day I bought it, about a year ago

Untitled by alaske2, on Flickr

[jetmechmarty]

Big Al,

You can fix the forks, but you're gonna hav ta come off the hip a bit. In the meantime you can put more oil in the forks, leaving less air space. That should help with the dive. The tuning range is 110-150 mm of air space above the oil with the fork compressed. Too little air space and you blow the seals. Too much air and you're riding a pogo stick. Everything you do to the forks is a compromise.

To fix it, new springs and emulators will do it, but the cost is a lot more than Mike's XS shocks. They aren't anything to write home about either. The take-offs that others recommend on here are usually a far better choice. For now, what you have should keep the rubber to the road and provide a margin of safety.

If you want more out of it, it can be made to perform far better than the factory made it over 35 years ago.

[alaskey2]

Thanks for the input Marty!

I can live with a little front end dive as long as I can figure out why it keeps puttering out at red lights!!!

The take offs you mentioned, do you mean forks from another bike? I'll look into those and keep my eyes peeled on ebay for a good deal... but you know, there is a time for wrenching and a time for riding, and it is riding time

[jetmechmarty]

The take offs you mentioned, do you mean forks from another bike? I'll look into those and keep my eyes peeled on ebay for a good deal... but you know, there is a time for wrenching and a time for riding, and it is riding time

NO NO! That's WAY too complicated for me. I'm talking about the shocks.

You're right, it's time to ride. Tune the dive adding fork oil to the level in my previous post. When the snow flies again, we can talk about what can be done to bring the ride into the 21st century without grafting a modern sport bike onto it.

Come on down to XSSE in September and you can give mine a try.

[alaskey2]

I would love to come to XSSE or the rally in DA UP EH? But I only get 5 days vacation a year and those are spent.

Luckily they're going to be used riding to New Orleans so it's all good

[alaskey2]

Ok, I clicked the forks down all the way (they were set in the middle) and that's quite an improvement!

New battery is ordered, the current battery looks ancient and is low on water, going to get a sealed one.

In good news, I took her on the highway and hit 90 in 3rd gear, love the way this bike pulls and pulls. Can't wait to get somewhere rural so I can drop down to 25 in 5th and WOT and see what the vacuum advance can really do!!!

Picture time, my dad has been rebuilding this '55 Panhead my entire life (Currently 31 yo), one of my earliest memories is of it falling on me in the garage .

securedownload[2] by alaske2, on Flickr

[alaskey2]

So, I play music. My band is playing Friday in Chicago and I was tooling around the facebook event page and one of the other bands has a music video. If you look closely at 2:12 there is a Yamaha in macho maroon. I can't tell if it's a 750 or 1100, but I KNOW it's one of the two. Now I'm SUPER excited for Friday's show!


Link to the event

[3Phase]

I like that Pan, stay out from under that thing! (laughing)

The rear wheel on the bike in the front yard in the video doesn't look like an artillery spoke Yamaha wheel, it's got crisscrosses. Maybe it's a Suzuki? Good video anyway!

.

[alaskey2]

I'm not familiar with older Suzukis, I saw the familiar tank shape, the silver airbox assembly, and macho maroon. Either way, I'm going to ask them about it Friday.


Screen Shot 2015-05-19 at 9.45.50 AM

[alaskey2]

I got a new battery and that didn't help with my falling idle. This weekend I will check the pick up wires while I wait for my feeler gauges and digital calipers to arrive. Then I will check/adjust the valves (something I haven't done in the year I've owned the bike, bad, I know... sshhhhhhh). Pull the carbs and give them a clean, bench synch, synch on bike, adjust air mixture screws and resynch.


Lets make this a two parter, I have a 78E and I just don't see why anyone would need to do the 750 final drive mod, I'm hitting 70mph in 3rd gear at 5500rpm, which doesn't seem bad considering I still have two more gears. Does this mod not do much for my model?

One last thing, did some riding in Indiana last weekend, dropped it to 25, shifted to 5th and WOT. It was like sitting on top of a jet engine, I wouldn't recommend that to anyone with a heart condition, what a rush! So I think the vacuum advance is working.

[jetmechmarty]

Does this mod not do much for my model?

There are threads on this. Some believe in this, others don't. If you enjoy the acceleration as is, don't do it. If you're going to be routinely crossing the prairie at high speed, you may want to look into it.