Sebastian's Bike Restore

[3Phase]

Off my '79 Special carburetors:

[Bonz]

Thanks Scott, once again "Scotty on the spot"!

I didn't verify visually his screws however I'm sure those are the ones since that's what he ordered.

He might have had the incorrect ones in there based on the little nubbin on the tip of the old one I can see in the picture. It wouldn't have been his doing as that's definitely what was on the carbs when CZ and I helped him get it running a number of years ago.

Even with that, the old screws responded to being adjusted so it could be the adjustment would be different based on the different screw profile. In any case, his bike is idling well when fully warm. I'll be interested if he goes out and starts it up cold this morning to see how much enrichener it takes and if it fires up readily.

[3Phase]

Cold start is one of the best tests.

I'm completely pulling this out of my keyboard but someone may have drilled the Idle ports in that set of carburetors after removing a broken needle tip, then reshaped the mixture screws to match the new idle port diameter and give them a tip profile similar to the '80 mixture screws that won't break off if you look at them the wrong way.


I think I should get some new '79 mixture screws, that one I took out looks a little warped and ready to break.
And just because, here're some gratuitous shiny brass pictures I made after I resoldered and rebalanced the leaky '79 floats:

[Bonz]

Those look amazing!

You need to call the Smithsonian, they have a job for restoration of carburetor internal parts they are taking applications for. Probably work from home too.

Any more progress on the XJ? Have you bestowed a name upon that bike yet? Like "Quincy", since you have done a full autopsy and figured out everything that needs to be fixed. There, it is now "Quincy".

[3Phase]

Thanks, I had to clean the brass on the floats so the solder would stick and from there it took on a life of its own.

The XJ is, "Baby."

She is my baby and it's also a play on the XJ's freaky linked brake system, as in, "No one puts Baby in a corner."

[Bonz]

Silly me, after I thought of Quincy, I saw your signature line...

[3Phase]

Heh, Quincy would be a fine moniker if the bike regularly came up with its own astounding solutions to the problems in its episodic drama instead of causing them.

[Bonz]

^^ Good one! ^^

[Sebastian_99]

Bike is firing up well from cold start. I'm getting a little bit of hesitation when I hit the throttle but I think that should get resolved by tightening the throttle cable. The last thing I have to do is square away the wiring from the bike to the fairing. Unfortunately the wiring harness I bought from Andreas doesn't fit with the female end on the fairing. Gonna see if I can find two new 9 pin clips that I can wire in. Then I just have to figure out what goes to what. Electrical, my favorite! Haha.

It's not looking like I'll have the rear turn signals squared away by the rally but I've always used hand signals anyways so I should be good.

I have to figure out the Kill switch issue, not sure what the problem is but I may be able to get a new assembly from one of the bike junkyards in Colorado Springs (action cycles).

[DiverRay]

For the kill switch, look at mikesxs.com for a new assembly, and put your plugs/wires on it. The plastic inside the kill switch falls apart, as in a LOT of little plastic bits! Your only 2 ways to fix it is bypass or new. A used one will start to break after about 6 months if it's from an early '80 model.
The fairing connector you can get at radio shack or any good electrical store. Pretty easy for some of us to help with the wiring, so I say bonz can probably help.If not, I will be at the rally and can look at things then.

[Bonz]

Is the one on my 1980 special going to quit in six months? Will the one on Greg's bike or CaptonZap's or Scott's bike quit in six months? I gather you are simply trying to say it's not a potential long-term fix like new stuff would be. I'm not trying to be pessimistic, however I would have decent faith in a used part simply because many bikes have the original ones without problems.

Sebastian, here is one on eBay with free shipping. You need to get one on there and counting on Action Cycles to have one is going to be the same as getting this from eBay delivered to your house.

https://www.ebay.com/i/152562140250?...D1232879853088

[Sebastian_99]

For the kill switch, look at mikesxs.com for a new assembly, and put your plugs/wires on it. The plastic inside the kill switch falls apart, as in a LOT of little plastic bits! Your only 2 ways to fix it is bypass or new. A used one will start to break after about 6 months if it's from an early '80 model.
The fairing connector you can get at radio shack or any good electrical store. Pretty easy for some of us to help with the wiring, so I say bonz can probably help.If not, I will be at the rally and can look at things then.

DiverRay,

I appreciate the offer but I'd prefer to head to the rally with an operational headlight, just in case ya know!

If there are any radioshacks still open I'll pick those connectors up.

[Sebastian_99]

Is the one on my 1980 special going to quit in six months? Will the one on Greg's bike or CaptonZap's or Scott's bike quit in six months? I gather you are simply trying to say it's not a potential long-term fix like new stuff would be. I'm not trying to be pessimistic, however I would have decent faith in a used part simply because many bikes have the original ones without problems.

Sebastian, here is one on eBay with free shipping. You need to get one on there and counting on Action Cycles to have one is going to be the same as getting this from eBay delivered to your house.

https://www.ebay.com/i/152562140250?...D1232879853088

I'm wondering if a simple toggle switch would be a decent replacement?

[skids]

I'm wondering if a simple toggle switch would be a decent replacement?

It would work in a pinch, but if you make modifications to the wiring connectors for that and then try to mount a stock one, you may wish you hadn't. For example, snipping off ring connectors and stripping back the insulation is going to shorten the wires.

To tell you the truth, I virtually never use the kill switch. You decide, but if it was my bike, I would bypass it until the correct switch arrived in the mail.

[Sebastian_99]

How would I go about bypassing the Kill switch? I'm fine with not using it for a while