It begins... And I need another part.

[eroellig]

John, your hint worked. I got the seats out.

The o-ring on #4 seat is almost not there anymore. I'll have to look up a replacement tomorrow. Right now I need to get ready to meet some friends for the evening.

Eric

[eroellig]

Since I've got the carb's mostly stripped...

...should I even think about taking the choke apart?

Eric

[John]

Not unless it really needs it. Have you checked to see if the circuit is open? The ckoke is just adding more fuel to the engine. It is fed by the long thin brass tubes that protude into the small port in the aluminum bowl itself. Open the choke and apply some air or spray cleaner in the small brass tube. Does it spray out from the top of the air horn in the engine side of the carb? Check to make sure the small jet that is inside the metal of the bowl where the brass tube sits. It should be clear. You will see a small hole in the inside of the float bowl on the inner wall of the bowl. That is where the choke circuit is fed. The jet is very small, so don't go poking around in the small hole with a drill or a pick. If it is clogged, you'll be able to get some carb spray into the hole and let it set for a while. I have been able to use a very thin piece of copper wire to uplug the jet. A word of caution...don't have you face over any part of the carb when usingthe spray cleaner. You can easily get some in your eyes. DAMHIKIJD. If you have access to compressed air, use that to check and clear the passageways in the carbs.

[eroellig]

Originally posted by John
Not unless it really needs it. ...

John,

Thanks again for your advise.

Eric

[eroellig]

In theory, I have carb's again...

In theory, I have carbs again instead of a pile of parts! Gotta do the bench adjusting now. It'll be good to get on with the rest of the bike. I think I'll concentrate on the front end of the bike first, check valve adjustment & cam chain, then service the forks.

One question , I had gotten a replacement right hand control to replace the engine stop switch that had broken. When I went to swap the parts I discovered that the old part had a 3 wire 4 pin plug and the new one is 4 wire 6 pin

The new one was supposed to be from another 1980 bike. Any clues what the deal is? I suppose that I can figure out a common side and rewire the new part onto the old plug.... PITA.

I'm about to order tires and I've been reading the threads on stainless braided brake hose. Those >SHOULD< be the last big order I need to place. The only big question mark here is #2 rings. I really hope they are only "stuck".

[eroellig]

Valve clearance question

I got my valve cover off & checked clearances.

This thing is tight. For reference, if it matters, the garage is around 45F.

Intakes are all right around .10 to .11 mm, right around the lower end of what Clymers says.

Exhaust are all around .15 mm.

Clymers says that the exhaust should be around .21-.24mm. Is this thing too tight to leave alone? Do you think I should swap the shims?

Cam chain looks nice and tight.

Eric

[eroellig]

Best way to remove valve cover gasket?

Well, I finally had time to read up some more on valve clearances. It looks like I DO need to get XSited about my readings. Expecially for the exhaust side.

Just started to check which shim thicknesses I have and, to do that, started scraping head gasket. Man oh me is that stuff on tight.

What is the best way to remove it? I've been dribbling carb cleaner on it to try to soften it up, then scraping. I'm afraid I'm going to gouge the gasket surface.

Any tips?

BTW: I've managed to get my Motion Pro tool to work without any mods for the first two tries...

Eric

[Geezer]

I've found that a SR250 right side throttle switch assembly works great on an XS11 and it has an updated starter button that doesn't crap out like the stock one.

On the down side, you have to replace the wiring in the switch with the stock wires from your old switch. This isn't as hard as it sounds.

If you're interested, I think I have an extra SR250 switch/thorttle around here somewhere. As I recall I have one each for my 2 bikes and one extra.

Geezer

[eroellig]

steering question

With the bike up in the air, I notice that the steering seems to have a detent at the straight ahead position. It seems kinda strange to me. Is this normal or does it indicate some kind of problem with bearings?

Otherwise, the front end doesn't seem to have any slop in it at all.

Eric

[randy]

Probably a dent in the bearing race(s). That can happen when the bearings are loose/dry for a while and get pounded.

[John]

Replace the bearings soon! If the amount of detent gets worse, it can cause you to use a little more force than necessary, to make a turn, and wind up going too far.

[eroellig]

The more I look...

I keep finding little issues like this. I guess it's a good thing I keep looking at all the details.

Thanks for confirming that something is wrong with it.

Eric

[fredintoon]

Take care out there

Hi Eric,
2 of my jets bust off as well, luckily they came out OK.
Do you suppose the brass de-zincified? This happens on brass screws in salt water, the zinc leaches out to leave a copper sponge of little strength. WTF does this inside a carburettor I dunno though.
I've never seen tapered roller head-races fail, unlike crowded ball headraces which Brinnel for a pastime but I guess it could happen. I'd suspect to find a chunk of debris in there rather than a race failure but either way you gotta look, right?
BTW I notice you postscript your signature with
**very first bike**
Once you get the XS11SG on the road take extreme care.
It's a large, heavy and powerful machine that runs out of roadholding about 20mph before it runs out of speed.
To use one as a starter bike is like taking driver's ed. in a Grand Prix car.
Fred Hill, S'toon.

[eroellig]

Re: Take care out there

Originally posted by fredintoon
Hi Eric,
[...]
BTW I notice you postscript your signature with
**very first bike**
Once you get the XS11SG on the road take extreme care.
It's a large, heavy and powerful machine that runs out of roadholding about 20mph before it runs out of speed.
To use one as a starter bike is like taking driver's ed. in a Grand Prix car.
Fred Hill, S'toon.

Fred, there are a few things that lead me to try this as a first bike.

1) It fits me. Smaller bikes feel very cramped.

2) I plan on being conservative with the throttle.

3) I have a well developed sense of mortality.

Eric

[eroellig]

Valve Question

When I was pulling my valve shims last night to see what I had, I almost couldn't turn #4 exhaust bucket to get the notch in position. All the other buckets would turn easily. Is this a problem or do some of them turn hard?

Eric