What did you do with your XS today?

Took it for a safety, seems I have more to do. They wanted the piece of frame at the rear, the PO cut it off, welded back on. Did that, and it actually cleans up the back end nicely, looks like it should. Ordered a new set of handlebars (they are bent), brake pads and fork seals. Started striping down front end, removed handlebars, brake caliper, to prepare for the new parts arrival.

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Got the carbs back together and the bike started right up. Still have to sync the carbs & some fine tuning along with a valve adjustment. But it seems to run better already.
 
Today was judgement day and it went well. It fired up right away, after 30 seconds I dropped the choke to half and continued to let her warm up. Even once it was warm after 5min I could not get the bike to idle with the choke completely off, had to keep half choke the entire time. Then when I would try to drop it into first it would stall every time. Any ideas? Clutch is in, so it should not effect the RPM's or am I missing something?
 
Finally got the valves adjusted and it's a lot more responsive now. It's still screaming up to 4000 at idle after it warms up a bit, and I'm hoping syncing will help with that. The left cylinder is pretty rich. I also replaced the vacuum line off the petcock a while back and it fit snugly enough cold, but when I pulled the tank off tonight it was pretty loose. I'm guessing it wasn't sealing very well because my low-speed throttle response is suddenly miles better.
 
Today marks day 10 of perfect riding weather... Now if only I didn't live so close to work >_<

My new carb adjustments are working wonderfully, now I just need to find a new stator so I can stay out after the street lights come on =P
 

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Had both out for a nice ride. Hit the first 1k mi. of the season on the 79:) Only 600 for the 80, better start riding that a bit more to keep them even:laugh:
 
Was going to ride to a company BBQ but when I went I start it up she fought me big time. Electric start turned and turned but needed some serious coaxing to start. Once it was running it didn't want to start rolling, I would open the throttle wide and it would chug a bit inching forward until I got to 4k rpm, then it would take off! Bummer!!
 
Been priming, sanding, priming, sanding the fenders, tank, and seat bodywork. Stripping the tank revealed some old bondo, so I replaced it with new bondo.

Swapped the carb screws for Allen screws.

Going to try drilling out two broken exhaust header studs. The machine shop quoted me "at least $200" so I'm doing it myself. If I screw it up a new used head on eBay is still less.
 
It was with my 650 and wasn't today (Friday PM), but I had a crash.
Broke 3 ribs (on me) and a couple of turn signals, foot-peg and a large SlipStream windshield. The latter took most of the hit and I am told the damage elsewhere is not bad.
When I am more mobile, I will check it out and maybe report to y'all .... if it's not too embarrassing :wink2:.

Large quantity of unexpected sand an gravel on a sharp corner with reverse camber and a tightening turning radius. Luckily the corner is well known to me and I was going the safe speed for bare pavement. I remember realizing I couldn't turn on the aggregate, opting for a straight run into the shallow ditch and fen beyond - then :wtf: seeing the big brown boulder on the other side of the ditch, directly in the new path.
When I attempted a slight course correction I felt the rear go left and I went down right. Very unpleasant but better than a direct hit on the boulder. Live and learn.
 
Deleted the stock hand controls, replaced the indicator switch with a mini toggle running the wires through the bars. Deleted the kill switch and mounted a new smaller key ignition switch in the headlight bucket. Also mounted a 3 way toggle for off high and low beam in the headlight bucket so everything will be looking very tidy. Also got out my new vm30s and changed the jets and clip positions to a spec that should be a good starting point for tuning. Also picked up this old school Arai MXV helmet for free
 

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Ok it was yesterday but still worth posting. I been working on this bike for a year under the topic Cheap Thrills. Long story short I had my first ride on it since I started the project last year. I've got a quick video of it on YouTube right here

Thanks everyone for your help in getting me this far there were days when I didn't think it was going to come together. Now I have to re-jet the carbs, add a fender, signals, fork seals, different head light, change speedometer, remove as many circuits as possible, and paint. Am I missing anything?
 
Did the fork seals today. Not as bad as I thought it would be. I was also able to free the brake piston from the caliper, thought it was never coming out. Now to order a new piston and seals.
 
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Recovered my prodigal locknut, reset the valve clearances with the engine cold, synced the carbs, and went for a rip. She boots now. Ready to do some proper riding.
 
Rebuilt the petcock on my 79 today. First time I have done this in the 15 years I have owned it. It was starting to weep a little from the diaphragm and already had the rebuild kit for four years so I figured it was about time:laugh:
 

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