New to me '81 Special II

Vintage_Metal

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Hi everyone. New guy here. Name's Aaron...
So a friend of mine has had this '81 Yamaha for years and it languished among her seven other bikes. Only getting ridden once or twice a year, rotting under a cover in her backyard. I'd ridden it a few times over the years and really had fun on it. It's a great little bike for mountain roads! Anyway... recently she decided to start downsizing her collection and offered it to me in return for some landscaping work. How could I say no?

So here it is after I cleaned it up a bit. The battery was toast, it's only holding about 8.5 volts after being on a charger. It's a junk WalMart NeverStart. There was a family of roaches living in the battery tray. Carbs are going to be cleaned when I get some time. Basically all I've done so far is wash it. BUT...I have questions.
PO said it last ran in February of 2017 which isn't that long but the crankcase seems really stiff. I pulled the plugs (which were black and wrong) and sprayed some liquid wrench/deep creep in the cylinders. Gradually the kick start would move but it still took almost all of my 160lbs to get it going... with no plugs. I put new plugs in and it was still really stiff. Yes it was in neutral.
My question is... can anyone describe how much effort it should take to kick these bikes? I'm just used to two-stroke Vespas which take no effort at all. I watched a few vids and it seems like people can kick them fairly easily. My plan is to spray a whole bunch more deep creep in the cylinders and let it work itself out.
Any other suggestions besides cracking the cases?

Second... If my battery was still holding some voltage... should the bike start when kicked? I get the 'tick tick tick' when I hit the starter button but it doesn't have enough to engage. Kicking it didn't get me a pop like it was even sparking. I'm also not sure if it's getting fuel to the carbs. The gas in the tank is pretty old and probably had nothing in it to stabilize it.

So the list is starting to get long.
New correct plugs. I only had new B7ES on hand, no BP7ES
Drain old gas, add new.
Oil and filter change.
Clean carbs
New battery
Maybe new plug wires.
Change fork oil.
Maybe wrap the pipes and lower the forks a touch.

Yamaha.JPG


Thanks for reading my long post!
I have brought a few bikes back from the dead and I'm really excited about this one!
 
Went to drain the oil and about a gallon and a half of gas poured out of the crankcase. That's what you get for leaving the petcock on and sitting for 7 months. Hope the seals aren't effed up.

Onward...
 
Went to drain the oil and about a gallon and a half of gas poured out of the crankcase. That's what you get for leaving the petcock on and sitting for 7 months. Hope the seals aren't effed up.

Onward...

Well, you answered my question for me. My bike started leaking fuel into my crankcase last summer luckily for me I had my left side cover off because I was messing around with the timing. So when I came it the next day it was hard to kick but the smell of gas, and the puddle under the bike made me aware of the problem immediately. Drained the oil and fuel mix and no major harm done that I can tell.

Hope your bearings are ok.
 
If it were me...i'd rebuild the engine to make sure...whilst in there,check everything is to spec,replace piston rings,give the cylinders a good hone,reseat/adjust valves,replace valvestem seals,all new gaskets...
 
Yeah I went to take the carbs off. Turned the tap to off, pulled the fuel line and gas pissed out all over my foot haha. Tap is definitely done. Not sure if I want to rebuild that or just get the gravity fed one. Carbs were full of gas too so they'll get a good cleaning.
 
If it were me...i'd rebuild the engine to make sure...whilst in there,check everything is to spec,replace piston rings,give the cylinders a good hone,reseat/adjust valves,replace valvestem seals,all new gaskets...

I'm hanging out with the PO today and I think she had the top end done within the past year and only put less than 100 miles on it since. I'm going to check with her. But yeah all that is something to consider unfortunately. Bike has 11,500 miles btw.
 
I replaced mine with a gravity one from mike's xs as the rebuild kits for the vacuum ones were almost the same price as a whole new one...
Works great...just don't forget to turn it off after ridind... don't ask how I know:confused:
 
I'm hanging out with the PO today and I think she had the top end done within the past year and only put less than 100 miles on it since. I'm going to check with her. But yeah all that is something to consider unfortunately. Bike has 11,500 miles btw.
Was just my OCD...gas in the case scared me a little...but maybe that's just me..Heard of it happening to others who just drained the engine and replaced the oil/oil filter and everything went fine.
 
Yeah I'll definitely get gravity fed. Good news, the whole motor was gone through sometime last year (by a competent mechanic) so things are probably fine internally.
 
FYI, all the petcocks are gravity fed. The vacuum ones have a vacuum actuated valve inside but are still just gravity fed.
 
Well since I'm kind of broke at the moment I just kept the battery on a tender for a week and it slightly revived. Took the petcock apart for a cleaning and I stretched the spring out to renew some tension. No flow with 'on' or reserve, flows on prime so it seems to work correctly again. Sprayed out the carbs too. There was a little rust in both float bowls.

It cranked a few times without gas so I put some in the tank and she fired up. The gas was the old junk I drained from it so I let the bike die, drained again and will get fresh gas with some stabil for the next attempt.

But it runs!
 
OK the engine itself is running really well with fresh gas and time to warm up. Revs clean, returns to idle quick enough. Not a lot of smoking from the pipes. BUT.

I HAVE A CLUTCH ADJUSTMENT PROBLEM.
I've searched a lot on this forum and others and haven't seen my issue. Here goes:
- When I got the bike there was 'grab' on the kickstart lever. I could step on it and it took some pressure to push down.
After the oil/gas mix was drained, there was no more pressure on the kickstart and shifting into gear didn't give any resistance... felt like rolling in neutral.
New oil is Rotella 15W40 non-synthetic which I searched around for opinions and consensus deemed it acceptable (I hope, it's what I run in my KLR).
-I read/watched tutorials and fiddled with the left side adjustment screw on the case five or six times and finally got it so I can kick the bike to start and shifting into first will stall the bike when I let out the clutch lever.
- Tried to ride and I'm not sure how to describe it... the clutch is slipping. It's like a light dimmer switch at halfway.
I can get moving in first but it just can't get any speed. I can shift up to 4th and a top speed of about 30-35mph.
It feels like how it would if you were holding the lever halfway in. Ive ridden this bike in good running shape and it usually moves out pretty good. This is nowhere near that previous performance level.

I guess my question is, how touchy is that damn adjustment mechanism? Should I just keep at it? Is there something else I should check? The bike sat a while could it be plates sticking and I need to just keep running the motor until they free up? I did remove the kickstart lever to clean and polish it. Could I have reinstalled incorrectly?

Thanks for any answers y'all.
 
OK the engine itself is running really well with fresh gas and time to warm up. Revs clean, returns to idle quick enough. Not a lot of smoking from the pipes. BUT.

I HAVE A CLUTCH ADJUSTMENT PROBLEM.
I've searched a lot on this forum and others and haven't seen my issue. Here goes:
- When I got the bike there was 'grab' on the kickstart lever. I could step on it and it took some pressure to push down.
After the oil/gas mix was drained, there was no more pressure on the kickstart and shifting into gear didn't give any resistance... felt like rolling in neutral.
New oil is Rotella 15W40 non-synthetic which I searched around for opinions and consensus deemed it acceptable (I hope, it's what I run in my KLR).
-I read/watched tutorials and fiddled with the left side adjustment screw on the case five or six times and finally got it so I can kick the bike to start and shifting into first will stall the bike when I let out the clutch lever.
- Tried to ride and I'm not sure how to describe it... the clutch is slipping. It's like a light dimmer switch at halfway.
I can get moving in first but it just can't get any speed. I can shift up to 4th and a top speed of about 30-35mph.
It feels like how it would if you were holding the lever halfway in. Ive ridden this bike in good running shape and it usually moves out pretty good. This is nowhere near that previous performance level.

I guess my question is, how touchy is that damn adjustment mechanism? Should I just keep at it? Is there something else I should check? The bike sat a while could it be plates sticking and I need to just keep running the motor until they free up? I did remove the kickstart lever to clean and polish it. Could I have reinstalled incorrectly?

Thanks for any answers y'all.

I run 20W-50 in mine and have adjusted the clutch and have no issues.

Have you adjusted the clutch at the motor or just up top on the bars ? that right there may help.
 
Yes I've followed the tutorials. Screwed the handlebar adjuster in so there's some slack, then adjusted the locknut/screw down in the case. I'm going to give it a day to marinate then go at it again.
 
Screw the handle adjuster all the way in then the case adjustment. Take most of the slack out with the handle adjustment, but leave a little bit. To help un-stick any clutch plates pull in the clutch lever and kick the bike over. The shouldn't be any resistance at all. These older bikes need a thicker oil like 20w-50. They will make more noise at the rockers with lighter stuff.
 
Screw the handle adjuster all the way in then the case adjustment. Take most of the slack out with the handle adjustment, but leave a little bit. To help un-stick any clutch plates pull in the clutch lever and kick the bike over. The shouldn't be any resistance at all. These older bikes need a thicker oil like 20w-50. They will make more noise at the rockers with lighter stuff.

even with 20-50 they still sound like a box of rocks :laugh2: these things remind me of my VW days...........oh to be young again.........
 
This XS purrs like a kitten compared to my old thunk thunk 650 single klr!

Rode around the hood for a bit yesterday and it feels really close. It pulls like crap in first and second but once I get going past about 30mph it feels like it's got some oomph. Gonna see if I can dial in that adjustment screw a little more.
 
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