Beginner, with tons of questions. Excited to join this Forum!

[allenb87]

Hello everybody.

I am a new rider that has been wanting to ride my whole life. I just recently bought a 1982 Yamaha XS400 Heritage Special, it is in good condition, with almost 7,000 miles on it and a brand new carb. The PO took care of the bike and road it occasionally.

Now my first question is: If you were a beginner, and you wanted to learn how to work on the bike comfortably with somebody there to show you the ropes, where would you go? I live in New Orleans, and in this city, everybody is trying to make a buck, but I don't want to spend tons of money for somebody to do an easy job, (such as explaining and showing me wiring.) Yet, I don't feel comfortable enough right now to start clipping wires and taking things apart.

Now this seems to be my novice question. When I first bought it, it started up like a charm. Hit the ignition button and VROOM! Over the past couple days, it's been getting harder and harder (the climate has stayed consistent) to start. At first it was taking just a little extra throttle to get her warmed up. Then it took 1/2 a pull on the choke, then a whole pull. Then it wouldn't start. Eventually it started clicking like a dead battery (lights fading over a day), and now.....nothing.... I hope this seems like an easy fix. The PO said he bought a new batter last June, doesn't seem like it would die that easy... and quick!. (Tried kick starting, no luck.) The acid level on the battery seems fine now. But, if I haven't a clue if that really could be the so. I'm considering on buying a new battery today, just hoping you all had a little more insight, or encountered a problem before.

Thanks for having me!

 

[16VGTIDave]

Welcome!

As far as basics are concerned, a bike is no different than a car, truck, or even an airplane. Nuts, bolts, wires, internal combustion engine, etc. If you have a friend, family member, or neighbour who does their own wrenching, they can get you started with the basics. But, don't accept everything you are told as fact. There are a lot more people who think they know things than there are people who do. You will have to do some learning on your own. The 'net has many sites that discuss the basics. Your local library has books. It takes time to acquire knowledge. And the more knowledge you acquire, the more you will know what you don't know.

I'd suggest that you loose the notion of "clipping wires". As our bike get older, it is getting harder to find parts, and wiring/electrical cause many people problems. You'd be better served thinking "How do I disconnect that?" and "Where does that wire go". Just a suggestion...

With regard to your battery problem, it sounds like the charging system isn't working properly. Your first step should be trying to charge the battery. If it takes a charge, you can then get the bike running and get into troubleshooting the problem. Our bikes won't start or run without a good battery as this is what powers the ignition.

If you do a search here, you will find a number of threads about the charging system.

HTH,
Dave

 

[bcware]

If you're just starting the bike over and over and letting it idle while you play with it in the garage you're going to kill the battery. Your charging system could be just fine. Normally when you start the motorcycle you need to ride it around for a good 20 minutes to recharge the battery. The charging system is pretty weak on these bikes.

For now put the battery on a charger as soon as you can. We can walk you through testing the charging system if you want. There are also many repair manuals for download on this site.

 

[allenb87]

You guys are awesome! I did have a friend ride it around, he said I need to adjusting the way it idle, hopefully a neighbor has a charger, so I can learn how to work and operate it. I'm guessing everybody is familiar with knowing how to add a new battery to the bike? Adding in the acid seems to freak me out a bit. Is this something that needs to be supervised, or as long as I follow the instructions, I should be fine?

 

[Scorpio1963]

1st of all welcome here if I havent said it 100 times yet its close but you just found a great group of knowlegeable people here.
About your bike its easy to learn how to ride and you will enjoy it alot.This bike is an awesome beginners bike to learn on and maybe more.Its not a power house but they are dependable and will satisfy most of your transportation needs plus add the fun factor.
I bought mine as a beginners bike but I hope to graduate to something a bit more powerful
in the future.With that said these bikes have alot of potential as projects or just daily commuter bikes.

 

[xschris]

Welcome to the forum These bikes need a good charged battery to run right, so I hope that is all you need.

 

[allenb87]

Now, excuse me if this is a stupid question.

(My old teacher used to say "There are no such things as stupid questions." She must have never been on the internet before")

Out of curiosity. When it comes to replacing the battery. I have to pour the acid into the battery, filling to appropriate lines. How dangerous is this? And why does it require me to do this? I'm just curious, why car battery replacement seems much easier than this.


You guys freakin' rock!

 

[xschris]

I use distilled water in my batteries and a small eye dropper to fill with. Its easy just have the battery on a level surface and don't over fill it.

 

[16VGTIDave]

When Lead-Acid batteries are charged over 14.7 Volts they break down the water in the Electrolyte (acid and water mixture). This creates hydrogen gas, so make sure there are no sources of ignition around!

Through the life of the battery, the water will need to be replenished on a regular basis or the Electrolyte level will be reduced. If it isn't replenished, the battery will fail to produce the power required to start the bike. As Chris said, distilled water is the only thing to use. All other sources of water will have impurities that will shorten the life of the battery.

There are other types of batteries that don't require any servicing, but they cost more. Car batteries, in particular, are designed with the average driver's mentality in mind: "If it starts, all is good. If not, call someone and complain."

 

[Scorpio1963]

when I got my new battery I got a seperate container with acid.It has a tube at the end of the pour spout that will fit into each holse on the cell of the battery.Use gloves and the appropiate eyewear and slowly fill each cell.Nothing to be scared of.Do this outside also.If your battery cells are low you can buy more acid to ad or as mentioned distilled water.You can take tap water and bring it to boil let it cool and then use that also.

 

[drewpy]

you can use the ice formed in your freezer as that is distilled as its just collected water vapour. (its not the same as putting tap water in your freezer BTW)

 

[16VGTIDave]

Either distilled water is real expensive everywhere else, or batteries are cheap.

Why would one want to risk trashing a ~$50 battery for the sake of a $4 gallon jug of (properly) distilled water? Especially when that jug will probably provide enough water to service the battery for it's life, and probably it's replacement as well. Is the local grocery store or pharmacy too far away?

 

[Charles]

Why don't you get an AGM battery?

 

[phate]

If your battery cells are low you can buy more acid to ad...

Never use acid to refill a battery unless acid was let out by a spill or crack (in which case you should get a new battery anyways). The thing that causes normal level drop is the evaporation of water from the mixture and by adding acid you would be increasing already high acid concentration causing more damage to the battery. As you then said distilledbwater should be used.