Crankcase breather tube

[JPaganel]

I am finding more stuff has been discontinued since I last had an XS. Not really surprising, 1980 is 40 years away, even if it doesn't seem like it to me.

Latest casualty seems to be the crankcase breather tube, 2L0-11166-00-00.

What have people replaced it with? It seems like a regular hose would kink with the two fairly sharp bends it has.

 

[xschris]

I have them. Pm me if you want one.

 

[amc49]

If not that then who sez it has to run in the OEM location?, common like car type PCV hose will work for that all day long. I dump OEM hose like that at first opportunity just to not be strapped to older parts and use something new the real world has en masse. I generally redo that hose circuit anyway.

 

[JPaganel]

I kinda want to see what I can cobble up from something new.

The tube is 1/2 inch. I can get 1/2 inch silicone tubing. The bends are a little problematic. Maybe a couple of plastic elbows?

 

[amc49]

Use whatever it takes, plastic elbows are fine just don't let them sit directly on engine around the fins.

 

[xschris]

Keep in mind the heat from the motor/crank case. You don't want it to melt or collapse.

 

[amc49]

Best to run hose high up to around under of tank to let any oil drain back into motor, then frop the hose around back of tank to then exit somewhere around back of motor, often there is a tuck in nook or cranny around there to one side (to not put it on the tire) and extend hose at least even with bottom of engine. Maybe one inch below. You want 95% of the oil to drain back into engine and what does not then has a drop to get out of engine.

Doing that I've found virtually no bends needed other than extremely gentle ones needing no plastic other than maybe a plastic wiretie and just the ticket.

 

[xschris]

Stock xs400 bikes has the hose going to a intake air crossover hose from the air boxes. It's about 4" long. Also the crank case outlet pipe has a baffle in it that keeps most oil out of the hose. Only vapor from crank case and any blow by comes out.

 

[amc49]

'Only vapor from crank case and any blow by comes out'

So they say, I say nay. Blowby always has some degree of oil in it. The OEM method there is for HC pollution control and nothing else. I defeat that method all day long as it often leads to oil in the airbox which can be a problem. I have never seen a baffle that can't be helped and why you usually find a drop of oil at the end of every line I run like that, the system is pressured and the only way to get zero oil is to put it under vacuum. BTDT.

I would leave the pressure exchange tube in airbox alone, it aids the carb slides; just block off the case vent going to it and run it in another way. Bulletproof.

Or one can simply stay with the OEM...........I for one tend to improve while at the same time simplifying things to not need so many OEM parts and cheaper to run but still dead reliable. You should see the 10+ hoses I remove off later pollution controlled Honda DOHCs. They really add the garbage on them now.

 

[xschris]

I know nothing of DOHC cb750 bikes. But do know the SOHC xs400 and even after many thousands of miles only a light residue will form in the H-pipe (which also has a baffle in it) ahead of the carbs where the case hose attaches. The air filters stay dry and clean from oil. The stock oem setup works very well for the bikes I have. I have tried many different setups with these but the one the engineers from Yamaha came up with always did the best.

 

[amc49]

There's danger in thinking the OEM can do no wrong. Good luck with that in today's engineer eat you alive situations. Thiings are not what they were in the '80s.

I have proven that countless times, and often to the tune of essentially making up to $3000/hr. before, my norm is around $500/hr. when I work the numbers out. Practically anything I do for an average cost of $25 or less ends up fixing something you would pay a thousand dollars for if presented to OEM dealer. I've done it literally hundreds of times. Extremely rare for me to pay over $50 for anything.

The motorcycles are tinkertoys as compared to cars now.

 

[xschris]

Sorry J. This was off topic.

 

[amc49]

I do the same with modern electronic cars, nobody else ever touches one once I own it, I do everything. I need no warranty and tell them that when I buy the car. I've had 3 and mostly 4 running 100% of the time for the last 42 years. The only thing I need a shop for is mounting tires and I'd do that myself too if I was younger. I don't even balance car tires any more, it only wastes money. Another almost $60 pulled out of thin air there and never a price to pay for it. Just put a $80 battery in the Nissan instead of the correct $160 one and it looks like it came from the factory. The same one now used in 3 other cars too so I can switch them around as needed. Reinventing the wheel.............easy.

Was just noticing your bike mileage on the 400s, thinking about mine on a big mess of bikes has total at likely over 400K miles on motocycle alone, maybe more.

 

[amc49]

My list of previously owned bikes............Bridgestone 90, Yamaha Trail 80 and another 60, a Honda 65, Yamaha 100 single, FOUR Yamaha Twinjet 100 twins, two Honda CB160s, Yamaha YM1 305 which had like 3 engines in it, Montgomery Wards Riverside (Benelli) 125, a Sears Allstate 124 (thinking Aermacchi), Honda 305 scrambler, Bultaco Sherpa 250, Suzuki X-6 250, Honda 175 twin, Honda CB200, Kawasaki 250-3, Kawasaki 400-3, Yamaha YZ125X, Suzuki RM-125, Kawasaki 500-3, Honda CB550F, Kawasaki 750-3, Honda CB750F, Honda CB900F, Honda CB750SC Nighthawk.

I've driven and worked on many more than those. Got the Bridgestone before they quit making bikes to go to tires only and 12 years old in '65, I rode bikes solid until I got my first car in '78. Rode to a job in rain or whatever beginning around '69. Pretty much all year round.

I took the Kaw 400 in for warranty issues and they could not fix it. I discovered it was a skills issue at the shop (no less than the head mech) and the beginning of my never trusting OEM mechs for spit. The shop fix was to try to burn holes in the pistons on a brand new bike by putting in plugs 2 ranges hotter than needed. Fixed the issue myself by intentionally NOT following the service manual and fancy that. I've done it literally hundreds of times since then. Service manuals are great but I've never seen one that didn't have quite a few mistakes in it and some can really get you into trouble. Like Ford ones explaining how to set DOHC cams with VCT and it bent so many valves in SVT engines I can't count as well as produce DTCs on thousands of engines. I realized pretty quick the issue on my Contour with it and came up with a totally different method that was 100% bulletproof and easily followed. Then proceeded to go to war with all the people that think OEM can do no wrong, I didn't win but MY engine stayed running correctly and I could repeat it over and over, the other people who absolutely believed in the OEM method never could get it right without messing up 3-4 times first. Sometimes it's just better to shut up and let others tear their stuff up and sometimes I do that. When I asked every longterm Ford mech I ran across online why the engines had so much trouble there all I ever got was that the tech didn't follow the service manual correctly. When I then zeroed in closer to ask how they could not tell me. There you go, all brains cease to function. They knew something was wrong but didn't give a sh-t. By then I could explain why to a 'T', but getting somebody dopey enough to not know to listen to common sense is like...........well, I was sick of it. Brains are hard to find nowadays. Good ones that work anyway.

I pulled the same stunt on the web offset printing press engineers when I came up with a cheap method that saved our company more than $200,000 a year in excess paper waste. They said what I was doing was impossible and even came out to view it, walking away shaking their heads. That didn't stop what I did from working for the next 10 years I was there. Figure out how much money that is.

Reinventing the wheel. You shoulda seen my next raise................