Hello New Member

[Specdog]

Hello, nice forum you have here. I live in SW Ontario in the Lower Great Lakes Region. Yesterday I dragged an '82 Heritage Special home. As you know it is the last of the SOHC. It has been sitting for two years and the PO didn't know anything about bikes and never rode it. It did run on one cylinder though, has spark so likely plugged pilot. The battery showed 11.8v and is holding a 12.54 charge today 12 hours after getting the green light from my Tender. The cells were overfilled to the brim, should I leave it or withdraw fluid to normal levels. The front brake is sticking badly, there is something going on here as the pads show a large difference in thickness. The bloody chain is tight as can be, as if someone installed a too short chain. Sadly it has been run this way as it is plenty dirty. There is a bit of room however to slacken the chain at the adjusters. It leaks oil from underneath so I am guessing the usual suspects; shift shaft seal, clutch push rod seal and the most likely countershaft seal from the too tight chain. The intake manifolds have tape on them so I'm guessing they are porous. It seems any previous maintenance was either bodged or ignored.
Is there any good news about this XS, well the inside of the gas tank is spotless and not even a hint of rust. The airfilters looks surprisingly good but judging by the silicone I'm thinking the foam has been replaced with aftermarket material.
I'm going to download the manual from our great forum and get at it. Oh yeah here is a pic from my trailer arriving home.

 

[bcware]

I don't think you should remove fluid from the battery manually as you'll still have a diluted concentration of lower volume. Your best bet is to allow the water to evaporate from the battery and hope that little to no acid follows it.

Take the front brake off and clean the caliper (remove the piston); you may be able to fix the brake without having to buy anything except new pads.

I'd remove the drive chain and replace it. New, name brand heavy duty 530 chains are only around $30. Sprockets are fairly cheap too.

Replace the intake manifolds (carb boots); don't waste your time trying to repair those because it will never work reliably.

OEM air filters seem to be unobtainable for these motorcycle except in certain rare cases. Sometimes I will see them on ebay marked up considerably. There has been a lot of success simply gutting the oem ones and wrapping them in new filter foam.

 

[16VGTIDave]

Welcome! That is a nice looking bike! Another forum member from SW Ontario, cool!

It sounds like you have a good understanding of bikes and what needs to be done. I think that you will need to look at how the clutch cable is routed. I don't think it is supposed to be outside the frame.

When you need parts, Chris at Sirius Motorsports in Cambridge is very helpful and reasonably close. http://www.siriusconinc.com/ They have a huge inventory, and can get the parts they don't have rather quickly. I was able to get most everything I needed for my Maxim through him at great prices.

Dave

 

[phate]

OEM air filters seem to be unobtainable for these motorcycle except in certain rare cases...

@bcware aren't these the filters he needs http://www.mikesxs.net/product/40-1501.html

 

[Specdog]

Yes those are for my bike. Pretty cheap too, I'll put those on the list. Thanks

 

[63-Coupe]

Welcome to the forum from another Ontario 82 Heritage Special owner.

 

[bcware]

@bcware aren't these the filters he needs http://www.mikesxs.net/product/40-1501.html

Yes. Get them while they last! Every site I have ever seen with these listed never actually had them in stock.

 

[xschris]

Looks like a nice bike! Welcome to the forum

 

[drewpy]

welcome to the forum

 

[Specdog]

Thanks for the tips and the welcome. The picture does make the bike's cosmetics appear better than it really is. I believe the bike has original paint everywhere except the top end. The paint there is flat and rubs off easily.The cylinder and head are stained and almost appear moldy. I suspect Yamaha used the Midnight Special black treatment (without the gold) on this model, even the signal light stalks are painted black. The tank, fenders and side covers should respond well to a cut and polish, I'll post pics in a few months when she is done.

 

[63-Coupe]

Nice looking bike. When I first got mine I thought someone had gone to town on it with black paint, but I have since found out that the Heritage Special does have a lot more black than most of the other models; i.e. fenders, turn signal stalks, forks, license plate light, etc. I kind of like it with the extra black.

 

[Scorpio1963]

Welcome to the forum,your bike looks pretty nice.
As for your sticking front brakes pads and the difference in thickness thats exactly how mine were.I simple cleaning of the caliper piston fixed that issue.

There has been a lot of success simply gutting the oem ones and wrapping them in new filter foam.

This what I did with my filters