New to Yamaha

[BotterbrodtGE]

Well this story starts over 10 years ago. My brother and friend trash picked a 70's Yamaha 250. Got it running but wouldn't stay running for long once warmed up. Didn't know anything about carb tuning just enough to disassemble then reassemble. Eventually the bike went away but I fell in love with the idea of having a motorcycle.

Fastforward a few years and I'm car crazy helping my dad restore his first car (1969 Oldsmobile Delta 88) and then working on my truck.

Now I'm in the service so I figured "I should get a motorcycle and enjoy being young." Shortly thereafter I bought a 2013 Triumph Scrambler. Rode it 600 miles then took it in for its initial service and fell in love with my current ride. I traded my Scrambler for my 2012 Triumph Speed Triple R. I love my Speedie but when I'm riding in the city I miss my small nimble Scrambler.

2013 Scrambler


2012 Speed Triple R


Fastforward to today and I've put 8,000 miles on my triumph since buying it 15 months ago and I rode it home this weekend and a friend of mine is selling a small 70's Harley and also has a 70's Yamaha " I think it's a 76 750" were her words. Well she says I can have it. I convince my dad we clean out the garage a bit and I pick this bike up. Turns out it's a 1980 Yamaha xs400 with 6,700 miles. She bought it in 04 and the electric start stopped working and she didn't want to Kickstart it so it sat in the garage untouched and not moving. Her father is a Goldwing guy with many miles clocked but his age is catching up and he didn't have the time to fix the Yamaha.

New Ride


Now I have it home in my parents garage waiting for me to come back home to tinker with.

I polished the tank a bit to clean it up. (black paint with light red metal fleck) still needs a good amount of polish. Didn't wipe anything else down. Pulled the carbs and cleaning them now with my dad. Looked like they were filled with Molasses. Overall a clean bike for its age she's just been sitting.



Plan is to clean it up and make it reliable. The GF will be taking the basic riders course soon and practice/ get comfortable (find out if she loves riding or loves the idea of riding) with this then I'm thinking a dirt tracker build. Nothing over the top but mx bars and flatten the seat, shorten the fenders, slight lift since I'm 6'4 and want to hit dirt roads now and then and other basic cleanups. I'll keep posting as I go.

 

[xschris]

Welcome to the forum

 

[BotterbrodtGE]

Thanks, I'm excited this Yamaha is going to be a fun ride. I've been devouring as much information as I can and I'm ready to tackle this project.

 

[Scorpio1963]

Welcome to the forum.Nothing beats free wether it runs or not good find and enjoy,clean those carbs realy well it should be a dependable bike.

 

[BotterbrodtGE]

Right now the carbs are sitting in a barrel of safety clean being periodically checked by my father. Slowly the goop in them is breaking down and parts are starting to move. Couldn't even twist the throttle they were so gummed up.

Been reading too much already and I'm itching to swap forks, change springs, add air pods and a new rear hoop for the seat.

This disease to customize is too much to bear sometimes.

 

[xschris]

Make sure you replace all the o-rings and butterfly seals after dipping them.

 

[BotterbrodtGE]

Going to order the rebuild kits today so we have all new seals. All rubber components and gaskets were removes and seem to be in good usable condition but I only want to do this once.

 

[xschris]

Shaft seals are often over looked because they don't come in any kit or offered by yamaha. People also don't think to remove the the shafts and that there are actual seals on each side of them. Mikesxs.net has them and a few others on ebay carry them too.

 

[CDNTX650]

Dont order mikes ones. Heard they arent very good. Oem. I actually use two thin viton orings, then a 3rd non viton thats even thinner, to help compress the other two when its squished together. Just did my xs400 carbs yesterday, and my xs650 bs34 are going 6 years leak free with the same setup.

 

[CDNTX650]

Also, make sure you have a very good fitting phillips or, the real j.i.s screw driver,. One slip and youll be in a world of butt hurt. For the butterfly screws of course. I reused my screws, they came out easy and went back in easy. Then i used blue loc tite on them.

 

[BotterbrodtGE]

Thank you all for the heads up on the shaft seals. Looking up o rings and I'm wondering if anyone knows the size o-rings used for the shaft seals? Typically my father has a good selection of o-rings ready for use.

 

[CDNTX650]

Just make sure they are viton, gas resistance and all. Look it up on the 650 site, they had sizes. Im not sure as i buy packs of viton ones with a bunch of sizes.

 

[BotterbrodtGE]

Just make sure they are viton, gas resistance and all.

I'll check but they should be good. Usually he uses them for oil burner systems and has a bunch left over from a variety pack when working on his Oldsmobile.


Checked the 650 site and got some info on the seals. Hopefully it's correct and helpful.

Yamaha part #256-14997-00-00
Apparently used up till 2006 on some bikes.

 

[BotterbrodtGE]

Here's the info as well for the specs on the o-rings.

 

[BotterbrodtGE]

Did a quick search on Pure-Gas.org and luckily there is one station in New Jersey that sells fuel with no Ethanol and it's 26 minutes away. Unfortunately they only sell 110 octane in pure form.

 

[BotterbrodtGE]

Question for the gentlemen of Forum. I can possibly convert my 80 xs400 special to rear disc with factory parts. All of them in one hit. This includes rear swing arm, wheel, and braking system. What's the feeling on the floor. Is it worth it?

 

[xschris]

More weight and more to go wrong. If you can find a rear spoke disc setup the weight would be less by a bit but the disc system has more maintenance than drum. As for stopping power I have found that the drum actually works better than most disc setups. Unless it's a modern sport system.

 

[BotterbrodtGE]

Thank you xschris for the information. I'm holding off on the discs then.

Got the bike running today. Put the carbs back on. Had to adjust the right float and reinstalled the carbs. Few bump start attempts and a couple kicks and she started up. Ran around the block and she idles great and smooth.

 

[BotterbrodtGE]

Weekend Update:

Got the bike titled and registered. In New Jersey registration is by weight due to wear and tear on the roads. Except Motorcycles, they must be detrimental to the road because registration is $60 compared to $65 dollars for a Hummer H2. I wasn't happy about that but for a free Bike I can't complain.

Friday afternoon the carbs were cleaned out and ready for reassembly (mind you they spent two weeks in a barrel of safety clean. Quick run through everything and a few things needed cleaning out still. Few bursts with carburetor cleaner and it was ready for assembly. Put the carbs back together and turned the petcock to Prime and waited, a few seconds later and fuel was leaking out of the right bank air box. Popped the carbs back off and adjusted the float. Put the carbs on for a second round and no leaks!!

Had the old battery still in the bike but charged. Few kicks and didn't get a start. Tried a few bump starts but still no start. Then fiddled with a choke a bit and did a couple kicks. Wala; she started and idled perfectly. Did a few laps around the block and she ran great. The clutch was hanging up a bit but engine wise she purrs.

Get back to the house and check the oil and chain and fork seal to look for an oil line (meaning leaky fork seals)... and nothing all clean and running well. Some old grease worked itself out at the swing arm joint since I greased them earlier, cleaned it up and added a little more grease. Cleaned and lubed the chain and replaced with battery with a brand new one and added a new inline fuel filter and fuel hose. Took a short spin into town.

Overall the bike ran well. She breaks up a bit at 6800rpm and kicks in at 7000rpm which is strange. My dad is hoping the jets are just a little clogged and some fuel cleaner in the next tank of gas will clear it up. The clutch felt heavier as I rode and by the time I got home it was more like an on/off switch. Got home and popped off the clutch lever and the lever bore was worn and ovalled out, also the inner cable liner pulling up into the clutch perch. Going to need a new clutch cable asap. Also noticed the front caliper hanging up by the end of the ride. Flushed the black brake fluid and cleaned out the reservoir but I'm going to have to rebuild the caliper or preferably put a newer caliper and rotor on the bike.

Went to Cycle Gear around the block and picked up a few parts for the bike. Got trackside motorcross bars and grips and a Honda replacement clutch perch and lever. Went home and swapped out the bars and rearranged the cables and wiring since the bars sit much lower. I'll post up pics shortly of the new bars. (Turns out the old bars were tweaked a bit anyway and the rubber triple mount bushings gave a lot of movement. At least compared to my newer Triumph) Hooked the clutch cable up after a bit of lube and took a short 1 mile ride testing the clutch out. definitely much smoother but still tough to pull.

What's the Clutch weight like on these things? Going to replace the cable but I feel like the clutch is way too heavy.

Parked and cleaned the underside of the bike from all the dirt and grime and re-lubed all the joints again.

To start cold I turn the choke on 2 clicks and kick and she putters then set choke to one click and kick and she's running. Once warmed up she starts on the first kick which is nice and idles smoothly

I'll be adding the Pictures later today.

Next on the list is Rear shocks since the stocks are shot and new fork oil as well as hopefully a caliper and disc upgrade.

 

[BotterbrodtGE]

Messed up the Images. Going to try again.