Restoring a badly restored 82

Do those carbs have a plug to cover the pilot jet? I didn't see any in your pile o' parts.

I was able to pull the main and pilot jet from within the bowls, but then noticed on the parts diagrams that there's a second pilot jet in the carb body - I was going to go looking for that today. Is that what you mean?
 
Oh no, I think what you just removed was the pilot air jets. On my older carbs there is a brass plug which covers access to the pilot jet. Some of the carbs for the 650s have rubber plugs.
 

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All right, I only had an hour today between stuff to do, so let's get down to it.

First priority was removing that screw. Handy easy out screw remover and a drill bit did the job.

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Once I got the cap off the carb, everything looked great, except for the cap and the screws.

So I grabbed my lemon juice in the kitchen, fired up the stove, and gave them all an acid bath. Just like C3PO in Star Wars.

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Note to self - kitchen reeks of burning lemon and hydrocarbons. Air out kitchen before wife gets home.

Once they were all back together, they look, if not new, at least the same. Note the replacement screw - my hardware shop has limited selection, but they are close and cheap, which is good. I'm open to suggestions for replacement hardware with the right caps, as you will see later that my bike has a few screws loose (proof that maybe it was made for me.)

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So, here's the bike so far (I believe this is my first picture posted here of it - I do have a seat and a tank, and all side panels. They'll come up later, perhaps in an official before and after shot once I'm done.

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Tach cable removed:

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I took a look at the side sprocket cover, and it looks like the bike is missing at least 3 fastners. Can anyone confirm what size and length I need for replacements here? There's the top one, which is easy to see in the picture, but one of the bottom screws is missing too. The three screws that were there were two different sizes, so I'm open to suggestions.

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And of course, the horror once it was off. I don't think this has been degunked in 30 years. You can't see it, but there's even a spider web in the top left corner.

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That's it for today. I drained the oil, soaked every screw I could find with PB Blaster, and now have to search for a saw to cut off the muffler. I think my dremel will do it, but I am currently out of saw blades.

Next time: dropping the engine (hopefully not on the ground.)
 
Any kind of oil and an abrasive sponge/fine steel wool takes surface rust off without much trouble. You could also try a mildly abrasive aluminum polish on those carbs. Apparently a balled up piece of aluminum foil also substitutes for an abrasive sponge and is soft enough to prevent any possibility of scratching the harder metals.
 
Gasoline: my Hayne's manual recommends soaking the chain in paraffin--which just means alkane--before applying some kind of treatment. You seem to have some knowledge of chemistry, or was I deceived by your earlier posts? :)
 
Gasoline: my Hayne's manual recommends soaking the chain in paraffin--which just means alkane--before applying some kind of treatment. You seem to have some knowledge of chemistry, or was I deceived by your earlier posts? :)

Kerosene. "Paraffin" seems to be British for kerosene.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kerosene

I have that to clean the chain. Soaked it for a long time, scrubbed it, hung it up to dry, the lubed after installation with DuPont Multipurpose.
 
Paraffin might be British slang for kerosene, but in chemistry it just means alkane. An alkane is simply a saturated carbon chain (saturated with hydrogen). This explains why wd40, carb cleaner, and gasoline work; they all contain alkanes.

You're right about the manual referring specifically to kerosene--since it is definitely british--but any analog should work me thinks.
 
Once my wife was home, and dinner was done, I was able to take some time with the Dremel to take off the old exhaust. I love my Dremel. I think of it as the motorcycle of power tools. Small, nimble, with a 17,000 rpm redline. Cuts through anything.

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The biggest challenge was finding the right angles to get through it without the blade touching anything else (like the chain - I'd rather not replace it if I don't have to spend the money.) 10 minutes of lying on the ground, hoping I've swept up all the broken glass, and the exhaust split in two.

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This side doesn't look too bad - I cut the cross pipe before the seriously rusted section.

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It doesn't show well here, but the clamp was wrapped around a big rust ball. And I'm pointing to where the right exhaust was completely rotted through.

No regrets about cutting that off.

And today I ordered my replacement 2 into 2 exhaust (in the end, about $100 cheaper than the 2 into 1. Someday I'll get a pipe bender and make my own, but for now it's down to what's on Ebay.)
 
Ebay has allen head carb blot kits too, I think the xs650 bs34's are the same. Well, you may not have the same ones cause of the year. SOmeone else probably can tell you. Usually the xs400's are easy to find.
 
A trick I use regularly on fasteners that go into Aluminum is to smack then firmly with a hammer first!! it seems to knock the oxidation loose so that they usually come right out. an added bonus is on a philips screw it pushes the deformed head back into shape. or close anyway. if you have to smack them repeatedly you can then smack your screwdriver back into the head and you then have a perfectly mated screw to driver fit!!!
 
Unfortunately, I had the flu these past two days. I won't go into details... but I'm feeling much better today.

So much better that I decided to take 30 minutes this evening and take out the engine.

Step 1 (if you ignore all previous steps, which I do not recommend), remove front sprocket:

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Off with the upper engine mounts. These will need to be cleaned, as they're quite rusty, especially on the inside.

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Remove the two monster lower bolts, having first held up the engine with a jack, and voila!

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I admit, this was a lot heavier than I expected. I suppose a beach ball of metal should be heavy, though. None of my lazy layoubout former friends were willing to come over and help, citing issues like children and broken legs. I just won't be calling them anymore.

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Next step? Clean the crap out of everything. This bike is filthy, and I have no interest in getting all the crap from the outside into the inside of the engine. That's Saturday's plan!
 
Whoa. I didn't notice there is no tubing below that engine. I am pretty jealous at how easy that thing is to drop out! Keep up the good work.
 
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