brockd
XS400 Newbie
After over two years of half assedly asking for help, lurking threads, interjecting here and there, and making little to no progress, I have finally be able to get my machine into my garage to work on it whenever I darn well please. Rather than create new threads every time I have a question like the noob I've been, figured I could localize to keep track of info.
The brief story behind these follies is- bought my first bike under the impression it ran well and needed only new rubber and a quick tune up to safety and would be good to go. Hundreds of dollars in new parts, an engine mount weld repair, and a whole whack of cash to two separate (and apparently incompetent) small town shops later - I had a bike that would run. Drove it to a trusted shop to get certified one night and it passed the next morning. Go to pick up the bike and it won't start - and it hasn't started since. She's essentially sat collecting dust in a relative's garage for a year. I've now moved into a place with my own garage and have gotten to work diagnosing. Also picked up a '78 XS in/for parts from a guy this weekend to steal some bits from. What I have so far:
- The charging set up wasn't working doing its job. Looks like the field coils enamel has stripped and is causing a short. The field coil on the '78 looks in better condition. Will have to test before proceeding though. The wires from my field coil have also come disconnected (in pic, from an early gorilla-handed attempt at moving the parts without knowing what I was doing...). I'd like to know how to re-attach, just in case.
- The wiring coming up from the starter/alternator has stripped and exposed two bare wires (see photo). I've read here somewhere that this could be the problem with it not starting as I have gas, spark, and air. Ideally I'd like to get the new field coil into the old bike to see if this could be the problem
- In order to get the wiring done I need to clean up the mess of chain grease behind my covers. Discovered tonight that mineral spirits and water don't mix. Any ideas on how to clean this mess (photo) up without ripping the whole machine apart? Would love to get the part in and try firing it up to see if it worked before going about ripping it down and cleaning everything else.
What else am I missing?! So many new things to learn.
Bedtime reading tonight will be my Haynes manual and tomorrows will be the original factory manual.
Join me on this overdue journey and thanks in advance for all the sage advice!
The brief story behind these follies is- bought my first bike under the impression it ran well and needed only new rubber and a quick tune up to safety and would be good to go. Hundreds of dollars in new parts, an engine mount weld repair, and a whole whack of cash to two separate (and apparently incompetent) small town shops later - I had a bike that would run. Drove it to a trusted shop to get certified one night and it passed the next morning. Go to pick up the bike and it won't start - and it hasn't started since. She's essentially sat collecting dust in a relative's garage for a year. I've now moved into a place with my own garage and have gotten to work diagnosing. Also picked up a '78 XS in/for parts from a guy this weekend to steal some bits from. What I have so far:
- The charging set up wasn't working doing its job. Looks like the field coils enamel has stripped and is causing a short. The field coil on the '78 looks in better condition. Will have to test before proceeding though. The wires from my field coil have also come disconnected (in pic, from an early gorilla-handed attempt at moving the parts without knowing what I was doing...). I'd like to know how to re-attach, just in case.
- The wiring coming up from the starter/alternator has stripped and exposed two bare wires (see photo). I've read here somewhere that this could be the problem with it not starting as I have gas, spark, and air. Ideally I'd like to get the new field coil into the old bike to see if this could be the problem
- In order to get the wiring done I need to clean up the mess of chain grease behind my covers. Discovered tonight that mineral spirits and water don't mix. Any ideas on how to clean this mess (photo) up without ripping the whole machine apart? Would love to get the part in and try firing it up to see if it worked before going about ripping it down and cleaning everything else.
What else am I missing?! So many new things to learn.
Bedtime reading tonight will be my Haynes manual and tomorrows will be the original factory manual.
Join me on this overdue journey and thanks in advance for all the sage advice!