Paint it Black - Mild Restoration

Got a new left side xs650 manual petcock. I know that these need the lever modified so you can get on the reserve. I don't have a grinder so spent an hour filing it down. Went to put it on the bike and the hole spacing is wrong by about 4mm. :laugh:

So I've ordered the 3/8 adapter plate and generic petcock. Untill then I'll keep plugging the hole when I remove the tank.
 

Attachments

  • 20190927_194252-756x1008.jpg
    20190927_194252-756x1008.jpg
    108 KB · Views: 441
Brutal and annoying but good progress. Shocking how many varieties of sizes there are, didn't know there was an "adapter plate". I bought a knock off Dremel on Amazon quite cheap that does this sort of work well BTW
 
New universal 3/8 petcock and adapter plate should be here soon. Would a modified 42.5mm petcock be of any use to anyone I wonder?

What sort of washers do you use on your petcocks? Mine seems to have some old disintegrated fibre washers. I'm guessing a copper washer would be best to prevent leaking?
 
xschris said:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-Pet...~wAAOSwJ~9bK80P:sc:USPSFirstClass!14891!US!-1 OEM style washer plates.
Click to expand...

Nice, yeah that's what mine must have looked like 40 years ago. I'm not going to spend $20 and wait a couple of weeks for washers though. What's the best option for something available from a local parts store?

EDIT: Had a look online and this seems to be a common question. Looks like the options are:
Copper washers
Fibre washers (regular hardware shop/plumbing type)
Rubber o-ring instead of washer
Washer with a smear of gasket sealant

I'll probably grab a few bits when I'm at home depot next and make something work for a couple of dollars.
 
Last edited:
xschris said:
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-Pet...~wAAOSwJ~9bK80P:sc:USPSFirstClass!14891!US!-1 OEM style washer plates.
Click to expand...

Beakster said:
Nice, yeah that's what mine must have looked like 40 years ago. I'm not going to spend $20 and wait a couple of weeks for washers though. What's the best option for something available from a local parts store?

EDIT: Had a look online and this seems to be a common question. Looks like the options are:
Copper washers
Fibre washers (regular hardware shop/plumbing type)
Rubber o-ring instead of washer
Washer with a smear of gasket sealant

I'll probably grab a few bits when I'm at home depot next and make something work for a couple of dollars.
Click to expand...

The link is 9 US dollars and arrives in 4 days, not cheap for washers but not egregious. Assume you can find something comparable in Canada...

I also went to home Depot as my petcock exit gasket was leaky (not tank gasket). Didn't find anything promising gasket wise but would strongly recommend some yellow Teflon tape designed for gas. I don't expect it to last forever but it stopped my slow leak in petcock housing screw
 
The stock ones are metal with gasket material around them. Fiber ones worked for me for a while but started to seep. Nylon also worked for a while but cracked over time. Stock ones have held up the best. Avoid the mikesxs ones as they are cheap and fall apart easy. At least the ones I got a few years ago.
 
Got some new iridium spark plugs and replaced the spark plug leads which had 1981 on them so I assume are original.

I replaced the HT leads with some AC delco ones. I just used the part that normally goes to the distributor to go to the plug and attached the cut cable to the coil. After I'd finished my new resistor free NGK spark plug caps arrived. Is there any advantage to using the NGK caps over the end that came attached to the lead? I'm guessing the NGK caps are a bit more hard wearing and designed to be out in the elements rather than under the bonnet?

Originally I was looking for some copper core cable but didnt find any locally. The normal wire that is carbon core has RF suppression qualities which apparently is good for electronic ignition. I'm guessing in reality it doesn't make a noticeable difference in these bike.
 

Attachments

  • 20190930_180250-756x1008.jpg
    20190930_180250-756x1008.jpg
    214.5 KB · Views: 411
  • 20190930_180314-756x1008.jpg
    20190930_180314-756x1008.jpg
    98 KB · Views: 416
Got myself a nice 5 3/4 inch light and new housing and finally got rid of the massive stock indicators.

I got some nice cheap bullet style indicators, but they had white light bulbs in them which weren't very bright. I pulled the insides out and replaced with T10 orange LEDs. Very bright. Swapped out the old flasher replay for a new one which works with LEDs, added a ground wire and a couple of diodes to keep the dash light working.

I wanted to put the new indicators in the head light bolts holes like the originals, but they are M10 rather than M8. Got a few ideas but I'll need some more hardware so for now I drilled holes for then in the ears.
 

Attachments

  • received_2525586054131206.jpeg
    received_2525586054131206.jpeg
    134.5 KB · Views: 471
  • received_448327672452214.jpeg
    received_448327672452214.jpeg
    132.4 KB · Views: 430
  • received_404430603605683.jpeg
    received_404430603605683.jpeg
    111.6 KB · Views: 445
  • 20191004_184639-1008x756.jpg
    20191004_184639-1008x756.jpg
    123 KB · Views: 466
  • 20191004_161949-756x1008.jpg
    20191004_161949-756x1008.jpg
    219.6 KB · Views: 473
7mm copper core wire is what you need to use with these bikes. bpr7EIx ngk iridium plugs are resistor plugs so you need to have non-resistor caps. Don't use rf wires unless you have a AM radio on the bike that you listen to. Copper core wire can be found at most auto parts stores or on line.
 
Last edited:
xschris said:
7mm copper core wire is what you need to use with these bikes. bpr7EIx ngk iridium plugs are resistor plugs so you need to have non-resistor caps. Don't use rf wires unless you have a AM radio on the bike that you listen to. Copper core wire can be found at most auto parts stores or on line.
Click to expand...

Hi, yes I expect that's the case. The bike is running great now but I'll look out for some copper core cable. It's really not that easy to find in shops these days though.
 
That's what internet is for :) eBay has it in all different types of colors.

Looking great. I'd want the front turns protruding more as it appears they can hardly be seen beyond the width of the headlight from any angle. Aesthetically awesome though!
 
I asked at a few shops but they always just want to know a make model and year of car as a response to any question. I've ordered some off eBay. It's shipping from France but I'm not in a hurry for it as the bike is running perfect already.

Going to see about replacing the brake line and petcock today
 
Ive used both resistor/non resistor plug setups on my bike, with and without an electronic ignition. I thought that the normal non-resistor spark plugs worked the best on my bike..

The irridium plugs mustve been too cold or something? They made the engine rev a little slower and sounded less aggressive, like it went “soft” or something..

That was a long time ago though, maybe I should revisit irridium plugs.
 
I think I paid like $3.50 a foot for the stuff I have and it has a silicone insulator for the core. ebay has it for about the same price shipped. I ran stock plugs and caps setup on my 79 for years so I knew the difference when I went to the iridium setup. All the bikes I bought after that I put that setup on them from day one.
 
Last edited:

Similar threads

J
‘76 xs500 Carburetor tuning (BS38’s)
Replies
4
Views
378
Joeee
J
arm
Bought a 1978 Yammaha XS400 (E)!
Replies
7
Views
473
tstidham
tstidham
T
77 xs400 starting problems
3 4 5
Replies
91
Views
7K
thecurryman
T
N
New member, new bike, and some questions
Replies
19
Views
2K
Nichalus
N
P
Battery charging at high current!
Replies
10
Views
831
tstidham
tstidham
Back
Top