What did you do with your XS today?

[Recreateme]

Yesterday i made my first attempt at (re) tackling my headlight/gauge light problem..

I bought a new multi-meter and tested my stator and field coils as per the manual and was getting 0.9 ohms between each of the white wires so that seems good.

I measured 4.5Ohms between the green wires going to the regulator, so that seems good.

I removed my Vreg and reved and my voltage shot way up over 14.5 volts at higher revs (i'm sure it would have kept climbing too), so i plugged my Vreg back in and reved and the voltage climbed up steadily maxing out at around 14.05 volts @ around 6000rpm (i didn't want to rev it higher for noise sack haha) so that seems to be working.

I did the magnetic test on the stator area, my feeler gauges stuck nicely to the cover.

I measured the voltage at the connection where the safety relay plugs in up by the front fork, and between the black wire and the red wire (maybe yellow, i forget) i got 11.5 volts with the engine running, and nothing with just the key turned to on. So that seems like its working right ? (voltage seems like it should be matching the battery voltage but is actually down 1volt or so)


So after all of this, all i can think of is somewhere between my safety relay and my headlight/gauges lights i have a wiring issue right ? I know the bulbs are good, that was the first thing i checked.

I tried jumping the Red to the yellow, and the blue to the black wire to skip the relay and still got nothing at the lights...

Any tips here?

 

[xschris]

Put a new rear tire on my 80 today. Getting it off was easy but getting the new one on was a pain in the A It took me almost 30 mins and a lot of bitching but I got it Going from a 130/90-16 to a 120/90-16 was almost a 2lb difference in weight And now the tire will fit in the swing arm much better and gives the chain all the clearance it needs.

 

[Scorpio1963]

Got my new handlebars yesterday shipped via ups only took 2 days.Probaly will try and put them on today.Anyone have any tips on removing the grips?

 

[Recreateme]

Buy new ones lol I had to cut mine off. They had a glue sprayed under them either from factory or the PO, I don't know.

Putting grips back on you can spray windex under them to lube them up and it will dry overnight.

 

[Scorpio1963]

Xschris yeah Im going to do my new rear tire also,I cant wait for the fun LOL.
Recreate I have been want ting new grips anyways so the best advice I can get.

 

[xschris]

Buy new ones lol I had to cut mine off. They had a glue sprayed under them either from factory or the PO, I don't know.

Putting grips back on you can spray windex under them to lube them up and it will dry overnight.

I use hair spray for the grips. It sticks better

 

[Spad]

xschris...Well, what brand tire is that? Next question, When you get some mileage on it, how does it handle? Spad

 

[xschris]

Kenda challenger. Being the stock size tire it should handle better than the oversize one that was on it. Also the other one was over 10yrs old

 

[Scorpio1963]

Recreate did you find a weight in your stock handle bars?

 

[xschris]

Only the 80-82 buck horn bars had them.

 

[xschris]

Removed my stock key switch and put in a toggle.

 

[Spad]

Thanks xschris, the Kenda 120/90/16 looks better in that picture compared to the ads..Toggle switch? No key...Do you have a way to disable or do you have a wheel lock of some sort...when you leave it parked....Or,you don't ride the bike it is just for show,ha....Spad

 

[xschris]

Its a xs400. Steal it That's funny. I have put 2500 miles on it over the last two years so it does get driven. It's stored in a locked garage in the summer and sits next to a restored 79 that looks way better. The toggle is not easy to see. I would think if anyone is looking to take one of my bikes it would be that one

 

[Spad]

That is a light switch, you can't fool me!!!!!

 

[Scorpio1963]

xschris Kenda challenger. Being the stock size tire it should handle better than the oversize one that was on it. Also the other one was over 10yrs old

For the $ the Kendas are good tires,My front and rear are those and being 30+ years old still had great tread with 17k on the odometer.I like them so much I bought 2 replacements.

 

[Spad]

Scorpio1963, How aggressive do you drive, I mean canyon carving and do they stick when leaned over and give you warning when they are getting ready to break loose? Spad

 

[xschris]

On the tire there is a time stamp or date code. The first two numbers are the week of the year and the second is the year. If the tire is over 6yrs old it should be replaced. Over time rubber becomes hard and will lose its ability to stick to the road. Also it can develop weak spots in the side walls that can fail. Kenda's where not around when the xs400 was made They either came with dunlops or yokohama's.

 

[Scorpio1963]

I don't ride aggressive as far for doing a lot of leaning around corners,we don't have a lot of twisty roads around here.So for the terrain I ride the Kenda are suitable other wise I would have bought a more aggressive tire.

 

[16VGTIDave]

I have a Kenda Challenger on the rear of my Maxim for a year and 15,000 km. It is a 2012 date code. It has taken everything I've thrown at it without any drama. Even gravel and sand, though it is certainly out of it's element on those surfaces. I'm certainly no knee-dragger, so I've not come close to the edge of the tread. It would take quite a lean angle to get to the edge of the tread of the 130/90-16 I have ballooned onto the 2.5" rim.

The only time I've significantly broken it loose on the street was in the rain, in a traffic circle, when I shifted hard from first to second while evading a careless SUV. And even then it was easy to regain traction by backing off the throttle for a second. It has been wearing well, and I will have to be making excuses to replace it next year...

 

[Scorpio1963]

People overlook this tire cause of its price,They are very common tires on older vintage bikes that people use for general purpose riding.Never had any problems with loosing traction since I had mine.I road in the rain once not by choice though,with that said I still had plenty of traction.If you don't have a lot of cash to spend and you need to replace your tires the Kendas are the wtg.Mine of a speed rating of 115mph which is good enough.