Where do I begin?

[Stevey xs360-2d]

Hey everybody,
Last summer i picked up a 1977 Yamaha xs 360-2D. It had 5k miles on it, started on first or second kick and this dude was selling it for $500... I couldn't resist. I used to be a diesel mechanic and now that I have left the profession (kept my tools of course) I needed something fun to keep my hands dirty and maybe get a little motorcycle experience.

I got the bike tagged and all legal and rode it for about 2 months last summer. Slowly, everything electronic started dropping off... spedo, tach, signal lights, brake lights... to where the only thing that works is the head light and rear running light.

Then trouble with idle, i'm almost positive dude to old throttle cable being that carbs were rebuilt. Still could be something else...

My battery also died which I hear is a pretty typical annual replacement for most motorcycles. But I began to question maybe the charging system is gone? Anybody use the battery-less system on MikesXS.net ?

This is the first time i'm going to really start working on the bike. It has sat in hibernation for the last 5 months. i'm just kind of wondering where I should start? I'm a lot more interested in getting the electronics and idle under control before cosmetics. Still need to do brakes and other simple bs. This forum with the Haynes manual has been pretty helpful and a vintage bike shop just popped up a town away from me. Hoping I can catch some support from you guys too. I'd be happy to reciprocate but this stuff is A LOT smaller than my diesels....

Ill post more pics soon!

Thanks dudes happy and safe riding\building

Steve

 

[drewpy]

welcome, well there's no eletronics on your bike, its all eletromechanical.

there's loads of info on here try;
checking charging system
clean your carbs
check compression
set contacts and dwell

 

[kshansen]

One thing I can think of right of is to check the fuses. If like those on the slightly newer XS400's the contacts tend to get a thin film of corrosion on the clips. They also can loose tension on the clips that hold the ends of the fuses. On the 1977 XS400 I have, back when it was "on loan" to niece's husband it was having all kinds of electrical problems related to the fuses. When I tried to gently bend the clips on the fuse holder they just plain fell apart. What I ended up doing was to replace all the glass fuses and fuse panel with a set of circuit breakers. I thought I had posted about it to this forum but can't seem to find it using the "search" box.

The other idea would be to get inside the headlight housing and one at a time un-plug and clean every one of the connections in there using some good contact cleaner. These bikes are good old low tech. and respond well to simple basic items like that.

 

[Stevey xs360-2d]

Awesome feed back already, knew I could count on you guys, thanks!

low tech sounds good but im so used to complex ECM regulated electronics, its gunna take some tinkering.

i'd rather clean than replace so ill try that.

thanks again.

ill start a new thread with my build? is that what we do here?