An XS Odyssey and props to MadMike!

[Silent]

She's runnin better every day! My ColorTune just came in too, so I should be able to get the air/fuel mixture just right. But upon testing the ColorTune out, I've found that the 15k stock coils arn't quite enough, so now I get to order a replaceent for the one I damaged soldering the leads on.

Mike! Check your voicemail :focus: I left ya a bit of a sound track

 

[dcarver]

She's runnin better every day! My ColorTune just came in too, so I should be able to get the air/fuel mixture just right. But upon testing the ColorTune out, I've found that the 15k stock coils arn't quite enough, so now I get to order a replaceent for the one I damaged soldering the leads on.
Mike! Check your voicemail :focus: I left ya a bit of a sound track

Woot Woot, the old gurl lives! Have you had a chance to run the gear sets yet?

 

[radman]

Getting old ones to not only run, but run as good as or better than when new is truly one of wrenchings most treasured activities. Keep in mind that if it still seems to be a little rough, bench running isn't really working the motor enough to clear the cylinders well. Until it's gotten out and worked a bit, it'll seem rougher than it really is. I like the undercutting using the Mark I Eyeball-did the same on my old Zook. Just hope you were careful enough to be sure each tooth is the same dimensionally, otherwise not all will be absorbing power, and could fracture one.

 

[Silent]

Woot Woot, the old gurl lives! Have you had a chance to run the gear sets yet?

I ran her thru all the gears on the center stand last night just to make sure they all worked. A bit clunky and didn't get up to speed, but enough to verify it will work tho. It'll be a bit clunky until the tranny has a chance to wear in a bit. I know the gears are cut real close to the same, and running them will wear them in for an even better fit. I'm not gonna run the old girl to hard on the power for awhile to give everything I did a chance to seat in nice and propper. Now that the motors spinning nicely, I can move on to the stopping end of the system and go thru the master cylenders and brake calipers.

 

[dcarver]

I can move on to the stopping end of the system and go thru the master cylenders and brake calipers.

Hey, whatcha think them size 12 boots are for? Good to read the tranny trannied properly - saw a bud damn near cry after he rebuilt a CBX tranny and it 'stuck' in 2nd... grown man crying and all that...

 

[twistedcricket]

Now I'm hooked on this thread...dammit

 

[Silent]

Hell, at this rate I'll be ready for Don's 'project' bike soon

 

[wheatonFJR]

Now I'm hooked on this thread...dammit

+1 on that. :clapping:

 

[fjrboomer]

I am not a wrencher but I am always impressed with those of you who can do a major tear down, recognize the problem and fix it often making it better than it was originally. Keep the udates coming and I know you are having a blast and getting great satisfaction at the same time.

 

[wheatonFJR]

We jes need a webcam with audio now...just like smitty's cc work at fairlaners. That way we can watch you cuss in real time...

...then post up chatter about how you shoulda done this instead of dat. :lol:

 

[Silent]

You'd be bored to death wheaton! I don't spend to much consistant time working on the bike, maybe 1/2 hour a night.

Tonight I pulled the entire rear braking system and went thru the rear master cylender and calipers. The rear looks to be in surprisingly good shape. The only thing I noted with the rear is that the paint is coming off the calipers from the brake fluid. Ohh well, I'll just hit it with the wire wheel at work tomorrow and pollish it up a bit. Hopefully on the way home I can stop off at Royal Brass and have a new rear brake line fabricated. If I do, then I can put the rear braking system back together. I still haven't decided between teflon coated or stainless brake lines. I'll probably go with the teflon since it's what was there, and cheaper than stainless.

I did order a replacement coil for the high output coil I fried when I soldered the wires on. I took to long trying to get it just right. $35 lesson, perfect isn't always perfect. The new coil should be in next Thursday. The higher output will make the bike run better thru the entire rannge, and give me enough spark to use my colortune to get the air/fuel set propper.

I'm sure you've already noticed the tank is on backwards. I heard that it makes the bike go faster . Ok ok ok, it's on backwards so I can get fuel to the carbs and still reach the adjustment screws for air/fuel and syncronization. Kinda a cool trick I pulled from the XS forum B)

 

[dcarver]

Hell, at this rate I'll be ready for Don's 'project' bike soon

Now you're talking! - pretty cool to see the old gurl back on her feet. I agree with the teflon vs. braided choice. You're making excellent progress Silent, kudos! :clapping:

 

[Silent]

Today I had alot of free time on my hands so I stripped the rest of the paint off of the rear caliper since 1/2 of it was comming off anyway. I also got the chance to get the rear brake line made. Nice bit of work on Royal Brass's part too I might add. They only charged me $39 for the rear line custom made while I waited. The pieces for the stock setup would have run in the order of $60, if they were available. The new lines are all DOT approved lines since Royal Brass carries DOT certification. I gave the rear master cylender a good going over last night, so hopefully tonight I'll be able to get the rear braking system back in order.

Since there's not enough pics in this thread yet

Enjoy. I'll check back in later

 

[dcarver]

39 USD is a steal. You're lucky to have shops like that where you live. Good Job!

 

[Carol]

Checking in....

as usual good 'project' Ray~

oh and Katie would like to see more pictures

 

[Silent]

UPDATE

Well, I've finally gotten the rear brakes bled and working, and they seem to be holding pressure just fine so I don't think there's a leak anywhere. So on to the front I've moved. I pulled the front calipers, brake lines, splitter, master cylinder and forks.

It turns out, one of the front calipers was totally frozen, and the other was almost frozen as well. It took about 15 min and 100 PSI of air pressure to pop those poor pistons out, and when the one that was frozen popped out it sounded like a shotgun blast! I did wind up having to twist them with a pair of *GASP* channel locks to loosen them. No worries tho, I was sure to do that on a non vital area where I could easily clean up any marring. Since they were looking a bit rough, I decided to strip the paint off the front's to match the rear. Yep, those pads do looked tapered, weird I know, but that's exactly like they are suppose to be for the '79 Specials

I think they came out rather well. Today I picked up the new custom made brake lines as well. As it turns out, the manufacture date of the old brake lines was 1/79. According to the manual you should replace them every 5 years. so I think it's a tad overdue The new lines are DOT certified and were tested to 3,000 PSI before leaving Royal Brass I wound up getting a killer deal on the set. It was around $120 for all 4 (1 rear, 3 front) custom made lines.

That's the tKat fork brace up there at the top btw, thought I'd include it so you folks could see what it was. I dropped the forks off at LE Suspension for a rebuild since I knew that they both leaked and one of the tubes needed to be straightened. Turns out they are both bent. 1 was out about .050 and the other about .010 Total cost for the rebuild with progressive springs and fixing the bent tubes will be right around $400. I should get those back in about a week or so.

Many items have already been ticked off the "to do list", and not many left before I can go riding this 30 year old classic! Once the mechanicals are all back in order and she's safe to cruse, I'll polish her all up and get some sparklies outta her B)

 

[exskibum]

Enjoying the chronicles, Silent. I have seen that bike sitting in MadMike's garage, and recall the XS as the second out of 4 bikes I was considering in '79 to replace my Z1. I bought a Suzuki GS1000EC instead, but I've always been drawn to that XS 11. Looking forward to seeing her running at project completion.

 

[dcarver]

Dang Ray, that's some FUGLYNINESS going on there..

Great job and keep going!

How many USD into the project so far? I need to benchmark the KZ1300 Quacker (your next project bike!) :lol:

 

[wheatonFJR]

Enjoying the chronicles, Silent. I have seen that bike sitting in MadMike's garage, and recall the XS as the second out of 4 bikes I was considering in '79 to replace my Z1. I bought a Suzuki GS1000EC instead, but I've always been drawn to that XS 11. Looking forward to seeing her running at project completion.

Funny...my 79 XS11 special beat out a 78 GS1000 in a spirited road contest in August of 1979.

 

[exskibum]

Funny...my 79 XS11 special beat out a 78 GS1000 in a spirited road contest in August of 1979.

Stranger still, it was indeed a 1978 GS1000EC I bought in June '79, one of three new in the crate in Reno (a too good deal at $3,099 IIRC with the '79s ~ $400 higher). After the Z1 with Kerker header (flexi-spook with power), I went for the bike with the best magazine reported handling by the time I bought it, which was the last deciding factor in picking the GS over the XS. Otherwise, it would have been the XS -- it and the GS were well ahead of the KZ and CBX for what I wanted in my first NEW bike.