XS 500

I used starter cables from my car to the bike today to try and start it. I used the starter for max 3 seconds each time, and after a while it started to sound like a stung pig. What has happened?

I am having problems with the kick on my bike, a xs500 as you might figured out already : ) After I replaced my clutch and gotten everything back together I noticed that my kick didnt spring back, so I took of the crank case cover and managed to get right into hell. Replacing the clutch, the gear lever axle and the clutch basket took a hour, now I was going to spend much more time in the abyss of the crank case. First the ignition fell apart, so I had to strip that, next the kick spring cover didnt align up so when I had putten all together and kicked a small accident happened. The big cogwheel behind the clutch basket chewed the plate on the cover to pieces... But the kick did spring back, atleast without the crank case cover on. Hammer the spring cover back to "normal" shape and then try again to make it sit still, by now the entire kick assembly had fallen out of the crank case. Anyway, I managed to retain the thick washer on the end so I atleast didnt have to tear all the engine apart. There must be a god after all, but this was to be his last sigh. After all had been reassemblied again, with a horrible "gasket on tube" (or whatever it is called in english) which got all over the place, on all tools, hands, trousers and even on the danish pastry, disaster struck. The kick still didnt spring back, it is even harder to pull back up now then before, and yes, I did tension the spring... WHAT HAVE I DONE!!! WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET SALVATION!!! So in short, how to get the spring cover to sit still and as it should inside the crank case. Why doesnt the kick spring back even after I have tensioned the spring?

Blasted... all that oil and a new seal again... Well thank god its not anything more serious

I got my clutch and gear lever sorted out last night, but when I was going to kick it I ran into problems. First the kick doesnt want to spring back, so I have to lift it up with my foot. Then, when I kick, it sometimes springs back with a huge force and hits the engine with a loud noise. Something is clearly not as it should be. It was ok before I replaced the clutch, so what on earth has happened? And how to fix it... I want my old kick back

I need a fast answer on this question, how hard should I tighten the nut that holds the clutch basket... I have the repair manual, but it is at home, and I am in my summer house now So just tell me the torque and I will get my bike running tomorrow hopefully

I bought it two summers ago with a new filter fitted and havent been riding it so much so I have had to change filter yet. However, I will have to do it this spring since I will change the clutch among other things. But that is a problem later on this spring

Are you parting it out or selling it complete? If you are parting it out I would need the master brake cylinder for the front brake.

Take this for what it is, hearsay... but... the filter from the R1 says to be compatible.

I never got my XS500 do start with the electric starter. After I learned the technique to kick start her she always starts on the second kick. First one with full choke and she coughs, next kick with half choke and she starts immediately. To bad for my g/f though, she weighs to little for the kick so I bought her a XJ500 instead... now I dont have to share the xs500 with her

The crack is fine as a hair and only two of the standing parts are flexing a bit, all the others are stiff as before. Is there a risk for a total disintegration if I drive with this?

Ok, now its confirmed, I am a idiot I was trying to remove the clutch basket today on my XS 500 and it cracked!!! Not alot, but a small crack is visible. Now I wonder, do I have to replace it or can I drive with it?

Uhmm, I found one 18 mm spark plug socket, it wasnt that hard once I started to look There seems to be no 11/16 but a 13/16 instead that is a spark plug socket, but I will use my new 18 mm

Uhh, I surely hope there is a misunderstanding here... Atleast the Yamaha kickstarts I have tried has been NO resistance AT ALL down a couple of centimeters or maybe half the swing, then there is a little resistance, there I kick. I do not press down until I feel the pistons is almost at the top and then kick. But I surely take up the slack as Drewpy says, otherwise it hurts in my leg and feet even.

I ment the socket yes The reason I was wondering was that it is very difficult to find a 18 mm spark plug socket in Sweden, we have 17, 19 and 21. So therefore I started to suspect that it was a 11/16" instead, since that would not really be detectable when we removed plug 1 and 4 with a 18 mm wrench

Just want to check that the spark plugs on the XJ500 is 18 mm and not 11/16"

Count me in!

Anyone???

Does your manual says how many newton meter of torque it should be on that nut?

Doesnt I have to remove the clutch also? Or can I actually get the gear lever assembly out underneath the clutch???

I was out riding my girlfriends new XJ 500 (1981) yesterday. It sounded very nice, went smooth and so on. After a hour on the road I speed up to 80-90 mph at 7000-8000 revs, it was flat out but the headwind and since we where two it didnt go faster or rev higher. When I let of the throttle down to 4000 revs it started to sound like it was short of fuel, misfiring and "jumping", I then shifted gear and went up to 6000-7000 and it disappeared, after a minute or two I went down again to below 6000 and now it was no problem at all. We then went to a friend and when we came there it sounded a bit strange, not the smooth idle we experienced before. There was also a knocking sound from the top part of the engine, with a wrench as a stetoscope a friend concluded that it came probably from the camcovers. We turned it off and then on again, and now it didnt start as easily as before, but still started. We put in a litre of oil since it was rather dry (it had been oil in her before) and then checked the plugs. Some little oil and the exhaust smelled a bit oil, not blue smoke though. After the bike had sat at idle for a couple of minutes it simply died. And after that was impossible to get started again. What on earth has happened??? I did not go over 10'000 revs although I was up at 9'000 a couple of times on the twisty roads. Update: It almost fired today but I didnt want to push it, but I tried once and it almost fired. So it seems not to be completely dead. Update 2: I fired it up and rode 5 km home. Now idle seems to be ok again, it started quite easily and after returned home I shut it off and fired it up again a couple of times. Seems like its working fine now. I still have that bad noise though that wasnt there before... So still... HELP!!!

Went off the road today with my XS 500 -78. The only damage seems to be that the gear lever went up, shifted through the gears to fifth and then the shift shaft snapped straight off at the lock ring where it enters the gearbox. Now I simply wonder, how much must I pull apart in order to get the last piece out and get the new shaft in.

The former owner of my bike used a filter to the new R1, he claimed.

It is a single disc right now, If I can I might mod it later on with two front discs since I drive alot at really small twisty roads. But right now I just want a front brake, it is sometimes nerve (and gearbox) wrecking to only downshift and use the rear brake to get speed down. Last time I missed a telephone post in a small village with just a inch or two... small crest, sharp turn, telephone post... Is all XS, RD and SR master cylinders the same (with the exception of the ones with two discs) or did they do small modofications between them? But all can be fitted if I change everything right? Or was there different calipers also for the different models?

My front master cylinder on the XS 500 is leaking oil all over the place. It drained the container on two brakes and the entire handlebar got a big oily mess. Now I wonder if I can use a RD 400 front master cylinder instead? I can get a completely working kit for about 90 usd and a rebuild kit for my XS 500 cylinder would cost me around 65 usd plus taxes. Is it the wrong way to go, would you renovate the old one instead? I am going to keep it but I need the bike up and running soon again. Was thinking also if there is something more that is wrong with the cylinder since it leaks so fast that a rebuild kit might not fix it? Suggestions please