jrhendryx

Dave C - if it is number 8 in that picture (which makes sense now that i look at it, the bottom one to adjust tension, the top one to hold it in place), then it appears that i need a special wrench of some kind. yoda - i took the legs down one at a time so as not to mix parts together, but marked all of the original positions of everything and made sure it went back the way it was before, could the fact that there was not enough oil in the forks have been hiding that this problem was there all along? how would i measure steering angle? would it be off the frame or off a plumb line? should it be on the ground or lifted clear? the front end also feels slightly loose when cornering at regular in-town speeds (35-40mph), but there is an awful lot of gravel/sand on the roads from the snow, and these tires appear to be in need of replacements due to age.

no windjammer, fairing, or windshield. i centered the wheel, and released the grips, and it immediately swung to the right.... no tap necessary. in fact, it feels as though it is being pulled that direction ever so slightly. could the throttle cables be too tight or hung up on something? Also, while i had it up, i attempted to pull the wheel fore and aft (drewpy), and noticed a definite movement in the steering assembly, as though there were some wiggle room, but noticed no "notchy" feeling to the bearings as the handlebars twisted. finally, based on this image, am i correct in assuming that i would tighten nut 11 (bolt 19 on the inset, but the inset says its for the 500b, and mine looks like the main picture... perhaps this is a different front end on the bike?) to tighten up the head bearings? Im also beginning to think that these are some kind of aftermarket handlebars on my bike, because they come up much higher than any others i have seen, and sweep back quite far. perhaps the old owner switched to these handlebars, but did not change the cables to meet the new length? COMMON SETUP --> MY HANDLEBARS -->

tire pressure is fine on front and back. it will be a while before i can check the bearings themselves. as for them being loose, hard braking using the front brake causes a slight shift in the handlebars.... it feels as though the handlebars are shifting forward slightly.... I checked wheel alignment after working on the front forks and it is correct. im not sure what you mean by wheel runout, as im new to this. the front brake seemed to be a bit tighter once i remounted the front wheel, it didnt spin as freely as before, but now it is back to spinning freely again. so, thats what i have for now.

ok, so heres the deal... replaced the oil seals on the forks yesterday, and when i emptied them, a total of maybe 50cc's came out of both of them together (specs call for 147cc's per fork)... after double checking that everything was tightened back up as it should be from the spindle up, i noticed that at speeds below 20 mph, if i take my hands off the bars and just let it coast, the bike wants to roll to either side in a slow swerve. it will roll left first usually and then correct and come back to the right in a weaving pattern as though i were slaloming around cones. i didnt mess with anything that should have affected the tightness of the head races (i dont think i did anyway, im relatively new to this), which is what my manual says could cause this problem... any ideas? at speeds above 20mph it isnt noticeable, and will ride straight without hands on, and it doesnt pull hard enough to feel it at low speeds with hands on, though it does feel a bit..... not mushy, but almost like the tires are coated in oil when making tight turns at low speeds (like a u-turn).... im just trying to figure out if this is normal and im not used to how the machine would behave with the proper amount of oil in the front forks, or if i managed to screw something up.

thats actually pretty neat. i wish i had seen that before i got this lift, but hey, it will lift the bike high enough that i can work on anything at a comfortable seated height.

the lift was really helpful, i would recommend it to each of you. it was only $60 at harbor freight, and has a 1500# lift capacity. It was very sturdy, and has caster wheels on the rear so that it can pivot and move while the bike is mounted on it. Though i did manage to crack the lower fork leg while trying to pop the oil seal loose. had to make a run to an old bike wrecker. luckily they had a relatively whole xs500c sitting there, and the front forks matched up. and of course, as soon as i finally got everything ready to go, it started snowing so hard that i couldnt see. the oil seals were a pain in the ass, very difficult to put back in.

thanks for the ideas everyone! my wife surprised me though and went to purchase this lift for me today.... the nice thing is that i can also use this rather than an assortment of jackstands and boards to get both wheels off the ground when storing it over the winter (9 inches of snow, but its melting off so i want to get it road worthy by the end of the week) thanks again!

hi there, its been a while since ive posted, but my computer has been down. anyway, i am trying to do some work on my xs500, namely the fork seals need replacing. However, the maintenance stand is not tall enough to allow the front wheel to be removed so that I can remove the fork assembly. I am working by myself, and do not have access to a second pair of hands to help me lift the bike up onto some kind of blocks. any suggestions as to how i might manage to jack the bike up without damaging it or myself? I tried using a car floor jack and some boards/jack stands, but it was just too unstable to allow any real work to be done. i had to balance the bike with one hand and work with the other. the bike weighs 500lbs dry weight. any help would be appreciated, and at the moment i cant afford one of those handy premade detailing lifts that you can just buy thanks!

from reading what my manuals have to say on my xs500, it seems as though running the bike without the air filter can damage its ability to process the air-fuel mixture properly, since it was designed to compensate for the loss of airflow created by the filter element. it might be that your carbs will need to be readjusted among other things? it could be in your best interest to get a vacuum gauge and figure out how to do this. good luck. *edit* this occurred to me while reading your above post again. perhaps the reason that there is so much fuel is that the bike overcompensated for the extra airflow by allowing more fuel to enter the engine. now that the airfilter is in place, the bike is running too rich because it is still giving the same amount of fuel it would if it was processing all of the air it would have been without the filter. when you kick in the choke, the air/fuel mixture becomes rich enough that the engine cant even create a detonation, and it dies. im not any kind of good mechanic, and am still trying to learn this myself, but it might be worth looking into.

the advice is only free until they get you hooked, then they jack up the price! just joking. welcome!

slash his tires... when he asks why.......... just tell him it makes the car look lower.

i wear a baclava in cold weather, but it actually focuses the breath mist on the visor, so i flip it out of the way when i have to stop. but spit..... i gotta say, having used dive masks before, i tried it. sounds gross. works like a champ. seriously. pretty much anything you use on the inside of your visor will have an eventually negative effect on visibility because of the chemicals in it.... i've never had a problem using saliva. saliva and a rinse with diluted water, so you don't have to wipe it off. it should dry spot free, and shouldn't fog either. good luck!

hands on the grips and rubber side down is impressive enough. not that my 500cc 500lb bike could do a wheelie if you shot it in the ass, but still. just be cool. dont show off. thats how people get killed. enjoy your ride and the (sometimes scantily dressed) scenery.

i have an acoustic yari alvarez, im not sure of the exact year, since it was a gift.... but i know it was the last year that they offered the lifetime guarantee/warranty on the guitar. it has a beautiful sound. thats my only guitar, and im still learning.

the problem with our bike is that the xs500 was only made for about 3 or 4 years. and most of those are re-manufactured versions of the original bike (slight changes to wheel, brake, and head styles)... nearly all of the parts have been discontinued. the only option is to search around for aftermarket parts that fit the bill, or to really look for NOS parts that are going to cost us an arm and a leg. good luck harry. and rufio (good name btw, good band too), the local shop can get us some parts, its just that most are no longer made. even basic parts like oil filters are no longer made for this bike. two questions harry, did you order from yamahaparts.com or yamahapart.com? both seem to use the general yamaha catalogue, so what parts did you order? based on what ive found with my bike, im guessing cam chain tensioners and maybe even the chain itself?

no, ive gotten all of my parts off of ebay or from a local antique bike shop here in spokane. good luck.

*cups a hand to his ear* WHAT?

I never use hearing protection other than my helmet, and I was wondering how the rest of you treat this issue. The people here seem to be worse drivers on average than I have ever had to deal with, so I want to be able to hear whats going on around me more clearly. My bike is pretty loud though, and I am sure that my hearing is being damaged at least a little. So, how often do you use hearing protection? Have you noticed that plugs make you miss anything?

what was the problem?

its my understanding that you should only use the choke until the bike will run smoothly without it. My haynes manual says that running the engine too rich can cause the exhaust to overheat and discolor over time (it will eventually look like someone took a torch to it, with blue/purple rings of heat where the metal has been stressed). im not sure if its the same on the newer bikes, but i basically just start mine up, and get moving in under a minute. once ive gone about a quarter mile i shut the choke off, and run it in a lower gear so that the engine warms up faster without relying on the choke. good luck.

ive had some pretty good luck finding exactly what i needed on ebay. especially a bunch of NOS parts/decals/etc.

hrm lets see. since i also only got my bike in august, here goes. I have a single two-piece suit, made by joe rocket. it is textile, but is part of their sport touring collection (second hand), so it zips together into a single piece. it isnt insulated, but its pretty good at keeping the wind off me. (also, it has knee pucks for some reason, so if i ever really need to get the bike leaned over, im covered heh...). I have a scorpion exo 400 helmet, and some pull on mid-calf length boots that i wear all the time. i have two pairs of gloves, some older jt ones that are relatively thin textile, and some textile/leather motoboss gloves that are wind/waterproof. so, i have to just kind of deal with what i have in all weather. in hot weather the vents keep me nice and cool. in cold weather i toss a baclava under the helmet and wear a windproof jacket under my main jacket. for those rainy days, i have a set of motoboss raingear that i strap to the back of the seat just in case. thats about it. the boots are made from two solid pieces of leather, so theres only one seam, and i havent had any problems with leaks yet.

the book gives it at about 500 bucks as a parts bike, which yours would technically be since its totally reassembled. you could get more for it if you put it back together.

ummm... if it were a liquid cooled car, i would assume that you were burning off coolant, but im not sure what it would be on your bike.

there is a magazine called Vintage Motorcycle that has a really great rating system. I think i know where i can get my hands on one, and will try to check it out for you tonight.