Cy Welch

I haven't found a need to use a hammer on mine but you do need to remove the wheel to service the front drum brake any further than adjusting the free play.

There is a philips screw on the inside of the caliper that holds onto the pads which do NOT come off with the caliper. You must remove the screw to get them off as the pads don't come off the brackets until the caliper is off.

It's one of them. IIRC one is 513 and the other is 516.

These 80's 400's are known for being exremely lean and putting on pod filters tends to make them more lean. So it's common to either have to go to bigger jets, but in some cases just raising the fuel level in the carbs will do the trick as well.

It's common in my experience with these bikes for the shoes to stick to the drum and for the brake material to unstick from the shoes because of corrosion. I was able to get mine back working by getting new shoes and using emery paper to sand the drum and then putting it together (make sure to grease all the pivot and slide points) and riding. I did have to put a new set of shoes in after about 4000 miles because the first set wore out fast. The second set is wearing nicely though as the drum is nice and smooth again after using them for a while. Same can happen to the rear brake as well, and the same fix would be in order. Frankly finding new good drums can be very hard for these bikes, so it's important to do your best to rehab what you have if possible. Front shoes can be a bit hard to find for a decent price, but so far I have always been able to find them after looking for a few days on ebay.

Have you made sure the throttle cable is moving freely and that the return spring on the carb is not broken?

It matches the symptoms of the brake material being stuck to the drum and off the shoes. That is NOT safe! Also any oil/grease into the brake area is NOT a good idea. You NEED to get that axle out. Have you tried getting a vise grip on the spacer and then rotating the axle while holding the spacer in place?

Leave the nut part way on the axle and hit that. As for the brakes, sounds like the shoe material has stuck to the drum and come off the shoes. That happened to me. You can get new shoes on ebay and then when you get the wheel off you can get the shoe material free and sand the drum braking surface. It won't be great for a while, you will probably go through the first set of shoes fast so get two of them. Mine has just gotten to the point of working right again after sitting for over 10 years, still got some work to go on it, but it's going pretty nice so far.

And it can be a real pain to get that valve cover to seal properly. It can work the first time if your lucky, but it took me 4 tries before it sealed properly.

Sorry, wrong side of the country (got me bummed out now). I'm sure someone has got to be somewhere in that area though.

Try walmart, they have a good price on the right battery (it's what I have in my xs400). It won't run without a battery, it's required for the charging system to work and the battery MUST be good.

Ok, I gotta chime in. They just don't make them like they used to. I think the best of all time is the XS1100. Lots of power, and just lives up to the name (eXcSive). Rock solid awsome bike. Actually I'd have to say that the XS line was the best line that Yamaha ever made.

Also isn't the R6 a wet clutch like other Yamaha's? I don't think you can get a burning clutch smell with a wet clutch, it may though be brakes if the pads are dragging.

I think we could work something out. Us XS11 owners need to stick together. I'll let you know as soon as I get the new tank and get it installed.

The states are a little bit like Europe in that each state has it's own traffic laws. In California where I am filtering/lane splitting is both allowed and actually encouraged. As far as speed it varies again state by state but most have speed limits of about 65MPH or so, and many places around here if your not doing at least 70 you will get run over. Road rage is bad here, and talk about the idiots not see bikes! I'm glad my 1100 has really loud horns because when an idiot pull into my lane almost into me I hit the horn and he got back in his lane until I was clear of him.

I have reached the point that nothing surprises me when it comes to the stupidity of people.

Ok, I don't get this. We drive on what you call the wrong side of the road, and when I wave to another rider it's with my left (clutch) hand which is the hand on the oncoming traffic side. If I wave for some reason to someone on the other side I just wave up high rather than low like normal.

Well, I expect that I'll have an extra soon as I have a tank coming that has the sender (assuming it works) to replace my existing tank which has a leak (PO appears to have poked a hole just behind the right side petcock).

On the 80 carbs turning the screw out richens the mixture. Also if adjusting the mixture doesn't help the off idle problems you might be able to raise the fuel level about 1 mm. You may have to turn them out a good bit as it sounds like it's very lean.

If it won't peel easily then it was properly prepped which means it's not coming off. Best bet would be to replace the windscreen.

Ok, I can't take it anymore Drewpy, just what is your avatar there?

You just described most of the back roads in California. Lots and lots of badly maintained roads. Make for some fun riding.

Turning the mixture screws in makes it lean, to richen the mixture screw them out. Start at 1 1/2 turns and turn them out slowly until you get the highest idle speed (turn it back down to 1200 RPM as you work on it. Remember to go back and forth between them and they may not end up the same number of turns out when you get done. Once you get this done you won't have the hang problem anymore.

If it's like the 1100 (which I hear it is) they do need to be adjusted. Also it takes a special tool and shims to adjust the valves.

Unless something is VERY wrong with the wiring the starter doesn't draw any current except when actually cranking the engine.