new guy with some xs360 questions

[sirtopemshat]

this is my first bike so im sorry if some questions sound retarded. I got a 76 xs360 a while back. previous owner hardtailed it with a stretch and didn't seem to care much for anything else on the bike. it runs well, but has a few little quirks id like to fix. first off, once warmed up sometimes the idle surges high. what causes this? Another question is there seems to be a pretty annoying tight spot in the chain...does this mean the chain needs to be replaced or sprockets, or both? also, when the battery is charged, the bike kicks over fine, but if its dead, it seems like the motor isnt making anough voltage to get a good spark. i always assumed you could kick a kick start bike even without a battery, or am i wrong? is this a charging problem? this is usually only a problem if i havent run it in a few days.

last questions as far as parts. what are good sources for parts? how much part interchange is there between 360, 400, and 650? im also looking for a small speedo and tach like mikexs sells for the 650s. do these bike use the same cables as a 360? i need new speedo and tach cables as well.

thanks for any help.

[bralkan]

this is my first bike so im sorry if some questions sound retarded. I got a 76 xs360 a while back. previous owner hardtailed it with a stretch and didn't seem to care much for anything else on the bike. it runs well, but has a few little quirks id like to fix. first off, once warmed up sometimes the idle surges high. what causes this? Another question is there seems to be a pretty annoying tight spot in the chain...does this mean the chain needs to be replaced or sprockets, or both? also, when the battery is charged, the bike kicks over fine, but if its dead, it seems like the motor isnt making anough voltage to get a good spark. i always assumed you could kick a kick start bike even without a battery, or am i wrong? is this a charging problem? this is usually only a problem if i havent run it in a few days.

last questions as far as parts. what are good sources for parts? how much part interchange is there between 360, 400, and 650? im also looking for a small speedo and tach like mikexs sells for the 650s. do these bike use the same cables as a 360? i need new speedo and tach cables as well.

thanks for any help.

What do you mean it surges high? Does it hang at around 4k RPMs or is the experience different?

These bikes have to have a the correct battery voltage to create the charge necessary for the stator and field coil to generate the correct (higher) voltage for running the bike. You may have a charging problem (your battery not recharging when running) or your battery just isn't holding a charge and needs to be replaced. Some bikes will run with a dead battery, but the charging system in these XSs requires a good battery (as far as I know its all XSs).

Ebay is generally the best place to find parts for the bike. Some of the parts are interchangeable, but I am not sure if the cable lengths are the same. I would think they should work.