JimR

Hi NetGuz, thats odd how does it fill with water when stored ? Do you have a leak from the expansion tank or perhaps the breather tube pointing at the shock ? and with the cooling down period after use some fluid from the expansion tank is expelled thro the breather. I would guess the lower bush seizing may not be down to water ingress but down to bad service .... with the Skorpion I have worked on the major problem was the bobins on the front disc (well ruff) & I had no rear end problems but perhaps check the hose routes to ensure that coolant is not expanding thro the breathers onto the shock & if so reroute the tubes so it vents on the floor ! Regards Jim

dunno ... please enlighten me .... ! Regards Jim

Hi Atocp, what heve you set the meter to read 200 ???? I would guess a YB with no spark will be down to the ignition timing (if the timing is a long way out u wont get a spark at all irrespective of a voltage from the HT lead to earth you have to take into account the voltage from the HT lead to earth is well in excess of 200v !. So I guess just get the timing sorted ! Regards Jim

Hi Paul, is Trolling some form of sexual deviance ohh err never heard of that one ! but if someone wants to go trolling I guess we need to respect their wishes (etc) but while your up to it (barkwindjammer) could you do some vids !!! Regards Jim

Hi, so what is the product code ... first 3 digits of the frame/engine number ? Regards Jim

Hi Dave, just wondering how you set up the valve timing on the old BF550 and also where do you keep one ? It cannot be the garage as this may fill with chemical formula SH1T ... it would be good to know Regards Jim

oh I did read it right .... your not going to make love to it but if you do watch the cylinder 3 exhaust its got teeth Regards Jim

Hi Pete, no probs but I would guess it would be better to use a higher gear than second and just run it up & use the rear brake to unsieze the clutch .... back in the day I used to drop bikes (suffering this problem) on the rolling road (early dyno) with the clutch lever zip tied up and just apply load to the dyno as the bike warmed up and the oil became oil again and at some point the clutch frees up !! maybe a few seconds or a few mins but I guess this will work. Regards Jim

Hi Ben, Happy hunting !!! but tbh I would guess the whole motor will need to come apart which leads you on to obtaining the gaskets and other parts before the strip is done. Regards Jim

Hi which was exactly what I said !!! there are no more things to try ! Regards Jim

Hi, the thing to do is just buy it .. as I said b4 you will not loose money ... I guess its just down to if you can afford it and allow the machine to increase in value which may be medium to long term. But if your into ridding the bike about a bit care should be taken on the price paid as ridding the bike may have some detriment on its value in the future. In a nutshell if you can afford to buy it & not use it too much you will be rewarded in the future. Regards Jim

Hmm, so the locating section of the seal would be distroyed by fitting it this way round which in turn could allow the seal to spin with the crankshaft rather than being installed in the crankcase correctly but if you feel you can get away with it go for it but I do feel that installing the seals this way will be ultimately a waste of money. Regards Jim

Hi Ben, I guess the screw has knacked the balance chain but how it got there would be a mystery !!! the vibe problem will be down to the balance shaft just 'swinging in the wind' this would also cover the seize up you had (when the chain became derailed) best option is to find that screw !!! Regards Jim

Hi, I guess you may get it at that money unless it gets pulled from the auction site. Remeber those V4's were limited in production and did require some difficult service so its value will increase ... as long as you don't ride it to much and let it live in the living room ..... In my area a bike I sold in 85 is still sat in the front room never ridden and is original 100% I would guess the relations of this fella will have a good wind fall when he's gone !!! sounds morbid but that is the only way to treat such an 'oddball' bike Regards Jim

Hi , I'm stuggling with how you can remove the mag side seal without distroying the crankcase. On the primary gear side you could 'dig' the seal out but how would the new one be installed without distroying the seal (defeats the object I would have thought ?) but if you say it can be done go a head and do it but the owner may find more problems doing it rather than spending an extra hour or two doing the job correctly. Regards Jim

Hi Pete, TBH changing the oil wont help at all !! I did pickup perhaps the bike has a fluid clutch cable and as pointed out perhaps the hose could have got a bit worse for wear ... but I would guess that is not likley. I would guess that the clutch has just siezed up .... worst one I ever had took about 2 hours to free (in your case I would not think that) and as long as the bike is run it will (the clutch) continue to work. What could be a good idea is to free the clutch and get the oil well hot then replace it then continue to use the bike... Regards Jim

Hi Rayne, Yamaha didn't supply engines (in my day & perhaps it is still true today) only parts so any warrenty work I did was a claim for all the parts required ... in the 80's I had an XJ550 which had a gearbox explode poking various holes in the crankcases, totaling the clutch & primary drive. The retail cost of the parts fitted to that engine was over ½ the total purchase price of the bike I did take up engine supply but Mitsui said the paper work was fed back to the factory for research purposes if an engine was supplied they would have no clue as to what componet failed as the broken parts are left to the dealer to dispose of. Your dealer should have submitted another claim for the switch as that failure is unrelated to the engine failure ... they could have gone in the same envelope (email today I guess) and as long as the claim was upheld the part duly delivered this agian points to the dealer & not YMUK (unless YMUK could not supply the parts). good job asking for the list of parts claimed for & the time scale. With the list of parts fitted it will become apparent how the engine failed and if your dealer has fitted enough in order for the engine to be returned to a condition that it would have been in before the failure. You may also find it's not the quality of the bike at fault just the quality of the dealer (could be argued he is YMUK's representitive) as perhaps the original failure may have been due to incorrect service ? Regards Jim

Well it's very emotive .... have a look at this http://www.bikegirl.co.uk/forum/forum_post...D=2418&PN=1 as a guide I think I would be happy with the price of this one Regards Jim

Hi, it's a classic and perhaps it would be difficult to add a value to it but a good one you will never loose money Regards Jim

Hi Mike, the clutch rattle is normally badley adjusted carbs ..... along with oil delivery problems 10nm sounds about right Regards Jim

Hi, Well I have done 4 sets on the Divvy, FS1 has done (the ones it had on) and ½ way thro another set but an FS1 is not a tyre eater (4½ bhp doesnt tend to run thro tyres that quick). But from your comments I guess you read my post wrong. I would guess the weather & climate is somewhat different to England.... conti's I have ridden on here tend to not grip too well (compaired with the other tyres mentioned which indicated here we may have to put up with more rain than you do. As I don't know the weather patterns in the Southern hemisphere I was making that assumption. To right about knowlede/experence being added to the forum, but I guess your post was fueled by me saying "Oh OK" which, I guess you translated incorrectly. Regards Jim

Hi Rayne I would be interested to know what was fitted (the total parts count & description) from the 2 parts fitted (crank & cylinder head) I would guess some work has been done to the cylinder also (I guess you had a total engine melt down) was a new one fitted (cylinder & piston) or was the old one remanufactured (rebored) ? If bored you may find the the piston clearence/tolerence is somewhat tighter than factory which will make the bike run different (ropey) until the engine wears to a clearence close to the original. Having a New head fitted would also indicate new valves there is a point that the valves have not been seated correctly (ground in) against the valve seats, which in time (carbon build up) may be ok unless its an intake valve(s). I do hope the dealer worked out what caused such major parts to fail in such a short time (hence the fitted parts list so I could work out what failed), but from what you are saying the rebuild problems are more likley to be a dealer issue rather than a Yamaha issue. In the past when diagnosing such faults I would order every part from Yamaha that I felt was needed to repair the engine to the degree of perhaps ordering parts that were not required (just belt & braces), but on the other hand if the dealer did not order everything required to rebuild the engine they would have to submit another claim for that part, which would go through the same paperwork trail as the original claim. In English the mechanic forgot to order a part and had to make an extra claim which would double the claim time so I would guess the problem lies with the dealer. Regards Jim

Hi Ben, now you have said that I guess the bike is only running on one cylinder (most of the time) ... The compression is perhaps a bit low on the one cylinder. It would be worth doing Compression tests (wet & dry) on both cylinders. If you find this to be low on one cylinder you will have to get the head off which also means the motor has to come out of the frame , to inspect/repair the valve train, but on the plus side with the motor out of the frame you do stand a bigger chance of finding that screw ! A word of Warning tho, stripping an XS500 motor is not for the feint harted as it was a bit over complex .... It's good the oil light does not flash when the engine is running and hot as a flashing light does indicate problems with the big ends (shells, rods etc). So perhaps the engine strip you may need to do will be confined to the top end of the engine ... so you only end up with a couple of hundred bits on the bench rather than what appears to 1000's ! Regards Jim

Hi, sounds to me like a worn out worm gear or its housing Regards Jim

Hi Drewps, never seen the bike run but if you say it idles fine it must be a sound repair Regards Jim