drewpy

Hi, Just finished restoring my xs, and thought I'd share it with you. Mods have included twin disk with xs1100 master cyl and drilled disks all round. Just been out to Rivington today on it and it ran beautifully, can't wait till Stafford

cheers, I tried Peeks polish with no luck. I'll try solvol

Hey, Iv'e restored my xs400 for the summer and gave it its inaugral run yesterday. Thing is the headers have become discoloured and i was wondering does anyone have any tips on cleaning this up? I am useing the Motad system t the mo' and they use stainless steel pipes! I know about "Blue away" product, but is there anything else? ie cheaper Cheers Drewpy

use copper grease on the threads next time

You are best to get yourself a haynes manual for starters, that way, you will gain basic knowledge for your bike. try http://www.yamaha-xt500.co.uk/portal.php its mainly xt but the sr has the same engine as the xt. your seat should open by key, and them you will see the hinges. with the seat up you will be able to see a bolt or bolts to hold the rear of the tank on, then wiggle backwards off the rubber. you can see an sr parts catalogue here. try 1980 theres's an sr250 listed there http://www.starmotorcycles.com/star/parts/home.aspx

I assume you mean spark plug leads and not spark plugs You can always unscrew the plug caps and get some shrink tubing from electronics store (Maplin out there?) then shrink it on the leads with a heat gun. As regards the kick-start, iv'e seen the gear mesh inside the casings sheared off before now, so it could mean an engine strip. Just bump start it, you sound like a big boy If your really keen, take off the right casing cover a check the kickstart shaft as it enters into the gearbox, you should be able to see it to confirm condition. as to the noises on your bike, I assume you have changed the oil and filter within the last 1000 miles?

Damp in the ignition, drained battery, water in the tank if cap was off! take out the spark plugs can you smell petrol? connect up your spark plugs and earth to cyl head, do you get a spark? Charge up the battery drain tank and put fresh petrol in.

you might not be able to replace the leads, because they can be glued into the coil, depends on the model. As for tank, one bolt at the back and "wiggle" the tank towards the back, lifting the rear of tank by couple inches. watch out as it will let go very quickly (held on with rubber "bungs" into frame) it will be easier to do the valves with the tank off. PS don't forget to undo the vacum and petrol pipe from the tank first.

inlet 00.8 - 0.12 mm exhaust 0.16 - 0.20 mm drew

try this link http://www.starmotorcycles.com/star/parts/home.aspx usa but you can see the parts you need. Iv'e used standard generic and stainless bolts on my restoration. try B&Q

If you can get a larger nut over the bolt head, you can then weld it on inside the allen bolt (build up the weld to inside the nut). due to the different heat characteriscts of the metal, it will break any alloy corrsion. Then you can get a socket over the nut and turn. his also works on studs snapped off flush with alloy heads. You could also get a dremel and cut a groove, then use an impact screwdriver. BTW any bolts that are tight should use heat if possible and an impact driver. Drew

if your selling the bike, put the old rings back in. Making sure you haven't mixed them up in the first place

not sure about the xj's, but on my bike the gear shaft runs throught the engine to the other side. this then acts on two tentioned hooks which revolve a drum (that's your gear selection) If you have a similar setup (most probably) then you may have knocked the gear shaft slightly (usually they are fixed to stop sliding out, so the problem may have happened anyway) and somehow disengaged one of the "hooks". one hook makes the selection and the other returns it back. its worth taking off the casing to check operation. If you have a manual, have a look there first to confirm the setup. other than that, are your splines ok and not slipping round from the lever action?

this sounds like its the same problem on both counts. All hydraulic master cylinders have a tiny return hole within the resevoir and if this is blocked or partially blocked, won't return the compressed fluid back into the resevior. This will lift your clutch plates away the more you use the clutch (causing slip) and then eventually pop out the clutch piston.

Evilbay has loads. You are best to at least get the bores honed (45' crosshatch)and new rings, but you need to measure the bores first(i'd get your local machine shop to do that accuratley) to determine any wear. try www.Motoward.co.uk give them a call on 01403 824222 they have computerised OEM stock and are really helpful, and suprisingly cheaper than evilbay on some items motolink @ www.yamahaspares.uk.com if you are looking for any 2nd hand spares i have a 250 engine partially stripped in my shed

have you tried this site? http://www.yamaha-xt500.co.uk/portal.php they have sr's on there, not sure if they are the same tanks tho'

I used a hair dryer up close and they came off luverly using a finger nail to lift then pull/tug off if you mean badges, then still try the hair dryer method the graphics will of course be stretched and can't be used. use solvent to take off the remaining glue

ahh you said you had no compression tho'

what do you mean "no compression"? how do you think this is connected with the starter? have you tried bump starting the bike?

may have distubed rust or crud in the tank and its got into the carbs. just a thought

they are from an xs400/xs250. are they NOS or used? drew

triple s plug all the threads for you as part of the service

if you buy Classic Motorcycle Mechanics they advertise in there and you can get 5% off with the ad, at the very least you end up getting the mag free

I used triple s in bingley http://www.triple-s.co.uk/ they have an online price list, do a superb job, just degrease your frame and swing arm and they plug all your holes and blast and paint it. Classic Motorcycle Mechanics use them a fair bit. drew

cheers, that sounds right to me, I'll splice it into position 3 of the ignitin switch.