XS 500

I used starter cables from my car to the bike today to try and start it. I used the starter for max 3 seconds each time, and after a while it started to sound like a stung pig. What has happened?

I am having problems with the kick on my bike, a xs500 as you might figured out already : ) After I replaced my clutch and gotten everything back together I noticed that my kick didnt spring back, so I took of the crank case cover and managed to get right into hell. Replacing the clutch, the gear lever axle and the clutch basket took a hour, now I was going to spend much more time in the abyss of the crank case. First the ignition fell apart, so I had to strip that, next the kick spring cover didnt align up so when I had putten all together and kicked a small accident happened. The big cogwheel behind the clutch basket chewed the plate on the cover to pieces... But the kick did spring back, atleast without the crank case cover on. Hammer the spring cover back to "normal" shape and then try again to make it sit still, by now the entire kick assembly had fallen out of the crank case. Anyway, I managed to retain the thick washer on the end so I atleast didnt have to tear all the engine apart. There must be a god after all, but this was to be his last sigh. After all had been reassemblied again, with a horrible "gasket on tube" (or whatever it is called in english) which got all over the place, on all tools, hands, trousers and even on the danish pastry, disaster struck. The kick still didnt spring back, it is even harder to pull back up now then before, and yes, I did tension the spring... WHAT HAVE I DONE!!! WHAT DO I HAVE TO DO TO GET SALVATION!!! So in short, how to get the spring cover to sit still and as it should inside the crank case. Why doesnt the kick spring back even after I have tensioned the spring?

Blasted... all that oil and a new seal again... Well thank god its not anything more serious

I got my clutch and gear lever sorted out last night, but when I was going to kick it I ran into problems. First the kick doesnt want to spring back, so I have to lift it up with my foot. Then, when I kick, it sometimes springs back with a huge force and hits the engine with a loud noise. Something is clearly not as it should be. It was ok before I replaced the clutch, so what on earth has happened? And how to fix it... I want my old kick back

I need a fast answer on this question, how hard should I tighten the nut that holds the clutch basket... I have the repair manual, but it is at home, and I am in my summer house now So just tell me the torque and I will get my bike running tomorrow hopefully

I bought it two summers ago with a new filter fitted and havent been riding it so much so I have had to change filter yet. However, I will have to do it this spring since I will change the clutch among other things. But that is a problem later on this spring

Are you parting it out or selling it complete? If you are parting it out I would need the master brake cylinder for the front brake.

Take this for what it is, hearsay... but... the filter from the R1 says to be compatible.

I never got my XS500 do start with the electric starter. After I learned the technique to kick start her she always starts on the second kick. First one with full choke and she coughs, next kick with half choke and she starts immediately. To bad for my g/f though, she weighs to little for the kick so I bought her a XJ500 instead... now I dont have to share the xs500 with her

The crack is fine as a hair and only two of the standing parts are flexing a bit, all the others are stiff as before. Is there a risk for a total disintegration if I drive with this?

Ok, now its confirmed, I am a idiot I was trying to remove the clutch basket today on my XS 500 and it cracked!!! Not alot, but a small crack is visible. Now I wonder, do I have to replace it or can I drive with it?

Uhmm, I found one 18 mm spark plug socket, it wasnt that hard once I started to look There seems to be no 11/16 but a 13/16 instead that is a spark plug socket, but I will use my new 18 mm

Uhh, I surely hope there is a misunderstanding here... Atleast the Yamaha kickstarts I have tried has been NO resistance AT ALL down a couple of centimeters or maybe half the swing, then there is a little resistance, there I kick. I do not press down until I feel the pistons is almost at the top and then kick. But I surely take up the slack as Drewpy says, otherwise it hurts in my leg and feet even.

I ment the socket yes The reason I was wondering was that it is very difficult to find a 18 mm spark plug socket in Sweden, we have 17, 19 and 21. So therefore I started to suspect that it was a 11/16" instead, since that would not really be detectable when we removed plug 1 and 4 with a 18 mm wrench

Just want to check that the spark plugs on the XJ500 is 18 mm and not 11/16"