Speedshop

A fluke is a good meter so should be OK, but they can go out. I'm assuming you replaced the burnt out diode? When you turn on the ignition you get the full battery voltage down at the generator end of the field winding? it should not be more then .5 volt different from the battery. With the engine running and the 3 phase output connected to the rectifier you see the same AC value on each of the phases? rev the engine as well and note the change. When you switch the bike off and connect the meter in current mode, in series with the battery negative lead and the battery there is 0 current flow?

The chopper boys do this sort of thing all the time, swapping the bottoms of forks to suit different forks/wheel combos. While I'm not recommending it, it does happen a lot. If the forks are the same diameter and the bolt in the bottom is the same dia and, in theory its possble to swap the bottoms. The othe thing, can you swap the disc over? Sometimes both sides of the wheel are drilled and taped for discs.

From what you are saying you don't have the experience or equipment to make a good job of this. I'd pay someone to do it or buy a ready made system. What I'd do is buy a selection of stainless angles and tube and baffle mesh. I'd TIG them torgether to make a Harley style set of drag pipes. Apart from the welder you'd need access to a lathe and selection of other tools to make up the collars and flanges. I don't take on this work any more as you can buy ready made stuff for less then half what I'd have to charge for my time.

That rectifier is OK. 3meg ohm is considered no continuity, although I'd expect to see 7 meg, but if all the readings are the same I'd say that's good to go. A .5 volt on diode test is about right, it should be .6 so I'd guess your meter is off. If it cost less then £100 and hasn't been calibrated your meter not being accurate is more likely then 6 diodes having failed to give the same readings. Leave the rectifier alone now and turn your attention to another part of the system! There is most definately not enough of a difference in voltage between engine off and charging. You need to see about 14.5 to 14.7 volts with it charging and head lamp on. What is the resistance of the FIELD winding? If it is less then stock I'd say that's your problem. What should the resistance of this winding be? And what is yours?

Thats good to know...I carry a kit with just the cylinders on my bike, ( I have a couple of extra clinders) but might look for a small compressor as well. Some of the 12 volt ones are very small with the plastic covers removed. You'd be hoping to pop a bead back with eiether of these. Anyone seen that done with lighter fluid?

If the engine is stripped check the clutch push rod for free play at the seal. If it wobbles about it'll need sleeving to stop the seal leaking all the time. check the lower oil strainer doesn't have a chunk missing. Its best to modify rather then fit a new item. new cam chains are tight to get on Check the electric starter drive gears for wear Metal swing arm bushes tighten up the handling a little as do taper steering bearings, matched set of bridgestone tyres and a fork brace There are a few other minor bits but basically its a solid bike.

This model is suspectable to damage to the wiring from the gerenerator in the area around the sprocket/gear change. You need to remove the wiring to fully inspect all areas(unplug the connectors but leave the generator fitted so you can move and see all areas of the loom) make sure you clean the loom in this area. If the outter sleeving is damaged you will need to open it up and inspect all the wires for damage and chaffing. 50% of charging problems on these are caused by damaged wiring here. Have you set the meter to diode testing when checking the rectifier? It makes no difference if you have a solid state regulator fitted, I routinely binned the older sort and fitted the late type when i worked in the bike shop.

OK this could be one of several things. Check the ignition and kill switch ciruit is OK with no crud in the switches/damage to the wiring. next you need a good multimeter and carry out resistance tests of the ignition coil, and the pick ups and coils that supply the CDi. if all those are within the stated specifacations you are looking at the CDi box itself.

It depends what type of pick it is. If its a hall effect you need new ones, no ifs or buts. If its a wound inductive type I may be able to rewind them. (We specialise in classic Yamaha generators) You need to e-mail direct if you want me to look into this. A repair might not be that cheap so find out how much new ones are. If it turns out to be hall effect its possible I can locate a different pick up, but it'll be down to you to assemble it to the back plate. Typically though they use industry standard pick up assembled to the back plate with solid rivets to prevent tampering. [email protected]

I'd say the mixture was too rich at idle, thats what normally causes this. A lot of carb problems on this bike are put down to the diaphragms, however this is USUALLY combined with hot starting problems as well. As your bike starts OK hot, I'd look at the pilot mixture settings and then pilot jets in the carb.

You should go with a new bearing if this is a problem on this bike. Chances are the bearing on that old engine isn't far behind the one thats gone! Yes you will have to split the engine. It might be possible just to turn the motor upside down and remove the bottom case leaving the top end in tact. You will be able to fish out any bits of bearing as well while its apart

After the shaft drive on my R1150R broke at 50k miles (a common fault I'm lead to believe) I'm thinking of selling the piece of German junk. Apart from the shit build quality and crap indicator switches that need 3 sepearte buttons to operate them the thing that irks me the most is the fact that I have to fill the tank every 160 miles, a real pain as it needs a fuel stop every day if I'm commuting to work or every few hours if I'm on a long run. being able to get 200 + from a tank full would be an advantage. Anyone got a XJR1200/1300 tell me how many miles it'll do to a tank? And any other problems the bike suffers?

It might be what wire you have to disconnect. many might feel uncomfortable answering this on a forum - how to hot wire a bike.

Those rubber bungs are supposed to be there to stop fuel entering at that point.

There's no polarity - its fully AC

The source coil for the ignition should be grounded at one end and seperate from the lighting coils. Sme with the lighting coils, grounded at one end.

You need to check which ones as the XS650 had several different versions. Late XS roadster forks are common and easy to find.

If its got 34 mm forks there will be very little on offer, the nearest would likely be the 74-76 XS650 springs. 35mm and there's a good chance it will share the same spring as the XS650/SR500 and these are available. I'd e-mail Hagon in the UK as they are very helpful on these matters. Its the damping more then the springs that causes the dive BTW.

It could be fiddly as they often use tamperproof bolts, but not impossible. You might need to drill the heads off to get them out.

I would say you'd be best looking for a good loom. BUT this diode is part of a safety cutout, therefore it won't have a heavy current flow. To confirm this you need to look at the pin out of the relay and see what's connected to what and when. I'd guess that the white wire feeds the relay control coil. A 3 amp diode with a 200v rating should be more then adequate - try a 1n5402 (cost about 10p each). I can send you one if you are in the UK.

And with nasty car type connectors that aren't really designed for life on a motorcycle.

Pistons can appear to be really in there tight, but there are ways to get them out. unless the caliper has been badly butchered I wouldn't change them for unknown used items. My trick involves a big propane tourch and a 100psi air line. I've not been beat by a seized piston yet!

the price of a con rod kit plus £25 to change it normally.

So why you posting to us then?

It'll look like you crashed into the chav section of 'stick on tat for cars' at Halfords with all that demon tweaks rubbish on it.