Speedshop

Just got my XT600 on the road. I rarely get any time for my own bikes so I'm glad to have this road legal and running!

I make a range of electrical items for Yamaha twins and single from the 1970's and 80s. I've just finished developing an electronic ignition conversion for the XT500, it fits the TT 500 as well. Its is self generating so runs with no battery, but you can fit the bike's lighting coil and use it to charge the battery and run lights.

Both the USB and the cigarette kits we sell have a clamp to mount to the bars. If you remove this you're left with a flat plate with 4 holes, which makes mounting it in alternate locations very easy Those connectors are shite, we recommend a ring tongue or spade terminal crimped (as soldering causes the wires to break at the point where the solder was drawn up the wire stops) and come off the battery or starter relay. Some bikes have an easy to get to switched live here and some have the main power junction here as well, so there's a choice. Often there is a blank terminal and just adding an extra terminal into the connector block is possible on some bikes. Its live all time so a separate fuse is needed and it means you don't need the bike's ignition on to run power. If you hook up to the switched live you still need a fuse but the bike's fuses will protect the added circuit. We can supply proper weather sealed piggy back connectors for anyone wanting to splice in the the switched live elswhere, but they are fairly expensive compared to the horrid car type.

if you post a nice clear piture of the stator I might be able to point out all the tails and what they do

Yes it could have damaged the kill wire. If this is shorted to earth the bike will not sprk

I'd mask off the bearing carriers and certainly not use any abrasive on them at all - not even autosol. If they are clean leave them alone. We do use glass but masking off all the oilways is important I've got a set of small rubber bungs and blanks I use on my stuff. Glass gives a very open, coarse finish but is good at removing all the crud. You could finish with soda for a 'just cast' look, but you'll be there all week trying to get that paint off with it and if you are going to repaint it, the paint will adhere much better to the finish glass gives.

We've got tiny 12 volt 2.5 amp hour batteries and wiring products. These batteries won't run an electric start, but they will cope better with a motorcycle charging system then alarm batteries. http://www.rexs-speedshop.com/epages/es143131.sf/en_GB/?ObjectPath=/Shops/es143131/Products/GelBatt2

We have USB kits at the Speed Shop - handle bar mounted and come with all the wiring and a water proof cover. £25 plus a bit of postage 01580 880 768

The plug gap has infinate resistance (try measuring it) and the resistor in the plug cap is there for a good reason. If the resistor has failed, replace the plug cap with a good quality NGK item. Forget Ohm's law and resistance - its not the right rule to apply to a spark plug with an air gap.

Its not the battery that demine's what size headlamp you can fit. Its the generator. The generator supplies all the power to the system once the engine is running.

Its the same old advice: If its cheap its cheap for a reason. Secondly, buy from a reputable supplier and not from someone you've never heard of on eBay.

I doubt the vehicles you mention have such a device. The ignition key must be in proximety of the ignition lock as there is a chip in the key that must match the numbers in the vehicle's computer. If the key isn't there the engine won't run. Police BMW motorcycle have a lock to hold the throttle off idle to ensure the engine runs fast enough to charge the battery. The BMW charging system doesn't charge at idle and the lights and radio will drain the battery in no time. Again later machines must have the key near the ignition barrel.

possible, but there are plenty of parts available for these bikes if you look on german ebay

For the Kawasakis; No we don't have the pick-ups BUT watch out for as new CDi units; orginal units replated in yellow zinc and re-loaded with new electronics, including new decals. Even the most critical expert can't tell them from new without removing them from the mounts (even the factory used different colour resins over the years so thats no sure fire way to tell, but new resin is easy to spot). No need to gamble on used items as the electronics are NEW. Comes with a one year warranty Also the, again for the Kawasakis ORGINAL regulator rectifier units with new internals, again made to look like new. These will be available in the Summer For the DTs there is a trouble shooting guide on my website, free to download on the links and downloads page.

We now offer a neat kit that fits straight on, with no wiring or machining, that lets the bike run without the weak pulser. Our 'Racing Magneto' kit consists of a new stator plate, to which the original source and lighting coils bolt to and a new Electronic Magneto Control Unit. The standard windings are fitted to the new plate giving power for the lighting and ignition. The new system gives very noticeably improved performance in the midrange, is easy to fit and is fully adjustable. This magneto kit is applicable to the following bikes: DT250/400 B & C 1975-76. DT360 A, B & C 1974-76. IT400C 1976. MX400C 1976. YZ400 C 1976. It will be available mid April and there will be a very limited number at the special introductory price of £125+VAT

Put a spanner on the side of the generator. Does it stick to it with the ignition on and not when the ignition off? Thats where you power is going - it has a field controlled generator

I'd wire it in as per the XT500E wiring diagram, with the lights on all the time there is no need to have a headlamp switch that also controls the regulator connection point to the generator. IE wired to the center of the windings. You could also try a 12 volt conversion using the cg12 regulator.

in over 20 years of spannering this set stuck out as being one of the poorest quality I've seen. The lower engine gaskets looked like they were made from a very low grade of gasket paper, one up from recycled bog paper. The head gasket was a joke with brass shoe lace eyes for oil way seals and 1mm thinner than the Yamaha item. Total crap and not a brand I'd consider up to standard for us to retail. But even the best gasket won't seal on a warped surface.

As fas as the tyre to the rim fit a 2.50 is optimum, the next size down is OK and the next up. So from that point of view the rim and tyre combination is safe. The Japanese used very undersized rims for the tyre size - why I don't know. You find that a tyre stretched over the correct sized rims is not as wide as you'd think. I put a 3.0 inch rim on an SR500 with a 130/80 tyre, thinking that was going to be tight on clearance. What I found was as the tyre fitted the rim correctly there was considerably more clearance then I calculated. I'm not saying this will follow on all bikes and you will need much more clearance for mud then on a road bike!

Have you checked the head is flat still? Get a piece of glass and some 600 grit wet and dry. Place the paper on the glass then gently 'sand' the gasket face. it'll show you the high spots as these will be sanded while the low not touched. If its bad you'll need to go on until the gasket surface has a uniform finish. Athena gaskets - I ordered some but was not impressed i - won't be selling them in the Seed Shop. I ended up ordering genuine gaskets for my SRX.

go to this site: Look up the tank part number and ir should give you the colour options and codes. You may need to refer to the preface to get the colour codes. If they aren't there let me know as I have a Yamaha code book. (i'll need the exact year of manufacture and colour option)

We will be there from 10AM. Come and see us! Ashford Livestock Market Orbital Park Ashford KENT TN24 0HB If there is anything you'd like to pre-order e-mail [email protected] - we don't always see posts on forums so please e-mail to avoid diappointment

You guys have had good luck in that case, normally tyre fitting centres don't have the knowledge required, nor do main dealers (any more). But find ones that do, post them as they are a rare breed these days! A local bike shop near where I used to live sent people to the local tyre fitting centre as he didn't have a balancing machine. They soon started taking all the tyre fitting work, that was untill they damaged quite a few wheels, OK most where only marks in the finish, but they did manage to gouge a few with tyre levers and one poor guy they flattened the flange requiring a new wheel (10 month old sports bike and I wouldn't accept anything less either). Their 'specialist' turned out to be an out sourced company they sent wheel repairs to - nothing to do with them. If the fitting centre is obviously highly specialised to motorcycles then I'll have bow to their expertise. But I wouldn't just rock up at any tyre fitting centre and expect them to be experts even if they do claim to be motorcycle trained - they'll know the basics but thats all.

Definately a job for a pro, don't ride the bike to them though. Tightening up the odd soke is normal routine maintenace, you should occasionally spin the wheel and let a spanner clank over the spokes to listen for any dull notes compared to the others. I'd have to disagree with the comment about taking it to any tyre fitting place. If you want your wheel fucked up by a numpty that thinks they know what they are doing this might be for you. Otherwise take it to a bike shop that has real (as opposite to play station 'plug in' jockeys who wouldn't know a push rod alignment comb from a magneto) bike mechanics or a specialist wheel rebuilder like Hagons. This is one thing where you need someone's expertise as its not easy to get right. Mis alignment or out of true are not your main worries as you'll know as soon as you ride the bike if some thing's not right, a wheel collasping at speed due to incorrect spoke tension you'll know nothing about until it happens. Saying that I learnt how to do it by doing it :-O

I found out by accident that the plasticote 'project' paint in blue arsehole cans you can buy in places like B&Q is actually completely brake fluid resistant! They even do a heat proof one (sold for bbqs). I use the satin black for brake parts. let it dry and harden off for a day or two then its not affected by brake fluid. It seems that you can get the old fashioned planet killer paint that actually protects and stays on the thing you want to paint - so long as its not sold for automotive use, hence this stuff is sold as hobby paint I guess.