Craig 8150

at least its now running well done

Indeed , I actually took it out for aliitle run and it's goes well , even better than before . I will need to improve the front brake and front suspension . Initially a case of servicing them as I have no idea of its service history and Neither are just not good enough at the moment .

Thanks for the reply eastanglianbiker , i have had a result ! It turns out the fuel was the problem namely the floats

Unfortunately my lack of experience with bikes had allowed me to effectively insert the floats upside down .mthey are mikuni carbs where the floats slide up and down rods that are fixed into the base of the float chamber as opposed to pivoting in the usual way . Upon re fitting the parts to the carb I unknowingly put them upside down . I had no idea there was a top and bottom to them ! My mate spent a long time sussing all this out , I feel a right chump he called me a right C##t LOL all in good spirits !

Engine re built after blow up last year . It is an XS 650 engine we have a spark we have fuel going in we have good compression, timing . No faults that we can see . So at the moment we are flummoxed . The bike runs on a PMA ignition unit . Which is working fine as we have sparking . Carbs have been cleaned etc . Any thoughts , anyone had experience of this ?

Hi All I'm always repairing or tinkering with my XS650 tracker stylembike the black coated exhausts have deteriorated such that I have wire brushed them down and ....already begun repsrating ( I've got all excited again wanting to get it out on the road for our glorious spring/winter weather LOl ) on refelection I should have researched what product I should use in order to protect it from rusting again as it no doubt will . I spoke to a guy who mentioned ( my exhaust is a mild steel ) a zinc coating before spraying ? If so is it a DIY process that I can do myself ?

Thankyou megawatt and stu for the advise that's exactly what I'll do ! My spokes are now proper dirty and I'm yet to be arsed to co contemplate the laborious task of cleaning them . What a knightmare to have to do all of them ! I had kept on top of them whilst riding it but it has stood a while outside,but covered up whilst the engine was being re built !

Hi guys

Whilst having put my rebuilt engine back in my XS 650 1976 and generally cleaning her up I am considering the benefits of lacquers get the wheels ,spokes and engine casings etc. whilst researching old threads here I came upon the Belgum Alu which sounds like a great product ( Ian using Autosol again a great product ) . However I am wondering whether laquering is viable in that once applied will it keep muck and grime off to a minimum or at least allow cleaning up a lot less tedious ?

Spokes are are terrible at the moment and I'm not relishing doing those !!

Helpful post onesea Thankyou as I haven't yet used any navigation and will try a simple Google route via smartphone and whatever comfortable Bluetooth headset ( how comfortable / uncomfortable might they be I wonder ? ) that I choose . Any suggestions appreciated

Hate people sitting on their brakes in traffic, red led's blazing into the retina

Ditto that ! My eyes get tired quite easily at night with all the blinding lights and without sitting behind one with their foot on the brake !! I sometimes have to shield my eyes as they are too intense .

I shall clean the air filters tomorrow , the carb balance was an observation by mechanic in passing.stu .on another note though whilst finally getting a run out today the clutch started playing up only pulling away in first gear , other gear changes were fine it has been mentioned of a worm screw problem etc , then .....a short while later ..clunk ...?? .i look down at rear wheel to see a bar ( strut thingy ,attached from the brake hub into the engine now having broke of the engine fixing and pointing rear wards . The rear brake arm loose with the threaded rod attachment wrapped completely around itself ...number plate gone and metal backing well bent . I have no idea as to what happened there but confess my daisy girl ( yes she has a name ) is faltering often and is requiring TLC .....often !!

My thoughts are this , it has been fine for a while so jet must be correct . I believe the bike had not been run much prior to my buying it . Having recently cleaned out my fuel tank for re sealing and kept the contents in a bottle I am aware of the gunk that collects in the tank it's surprising ! Plus a fuel filter was heavily clogged , both now replaced . So I'd imagine that it's entirely plausible jets etc can be blocked as a result . I may well get them ultra sonically cleaned . And a good mechanic that was recommended to me has already stated that the carbs are not balanced also .

The normal Velcro adhesive should stick fine so long as the bit it's going on is super clean.

For fixing plastics, I use the stuff plumbers use to "weld" plastic pipes together. It gives a great bond because it melts the plastic a little allowing excellent fusion.

I shall remember that ! However I had a second attempt with the araldite and all sticks well that ends well I think that I may not have mixed it for long enough before sticking it down .

ivenhad my Yamaha xs650 flat tracker for about 4 months now with various little niggles .but my issue at the moment is the engine stutters when around 3-3.5 thou revs. I have new plugs in it new fuel filters,the mixture has been set by my friend who knows these engines side out ( he races in the world motocross side car championship ) . He will tinker about some more when he has time but for myself it's bugging me .imhave mikuni carbs on it with foam air filters. It's only recently been doing this after being trouble free for some time.

Hi all

My flat racked xs 650 has a fibre glass moulded seat/ panel section ( bolts on ) of which the seat itself fixes by way of good old Velcro !! Having had a pin hole leak in the tank (now fixed ) the fuel perished the glue holding the Velcro ! I bought some araldite seemingly strong , but it isn't !

Any ideas for a SUPER SUPER glue or something suitable that will be very sticky for a Velcro to fibreglass fixing .( strangely the Velcro side stuck to the seat remains well fixed I can peel it off then put it back again and it sticks very well still ! That's what I need whatever the hell it is ! ( SUPER SUPER at any rate ).

Just read this thread ..with interest as I am changing my two fuel filters as one is not flowing good at all it drips every 7 seconds and I limped home because of what seemed a fuel starvation problem just like your mate what was the carb issue in the end

Haha hilarious .. Comes across a bit like a chav. like yeah mate an innit all that bruv nah wot I meen ! ..

The best things in life are Freeeeeee !

AND....

What doesn't kill you makes you stronger

Many many years ago I had a BSA C15. Which is a 250 cc single.

http://www.vintagebike.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/07/1965-bsa-c15-1-760x570.jpg Not this one but one like it

It was a Monday night and I was on painkillers for some ailment. I was told not to drink on them so what did I do. I went down to rock night at the old Adam and Eve night club in Leicester. Which was a right Townie pub but it did rock nights on Monday night. Anyway I had about 4 pints while I was there and also had a pint of beer spilt down me. About midnight I decided it was about time I went home. I said to my mates I'm off now. To which my mate Jeff says gis a lift home. I said no sorry mate you don't have a helmet. Anyway he kept pestering me and then said its not a traffic offence its a civil offence so you wont get any points. So if we get stopped I'll pay you fine and that will be that.

So I relented and took him home. Which was about 5 miles form where we were. We got about 4 1/2 miles from our destination and I nearly cut through the estate to his house . but then I thought sod it we are nearly home anyway so lets do the main road. We rode past one of the pubs in the main road to see a plod car sat there looking at us. Next minute the blues and twos start up and the chase is on.

I accelerated away and took a RH turn into a housing estate . Just as I got to the turn Jeff shouts just slow down a bit and I'll jump off. Which he did. I then carried on for a short while and then thought sod it I'm nicked. The plod got out of the car and started asking me where my mate was. To which I denied all knowledge. one of the coppers then wandered back to where my mate jumped off and found him laying in a hedge pissing himself laughing.

He then came back with Jeff and started writing a producer out and a informing me that I was going to be prosecuted for carrying a passenger without a helmet. My mate ( who was a bit the worse for wear 0 was stumbling about and generally being a pain to coppers. I was thinking for f**k sake mate I am over the limit and stink of beer so please calm down a bit ( do bear in mind that drink driving was fairly common back then ).

It ended up with him asking for lift home off the coppers and eventually they relented and took him home in their car.

He was right I just got a fine for this and we still talk about it many years after the event.

Haha great story

Not me, but a lad I was at school with:

He drew attention to himself on his 125 not only because he was underage with no licence and no helmet, but also because he had made a disastrous DIY attempt at dying his hair green. One of those police-spec Vauxhall Senators drew up alongside and told him to pull over. He immediately got into a full racing crouch, gave it a massive fistful of throttle and tried to outrun it. When he was pulled over about 20 yards up the road the copper was laughing so hard he could barely stand up.

Ah! Bless ! The sweet naevity of youth

when many years younger a mate of mine used to live a few doors up from a traffic police officer some of us had noisy bikes and we would often come out to find a note on the seat saying verbal warning keep the noise down, but he did come in handy one day when he pulled me doing 80 in a 50 area and just gave me a serious telling off before sending me on my way

They should do that more often I think most people would respond well to a telling off knowing that next time it's a fair cop ( excuse the pun ) . Because then you both your separate ways and the offender breaths a sigh of relief not feeling aggrieved and negative to the uniform as a whole .

In my late teens as a student walking home in the evening carrying a bag with my supper in it & 2 cops pull up next to me " what's in the bag son "

" just me supper "

" got any cannabis "

" er no no "

" you know what it is then "

" well I know what an atom bomb is and I haven't one of those either "

They gave me a smartarse look then drove off laughing.

That is a true story, the other encounter which turned out to be an extended one was around 1980 when a massive knock kicked off outside the club next to the chinese I was in, a cop was losing badly to one of the group so I weighed in help the cop. It all ended up with a crown court appearance & a chief constables commendation to a member of public for assisting the police which I've still got somewhere. During the trial I rubbed shoulders with quite a few cops as a riot van also attended the original knock later on. They were a great bunch. Folks forget the dangers in that job.

That was very decent of you tank bag at the end of the day we are all human and it's easy to see the uniform and not the person !

inspired by the original post by gautrek I am starting a thread ( probably been done before ) to hear experiences ( whether funny angry or whatever ) of roadside pullovers or experiences with police in whatever situation .

I can remember one time ( a12 ) when I got pulled over in a van doing 80 mph once in the lay-by and having got out the occifer himself was quite animated and clearly het up ! ( would that be because he sat behind me with lights flashing for two miles maybe and wanting to execute his authority with much relish and getting annoyed that I was quite oblivious to his presence )

Anyhow one ticket beckoning I was quite resigned to the fact I was going to get points and a fine so I let him vent off and lecture me blah blah blah ...I just agreed with him and became quite philosophical about it all to the point that I was quite calm and collected and not bothered . This I believe rubbed off on the fellow and that I was a conduit where his wrath was filtered away into the ether allowing himself becoming calm and at ....peace ..( well not so pissed off at least ).

He did some checks as per usual checked my license for any points , misdemeanours etc , I was clean thankfully. So what with that and my demeanour in general I think he saw me as a good egg in general and I think he was a ' good cop ' ? Without any angst or an axe to grind ( as some of them do ).

He slapped my wrist and drove,off !! Woohoo

HA ! interesting point kris ! I spoke to a copper from the traffic he works out of stanway patrol centre that serves much of the a12 down to the m11 .he said they had 25 officers one time now it's three!

I got talking to him after I vented my frustration on a country road going to west mersea where we were in a que waiting for a recovery team to remove a ditched vehicle ( they were quite inept at their job ) I said to the occifer can't you mange the traffic as we all have to be places and there was only him and he was frustrated himself of which I then empathised with him ! Bless !

I will use the super unleaded myself as this will be more akin (purer) to the old four star therefore a petrol with less 'additives' .

HAHA what a fascinating thread this has turned out to be ! I shall be coating my tank this weekend ! One question , my two fuel lines ? Do I remove or leave in and seal the inlet somehow ? I would remove then seal the tank holes but wondering about the resin filling the thread itself and not being able to screw them back in !

I am liking the resin idea Mr fro thankyou and yes Mr eastanglianbiker they are not dot legal and reading up on it the reason is that whereas an alloy would bend on impact the fibreglass just cracks and potentially spills the fuel !! Not good