- 5/22/2025
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Can we make this BARN-FIND YAMAHA XS650 into a DAILY RIDER? We're sure gonna try! Clutch, tires, wires, torques, and tweaks, we break out the wrenches and even a welder to make this 650cc twin (also known as an XS2) into a MOTORCYCLE WE CAN TRUST on the open road!
Miss the first episode where we dragged this dusty hulk out of the bars? Watch Episode 1 here: https://youtu.be/wpYvyk2gIeY?si=MrRajvhmwlMkschy
Looking to buy? Get prequalified
https://octane.co/vehicle-selection/?partner=jAYmx9P&a=303&flow=long-prequal&appTheme=3a49337c5724d18079602a4ca5a91626
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https://www.batterytender.com/collections/powersports?utm_source=Partnerships&utm_medium=Television&utm_campaign=Octane%20Media&utm_term=powersports
Can we make this BARN-FIND YAMAHA XS650 into a DAILY RIDER? We're sure gonna try! Clutch, tires, wires, torques, and tweaks, we break out the wrenches and even a welder to make this 650cc twin (also known as an XS2) into a MOTORCYCLE WE CAN TRUST on the open road!
Miss the first episode where we dragged this dusty hulk out of the bars? Watch Episode 1 here: https://youtu.be/wpYvyk2gIeY?si=MrRajvhmwlMkschy
Looking to buy? Get prequalified
https://octane.co/vehicle-selection/?partner=jAYmx9P&a=303&flow=long-prequal&appTheme=3a49337c5724d18079602a4ca5a91626
Read the best motorcycle news and reviews: http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/
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SportsTranscript
00:00That's it, it's brand new, we just fixed everything.
00:02Oh, perfect!
00:04We are back with Motorcyclists Ran When Parked, an MC Garage production.
00:08Last time we were here working on the XS650, we pulled it out, we got it running, it was
00:12very exciting.
00:13We had dust, we had sparks, we had spills, we had mouse turds, and you know what, they're
00:19back!
00:20You can't keep them away.
00:21Once they get their scent on it, I think they want to come back.
00:23I love getting old stuff running, it's my favorite thing in the world.
00:25Now it runs when parked.
00:26We did ride it, but a few things came to light, and one of those was the slipping clutch.
00:31We're not 100% happy with the carburation, the brakes were terrible, there's lots of
00:34things to work on, and what we want to do now is make it a daily rider.
00:38We have a list, I might make another list, which is a surefire way to miss something
00:43because you have two lists.
00:44You see we said bleed front brake, which I didn't do last time.
00:47We got tires and tubes, which I have tires and tubes.
00:50Balance wheels, that's pretty fancy, but actually at least balancing the front wheels is not
00:54a bad idea.
00:55While we have it off, we'll check the wheel bearings, we're going to check the swing arm
00:57bushings.
00:58Clutch okay?
00:59Clutch not okay.
01:00Clutch is not okay, it slipped a lot.
01:02I'm going to start making a list of other things we're going to hit.
01:06Part two, check brake pads.
01:08These might be kind of greasy.
01:10I was going to buy pads, but I have an RD350 parts bike or project sitting over there.
01:15I could get the pads off of that if I needed them, so I'm saving the $30.
01:19We got a solid state voltage regulator rectifier.
01:22This has a mechanical regulator and I have personally had one of those fail and run like
01:2819 volts.
01:29It is working, but how long is it working?
01:31I don't know.
01:32So we're going to just nip it in the bud.
01:34What are we going to do first?
01:36We'll pull the tires and tubes and then we can have a look at the caliper and the brake
01:39pads.
01:40We made a to-do list last time and we got that done right away because it was right
01:43here.
01:44We just made another to-do list.
01:46We're going to check that off because we're making progress.
01:49Okay let's go.
01:50I'll try to do it and see if I can hurt myself.
01:53I can already feel that it seems like a no hoper, but before I do that, one thing I have
01:57not done is check the swingarm bushings.
02:00It makes a big difference in how good the bike feels.
02:02So what you do is you grab your frame rail and you grab the rear tire.
02:09And then you get stabbed by a piece of wire brush that somehow got stuck in the tire.
02:14And you go like this.
02:16And then you feel too much slop.
02:19It's not horrible, but it ain't great either.
02:21That's a problem for a future mark.
02:23We'll put that way down here.
02:24Let's get the rear wheel off.
02:26Oh yeah!
02:29Okay, that only hurt a little.
02:32It's actually better to...
02:33Oh yeah.
02:34See now you can really feel the clunk.
02:35Like I said, future, future mark problem.
02:38Look at this, huh?
02:41It's for your big nuts.
02:43That's why it's tight.
02:46So one thing I discovered in the last video was it's very easy to take the seat off.
02:50And I forgot about that before I got started.
02:52He says it's easy to take...
02:53There we go.
02:54See how easy that was?
02:55That was easy.
02:56So we'll get that out of the way.
02:57So we started with a brand new battery and I want to keep it that way.
03:00And this has essentially been stored for more than a month.
03:03I rode it a little bit, but anytime I parked it, put it back on the battery tender.
03:06So we're tip top, green light over there.
03:08Everything's good to go.
03:09It's got a nice long cord.
03:10I didn't have to use an extension cord or anything to keep it good.
03:14In case we do a lot of cranking like we did last time, we also have a backup with the
03:19jump box.
03:20So this is a huge number of amps, more than we would ever need, 1500 amps.
03:24I can hook this up to the battery if we deplete it by leaving the light on or just constantly
03:28cranking it.
03:29Should be good.
03:30We used it a couple of times last time.
03:32Who knows what's going to happen.
03:34All right.
03:35She's loose.
03:36You shouldn't have to hit this too hard, but use something softer than the axle.
03:39Oh yeah.
03:40At least it's greasy.
03:43That's awesome.
03:44All right.
03:45Spacer.
03:46Make note.
03:47You want those to go back where they came from.
03:49This will give us also a chance to check the rear brake, because I haven't ever looked
03:52at it because the front brake was not working particularly well.
03:55Chain's actually in pretty good shape.
03:56It's a diamond.
03:57It's an American chain.
03:58Set her free.
03:59Let's go.
04:00Oh yeah.
04:01We have a motorcycle lift.
04:02If I had done this in the first place, I would have noticed the brake rod holding the wheel
04:07on.
04:08Come on, buddy.
04:09All right.
04:11All right.
04:12So I just discovered that the minimum working pressure for that ram is about 50 pounds.
04:17This is what I was talking about.
04:19There's this brake rod, and I'm trying to pull the wheel out.
04:22I just don't work on these every day.
04:24Who does?
04:25Somebody.
04:26Conveniently, someone chopped the rear fender.
04:30Kind of bummed at first, but now that I'm taking this wheel off, I can just kind of
04:33roll it out, which may not have been the case because the old fender, they come way down
04:37in the back.
04:38Good job, Bobber guy.
04:39Well, the linings are great, and there's only a minor amount of corrosion in here.
04:43We'll clean that up, but I don't have to do anything with the drum, I don't think.
04:47I'll lubricate the cam.
04:49We'll do something to it.
04:50Just make it nice.
04:51And then let's look at the drum.
04:53It's pretty good.
04:54We'll clean it up.
04:55Oh, wheel bearings.
04:56So those feel really nice.
04:57That's nice and smooth.
04:58And the sprocket doesn't look too bad.
05:00We'll clean that up.
05:01Next up, let out the air.
05:03Well, these tires, looking at the DOT number, could be from 2005.
05:08It looks like the sixth week of 2005.
05:10I think that was a while back now.
05:12Hard to remember.
05:13Oh, this is going to be fun.
05:16Breaking the bead.
05:19We're getting the bead broken because there's a well in the center of the wheel where the
05:24beads will go that will allow us to lever it off.
05:27On a nicer bike, I'd probably do this on cardboard or set a towel down, and I probably should
05:32do that anyway because why wouldn't we make it worse?
05:35That nut on the valve stem, greatest debate in the world.
05:38Do we use the nut?
05:39Do we tighten the nut?
05:40Do we leave the nut a little bit off of the rim?
05:42Oh, boy.
05:43So what I did was lever the bead over each side of the rim.
05:46So I levered this bead this way, and I levered this bead this way.
05:49I sprayed it with a weak solution of soapy water.
05:52And you kind of rock the wheel out so that soapy water just lubricates it, and then you
05:57can just push the tire off.
05:59Doing this stuff by hand always takes a little bit of muscle.
06:04And she's free.
06:05It's had moisture.
06:06See all this where it's real rusty?
06:08It'll never be perfect, but we're going to get in there with some kind of mild abrasive.
06:12I mean, back in the day, you know, my tool set was like a broken screwdriver and a toothbrush.
06:17But you just keep doing jobs, and every time you do a job, you pick up another tool.
06:20So this is like a kind of nylon-ish or something, and so we're going to see how well it works.
06:25That's pretty nice.
06:26I think we'll stick with it.
06:29You make love to the wheel, you know?
06:30You make sure the wheel's perfect because it's so important, especially on a tubeless.
06:34You want to have perfect seating and no slipping and no leaking.
06:37Luckily, we have a tube because this thing's thrashed.
06:41This is something that I would eventually replace.
06:44I might try it out for a little while, but if I were doing this forever, I would put
06:47a new rim on it.
06:49If I can manage not to take a finger off, I could do both sides at once.
06:53These spoke nipples need to rotate if I'm going to turn any spoke nipple to adjust the
06:57tension of the spokes.
06:58And while you have the wheel like this, it's a good thing to do.
07:01Lubricate it.
07:02So I'm going to just hit it real good.
07:06You can get them from the outside, too.
07:08Put a drop of oil on the threaded part of the spoke.
07:10I have a workbench over there.
07:11I guess I could get off the floor, but I always end up back on the ground.
07:16Rim's bare.
07:17It's clean.
07:18I'm going to put a new rim strip on it.
07:19A brand new tube.
07:20This is Dunlop tube.
07:22It's nice and heavy duty, and it's going in a Dunlop Gold Seal K70.
07:26So this is a period correct tire.
07:27Currently made.
07:28Current compounds.
07:29Looks right and has about the right amount of performance.
07:32You can put more modern tires and get maybe more grip and a little bit different feeling
07:36out of it.
07:37But I sort of like the look, and I've run these on a zillion different vintage bikes
07:40of my own.
07:41We want to partially inflate the tube.
07:44I just like to put a little bit of air in it to give it a little shape so I'm less likely
07:48to pinch it.
07:49Just a little bit of shape.
07:50All right.
07:51Look at the inside of the tire.
07:52It's a perfectly smooth tire.
07:53Get some baby powder on here to kind of lubricate the tire and the tube.
07:59This happens to be Yamaha spray tire lube.
08:02It puts a nice thin film on, and you don't end up with pools of liquid.
08:06You can use soapy water, just don't use too much because you don't want moisture inside
08:10the rim.
08:11We muscled the tire on.
08:12We didn't pinch it.
08:13Inflated it.
08:14See what happens when we put it on the balancer.
08:15OK.
08:16So I did leave the weight on here, and I have not cleaned the wheel and stuff I might otherwise
08:22do if I were doing a restoration, like polish this hub.
08:25I'm trying to resist cleaning it hardly at all.
08:28I'll clean the sprocket, and I will wipe the wheel down, but I'm not going to polish anything.
08:32I left the weight on.
08:33Sometimes, you know, go ahead and do that.
08:34You can see it's the low spot, so I'm going to pop it off.
08:36So let's just use the stem as a reference, and we'll just let go of it.
08:42That's pretty heavy looking.
08:43Well, we can fix it.
08:44We'll use our wheel weights and fix it.
08:47So obviously, gravity, heavy spot, put it on light spot, roughly.
08:52Yep.
08:53Yeah, I think that's pretty awesome.
08:55OK.
08:56Balanced.
08:57We're good.
08:58So I'll just put these weights on.
08:59I'll clean the rim real well so that the stick has something to stick to that's nice and
09:03clean, and we'll move on to the front.
09:06Tire one, mounted.
09:07All right, we gave it about an hour.
09:08We'll just check the pressure, make sure it hasn't changed, and we're good to go.
09:11So it's holding there.
09:13Clean inside the brake before we reassemble.
09:16And the sprocket's actually in pretty good shape.
09:17It's a 34, and the teeth, they're not hooked.
09:20Clean.
09:21Pretty solid setup.
09:22Well, I'm going to clean this axle.
09:23So yeah, just we're going to tidy this up, re-grease this.
09:25I'm not going crazy, but just tidy this up a little, and then we'll get into the brake
09:29drum just to want to put a little bit of grease.
09:31OK, we're going in.
09:34In position, spacer left, perfect seal.
09:37We're going to leave the arm off and this arm off until the wheel's positioned.
09:42OK.
09:43She's home.
09:44I'm putting the brake arm back on.
09:46Here's the actuating arm that I'm going to step on with my foot.
09:49So what I'm trying to do is position this so that we have adjustment and that the leverage
09:55looks good.
09:56I'm going to go one spline closer, and then I'll slide the barrel in so we can just sneak
10:02it in.
10:03That's promising.
10:04I'm going to say I might have nailed it.
10:05And then we'll throw the adjuster on.
10:06Let's first see.
10:08Turning threads.
10:09It's my hobby.
10:10It should be just about right.
10:11I think I got lucky.
10:12So I think we got the brake arm just so.
10:14What we're looking for is for it to spin freely, which it was.
10:18The throw is nice and short, so now we're going to tighten the axle and make sure the
10:23chain's in adjustment.
10:24We'll count the two and a quarter hash marks over here.
10:29It's basically straight, wheel's straight, according to the hash marks, which are notoriously
10:34off.
10:35It's gone 36,000 miles using the hash marks to adjust the chain, so I think we're all
10:39right.
10:40What we're looking for is the torque value for the rear axle, which should be 50 foot
10:45pounds or something.
10:46I was like, oh, I'll look in the XS-1B, but this is the year before.
10:50This is 71.
10:51It had a drum brake, so it's totally different.
10:53I'm going to have to guess.
10:54It's over 100.
10:56Just a little over 100.
10:57108.
10:58Okay.
10:59Click.
11:00And final check.
11:03Spins like a dream.
11:06That seems perfect.
11:0710 and 10.
11:10That was on our list for last time.
11:12Number 1.5 was find the 10 millimeter socket.
11:16But this isn't a socket.
11:17All right.
11:18That ain't going nowhere.
11:20Okay.
11:21Rear wheel's dialed, and I'm going to spin the bike around.
11:23Why is that?
11:24It shouldn't whiz necessarily, but I think somebody put that on kind of wrong.
11:30And it is not super tight.
11:31I did put the wheel in on the last video, but sort of not in a very thorough kind of
11:36way.
11:37Sorry for being a squirrel brain, but we're going to put our loose fitting hitch pin back
11:43in our rear axle over here.
11:45Oh, sure.
11:46That'll pass tech.
11:47Well, you know, I'm kind of frustrated with our progress because it took a lot longer
11:52than I thought.
11:53It says tires, tubes.
11:54So I'm going to say rear tire.
11:57We'll just assume tubes.
11:58This is front tire.
11:59Sorry about the penmanship, but look, I got something done.
12:05Oh.
12:08Hand tight.
12:09Okay.
12:10Captain safety on the job.
12:11We could lift this with the lift.
12:12Remember how we have a lift?
12:14Somebody remind me not to work on the ground.
12:24Same diameter hole as the back.
12:26That's awesome.
12:27All right.
12:28Oh, don't break the speedo cable.
12:31Come on.
12:32Wow.
12:33It's coming off the disc.
12:34That's all very interesting.
12:35Okay.
12:36We should have done this when we weren't holding up the whole tire and the wheel.
12:40Come on.
12:42Don't break that.
12:43Okay.
12:44That could use grease.
12:45A little worm, kind of wormy gear in there.
12:46We'll clean and grease that before we put it in.
12:48And we'll just make note that we just have to get these in the right spot.
12:51This drives a speedometer.
12:53Ooh, it's another nice wheel bearing.
12:55Happy about that.
12:56Don't you think we ought to replace that?
12:58I do.
12:59We'll check the date, but this thing is absolutely smoked.
13:02Let's let that pressure out and see if we're, because we might have to actually take these
13:05fender bolts off to get the stupid wheel out.
13:08We won't have that problem with the skinnier tires.
13:10The factory sizes are what we're putting on.
13:12I think it's a 325 at the front and a 350 at the rear.
13:16We do need to get the air out.
13:17We're just going to do it.
13:20Come on, buddy.
13:21Okay.
13:22That helps.
13:23It just took some of the tension off.
13:24And do I need a bullet caliper?
13:26Nope.
13:27Okay.
13:28All right.
13:29Wheel off.
13:30I kind of want to look at the pads because of the age of the pads.
13:34And they may have fork oil on them is the other thing that is crossing my mind.
13:39That's actually spinning pretty nice.
13:41There we go.
13:43I was worried the pads might have a little oil on them, but they look great.
13:46And there's these little tee.
13:47That's kind of how you put them in because they sort of drop in to the caliper in a way
13:51that's not very modern, but they're dry as a bone.
13:55They're not shiny at all.
13:56So they haven't been oiled up by a leaking fork oil.
13:59We're going to clean the disc with it.
14:00Good thing I don't have a pot of oil down there.
14:04Bearing feels good.
14:05It's spinning freely.
14:06We're good to go.
14:07I'll just clean the disc.
14:09Let's do the tire.
14:10Oh yeah.
14:11That's like butter.
14:12Like butter.
14:15Poke a hole in it.
14:16I hate to sacrifice you, buddy, but you weren't going back in anyways.
14:19I did give the wheel the same kind of wire wheel treatment.
14:22I managed to also wire wheel my thumb a little bit.
14:25Pretty cool.
14:26So all the spokes on the front wheel are, they feel pretty uniformly tight, but spokes
14:30are good.
14:31Hub looks good.
14:32Bearings are nice and smooth as the rears.
14:33I think they were done recently.
14:34They look pretty new.
14:36When I say recently, I mean a really long time ago, but with low miles since they were
14:40installed.
14:41Get our 19 inch rim strip.
14:43You want really good quality tubes.
14:45Something you've heard the name of, preferably.
14:47If you can't afford it and you just got to get some tubes, do your best.
14:53Safety works.
14:54You're supposed to check that periodically.
14:56I just, I planned that mostly.
14:58Nope.
14:59These are the weights that were on there with the tire that was all cracked, you know, that
15:02we just took off.
15:03The wheel is, is balanced and I didn't have to add or subtract any weight.
15:08Maybe it's going to come down.
15:09Maybe we'll do a little bit, but we are like right there.
15:12My back thanks me.
15:14Everything is nice and smooth.
15:16It's satisfying when you don't have to struggle tightening everything.
15:21So I'm just going to get grease in this little guy and then a quick smear, cause this is
15:24where the oil seal goes.
15:26Let's get that wheel in place and this should just sneak right.
15:29Oh, see how great that is.
15:30Cause it's not as wide as the other one.
15:31You don't have to force it.
15:33If the fender were in place, it would be holding the wheel for me.
15:37We're right there.
15:39Okay.
15:42That's pretty good.
15:43That's a big improvement.
15:44I don't know what was out of whack.
15:47Brake's working pretty good.
15:48I feel confident we have a, like a solid basis for adventure.
15:51Yeah.
15:52Fresh tires.
15:53I'm going to do the unthinkable and I'm a, this is a valve core I took out of the old
15:57tube.
15:58I have no idea how old it is, but it looks pretty good and I want to keep it, but I'm
16:00not going to keep another one of these cause I have like, I got ones in that shop.
16:04I got ones in this shop.
16:05We got them at the office.
16:06So I'm going to throw it away.
16:07I was really happy thinking about my tires as I was going to bed.
16:12As we all do.
16:13The tires held air overnight, so thank God.
16:16We're going to get into the brakes.
16:18So we're going to see what horrors are in the brake reservoir, see what color that stuff
16:22is and how bad it or good it looks.
16:24I'm actually remembering to change the level of my work bench so that I can both have the
16:29brake reservoir a little too high and the bleed nipple a little too low.
16:33Okay.
16:34We're going to pull the brake reservoir.
16:36Brake fluid is nasty business.
16:37You don't want to get it on your paint.
16:39I hate how it smells and I don't like touching it, but what I like to do is bulb syringe
16:43just to show you could do it with something that's like two bucks at the auto parts store.
16:48Bulb syringe, squeeze her in and then yeah, it just pulls it right out and then very carefully
16:58we'll put her on in here.
16:59Let it drip.
17:00Turn it sideways.
17:01Let it stop.
17:02Get it back in and we're going to take every ounce out.
17:06It's actually really clean in there.
17:08I'm excited.
17:09It does have a braided steel brake line.
17:11It's cooked like bacon outside of the sheathing.
17:14The plastic cover is like fried and now the spill hazard is the brake fluid that I just
17:19put in that cup.
17:20The lid says dot three brake fluid only, so we're going to use dot four.
17:24It's fine.
17:25Let's get this lid off someday.
17:27Yeah, here we go.
17:30So what we're doing here is starting fresh.
17:32So I partly fill it.
17:33I'm going to work the lever and pull the fluid out the bottom.
17:36I'm going to bleed them the conventional way.
17:38I'll just squeeze the lever or I'll use my vacuum pump.
17:41I'm just going to crack, I hope, that bleeder nipple that looks really corroded.
17:44We did it.
17:45Okay, so I cracked it and then I snugged it back up so it wouldn't leak.
17:48This is our valve and we're going to be the human check valve.
17:51We're only going to let the fluid out.
17:53Oh, sheesh.
17:55The return is quite vigorous, so let's clean that up.
17:59So it just shot out.
18:00Sometimes, yeah, you got to be slow.
18:02This is one of those times.
18:03And this time for sure, very slowly, we're pushing the fluid out by pulling the brake
18:08lever smoothly.
18:09And then once we get to the end of travel, we close the valve so that it doesn't suck
18:13air back in the caliper.
18:15And it's going to repeat.
18:16I just saw some debris come out, so that's probably a good thing.
18:20So we're taking her down pretty low.
18:22This is a brand new lint-free microfiber towel.
18:26And so I'm okay going in the reservoir and it's making it shiny, beautiful aluminum.
18:31See there's like chunks inside of there.
18:33We got to get rid of that.
18:34And so this rubber thing, you just take it out.
18:38There's a plastic insert under it and stuff.
18:39I'm going to take this whole thing and I'm going to wash it in hot, soapy water and then
18:42dry the daylights out of it because you don't want any moisture, no water inside your brake
18:47fluid because brake fluid absorbs it.
18:49And then it finds its way usually to the caliper and it just corrodes the daylights
18:53out of everything.
18:54I think we guessed right.
18:56Pretty close anyway.
18:57Nothing came out, which is good.
18:59Isn't that nice?
19:01Yeah.
19:02Okay.
19:03Lever's great.
19:04All up, this wasn't too bad.
19:05I've had it be much darker than that and there's really no debris in it.
19:09So we're in great shape on brakes, man.
19:11I am stoked.
19:12Brakes done.
19:13Pads are great.
19:14Shoes and the drum, great.
19:15Or good anyways.
19:17Front tire.
19:18Check.
19:20Balance wheels.
19:21Check.
19:22Remember how easy that one was because I left the weights on it?
19:24That was rad.
19:25Wheel bearings.
19:26They were nice.
19:27Check.
19:28Clutch.
19:29Okay.
19:30No.
19:31We'll just make it official.
19:32Brake pads.
19:33I wanted to look at those.
19:34They were great.
19:35Not oily.
19:36Not oily.
19:37Oh, bleed front brake.
19:38See, we've got to clean this list up.
19:39So we're going to start fresh after this.
19:4010mm socket.
19:41Never find it.
19:42Ever.
19:43One.
19:44Wreck.
19:45Wreck.
19:46Two.
19:47We're going to do the whole clutch.
19:48We'll fix the charging and then I think we'll just start riding it.
19:52Road testing it.
19:53See how it goes.
19:54Yeah.
19:55See these spots right here?
19:56This is brake fluid for about five minutes on this paint.
20:00It already took color.
20:01You got to be ready.
20:02Bucket of water.
20:03Spray bottle.
20:04Get it off your paint.
20:05Try to not get it on there in the first place.
20:07So this is a Universal brand.
20:09I have to figure out the wires to terminate on the harness that will go into this regulator
20:14rectifier.
20:15This has a brushed alternator.
20:17You'll see the length of the brushes.
20:18Hopefully I don't have to change them.
20:19So we've got to find a way to mount it.
20:21It's finned because it dissipates heat because we're charging and making electricity, which
20:25is energy, which has to be converted into something like smoke, at least on my British
20:29equipment.
20:30You know, we're going to want to disconnect this.
20:32Mightily charged battery.
20:35Okay.
20:38Disconnecting the negative because I can do this.
20:41Remember what happened in the last video?
20:42If you haven't seen that, go check it out.
20:43Oh, I love batteries so much.
20:45Oh yeah, I remember that.
20:47We never got all the nuts out.
20:49Just for good measure.
20:50We'll throw her back on that smart charger, tend to our battery with the battery tender.
20:54The dumb chargers don't know when to stop charging.
20:57Smart chargers do.
20:59This one doesn't arc.
21:00If you touch the ends together, I still can't knowingly do it.
21:02I just have to resist.
21:04Japanese industrial standard screwdriver, different than Phillips.
21:08So that handy cover pops off.
21:10We have alternator and timing marks when this is where one of the brushes runs and then
21:15these are the timing marks down here that we would use a strobe light to see.
21:18Let's figure out the wiring.
21:19These are probably the ones that are coming off of the alternator.
21:24The black is our ground and the red is our hot.
21:27Oh, someone's put a fuse in there.
21:29That's handy.
21:30That's great.
21:31Thanks guys.
21:32And probably just stick the unit right in here.
21:33So not a hundred percent sure what we're looking at, but one of these is probably a mechanical
21:36voltage regulator and it'll have points in it that vibrate.
21:40And you can imagine after 35 years that maybe those get tired of doing that or they get
21:47corrosion on them and then bam!
21:49This is the rectifier.
21:50Oh, that's right.
21:51Look, it says six and six.
21:53Somebody didn't proofread.
21:54So the points I was talking about that go and they vibrate and they control the outcome
21:58and then some of it might go to ground.
22:00I took this tank off because I wanted to see the color of wires wherever possible so I
22:06can determine what the units are.
22:08Okay.
22:09Those are horn wires.
22:10Anyway, a lot's going on.
22:11They usually terminate a bunch of stuff inside the headlight and then they run all the rest
22:14of it back.
22:16Charging.
22:17We have black, we have red, and we have the three whites.
22:21They're not doing me a ton of favors here with this manual because normally you'd have
22:24a full wiring diagram.
22:25Yep.
22:26I'm going to burn some brain cells on this one.
22:28You know, when we got it running the last time, everything was working.
22:31And as I get more confused by this, I think, you know, it was working.
22:35It's so tempting to leave it, but that's when I'm riding Santa Barbara to go get barbecue
22:41and just boil the acid out of your battery and burn out all your light bulbs and your
22:45bike dyes.
22:46We'll check the colors and see if it just plugs right in.
22:48Okay.
22:49These will be our little diodes in there and this is the peg that grounds everything.
22:55I'll save it.
22:56I'll use it on something else.
22:58Let's look at our colors and see if they match.
23:02The black, the red, and the three whites match.
23:06I hope it's not a coincidence.
23:09That's good.
23:10And then we'll figure out these, um, the green and the brown.
23:12This could be the green and the brown.
23:13It's just, what's the black for?
23:15The way this is terminated would appear to me to be opposite of what it needs to be.
23:19I think it said plug and play, even though it came with this handy terminating kit, which
23:26I can reterminate it and match colors up and then it'll have the safety.
23:30I'm going to cut it and reterminate it.
23:33Always scary.
23:34It looks like the taillight's been rewired.
23:38Help me remember that the red goes to yellow and the black goes to blue.
23:42Resist urge to rewire bike.
23:44Okay.
23:45Someone's been in here.
23:46We're going back in.
23:47Oh, what am I even doing unwinding this racked tape?
23:51Plug and play.
23:52There's all kinds of stuff going on here.
23:56Black that comes here that then goes back.
24:00I'm like recombing the loom so that the wires are nicely organized in the spirit of overthinking
24:07it and over restoring it.
24:09I'm going to actually clean the wires to make them sparkle.
24:12I'll re-insulate this black wire.
24:14This is going to be so deluxe.
24:16I hope I'm not wiring it wrong.
24:23Fresh like new.
24:26So let's just terminate our wires.
24:28We've crimped on our new connectors.
24:29They're all roughly in the same direction.
24:34And that's the end of that.
24:35That's in there.
24:36Click, click, click.
24:38So we just have to troubleshoot why I wouldn't have a black connection.
24:42Or do we just try it and see what happens?
24:45Boy, that could be a setback or it could be a massive time saver.
24:50Oh, gambling.
24:51I don't know.
24:53See how it plugs in.
24:54Doesn't.
24:56Doesn't.
24:57Okay, there's our answer.
25:00The black wire on the old unit and the harness side are a ground, which is not needed on
25:05our unit.
25:06Okay.
25:07So excited that there's this little ground right here.
25:09So I can just take the black and get a nice eyelet and put it right next to here.
25:14And we're golden.
25:15No reason not to.
25:16I don't.
25:17Whoa.
25:18Brrrr.
25:19The tall one's gripping that insulation and then the copper one's just smooshed under
25:25there tight as could be.
25:28That's why I always pull them.
25:29The other ones on the harness were good.
25:35We're just checking the acreage here for where we want to put our regulator rectifier.
25:41I'm going to see if I can just bolt it to this plate with the existing metal.
25:46I don't have a huge selection of hardware here, so I'll make an apology to Future Mark
25:51for using SAE, maybe, to think that I'm replacing something that works.
26:01Now we'll put the unit, we'll hang it on that one.
26:03There are no rules here.
26:04This is my quote engineering.
26:06If I want to let that fall on the ground, I can.
26:10Come on, get up in there.
26:11That's pretty good.
26:12The bolt looks like I have a little bit of wiggle room.
26:14All right, I think we managed not to drill a hole in the unit, which is great.
26:19We're a little close to the edge of the flange, which is moderately not great, but decent
26:24anyway.
26:25I think it's a pretty tidy install.
26:26We'll have to test it now.
26:30So we'll get all this plugged in, and I'll drop the battery back in.
26:34Might as well connect all the wires.
26:35We don't want to just melt part of the harness, let's melt the whole thing.
26:38Positive.
26:39Factory Yamaha insulating cardboard, but we're going to fire it up, see what happens.
26:47It'd be a good idea is before I put a couple of gallons of gasoline on it, is to turn it
26:52on with the gasoline in another room.
26:54Tail light, yes, at least it's on.
27:00And then headlight switch, headlights working.
27:03Anybody smell smoke yet?
27:05I'm just touching the hot wires because if they were jammed, there was something causing
27:08resistance or it'd be heat right away.
27:10I think we're good.
27:11Top job.
27:12Okay, I feel confident we get the tank now.
27:17Let's get the tank on, get some gas flowing, let's do it.
27:19Alright, gasoline, eh?
27:22Choke's on, it's going to be loud.
27:3214 volts, no smoke.
27:37It's even making 14 volts down here, this is really good.
27:40That means the alternator's in good shape.
27:42Yeah, we got to do a little more carb tuning, but that's a total victory.
27:49List, yeah, list.
27:51Reg rec, tip top.
27:53We are going to check the brushes, that's what we're going to do.
27:56We'll disconnect the battery and we'll check the brushes and the alternator.
27:59We need those to be long enough to keep generating power.
28:02Let's get in there.
28:03I'm just pulling the brush out, has a little spring and then that wire, and then it's long,
28:08it looks pretty good.
28:09So it's over half an inch, I think the minimum's a quarter inch, so this is a good brush.
28:13I'm going to guess the other one's the same, but we'll figure out how to get that out.
28:16Why?
28:17Who made that hot?
28:20It's been cold for so long working on it that I never expect anything to be hot.
28:26Also in good shape, so hopefully I haven't disturbed some magic of how it was assembled.
28:32Remember how I moved the compressor earlier, I was tired of the breeze, so I just shut
28:37the door.
28:38Let's get into the clutch, because we're in a good spot.
28:41We could consult the manual, or not.
28:43You just take things apart until it comes apart, does that make sense?
28:46Undo this front guy.
28:51Well, for 100 miles, we're taking out some darkness.
28:56Every time I start it on the bench, more debris shakes out of the bike.
29:00Yeah, there's already some gunge in there.
29:02There's some more crush in that washer, I'm sure of it.
29:06I'm not supposed to reuse them, probably won't.
29:07Maybe I will.
29:08Maybe I'll sneak it on there when the camera's looking at something else.
29:11You won't know.
29:12I hope that does it, because there is the rear that kind of is more under the gearbox.
29:16We'll just do it this way.
29:17And if you're a former XS650 tech, and I'm really doing it wrong, you can find me in
29:23the comments.
29:25That's snug.
29:30Just need leverage and stiffness.
29:31You're treading a fine line, or I am.
29:34I want the pan over here enough to catch the oil, but I also don't want it to catch my
29:39bolts.
29:40I'm going to make a map.
29:41I'll just do a rough sketch.
29:42That's the oil filter hole, that's a good reference.
29:45And there's a bolt right there.
29:46There's one above it, there's one here.
29:51Okay, so this one is there, and I just, and it fits in nice.
30:00There we go.
30:03Any dripping?
30:04We have contained the oil this entire operation so far.
30:07We'll have to wind that back up.
30:09There's a fan of silicone over where the feed is.
30:14That's kind of what you worry about.
30:16That stuff just plugs oil galleys and stuff, so we're going to endeavor to not have that
30:20problem.
30:21This is where the gasket sealing service is, and then this is a bead on the inside.
30:25This is the stuff that kills you, man.
30:26Had to get Mr. Big here.
30:29Every one of them, bang, first hit.
30:36Clutch pack.
30:37Looks pretty good.
30:39Oh, look at the steels.
30:41I have a full pack for this, so I wonder why this was slipping.
30:45Oh, no.
30:46We need a basket, dude.
30:48We're done.
30:49We'll probably just use the whole unit that we bought, plus my new throwout bearing.
30:54So we're going to marinate the salad, so to speak.
30:56Got new fiber plates.
30:57Normally, you want to put some oil on them for longer than we're going to.
31:01I'm going to do it now, and we're going to mess around with the clutch.
31:03We've got some more things to disassemble.
31:04Oh, yeah.
31:05Good.
31:06It is the right oil.
31:07And you just spread them out a little bit.
31:08We don't want them to be totally stacked up.
31:10Just get oil on the whole thing.
31:12They don't call it a wet clutch for nothing.
31:15Now, I'm needing a clutch holding tool, which I don't have.
31:19I'm like, I don't need to buy the clutch tool, and I should have bought the clutch holding
31:22tool, because they're not very expensive.
31:24I'm going to do the next best thing and make my own.
31:26So I have this screwdriver that I've had since I was a teenager.
31:29Kind of brutalized it over the years.
31:31So what I did is ground it so it's shiny, and I'm going to weld it to these metal plates.
31:36I hope it's not for nothing.
31:41Yeah, no problem.
31:42Woo, she was bright.
31:44Lightning, master of lightning.
31:49Awesome.
31:50OK, we'll get the other side.
31:51Try to keep your shop clean, folks.
31:52Don't set your rags on fire.
31:54Keep your paper towels as close to the arc as possible.
31:57Maybe I'll get some oil on these.
32:01It's not bad.
32:08OK, I'll either remake the tool or file that one to fit better.
32:12So when we torque it on, we can hold it and get the correct torque value.
32:16But taking it off, I just needed to keep it steady.
32:18And as you see, it just zipped right off of there.
32:23Oh.
32:25Throw out bearing.
32:28Did you know I got a new one?
32:30We'll clean this up, and then we'll take off this inner washer.
32:33This is the race.
32:35OK, so this is the used basket that I bought.
32:38I'm going to clean it up.
32:39The bosses look really good.
32:41I couldn't find any new hubs, so I had to go with used.
32:44And then this looks like a steel wired into it, which is probably a later model.
32:49This is an early clutch, I think.
32:51I don't know what it is, to be honest.
32:53I made my own clutch holding tool because when I was ordering some springs and stuff,
32:57I thought I would save the $13 so I could use 45 minutes of time at the shop.
33:03But, you know, we have the pride of a job moderately well done.
33:07I think we have our clutch sorted out, and now we need to clean.
33:10I don't want to put the new parts on here and then scrape this gasket.
33:13One side of the gasket was covered with silicone, like too much,
33:16like big pieces of rubber silicone, right?
33:19Which can be bad because it can go into oil journals and stuff,
33:22so I tend not to use that.
33:23Usually with the Japanese stuff, the castings are so nice,
33:26you just put the gasket on and then you torque it and it doesn't leak.
33:29This has been glued on I don't know with what,
33:32and I was hoping it would just start to peel off.
33:34I'm going to try some solvent because it is sticky and this gasket is rock hard,
33:38and it's very hard to scrape.
33:40I could be here forever doing this.
33:42It's so frustrating.
33:45Still scraping.
33:47Scraping.
33:49Still scraping.
33:52We've done a pretty good job cleaning the cases.
33:54This is the oil feed, so I want to make sure that's clean.
33:58We're going to try and pull the spring back with this bundle of wire,
34:02and then it has to be basically kind of like that.
34:05Let's see if we can knock this little tab spring into its spot.
34:09Leverage.
34:11Leverage.
34:13I think that's home.
34:15This lines up.
34:16That's where I just put a little witness mark there,
34:18right in line with the clamping area.
34:21This is looking good, and then we turn it out,
34:23and then this is turning the clutch,
34:25and so you can see this moving.
34:27Now we can do the clutch.
34:28This is a used clutch I got for a very good price,
34:30and it's in good shape.
34:32It's a later clutch.
34:33I discovered that there are a few versions of clutch out there.
34:37We're going to replace it as a unit.
34:39Got to marinate the clutch plenty long,
34:41because we did so much work to clean the gaskets.
34:44So that goes there, and he goes here,
34:50and then it's the throwout bearing, which we have a new one.
34:54Highly detailed clutch assembly video so far.
34:58Yeah, go ahead.
35:00Yeah, done.
35:01Now I'm going to build the clutch back up.
35:03We're just alternating frictions and steels.
35:05We're getting the oil dripping that I expected,
35:07and we'll get the pressure plate on top,
35:09and then we'll put the springs in,
35:11and we'll have a brand new, ready-to-roll clutch.
35:14All right, pressure plate.
35:16As I contemplate often when I'm doing this,
35:18how many times have I done this?
35:22I really feel really happy about the clutch.
35:24My Kickstarter is good.
35:26All right, let's button her back up.
35:27Sparky plugs.
35:29I have looked at enough plugs to be okay with doing it this way.
35:32At least the threads feel decent.
35:34Oil.
35:35Don't forget the oil.
35:36See, we put it over there.
35:37Fill sump.
35:38Let's go in with something gungy just to get all the big slop off.
35:44I don't expect this thing to be bone dry all the time when I'm riding it.
35:47I'm sure it can be pretty darn good.
35:49Yeah, let's get the solvent on there.
35:54It's so gooey it sticks to your fingers forever.
36:02All right.
36:03I think I'll put the tank on.
36:04I will.
36:05I won't even think.
36:09Ow.
36:10Ha.
36:11We're getting the side cover back on,
36:12and we just want to make sure we're not chafing any wires.
36:17That's the most annoying sound in the world.
36:20All that work to make the wiring look clean only to put a side cover over it.
36:23You know what?
36:24I'm going to go with the battery vent hose on.
36:26I've left it off this entire time because the battery has been in and out so many times.
36:30I put it on the battery tender over there.
36:33And if I only had left off that side cover, putting the vent hose on would have been a lot easier.
36:38It is nice of them to put this battery vent on the side right above the starter solenoid
36:43so that if it did puke gas, it would do it on a very key electrical component.
36:48I'm going to put a light zip tie.
36:50We'll just use one of these cute black ones.
36:52I don't need to strangle it.
36:53I just want to hold it in place so it doesn't pop up over the swing arm again.
36:57It's a good route.
37:00Oh.
37:01Well, there goes winning the Concours.
37:03I thought that might happen and I didn't stop it from happening.
37:06And it's not making that screechy business sound as so much.
37:09Anybody know where the seat is?
37:11Out of harm's way.
37:14Let's see what happens here.
37:18What do you think?
37:19Complete motorcycle?
37:20Spark plugs?
37:21Torqued?
37:22Capped?
37:23I guess we should check the timing.
37:25Did I have a plan?
37:26Motor oil.
37:27I didn't really ever notice that before, but that's battery acid.
37:30Etching the chrome off so the old vent must have come a little bit farther down.
37:34Convincing me to spend the extra money to get a sealed battery.
37:38Let's see what that did.
37:39That was like half of this.
37:40All right.
37:41Off the lift we go.
37:42Oh, yeah.
37:44The battery was tip top.
37:45I just checked the charging system.
37:46All good.
37:47We've had the Battery Tender Junior 800 running on this thing in between takes while it's parked.
37:52I'm going to hook it up and get it charging the battery.
37:55It's great for storage, particularly on an old bike.
37:58I like to keep the battery tip top because I don't want the charging system to work too hard.
38:02This has an upgraded charging system, but it's still the old alternator.
38:06So keeping the battery tip top, best way to go.
38:09We do that with our Junior 800 in this case.
38:12In the unlikely or possibly likely event that we have trouble on the road,
38:16we also have the 1500 amp 12 volt vehicle jump starter.
38:201500 amps is more than enough for getting the old Yamaha going,
38:25but I also carry it in my pickup truck.
38:27You can charge cameras, phones, cigarette lighter chargers.
38:30There's USB, USB-C, and of course the jump cables.
38:34These plug in and then it's got the positive and negative big alligators stick on the battery terminals.
38:39Anything you need to do, you can do it here with this equipment.
38:42I want to thank Deltran for sponsoring the video.
38:44We couldn't do without them.
38:45Really glad to have them on board.
38:47If you're going to store, keep your battery going.
38:49Save you a lot of money.
38:50I have a battery tender that I've had for probably 20 something years
38:55and also a multi-station one because we got lots of junk in the other place
38:59and you don't want to replace batteries all the time.
39:02We just try to keep all that stuff tip-top.
39:04Thanks again for sponsoring.
39:05Yeah, that brake, wow.
39:06She's really something.
39:10Give me some whiplash.
39:20Ice cold, but
39:22we'll run better with gas.
39:31It's probably going to idle higher when it warms up, I'm guessing.
39:34So we'll have to do some field carb adjustment.
39:37I'm still getting that splatchy business over here.
39:40I guess the real test is what happens if I click it into gear.
39:46Right there.
39:47I think we're fine.
39:48All right.
39:49Well, what do you think?
39:50Suit up, take a ride.
39:51Yeah.
40:00Yeah.
40:01Oh man, awesome.
40:02I should have let it idle because it will.
40:04It's really, truly kind of road worthy,
40:06if I could say that out loud without endangering myself for future rides,
40:10but I got to adjust the rear brake a little more.
40:12It's acting like a motorcycle.
40:14It shifts pretty good.
40:15I mean, being brand new is awesome.
40:17I like the work.
40:18I really like the tires.
40:20They're Dunlop K70s.
40:21I did get the skinnier front, but it steers really nice.
40:25There is no damping whatsoever.
40:26None.
40:28There's some friction, you know, but there's just no oil left.
40:31I don't know if there's ever oil in the rear, but it's really nice.
40:34It's just running good.
40:35I've been kickstarting it and electric start.
40:37It's just been a really satisfying project.
40:39Easy in some ways, a little challenging in others, but it's good.
40:42It's just riding like a motorcycle.
40:43Ran when parked, runs while it's riding on the road.
40:46It's registered.
40:47It's insured.
40:48Should we take this on a long ride, a couple hundred miles,
40:50see what we can get out of it?
40:51I'll tell you what, I'm going to go 60, maybe not faster
40:54because it vibrates pretty good.
40:56More than a Triumph, it seems like, but it's a goer.
40:59Ran when parked.
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