'78 XS650 tracker raising this thread from the dead.

diesel450

"Fast with a past"
DTT BOTM WINNER
Okay SO, the XS I picked up a while ago finally made it on to the lift for ressurection.

1cec842e.jpg


I knew it had an electrical issue which was easily solved with a new fuse box from Mikesxs and a fresh battery,

b1c29b81.jpg


The motor turned no problem and the odo showed just over 5K for mileage. I did not check compression. The bike had been sitting for more than 10 years. I changed the oil and plugs set the points and double checked everything. When I hit the starter button the bike cranked about 3 times then emitted a coarse grinding sound and stopped turning. :p

I soaked the cylinders with some penetrator but to no avail. I started pulling the top end off,

6c5ed579.jpg


The cam shaft looks great. I'll be going to the next step in a couple of days. I was hoping for a cam chain problem but it looks like psiton/cylinder and/or crank shaft issue we'll see. Tranny seems okay.

I'm hoping that you XS guys might have some advice.
 
Re: '78 XS650 tracker, Motor locked while trying to start.

Can't open the link. What did you search? I'll try it here.

Thats a great thought and as soon as you mentioned it I realized the failing noise did sound a lot like a starter failing. If it locked up then nothing else would turn either. I'll pull it out and see what's what.

If that is the problem the bitch of this will be A. that I pulled the motor for nothing and B. that I ruined the oil tube that transfers oil to the top end, to the tune of $70. ouch. oh and a valve gasket. :p

Why do I always assume the worst??
 
Re: '78 XS650 tracker, Motor locked, I'm a freakin' moron!

I'm almost too embarrassed to even spill here but I figure I gotta take my punishment. The problem was that I like to jump to the worst case scenario. What I should have done was sit down and make a list of the possible causes (that I could come up with) and all the previous work that I had done. then double checked that before starting on the list from easiest fix to hardest. SO, happened was that after cleaning the stator and rotor which were covered in crud the stator failed to seat correctly and was off enough to bind the rotor locking things up. Of course I didn't discover this until AFTER I tore the top end down and gazed upon gleaming like new pistons, cylinders and valves. Of course along the way I ruined the oil supply tube $70 (Chaaching), and the cam chain, $45 (Chaaaching) Which I cut off with a dremel as the motor would turn ::) Oh not to mention the gaskets.

Any way leeson learned and I'm pretty new at all this too so I won't beat myself up too much. I'll leave that to you all. I'm betting most of you have a similar story in your past. Lets hear em!

Diesel the moron.
 
Re: '78 XS650 tracker, Motor locked while trying to start.

That's a much cheaper lesson than paying a shop twice as much and learning nothing ;D The website is 650rider.com for future reference; I forgot what I searched as I'm constantly researching stuff online and I forget :-\
 
Re: '78 XS650 tracker, Motor locked while trying to start.

Man... you'll be laughing your head off about that in a few months as you blast down the highway. I dug a hole in my lawn to bury my bike in..... until I realized I had it 180 out of phase. This is why we do this, forget the time and money, this shit is fun good or bad! keep us updated.
 
Re: '78 XS650 tracker, Motor locked while trying to start.

Okay, so I'm back on this now. It looked like a couple hundred dollar fix but I think I've got it worked out for about $25. I'm going to reuse the head gasket as it is in fine shape I bought a new base gasket for $12 and a cam chain master link for $4 from mikesxs and good ole Tim sent me an oil tube for the cost of shipping. What a guy! :-*

SO, I should be able to get this back together in the next couple of weeks. the only real hitch is the securing the master link in the cam chain. It looks like these need to have the rivets mushroomed over to secure them. I may have to buy the tool for that unless I take it to a shop.

I got an HD flip video camera for my birthday recently so I may try it out with some video posts!! stay tuned kids!
 
Re: '78 XS650 tracker, Motor locked while trying to start.

Search for the xs650 Garage website, it has a ton of helpful troubleshooting info and some great people who are very generous with their time and knowledge.
 
Re: '78 XS650 tracker, Motor locked while trying to start.

Hi all, dropped this thread while I was finishing up a couple other projects but I'm back at it now. I'll get some pics up soon but I got the motor painted and back together. pressure washed the frame and wheels today and i found an 18" rear wheel off an xs500 to use in place of the 16"er that was stock. I had to swap the bearings out so that the axle would fit, 500 uses a smaller one. I'm also going to use the larger rear sprocket from the 500 to give it a little more low end ummmppphhh.

Anyway more to come soon!
 
Re: '78 XS650 tracker progress again!!

Okay, so I got talking with this guy I got the wheels from and he wanted mags and blah, blah, blah and I wanted spokes etc. so we just decided to trade frames. I kept my front end and triples and took his 77 frame and swing arm along with the spoke wheels that were on the frame. He didn't want the other wheels back so I have those as well and will probably sell them. All in all, good swap! and a new friend!! I also realized I put this thread in the trackers section so I'm going to shift this and further posts there and let this thread fade into the et
 
Back
Top Bottom