1976 xs500 problems

[jerd61]

Hi Guys-

My neighbor has a 76 xs500 that we have been working on for a couple of months now. The first issue was the battery not charging which we found was caused by the alternator rotor breaking, well he replaced that, but afterwards the bike would not start. I took a look at the bike, and the plugs were burnt up, so I told him to replace them, we gapped and replaced with new NGK plugs, but the bike still wouldn't start. My next step was to look at the points, and they were in pretty nasty shape, so he replaced the points and condenser. We timed the ignition per the service manual, and still the bike won't start. When we were timing it, I noticed the advancer was rusty, so we took that apart, and cleaned and lubed it. My next thought is the coils, but I don't want to keep telling him to replace parts unless I know they're faulty.

One other funny thing, is the bike is REALLY hard to turn over with the kick starter, and it sounds like the electric starter is turning over with the kick starter. I think this might be an issue with the starter clutch, which I don't think he replaced with the alternator rotor. I am at a loss, I've never had a bike fight me this much (maybe because I am going in there after he works on it and it doesn't work ;D) , but who knows. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance

 

[two-smoker]

Well, considering the starter clutch attaches to the inside of the alternator rotor, I'd guess that the replacement part is giving you the trouble. I had the same problem on the 74 I gifted my buddy, and we eventually just sold it because it was more work than he wanted to do. I don't see it actually causing the bike not to start, but it is a possibility.

 

[jerd61]

As far as I know, the starter clutch wasn't replaced, just the alternator rotor. My understanding as far as how the starter clutch works is the the rollers only allow it to engage in one direction, which has me baffled as to why it might be catching up when trying to kick start it. I don't think that has to do with why it won't start, but I could be wrong and that's why I'm here

 

[jerd61]

One other question for the xs500 guru's, if the starter clutch/alternator rotor is installed improperly, and the starter can't turn the engine fast enough, would that cause the bike to not fire? The problem of not being able to kickstart the bike concerns me, and the only thing that has really changed since the bike ran last was changing the rotor. (who knows if he put it back together right, he wouldn't wait for me to help him) Again, thanks for the help.

 

[teazer]

It's hard to say from a distance, but the motor SHOULD turn over easily. It sounds as if the starter clutch on the back of the alternator rotor may be jammed or the rollers are out of place.

I'd pull that off and inspect it it and while it's off see if it kicks over more easily.

 

[jerd61]

Thanks for the reassurance, that was what I conjured up last night after my last post. I will get ahold of my buddy and see what he thinks about that. If that doesn't solve the problem, I'll be back.