luvmy40

oldfaithful, No I haven't dug into it at all yet. Cowpuc, I just posted up in another thread that I saw a sluggish rise to 14V for the first time since I have had The Beast. It only happened once but it took about 30 sends to get from 12 to 14V from a stop at idle when I took off. Then it was all good again.

My '83 has an intermittent stumble at idle. I've got her dialed down a bit low, about 950rpm+/- and I don't know if it's one specific cylinder or not.

DragonRider, If you do not already know about it, check out xjbikes.com another great forum dedicated to the Yamaha XJ series. One of the members(probably the owner) is a spectacular source of NOS and aftermarket parts for the XJ bikes. If chacal doesn't have it, it's not available.

Yes, That is exactly what this fix takes care of. My shouldered bolt was tight, just the jamb nut was loose, but I had an inch and a half, give or take of up and down play in the side stand when on the center stand. The Beast was leaning way too much when on the side stand. There's a thread thad has pics of the repair somewhere. But it really is simple. I used grade 8, 1/2" hardware. The thread I mentioned used M12-1.25 hardened parts. The 1/2" stuff requires a little more drilling than the M12 but I think it tightens things up better. I used a 1/2"-13x2" lag bolt and two 1/2"-13 nuts. I couldn't find a 1/2"-13 jamb nut so I just cut a regular nut in half with a right angle grinder and cut off wheel. Try to get a lag just a bit shorter than the shoulder on the OEM bolt. The lag should be long enough to extend through the top ear of the side stand, through the mounting tab and into the bottom ear but not through the bottom ear. Mine was just barely to the bottom ear. Drill the holes in the ears on side stand and the hole in the mounting tab out to 1/2". This drilled very easily with a cordless drill on low speed as you are not removing much stock at all. With the M12 hardware, I believe you only need to drill out the threads on the bottom ear of the side stand. I don't remember what size drill was recommended. Stick the bolt through the side stand and thread the nut and jamb nut on finger tight. Mark the length of the bolt flush with the jamb nut and cut it off. Remount the side stand on the bike. Tighten the first nut up until there is little to no up and down movement of the side stand but it still moves easily. Then lock it up with the jamb nut. A little medium strength LocTite wouldn't hurt but I didn't bother with it since that's exactly what the jamb nut is for.

I, and a couple local guys who ride Gen 2 bikes use Rotella T5 with Lucas additive. Works well and the Lucas smooths the shifting out immensely.

How's it going on the Maxim? Are the controls going to work for you? They were for the XJ750 originally.

Just to clarify. The voltage has always dropped to around 12V at idle. It just always picked back up to 14 as soon as the rpms were back up over 1500 or so. That fairly typical of motorcycle charging systems. This one time, it took a while to get back up to 14V. I know the Gen1 MK1 had an issue with the stator not getting enough oil for cooling. I'd just assumed(I know!) that at 130K mi. any problems would have already been dealt with or would have been obvious from the start.

I'll take a look at them tomorrow but I do keep a close eye on that kind of stuff and they were fine before I left for MD, about 1K mi. ago.

I noticed something I'd not noticed before while out on a ride this afternoon. While stopped at a traffic light my voltage was down at 12V. This in it's self is not odd. I've got the idle a little low, around 950 rpm+/- and the volt meter has always been solid at 14V when over 1500 rpm. I gave her a little throttle while still stopped, up to about 1800 rpm and the voltmeter didn't budge. When I took off from the light, I watched the voltmeter and it took a long time, maybe 30 seconds to come up to 14V. The next time I stopped, everything was back to normal. 12V at idle, 14V as soon as I took off. I haven't checked to see if the stator mod has been done or if she has an after market stator. There hasn't been any need as of yet. What exactly am I looking for on the stator cooling mod? Is there any way to determine if the stator is original or aftermarket? Does the simptom above sound like a stator or rectifier issue? Or, is it just a normal thing that I never noticed before? Thanks in advance for any input!

I love when I can help out another rider in need. Kris and I were out for a short CTFW session this afternoon. We'd been randomly running the back roads in our rural area for a couple hours and were headed home when I saw the tail light go out on a bike sitting at a traffic light for the freeway on ramp. The rider and his passenger pushed the scooter off to the side of the road as we went by. I spun around at the next light and came back to them, a younger guy and his GF/Wife on a beautiful older yellow Moto Guzzi bobber. When I asked if I could help he said "It's something electrical, I just lost all power at the light" I said it might be the main fuse and asked if it had glass fuses. He said he didn't know but that the lights came back on but everything went dead again when he hit the starter. Sounds like a bad ground at the battery to me, I said. He pulled the seat off and sure enough the negative battery connection was very loose. So, I tossed him a six way and he tightened the connections and the bike fired right up. They thanked us for stopping with a round of high fives and we rode off in opposite directions. I hope he learned a lesson today. Always check the little stuff and always carry a tool kit.

Well, if it's the original brake line, you'll definitely need a longer line to move the connection. But you should probably replace the rubber hoses anyway due to age and deterioration. That is if you have an '83 with the same rear MC as I do anyway. My rear MC is significantly different in configuration than the diagram in the service manual depicts. My question to any who have de-linked is why not remove the proportioning valve and tie directly into the MC without the valve?

I'd label that as "dinnerapplebees060918" or wherever/whenever. But why not open it in paint and tag the people?

Those are definitely for "Wing" air deflectors. I'd be interested in them if you decide to sell them.

I read this when first posted and checked my side stand to find the jamb nut loose and a good amount of wiggle. I just got around to fixing it with grade 8 1/2" hardware. Thanks Randy!

I fixed my loose side stand with grade 8 1/2" bolt and nuts.

Those things are fun! I used to have a pretty steep hill side about 10' wide to mow. I used a Flymow with a couple lengths of rope and just swung it back and forth on the hill side from the top. It wasn't perfect but it a durn site easier than wrestling a wheeled mower up and down that sucker.

While I'm at it, I might as well add new hydraulic lines all the way around and new brake pads as well. And I forgot about the clutch master cylinder leaking too! It's going to be a busy and expensive winter!

I should also add steering head bearings to the list. I'm getting a bit of wobble around 35mph that is more pronounced on hard deceleration.

I could add the swing arm to the list but the valves were checked and adjusted as soon as I got her 3 years ago so I should be good in that department for a few years.

I title the folder by the event or month and year if they are just random photos, not connected to a particular event.

...of what I want to do to The Beast this winter. Progressive springs and rebuild the forks. New seat from Diamond Seats. http://diamondseats.com/product/yamaha-venture-venture-royale/ Ignitech TCI. COP conversion. New windshield. Replace some of the more badly damaged plastics. New front tire. Tear down, inspect and service drive shaft/final drive. Clean/polish the badly oxidized aluminum everywhere. I'd prioritize the springs and seat as #1 and #2 , the rest are on the list as wants rather than needs. The front tire should be serviceable for another season and she's running fine right now. The ignition mods are preventative rather than reactive at this point. Inspecting the drive shaft should be labor only. Now I have to start budgeting for the parts!

Well, RDawson beat me to the punch. and is also the source of the back rest I am in the process of acquiring!

You are missing parts or that is an MK2 back rest(not sure which). The back rest for the MK1, and it maybe the same back rest as the MK2 with different mounting hardware(again, not sure) mounts to the helmet lock tabs and the passenger grab bar mounting point. The helmet locks then are moved to mounting points on the MK1 specific mounting hardware. I am in the process of buying an MK1 driver's back rest from another forum member. When I get it I'll have better information for you.

With most carbureted bikes you can get away with modifying the exhaust OR the air air filter(high flow) without re jetting.

Here's what I used on my Gen1 https://www.delcity.net/store/ATC-&-ATO-Standard-Fuse-Block---6-way/p_10959.h_26383.r_IF1003?mkwid=scLcgrJgC&crid=38094426869&mp_kw=&mp_mt=&gclid=EAIaIQobChMIj9m3itXb2wIVF57ACh2aGQ8OEAQYASABEgLMNvD_BwE