Manky's XS650 Yamaha

[Manky Monkey]

Just ordered a pair of custom made stainless washers, to form the flanges on the ends of the exhaust pipes, from these guys.

http://www.lasermaster.co.uk/easy-order

[Olds]

Pipes look smoooth.
Shame about the paint on the tank but that was inevitable.
25/2 = 17.5 ?

[Manky Monkey]

Oops! That's why I'm a Postie, not a mathematician!

[Tony oily bike]

Tom dropped off my order of XS parts today, (we put in a joint order to the German suppliers).
New clutch wormdrive, (connects the cable to the pushrod), new pushrod & new springs. Now I need to drain the oil, remove both side cases & fit it all. If that lot doesn't fix the dragging clutch, nothing will -no, it's not just cable adjustment.  
Also bought new wheel spindles cos both of mine are pretty battered, & new exhaust gaskets.
No room to work in the lock-up garage any more, (Mr Loon & I share it & he's just bought a car engine & gearbox), so I need a dry day so I can do it outside.

Hi Andy- Re the clutch on your bike.
Not sure which engine/clutch/combination you have (‘earlier’ Vs ‘later’), but I had a look through a couple of Haynes Manuals for the XS650s.
One is the 'original'  "1970 on" and has a pic of a spoked-wheel Roadster, the other is the "1970 to 1993" with a pic of the red Special/US Custom with chapter 7 devoted to the 1977 to 1983 models.
Just in case you (or fellow Monkeys with XS650’s) weren’t aware, there’s some interesting clutch info:

"1970 to 1993” manual: In chapter 7 (page 139), the specification for the number of Friction Plates says - "7 early models, 6 later models" ("1970 on" original manual confirms), and number of Clutch Plates - "6 early models, 5 later models",

Page 147, section 4, gives details of the Clutch Modifications for various models (primarily the method of securing the clutch nut to the mainshaft, and that a shock-absorber assembly is fitted to certain later models).

http://www.xs650.com/tech.php
http://www.xs650.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143     may have some interesting reading............  

Hope you have success with the clutch rebuild……………  

[Tony oily bike]

Chapter 7 info

[Manky Monkey]

Mine's an SE, but I don't remember any shock absorber assembly. Interesting that it says not to mix the inner steel plate with any of the others. Why? Is it thicker? Wouldn't make a difference to the operation surely?
So mine should have 6 friction plates & 5 plain. It'll probably be one afternoon next week before I get a chance to work on it, but I'll count them then.

[stinkey]

I supplied a length of 6mm bore steel tube, which I'd rolled a 90 degree bend in, to replace the original breather pipe, which I'd stupidly cut off flush with the underside of the tank. It pointed straight down & would've looked 'orrible with a breather pipe on it cos the tank sits quite high. Unfortunately, as soon as we put fuel in the tank, the fumes lifted the edge of the paint around the hole.
So BKI Welding in Newbury, Berkshire silver soldered the new pipe over the old hole -they couldn't weld it cos the original joint is brazed. It now points back down the tank, so the breather pipe will run along under the tank & drop down the back of the engine. Should've done this to start with, but didn't think it through, obviously. Now the tank will need cleaning up & repainting.
Both tanks sorted for 25 quid cash, so £17.50 each.

Some heat putty would have help stop that damage to the paint ? Don't ask me the brand name though ?

[kapri]

'Coldfront'.

[Tony oily bike]

Mine's an SE, but I don't remember any shock absorber assembly. Interesting that it says not to mix the inner steel plate with any of the others. Why? Is it thicker? Wouldn't make a difference to the operation surely?
So mine should have 6 friction plates & 5 plain. It'll probably be one afternoon next week before I get a chance to work on it, but I'll count them then.

Sorry, don't know the answer to the first question........

If yours is the later SE clutch (assuming no-one swopped clutches before you got hold of the motor), yep, 6 & 5.
The shock-absorber part of the clutch basically takes up the space the 'additional' Friction & Plain would have occupied, and comprises of a 'conical spring' and 'spring seat' (these sit behind the last Plain plate when you take all the plates out, and are of similar size).
 

[Manky Monkey]

Made a pair of baffles for the new pipes this afternoon. The guy who bent the tubing gave me an offcut of perforated stainless tube, long enough to make two 12" ballaffles. 
They have a 2" parallel sided collar at the back end, which I'll weld a stainless M6 nut into, then drill a hole in the pipe & bolt them in. At the front end they're cone shaped, tapering down to 3/8". Mr Loon has some fibreglass exhaust wadding, so when I fit them, I'll loosely wrap a length around the cone, secured with stainless welding wire. Hopefully that'll knock the harshness off the exhaust note. They're not particularly pretty, because I made 'em, but nobody will see them.

[Manky Monkey]

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[Manky Monkey]

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[spanners]

dont put to much ,wadding,, around them  you wont need much if any at all

[mrhutch]

^^ WHS

Put as much as you think you'll need, then take half out.

Conical shape is good, gives different lengths to "baffle" the waves of compressed exhaust gas.  It'll work a treat chap.  Went through a similar process on the just sold trike.

[Olds]

Err. Could easily be wrong, but I thought you shouldn't wrap conical baffles if fitted that way around, due to the wrap compressing onto the perforations, causing an increase in backpressure.
Think I would try it as is, perhaps held in place with mole grips before drilling the new exhaust pipes. You may also wish to try to vary the distance the baffles are from the end as this might (or not) change the note of the exhaust as well as making them less visible if mounted further in