Hmm. Well, just got off the phone to Mr 'Slam.
A sudden family bereavement means he just can't commit to any more time on my -or anyone else's -bike & has led to him re-evaluating things in the past few days. Life's too short & there are far more important things than bikes -my sentiments, maybe not his.
So the XS will be heading back soon, with the carbs sorted & engine running nicely, but a rather daunting To Do list. Not quite back to the drawing board, but definitely back a few pages.
Andy's going to jot down a list, but it's basically:
Clutch still dragging, despite me having replaced every single component in it, from the lever, to the cable, to the worm drive to the pushrod to the plates. Not quite sure where to go with that one.
Battery not charging. It's had 2 new batteries now. Could be the alternator, could be the rectifier, could be the actual wiring loom. I suspect it'll be getting re-wired. Again.
Needs more fuses. It's got 4. Andy would prefer to see 6. I'd already decided to swap the old glass style fuse box for a newer blade fuse type anyway, as I've had problems with British bikes in the past, vibrating the fuses apart. So now would be the time to do that & maybe mount it on the inside of the left side panel for ease of access.
I've also already decided the rear brake master cylinder needs changing -my brother Steve made up a beautifully engineered cross shaft across the frame from the pedal to the master cylinder on the other side, but the return spring bracket hangs low under the bike & makes it a real pain to roll up a ramp into a van, which is how it seems to be travelling a lot at the moment. I'll swap the whole set-up for a more common Harley type cylinder mounted directly off the pedal. Much simpler.
The rear brake torque arm needs some modification. Not a lot, but the current set-up means that under really heavy braking it'd be possible for the caliper to move over-centre & swing around the disc. A second locating tab on the frame should fix that.
The indicators really do need replacing with something sturdier & the rear ones need moving away from the exhausts. As It's a 1980 bike, I could just bin them, but I'd like to live a little longer yet & modern drivers have probably never seen a hand signal. I plan to SVA the bike at some point too, so flashers will be needed then.
My second set of very expensive stainless exhausts are just way too loud for regular use. Again, really not sure what to do with them. Splicing a stainless dual entry/exit silencer into the middle seems to be the only real option, but I've no idea how much difference it'll make.
I think that's about it. Certainly enough to be going on with.
Really sorry to hear your news Andy. Thanks for all your help mate.
