Topic: XS850G yamaha, handlebar recommendation?

[Don R]

 I bought one because it was advertised and I'm not too bright. Is there a site like this for such things?
 I put in gas, in retrospect I should have wondered why it was empty. Now I know. It runs out almost as fast as you can put it in.  At least the tank is clean. Even cleaner now.

[MoMo]

Actually, Don, they were decent bikes.  A bit odd handling, but smooth and powerful enough to make for a nice midrange tourer.  I've redone a couple in the past several years and always enjoyed the test ride portion of the work...Larry

[Don R]

 I am amazed at how big it seems. I've got monkey arms and legs and can't flat foot both sides. It's a beautiful bike, might even be the nicest finish on any bike I bought. I got it from a couple so nice I paid $50 more than their price. I wish I could fix it, insure and license it and give it back but I think they wanted it gone before their son gets his license.
 My buddy is a Yamaha guy, I called him and planted the seed tonight. It's his style perfectly.

 Oh, and why can't I find a 750 Honda this nice?

[MoMo]

Yes, they certainly were tall!

[Don R]

 The petcocks have the typical three positions, none of which turn off the fuel. My local shop adds more valves after them. Not the solution I was looking for. There is a newer independent shop that specializes in Yamahas. I'll stop there today.

[sinister902]

get yourself an account on yamaha-triples.org

secondly, mikesXS sells non-vacuum actuated petcock replacements that have regular on/off/res positions. I have 5 yamaha triples, def. my second love after cb550's.

[Don R]

Thanks sinister, I'm on the way there now. it's got timing issues too. I havent proved it yet but it cranks hard and pops out the muffler on occasion.

[Stev-o]

My buddy had a 850 Special, good bike but I remember it not being as smooth as a 4 cyl.

Mikes XS is a good supplier for Yammie parts, I've bought RD parts from them...


https://www.mikesxs.net/product/20-0100.html

[Don R]

 My manual is incorrect on everything I check, it must be for older  750's. No points to be burned or off gap.

  I Changed the gassy oil, then took the carbies off again and removed the emulsion tubes, re cleaned everything. It would start then die. The solenoid is stealing voltage from the starter, If I jumper it out the bike cranks lots better. The center pipe was cold so I changed the plug and it picked back up. I ran a pint of fuel through it with a fan on it. It restarted several times and the idle speed picked up several times. Things are improving. I'd love to ride it while it's still warm enough. It had a K&N I put it all back on.

[seanbarney41]

  I'd love to ride it while it's still warm enough. It had a K&N I put it all back on.

I doubt you will love it...but it will remind you why you love sohc4's

[Don R]

 I already don't love it, I'm just hoping else someone will. It's a great example of that particular machine.  I don't really want to keep it, I'm just hoping to increase it's value, make it all it can be and pass it on to a yamaguy.
 Either the starter solenoid is junk or it's not getting good voltage from the start button.  I took it apart and sealed the deal.  I'm thinking a Honda unit can handle the job.  Because I have one and the universal car unit is too big.

[Don R]

Now it even restarts, I hope that trend continues. The Honda start relay is rejecting the use in a yammy. It refuses to pass electricity even when it clicks closed. It may have spent considerable time outdoors.

 Different honda relay now it cranks as good as a cranky yamaha starter will. The bendix is not so great in these things. I'm trying to understand the carb enrichment for cold starts. A choke is apparently too easy.

  The petcocks seem to auctually work. What I didn't understand when they overflowed was, on is really off when there is no vacuum Prime is wide open with no vacuum, both petcocks feed all 3 carbs so as I flipped from setting to setting and side to side the other side was still feeding fuel.  I'm going to put fuel lines into an empty container, gas the tank a little and see how long the container stays empty.

[Don R]

 The wells in the float bowls were plugged. They send fuel to the enrichment system (I think) Hopefully things will work better now. carb cleaner shoots a needle size jet of cleaner 4 feet out of the tube, it must be tiny inside.

[ekpent]

Some Yamaha's, like the XS bikes, with the double petcocks have had trouble with them shutting off. I think I have read about a conversion that can make them  totally manual units and eliminate the vacuum portion.

[Don R]

 I added temporary 1/4" petcocks to the fuel lines with additional filters. Just for storage use. There was some dirt in the bowls even after checking the petcock screens and all the flushing/cleaning.
 So far the stock petcocks are holding, I tested them over a fuel jug for a couple days. I think when it was flooding over I had at least one on prime and the float valves were sticky. I rode as long as I could stand the cold, about a mile.  She goes when asked.
 Next up flushing the brake system  with clean fluid.

[Don R]

 It's hitting on all 3 but it's a little shakey. Not sure if that's normal on a 3 cyl. I rode it a couple miles today.

 My Ebay starter system purchase turned ugly when the seller refused to ship, It was good until I asked him to combine shipping like his ad said, then he asked me to kill the deal because the starter wouldn't work. I asked why he tested after he sold it, it went downhill from there. By the end he said he's sending his crackhead brother here.  Hope that works out well for him. Anyway I got a solenoid coming from elsewhere and recieved the starter clutch I had already purchased.

[seanbarney41]

It's hitting on all 3 but it's a little shakey. Not sure if that's normal on a 3 cyl. I rode it a couple miles today.

yup, if the drive shaft isn't jacking like a bucking bronco, that motor is certainly not what you could call smooth

[750cafe]

I thought that Yamaha added another crank weight (counter balancer) to the 850 versions to smooth them out.

Eric

[Don R]

 I did notice the shaft lift. It reminds me of my brothers 58 beemer.

[Don R]

 The Ebay starter clutch arrived, it's on and cranking is better, the China made start relay arrived and it's not so great, it sticks on. It's ok until I tighten the cable nuts then it sticks. I try to hold back on the back up nuts to no avail.
 It still cranks like it's got lots of timing, i'm pulling the starter next, if I can't repair it I'll replace it, it seems like it draws all the power from the spark. I'll clean all the cable connections, maybe add an extra ground wire or two. If I can locate the power feed to the ingition I'll check the voltage.

[Don R]

 I wonder if a 3 cylinder hondaman ignition might be in order? It already has no points though.
 The compression is 120 and equal on my guage. My buddies thought maybe the lash was tight and a valve was hanging open. I'm buying a new set of plugs for it today.

[sinister902]

if you need ANY parts, let me know....I have a bunch of stuff because I bought 6 bikes to make 4 titled riders.

[Don R]

Good to know thanks, I just put a lawn tractor starter relay on it. I trimmed the base and it even fits in the rubber holder. It appears to be more heavy duty than the yamaha one, what's harder to start then a giant Briggs and Stratton  single cylinder? I looked for some small electrode plugs but settled for original ngk's and side gapped the ground strap like the drag racers do it. 
 I might need a good starter or rebuild the one I have. It seems to rob the power from the ignition. It tries to start when you let off the key.

 I like the 850G gas tank, it doesn't seem to be wide enough at the rear to fit a CB750.

[grcamna2]

My manual is incorrect on everything I check, it must be for older  750's. No points to be burned or off gap.

  I Changed the gassy oil, then took the carbies off again and removed the emulsion tubes, re cleaned everything. It would start then die. The solenoid is stealing voltage from the starter, If I jumper it out the bike cranks lots better. The center pipe was cold so I changed the plug and it picked back up. I ran a pint of fuel through it with a fan on it. It restarted several times and the idle speed picked up several times. Things are improving. I'd love to ride it while it's still warm enough. It had a K&N I put it all back on.

Don,I have 3 oem Yam. float bowl gaskets for it if you need

[Don R]

It cranks better with the new solenoid but still goes rur rur rur. I pulled the starter and popped off the ends, visually I don't see anything obvious except a bunch of carbon.  I  checked the armature for dead poles. It checked good. The snap on ammeter says the starter motor pulls 100 amps. I cleaned the groung lug and put a ground wire jumper from the engine ground direct to the starter too. If I keep eliminating things it will eventually be good to go.

 Today I changed out the glass fuse wiring panel for a new littlefuse blade type, with that and the other work, it spins over better. I changed the 20W50 for 10W30,  that helped some too, I had to shoot some brakeclean in it to get it running but it started and after a warm up I did a few miles at 18* F outside.  It has a mid range stumble put really pulls hard at RPM's. with a litle luck it willstart cold now. I'm out of ideas now.

 It started legit this morning for the first time since I got it. Cold and everything, if 45* is cold. It was in the garage.

[Don R]

 Hooray, the Yammy started right up today, now it can find it's new home.

[MoMo]

How far have you test ridden it Don? Any impression of it?  I always liked the Yammie trips back in the day, it was a bit tall though for my 29" inseam.  I was tempted to get rid of the piece of crap Seca and trade in for the triple but funds were lacking back then...Larry

[grcamna2]

How far have you test ridden it Don? Any impression of it?  I always liked the Yammie trips back in the day, it was a bit tall though for my 29" inseam.  I was tempted to get rid of the piece of crap Seca and trade in for the triple but funds were lacking back then...Larry

I had a late 70's XS750 triple for a little while,I enjoyed it for 6 months and then sold it;love the sound of that triple & fairly torquey also.

[Don R]

 It was cold and I only made it a couple miles. It's a little shakey at low rpms, sounds good, it has a slight stumble going into mid range but when it gets past that, it's really torquey. I want to get it out in the open and let it go through all the gears. I haven't titled it so there's some risk to that.
 I was really happy when it started cold today, the old fuse block must have really been soaking up the power. It auctually fell to pieces when I took it out.
 Has anyone replaced the handlebars on one? I'm thinking a set of euro bars would be an improvement. These feel like they were made for clearance on a windjammer fairing. The next bike I'm doing is the cb900custom, it's got drag bars, I like them but they hit the tank. Black euro's for that one too.

[Don R]

How far have you test ridden it Don? Any impression of it?  I always liked the Yammie trips back in the day, it was a bit tall though for my 29" inseam.  I was tempted to get rid of the piece of crap Seca and trade in for the triple but funds were lacking back then...Larry

 Agreed, I've got a 34" inseam and monkey arms but it felt awfully tall the first time I got on it. I don't love it yet, but I'm starting to like it. I fixed the seat latch by welding on a new homemade hook and fitting it by hand. Now I know how it works. I think the PO magilla gorilla jerked the hook off of it when he couldn't figure it out. If you unlatch and lift the right side first the left has no way to move. All in all an OK latch system. Now it just needs a tach cable which is on the way and I'm thinking some miles this coming week, it's supposed to be in the 50's. I noticed the po's plate is still good. lol.

[Don R]

 And now the new tach cable is installed, the tach works fine, there is still the matter of a small stumble in midrange. This bike is moving to the showroom floor! Just kidding I don't have a showroom.

[Don R]

These original pullback style handlebars have to go, what ones seem to work well on a bike like this? I'm thinking Euro or daytona bars. 

[seanbarney41]

jail cell bars...lock it up!

[Stev-o]

Broomsticks!

[Retro Rocket]

Superbike bars....I put them on everything back in the day...