You can loosen the small screw on top of the oilfilter lid, the oil should squirt out of there when the bike is running...
Well, the seals are actually pretty good, but I want to replace the fork oil with heavier weight and I figured I could just do the fork seals for piece of mind while having them off. One fork lost 13 pounds of pressure over a year, which isn't terrible but the other one only lost 2. (air assist)
Yeah, mine does the same thing. There used to be a thread over at TT regarding an oil mod that fed more oil up to the cam, but I don't think it's around anymore. The oil that does make it up there is fed through a channel on the right side of the cylinder, maybe 1/4 inch OD, and some probably flings up and off the cam chain as well. To look at it, there should be plenty of oil to feed the top end. But apparantly there isn't. Most XT550's were jetted kind of lean from the factory, which doesn't help.
I've done fork seals on my bike twice (corroded fork tubes make for a short lifespan for seals) and my buddy's XT once, and if you have an air impact wrench it's a snap. Pull the front wheel and have somebody pull up on the bottom of the fork a little bit to compress it, then you can run the bolt out of the bottom easy as pie. If you don't compress the fork that bolt will spin all day and you'll never back it out. If you don't have a helper, wrap a ratchet strap under the bottom of the fork and around the handlebars to compress the forks. No need to built a bolt holder thing unless you don't have an impact driver.
thanks for the advice XTWarrior. I plan on cleaning the carbs this weekend. As for the fuel issue I put new gas in it before i started her up. I think the smoke might the engine burning oil thats leaking in through the valves seal.
So I definitely have oil pressure, so that's not the issue with the starvation sound. Popped open the bolt ontop of the filter and nice beautiful 10w40 came spewing out. Unfortunately, due to the stupid dry sump this bike has, it's impossible for me to measure the actual amountof oil in this bike. One day it'll be full, the next it'll be bone dry, and then the next day barely on the dipstick. It is definitely irritating, and I've been measuring right after rides when it was suggested to check.
There is not alot of room to get the valve springs off. I'm not goiung to say it can't be done without pulling the head, you could use compressed air to hold the valves up while you do it. But I've never seen a valve spring compressor that would fit into that hole and compress the spring. so in a nut shell. You get to pull the head and change the vlaves seals. Since your there might as well add a set of rings to your shopping list.
Woot, bike has a front brake sensor for the first time in probably over a decade Next on the list is polishing the rims again since 2 years of neglect has tarnished them a tad.
Here's another Disk Brake option. Don't know anything about it as its on ebay AU. And heres's mine Thanks guys and keep up the good work.
Wow. That's not a standard Clarke replacement tank on that Aussie bike, it's a high capacity desert tank. Those things are rarer than hen's teeth! I've only seen one other, on ebay a couple years ago. Don't know who made them.
Yeah, thought it may be Acerberis. Tempted to buy it for the tank and front end. Oh and the supertrapp.
25L Acerbis it is. LAst one I seen was on ebay a few months back and the seller wouldn't ship to the US. It sold for the low sum of $25.
XT is currently apart while the custom rear mount is being made. XZ550 shock (wet weight of 500 lbs.) is going to be in for road use in the XT, and it'll be designed so you can easily swap out the XZ550 with custom mount for the stock XT550 shock for whenever you want to get back on dirt. A little bit of fab and work for the best of both worlds
XTwarrior, this is *VERY* interesting. How is the XZ550 shock different? Is it shorter? Any chance of pics??
Sure, Ill get some pics up, I'll be going back tomorrow and I'll take my camera. The XT Shock is wider and longer than the XZ shock, about 5 and 3/8" longer, and roughly .25" wider. We cut open the old XT shock (which smells terrible) and used the outter cylinder walls to slide the XZ shock into. The only thing we have to iron out is how to keep the extra joint from flexing and hitting the top of the carbs. He's thinking of tacking on a .25" plate steel piece to stabilize any up and down motions. Since I'm at work now I'm not sure how far he's gotten if he did anymore after I left. The other nice thing is that the XZ shock is considerably stiffer and has pre-load adjustment which should workout great on the XT of mine with the purpose I have for it. So, the XZ shock isn't good for a bike that is going to see dirt unless you mod up a custom mount like we are
This is my buddies 1983 XT550 , He bought it brand new in 1985 as a leftover, stiil in the box. We've been looking for a Supertrapp exhaust for it. If anyone has one and wants to sell it , please pm me. [/IMG] [/IMG]
Can anybody tell me if there is supposed to be a rubber plug in the end of the 'starter plunger'? I can understand why there would be one but, the one that is in there looks like a foreign object. Appreciate it. http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/...n=view¤t=starterplunger004.jpg&newest=1 http://s963.photobucket.com/albums/...n=view¤t=starterplunger001.jpg&newest=1 :huh
Cant see at work; attempting to hotlink. EDIT: No good. Anyways, I didn't get back over to finish up the XT mount so it'll have to wait until Friday unfortunately.
I can confirm that front end can be swaped with one from KLR650. Also, frontend can be swaped with one from Tenere 1VJ.