The XT350 thread

[JensEskildsen]

550cc is way too much, its even too much for the much larger (longer stroke and wider) tt350 forks. Xt350 manual calls for 319cc.

Regarding revs, I usually dont rev mine out past 7000, and usually a lot lower, there seems to be more power in the next gear for me :)

[NordieBoy]

The fork mod from back in the day was 5w oil to get some suppleness.
Even the White Power TT350 (1988 Dirt Rider mag) used 5w in the front.

I think max torque is around 6,000. So no real need to go past 7,000 unless you're already in top.

[RunningBare]

Originally Posted by JensEskildsen

550cc is way too much, its even too much for the much larger (longer stroke and wider) tt350 forks. Xt350 manual calls for 319cc.

Regarding revs, I usually dont rev mine out past 7000, and usually a lot lower, there seems to be more power in the next gear for me :)

The handbook I have for a '85 TT350 says 533ml

[mustangwagz]

Well its partly and mostly junk.. Tore top end off it today guys, My newly aquired xt350 needs help..or sold in pieces. lol One intake valve bent, One came comletely apart. Banged up piston a little bit, not much, and banged up head a little bet too. over all not really that bad..i could proabbly put it back together with parts and run it ill bet! lol Oh, would need a new timing chain too, this one seems to be stretched way out!!..but i got to many other projects going on, so ill prolly sell the usable parts and then scrap the rest. So if anyone needs something, let me know. It did come with an oversized clarke tank as well. Plastics are all there but rough. it doesnt have a skid plate though...bummer. My origianl XT did have one..i miss that old bike

anyhow, if anyone needs parts...hit me up. Thanks boys/gals.

[JensEskildsen]

I see now he has a mix of tt and xt, if not forks are tt, no problemo just a little over what my repair manual calls for.

Id still use 10w at most, cant see the need to try and slow down the damping. But each to his own.

[Lenz1]

The manual I've got says 533cc 10W oil in each fork leg. I loaded in approx 550cc of 15W oil because the springs are soft and the damping is just doughy.

The end result is the forks now sit a little higher at rest and the damping is more to my taste. I made sure the forks were fully extended before the units were sealed so maybe it's a function of less air space in the fork legs that has produced the additional 10mm or so in the upright, no rider position. The bike seems fine on a paved road - we'll see when it hits the rougher tracks.

The first inspection prior to road registration raised a few issues regarding the need for a lower rear guard and the use of the side stand cutout switch. Current Australian Design Rules (ADR) apparently specify a lower back end for the rear guard but I don't believe it's necessary given the original rear guard / tailight setup. The side stand cutout switch is a problem given I have to kickstart the beast with the side stand down and me standing on the left footpeg. One problem right knee compliments of crashing speedway bikes and a 6ft 2" body on "average" length legs has me unable to start the beast any other way.

[NordieBoy]

I used a bit of mud flap to extend the rear guard as it let's crap get thrown over the plate, tail light, bag, etc.

[RunningBare]

Originally Posted by Lenz1

The manual I've got says 533cc 10W oil in each fork leg. I loaded in approx 550cc of 15W oil because the springs are soft and the damping is just doughy.

The end result is the forks now sit a little higher at rest and the damping is more to my taste. I made sure the forks were fully extended before the units were sealed so maybe it's a function of less air space in the fork legs that has produced the additional 10mm or so in the upright, no rider position. The bike seems fine on a paved road - we'll see when it hits the rougher tracks.

The first inspection prior to road registration raised a few issues regarding the need for a lower rear guard and the use of the side stand cutout switch. Current Australian Design Rules (ADR) apparently specify a lower back end for the rear guard but I don't believe it's necessary given the original rear guard / tailight setup. The side stand cutout switch is a problem given I have to kickstart the beast with the side stand down and me standing on the left footpeg. One problem right knee compliments of crashing speedway bikes and a 6ft 2" body on "average" length legs has me unable to start the beast any other way.

Yea, I have to start mine the same way due to really short legs. While doing this the side stand broke off I fell against the corner of a steel bench top, result, 6 broken ribs, punctured lung, pneumonia, cracked vertabrai, be very careful.

[Lenz1]

Originally Posted by RunningBare

Yea, I have to start mine the same way due to really short legs. While doing this the side stand broke off I fell against the corner of a steel bench top, result, 6 broken ribs, punctured lung, pneumonia, cracked vertabrai, be very careful.

That's one very savage "rip" to the ribs man - it sounds like a serious effort required to heal that sort of damage.

The bike generally starts within 2 kicks but the focus of the problem is the erratic performance of the decompression assembly. Sometimes it will just roll over and start with almost no kickstart effort and others I have to really squeeze it up towards TDC and then kick.

I've done all the manual adjustments (TDC then 2mm - 3mm cable freeplay) so there's no problem at the engine end of the cable, I wonder about the decompression cable engagement with the kick start lever - shit how much of this bike do I have to rebuild.

Today I rebuilt the instrument light panel. The standard instrument light panel has 4 bulb positions, top left indicator, top right high beam, bottom left blank, bottom right neutral. These positions are marked on the clear acrylic panel cover. Well I am still defeated on how to get the indicators - left and right to run a single panel light so now the display has been "upgraded".

I deleted the marked panel screen and replaced it with a clear faceted piece of reversing light cover to get rid of the orig printed marking. The display is now top row left indicator / right indicator (both green 5W), bottom row left blank, right is high beam 3W blue. No neutral light.

I'm kinda old school when it comes to neutral lights and side stand safety switches - if you're dumb enough to try to kickstart it in gear / can't find neutral without a light or ride off with the side stand down then maybe a little pain will reinforce the correct procedure

We'll see how the next inspection works out tomorrow - Oh the joy

[gearheadE30]

Small update, I just tried to install a TT600 remote-reservoir shock on my XT (with the early-style rear linkage that has less travel than the later, I think '89+, models) and it does not fit. At all. The upper mount of the TT shock is a larger diameter than the XT part, and the line for the reservior hits the mount. That could easily be fixed with some cutting, but the shock itself is also something like 2 inches too long. I kinda knew that going in, but was hoping I could make it work. Back to the drawing board.

[JensEskildsen]

Use a xt600 shock, the PO fitted on to my bike, as I recall, it bolted just about right on. I believe it was a dj01 shock, thats from a 96- and up xt600e, but havent checked.

[Lenz1]

The TT350 is now road registered / "approved".

Given the new rings and honed bore I've done a few intervals of hard acceleration and roll off /slow down then a little run over a mix of sealed and dirt road.

The front end is very stable, responsive and absolutely acceptable.

The rear suspension with the rebuilt original TT350 "De Carbon" rear shock is at maximum pre load and 5 clicks back from max damping. I think there is room for a little reduction in preload and damping which means the rear shock is definitely within operating tolerances.

The engine is the result of 20thou off the head, std head gasket, valves refaced, shim clearances set to mid tolerance range but the big change has been the porting of the cylinder head plus new angled inlet manifolds. The original manifolds and poorly bonded rubber carbie joiners are complete rubbish.

The end result is an engine that pulls without hesitation off a slow idle and produces major power past mid range revs. The gearing is 14:50 (std), the carbies are standard with all standard jetting and I'm 95kg. At 60% - 100% throttle the engine develops hard acceleration. Open the throttle at 100kph in 6th gear and it drives hard immediately - it was pulling VERY HARD at 125kph @14:50 in 6th gear and showing no sign of losing power / accelleration

At 14:52 as with the 2012 450 KTM EXC, this thing will be very interesting in the dirt ..... it lives !

[oceansfiftyseven]

Hi! Newbie here. I bought this bike last year as my first bike. It started out as a 1984 XT250L. I bought a low mileage 1989 XT350 with 2200miles for parts and replaced the engine,suspension, wheels, brakes etc. So now it is pretty much an 89 XT. The only difference I am aware of is my passenger pegs are on the swing arm. Anyways I just wanted to introduce myself and share my bike.I have done alot of work on this bike so maybe I can help others on occasion.

[hondaacclx84]

Hi guys, recently I painted my bike and when I finished putting it back together, I found that the tail light isn't working anymore. When I stripped her I just took out the 3 plugs from the tail light and disconnected the plug that release the rear main wires. Left everything else untouched. Even the Cdi stayed untouched.

I tried flushing with plug cleaner all the plugs for the rear light and still nothing. Even cleaned the main plug up front behind the headlight just in case. Is there anything I can try? Everything else is working well and I put everything back where it was supposed to be

[oceansfiftyseven]

Remove the tail light housing. Use a multimeter set on ohms/resistance. You should have continuity between the yellow and black and the blue and black wires coming out of the tail light. If not, check the bulb. if the bulb is ok try cleaning inside the bulb socket. If you do have continuity. Check the wires coming from the harness with the key on for power.