New to XS650's and need some quick help about a re-phase

Zero333

All. I am in the process of buying my first 650, its a 1981 XS 650 that has been re-phased. Currently it isn't running (pretty sure it is a carb issues). I showed up to the seller's house checked the engine for spark and all of that, then just shot a tiny bit of carb cleaner in the each carb and the thing fired for a few moments when i tried starting it again. Sadly right after this the battery died.

y question here is that the kick starter didn't seem to do anything about 80% of the time. I would push down on it about 7-8 times and there would be nothing, then it would grab very hard. IS this a common symptom with re-phased bikes? If not any idea what it might be? I am guessing it might be something to do with the kick starter gear if it has nothing to do with the re-phase.

Any response would be appreciated.

Thanks

pamcopete

zero333

Is it possible that you may have pulled the clutch in those 80% attempts? The kick start is on the transmission side of the clutch.

yamaman

Sounds like somebody went to a hell of an expense to build a bike that doesn't go! Save your coin & buy a stocker!

A wise man once said, & 10 points to anybody who can name him! "you can spend just as much time building a lemon as you can building something thats right!"

Zero333

that seems to be the issue then because I was pushing down the clutch a lot. I will check again when I go back tomorrow.

xsjohn

yamaman.........AMEN.........would take quite a mechanic to back check the PO's work....to say the least...........especially when the stocker with a bit of tweaking is really where it's at to get you farther down the road......

xsjohn

Zero333

I am getting this at a serious discount. Thing is cosmetically awesome for what I need. No rust anywhere. The person i am buying it from is not at all mechanical. He bought it re-phased and just stopped riding it a few months back after he busted hsi knee. The bike has been sitting ever since. Even if the engine is a total loss I am getting it for such a cheap price that it would be worth a total rebuild some way down the road. I am just unfamiliar with the XS 650 engine at this point.

Thank you for your help as of now. I am sure I will be posting tons of questions and hopefully tons of pictures of my project as it progresses.

xsjohn

A good battery and no crud in the carbs......may be just right....what carbs.....are the carb tops shinny chrome steel or cast aluminum..

xsjohn

JeffM

Check your clutch cable. If may be hanging up enough to keep the clutch and kickstart disengaged. I went though this when I had the tank off once, managed to put a bend in the cable that was enough to cause an intermittent problem. Lube and reroute in a nice smooth line.

yamaman

Lots of clutch related issues with these bikes, dirty carbs probably #1 on the hit list, charging/electrical #2, clutch would probably edge out cam chain adjustment/guides for 3rd. Also you must have some alternative ignition to run the re-phase, be interesting to know what that is?

ostly simple problems and easily cured with a bit of love, or a bit of coin to MikesXS or 650central. Most XS parts available from those guys. Hope it works out for you mate, cheers.

Zero333

Guys thank you for all of the insight already. I will keep you posted and put up a few pics once I get it to my place. From what I read the stock carbs on these were garbage. I am going to see what I can do to make them run strong once I take them appart and rebuild. First I will make sure they work, then most likely jet them to match the pods/pipes I plan to run. I will also look into the clutch cable issue. From the sounds of things and from what I am reading the bike will need a fair share of small replacement items, I.E. clutch lines and what not. The entire rotor/shrader and most of the wiring was replaced on the bike recently due to the re-phase. The seller has all of the paperwork to show me what was done. I will look into this with more detail.

Timing is the only thing that scares me because I don't know exactly what was changed when the bike was re-phased. To be honest I would rather it just be a stock engine but i am sure I will get it working just fine in its current condition.

XS John the carbs look cast with a Screw on top. Any idea what model carbs these are. As I mentioned the bike is a 1981.

xsjohn

Stock carbs aren't garbage...the just have to be right....wouldn't change mine...Sounds like someone replaced yours with VM carbs from the desctiption """Screw on top"" pictures tell a 1000 words though........

Does the PO have all the stock ignition and carbs (if changed) in case in the future you change things...........

xsjohn

yamaman

If VM's, you will find this useful:

www.mikuni.com/pdf/vmmanual.pdf

Joseph · Full Member Joined: May 22, 2007 Posts: 767 Location: NY

Dont count out the stock carbs they were set out with other things in mind than preformance, like emisions. Once you get em right your fine, I dont have expearience with VMs. John nailed the carbs on my 80 and they are easy enough to toy with once you do it a couple times.

Zero333

xsJohn - The seller only has whats on the bike no extra parts.

xsJohn/yamaman - They look to be VM carbs. Is this a good thing? Are these an upgrade?

Thank you for that link. I am reading through it now.

yamaman

VM's are god quality carbs, for sure. Like John says, you can get the CV's to run fine with some effort. No matter what carbs, effort is needed to get them right. VM's are simpler due to not having diaphrams and are more easily adjusted. Probably find in a perfect world, the CV's would be a nicer road bike carb. For top performance VM"s are great. lots of high HP bikes run them.
Having VM's is certainly not a handicap!

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