The XT350 thread

[Grreatdog]

Originally Posted by SkidMarx

"Something isn't right here." I say to myself while looking at my kickstarter laying on the ground.

Upon inspection I see that the shaft is twisted right off.
It looks like it may have had some cracks for a while. Likely caused by me having to kick the crap out of it befor I got the carbs sorted out.

That is a actually a common problem with older XT350's. Mine did it and I know of several others that did the same thing. They must have had a bad casting for that shaft or else it was underdesigned. The auto-decomp stuff in there is a little tricky. But you are right, the fix isn't that hard.

The good part about mine was it happened to the scumbags that stole it instead of to me and got me the bike back. It was recovered because it had been abandoned in some woods when the kickstarter broken off. So I got a call from the state police one day saying they recovered my bike after it had been gone for a year.

But, since I was still in the process of sicking the state Attorney General's office on State Farm over the claim, I still had the title. So State Farm let me have it back despite being totalled because I had been such a naughty boy and reported them for lying to me. I just had to sign a waiver against further claims and they paid me the total loss value.

[SkidMarx]

I shouldn't be suprised.
Many years ago the decomp cable broke and I didn't bother fixing it right away. Combine that with the poor cold starting with its super lean stock jetting and you get a lot of he-man kicking.
I've been so spoiled since I fixed the jetting that it never crossed my mind that a few light kicks could finish off what I started so many years ago.

My season was pretty much over anyway so I'll just fix it this winter when fix the piston slap.

[tathambenjamin]

Hey guys-

So, I have a bike up for sale/trade and have a couple trade offers that could involve XT350's.



One is an '88 and has almost 9k on the clock the other is an '86 and has about 13k. The 9k is completely stock and has slight oil leak from valve cover.....the other looks well sorted and has a couple nice mods. Moose bars, larger sprockets etc. The 9k guy wants a couple hundo more for his bike.....

So, my concern is.......how will this engine hold up? Is the higher mileage bike gonna be due for a top end at any time? Other problems to look out for with the engine or trans in higher mileage examples? Also, is there any aftermarket for these? If I want to buy a spare parts engine are they available? Someone fill me in please, opinions, rants, etc. Thanks

hmmm, one of those guys may frequent this board.....oh well, its all the same I guess. Just looking for an objective opinion.

heres the 13k:

http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik...disp=inline&zw


(hopefully that link works)

[jegrmajstr]

Originally Posted by tathambenjamin

Hey guys-

So, I have a bike up for sale/trade and have a couple trade offers that could involve XT350's.



One is an '88 and has almost 9k on the clock the other is an '86 and has about 13k. The 9k is completely stock and has slight oil leak from valve cover.....the other looks well sorted and has a couple nice mods. Moose bars, larger sprockets etc. The 9k guy wants a couple hundo more for his bike.....

So, my concern is.......how will this engine hold up? Is the higher mileage bike gonna be due for a top end at any time? Other problems to look out for with the engine or trans in higher mileage examples? Also, is there any aftermarket for these? If I want to buy a spare parts engine are they available? Someone fill me in please, opinions, rants, etc. Thanks

hmmm, one of those guys may frequent this board.....oh well, its all the same I guess. Just looking for an objective opinion.

heres the 13k:

http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik...disp=inline&zw


(hopefully that link works)

I'd say go for the 9k because of the mods and lower mileage, the oil leak is most likely because of a blown gasket, which is simple fix you can do yourself, but you'll need to order the gasket at the dealer's. 13k also isn't a very high mileage, I have more than 25k on my XT 350 and it's still going strong, my dealer checks the valve clearance every year and it's still in factory tolerances, no problems with gears or anything else. The only thing I had to change were the clutch pads.
As I said before in this thread, the parts availability isn't a problem, any Yamaha dealer should be able to provide you with the spare parts, although they might not be on stock so you'll have to order the parts.
And for the aftermarket... If you had read through this tread, you would've found this:

Originally Posted by jegrmajstr

- Suspension:
Wilbers makes both the rear shock and progressive front springs - very good, very expensive.
Wirth has progressive fork springs - also expensive.

- Brakes:
Braking has a front disk - very good and cheaper than the original.
A variety of brake pad manufacturers (Carbone Lorraine, EBC, Saito, Lucas...).
There are stainless steel brake lines available (Lucas), but the cheapest way to get them at a local hydraulics shop - tried and tested :)

- Engine
Wiseco and Wössner sell piston kits (Wiseco also has a high-compression piston)
I'm not sure for cams.
Lucas and EBC make clutch friction pads and springs.
There are also High-Flo (and other manufactorers) oil filters available.

- Exhaust
There are a couple of manufacturers that have exhausts for the XT 350: Supertrapp, Sebring and Marving, but with a bit of DIY you can make any other enduro silencer fit, there's just a connecting pipe to be made.

- Gas tank
Clarke has a plastic tank, but not much bigger than the original.
Acerbis makes tanks for XT 600 and 400, both 20l (perhaps an early '90-'94 XT 600 tank would fit?)

- Carburetor & air intake
I don't know if larger jets are considered aftermarket.
K&N and UNI make air filters.

- Drivetrain
There are chain sets available by DID and Regina, and also sprockets by RK, Sunstar and DID.

- Other:
Hepco&Becker makes a luggage rack for side cases.
Renthal has handlebars.
Acerbis has handguards.
MotoDetail sells oil temperature gauges.
Lots of different indicator manufacturers.
Found a centre stand on ebay once, but forgot the manufacturer.

PS: the link doesn't work

[tathambenjamin]

someo good information there. I took a look through the thread but will have to look again I suppose. Sorry about the link.

[jegrmajstr]

Found this on a german XT350 site:












The silencers are from a CRF 250R, but the pipes are custom made. No sound clip though, I wonder how this baby roars

PS: I was thinking how to address the problem with the crapy XT forks...
If I recall correctly, the forks are 41mm in diameter, so the obvious solution would be simply changing them with better, adjustable forks from a different bike (like a DR 350) that has the same diameter forks, keeping the original triple-trees.
There would still be a bit of a problem sorting out the front axle, wheel and brake, or just using the whole front end of the other bike.
The other thing is that all this would be probably too expensive, but hey, why not

[johned206]

Hey, FlyingFinn and J-Ball, thanks for the advice on the fork seal change. Things went smoothly and I got the job done. Reading the posts in this thread has got me thinking about doing the 520 chain conversion. Who out there has done it, where did you get the parts, and has it been worth it? I ride mostly fireroads and a little single track from time to time, very little time on the pavement. Thanks

[The Full Monty]

Does anyone have the front and rear wheel bearing numbers? Not for the OEM, but for sealed bearings and seals? I would like to have the bearings in my hands before I pull the wheels off.

Thanks

[Corky1]

Chain conversion is a good idea. When out riding and you need to borrow somethingit will be the same as most others use.
Conversion info here.
http://www.pbase.com/corky1/xt_350_project_bike
Good luck, Corky

[Grreatdog]

The front fork fix I used was to add spring preload spacers under the fork caps and go to a 2.5 heavier weight fork oil. I think i raised the level a little too. But my memory isn't that good.

I have no idea how long the preload spacers were. I tried several lengths before I got what I thought worked OK. It was no miracle cure but at least the didn't bottom on hard braking anymore.

[tathambenjamin]

Well, I have been lurking through this thread for a while and it seems I am about to get my hands on an 86 XT350 with somewhere between 12-14k on it (broken odo), but looking in prime condition.

Owner asking $1200- but we are also making a trade, my bike needs some repairs, trading down so to speak. Has had-

-SS brake line installed
-Sprockets changed for higher gearing
-New chain (not sure which size?)
-Moose bars w/ end weights
-some other minor things.

When I spoke to the owner I asked, "Has it been ridden off road much?"
to which he responded, "off road? Well, I rode it in my yard once..."

Super nice guy who is about 60 and says he has to sell because his knees arent up to the kickstart anymore. I am pretty excited....

Heres a picture- please tell me if you notice anything I havent mentioned.


he says it doesnt leak a drop of oil and that he changes all the filters and oil every season regardless of how few miles he rides. (says he has ridden it for 4k in 8 years). Mileage may be a little high but it looks and sounds like it has been well cared for. Forgot to ask about valve adjustments and weight of fork oil, etc. but I will get to that later.

So, what do you guys think?

[jegrmajstr]

Looks really nice, I'd say go for it
Like I said, mileage isn't a problem if the bike was cared for like he says, although I would change all the fluids (oil, fork oil, brake fluid), change front brake pads and rear brake shoes, check the wear on the brake disc (and replace it if it has grooves) and all-in-all thoroughly clean the whole bike when I would brought it home.

PS: Try to haggle a hundred $ or so down, just for the sake of haggling

[The Full Monty]

Yes, very clean! I got my 86 for 900 and it was not nearly as clean as this one.

[cnj]

Originally Posted by johned206

Hey, FlyingFinn and J-Ball, thanks for the advice on the fork seal change. Things went smoothly and I got the job done. Reading the posts in this thread has got me thinking about doing the 520 chain conversion. Who out there has done it, where did you get the parts, and has it been worth it? I ride mostly fireroads and a little single track from time to time, very little time on the pavement. Thanks

I just finished doing this conversion on my '00 XT350. When I get home from work, I will research the part numbers/applications of the sprockets I used and post here. I went with steel front and back for durability.

[nails1]

Originally Posted by FTL

Does anyone have the front and rear wheel bearing numbers? Not for the OEM, but for sealed bearings and seals? I would like to have the bearings in my hands before I pull the wheels off.

Thanks

Somebody gave me this P/N, which I bought at the local auto store. Please search on this BBS (I'm pretty sure it was a thread here, but maybe ThumperTalk). Let me know if you can't find it -- maybe I wrote it down somewhere.

Be advised that it's basically impossible to drift in the front bearing without breaking the hub. The part that breaks is what drives the speedo, and I fixed mine with JB Weld.