!!! 1986 XL600R Adventure Bike Rebuild !!!

[meijer's trails]

Very cool bike. I just happened upon this and lately I've been working with supertrapps and I have an xl600r.

1) I think your discs are spaced every other opposite for some reason.
Like this () () () ()---engine

And usually they go like this )))))---engine

2) starting these beasts is an art, even with the Ricky stator.
My patented technique...20 kicks with hand decomp open, then release decomp lever, then slowly kick to top dead center then just barely past using half kicks so as not to actuate the automatic compression realize at the bottom of the kick start travel,. Use enricher, but absolutely no throttle. Just don't even hold onto the throttle.

The idea is to have rototional momentum through the next compression cycle.
It will fire and be running just a little, then you can just crack the throttle to increase rpm.

PS, this process can take 15 minutes when cold. But I've never seen anyone successfully start these without using just past tdc kick technique. I have seen 3 people push start one on pavement before

[meijer's trails]

Forgive me, I read more posts and you seem extremely well versed in xl600s. Sorry if my post was insulting.

[jgrady1982]

Listen....don't ever open up the throttle when trying to start this bike, not even a 1/100 of a turn. I NEVER touch my throttle when I am starting my bike, weather it be in March when it is 40 degrees or in July when it is 100 out and the bike is warm. Don't ever open the throttle.

Second. I turn everything on but the kill switch on the bars along with an open petcock for the first 10 kics, with the handlebar decomp lever pulled all the way in. Then I start kicking with the kill switch to "on." Again, never opening the throttle. I kind of like kick-starting these bikes, because to me, you get to lube the top end with oil before starting it, and to me that is great preventative maintenance.

My guess is that your jets may be off.

O yeah STOP it with the ether, that stuff is bad for an engine.

Did you bore the cylinder a size up? What is up with the head? Is it new or was there a "competition" valve job done to it? Also, I am assuming that you have a uni-air filter in there, right? Also you have the aftermarket muffler, correct?

All those things with make more air get into your engine. So in order to balance the fuel out, you need bigger jets than stock. I know I am up a size or two on my primary carb jet and then up one size on the secondary carb jet...I think. My bike is a 1986, bored up one size, uni filter and FMF power-something muffler.

If you have the RS stator you are good. Mine had to be replaced once, but that was because the rubber gromet where the wires leave the left side case was leaking oil, not because the stator had failed making electricity.

Look into the jets on the carbs. I know that I have posted somewhere here in this forum my jet sizes. I had to go up because when my bike would be sitting at a stop light, it would idle nicely and then dip the RPM's for a second and then come right back, and then like 10 seconds later do the same thing. I asked Steve about this and he said it was starving for fuel.

Again, STOP IT WITH THE ETHER!

Your bike looks great and if you screw up the engine by getting frustrated and pouring ether down it you will hate yourself for it.

Later,
Jack

[crobox]

Thanks everyone-

I'm gonna respond to several points in the last few posts... in no particular order....

meijer's trails - As for starting the bike... Yeah I have a pretty good handle on how to do it. But I'm not insulted to hear someone else's technique spelled out. More info never hurts.

jgrady1982 - New cylinder and piston, Wiseco 101mm. Stock jets but I am up at 7000 ft. elevation, so I believe that is a lot like having gone UP a size in jets.
UNI air filter, and Supertrapp.
10-4 on the ether advice.

Carter - When you say "turn that fuel screw out", wouldn't that richen the mixture? I'm wondering because a few sentences before that you advised me to make sure I wasn't too rich....

And just cuz I'm not totally certain... this is the fuel screw, right??



I have mine turned out about 2.5 turns from seating, cuz that's what DRay advised in his "Rebuilding XL600R Carbs" video on youtube. I'm open to other suggestions on this matter.....

And Ron- I got a buddy coming over on Friday afternoon to help me tinker. If I'm lucky that will be the same day that my coil and CDI show up in the mail. If you wanna come over that would be awesome!! Hell, we might all need to push!

[crobox]

GOT IT STARTED DUDES!

Starts on first kick every time since then!

[Carter Pewterschmidt]

Originally Posted by crobox

GOT IT STARTED DUDES!

Starts on first kick every time since then!

Outstanding!

After all that bloody kicking when it finally starts it does make a person feel quite triumphant.


I made the fuel screw comment because I didn't know where you were at with it, but @ 2.5 turns out that's good. You've obviously done your homework with this build.

[mcma111]

OK, so what did you do?

Threaten the bike with the cutting torch, sledge hammer?

We got's ta know.

Was that 5 or six shots???

BTW...Congrats.

[mcma111]

Isn't EVERYTHING 2 1/2 turns out???

That's where I always start.

[dirtyron]

congradulations!!! yes stock jetting should be real close at our altitude even with the mods.when you riding it in to town???? call me 6133984

[crobox]

Originally Posted by mcma111

OK, so what did you do?

Threaten the bike with the cutting torch, sledge hammer?

We got's ta know.

Was that 5 or six shots???

BTW...Congrats.

HA HA!

I threatened it with the Hand of Man!!

Well, what I really did was go through the starting method that "meijer's trails" outlined earlier today in a very rigorous manner. To be honest my previous attempts at starting were almost exactly as he described, except that previously I was finding TDC and then easing past it using the manual decompression lever. When I got it started this afternoon I did not use the decompression to get past TDC, but rather used a few short hard kicks to get over. Next kick... it started!
The fact is that since that first start, I have gone back to using the manual decomp to ease past TDC because trying to get past TDC without it, just using short sharp kicks, is pretty hard. When you do finally get past it there's enough momentum in your foot and leg that you go farther than intended, usually at least a half-cycle of the kickstarter.
But yes, the method outlined by "meijer's trails", with the slight modification of using the manual decomp to ease past TDC, has been working well. First kick each time, actually.

So now I have a new coil and CDI unit coming, which I might not need. Good to have spares, I suppose.

I did not ride it too much today, as it was pretty cold out. However, I did take it out for 3 short jaunts, and I noticed that whenever I got it back to the shop I could hear a faint hissing of air coming from the fuel filler cap. It sounded like there was air being sucked into the tank, like there was a vacuum in there, and sure enough whenever I loosened the cap there was a slightly larger rush of air sound.

Normal?
Or something wrong with the venting action in my filler cap?

A genuine vacuum could cause fuel supply problems, I would think. For what it's worth, I did blow through the vent tube in the cap while it was off the tank, and I could blow through it, although it was somewhat restricted... not tons of air able to move through it.

Thanks,
Christian

[dirtyron]

maybe it is pressure blowing out from the heated expanding fuel? i don't know what kind of venting these bikes have but i usually remove the vent valve. no more problems.

[crobox]

Originally Posted by dirtyron

maybe it is pressure blowing out from the heated expanding fuel? i don't know what kind of venting these bikes have but i usually remove the vent valve. no more problems.

Yeah, not a bad idea. I actually have no idea if the sound I'm hearing is vacuum sucking into the tank, or pressure blowing out of the tank. I will look into removing the valve...

At some point, probably today, I'll post a picture of the basically finished bike.

C

[crobox]

Here are the photoshop images (again) and the pictures I just took:











I'm sure I will do more stuff to it, but it's basically done.

Things I can think of that it still needs:
Bark busters
2nd mirror
front sprocket cover
seat recovered
Bar risers???

Cheers,
Christian

[Carter Pewterschmidt]

Looks cool man. The colors turned out nice and that dual headlight assembly is the business. Well done!

[Zombie_Stomp]

Do I have a gig making you a seat cover? If you want the XL logo, I'd need to make 24 seat covers and wait for screenprinting, but I can do the replica seat covers. Unless the guys in Italy are still making those and selling them on e-bay. But the shipping!!

EXCELLENT BUILD! Having that shop really speeds things up, right? I know testing has been limited, but how is the custom o-ring oil seal holding up thus far? I really love the bracket solution you came up with. Everybody should have one of those on their XL.

P.S. I would personally enjoy the sight of shock boots on it.
Bar risers? Definitely! When you stand up while foot-steering over the rough stuff, your arms, shoulders, and neck will thank you. Go for the highest rise possible.