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Thread: XT400/500/600 revisited.

  1. #1

    XT400/500/600 revisited.

    http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...ighlight=xt400

    It'd be nice sometimes to have a few chapters of your future life available to study so you don't wander down paths that become overgrown and you lose your way.I pulled the XT400 down for what I generously thought would be a 3 month job....it's been 18 months and possibly another 18 mths before I can see to do what I want to do now.This is not right! This is my main bike,the one that should be doing all the work,not lying around gathering dust.So I thought if I came across another motor I could toss it in and do the other one at my leisure.

    So last saturday I went down to Wanganui and picked up a kickstart XT600 motor.''She's had $850 spent on her mate!'' Yeah right....rings camchain and a head job I reckon.It's been in a quadbike and lying around in a barn covered in birdshit,a real mess.I get the rest of the donor bike too,wheels,forks etc,and wiring.

    I did my research - I didn't want to get another early motor.In 1987 the head was changed,and the 2KF head fits all later bikes.In '89 the ignition was changed too....this is supposed to be a 1990 bike.Wrong! I have found it's an '88.The head is marked 2KF,but it's the same as the early heads,bugger....it also has the early CDI...double bugger.But I have the wiring loom,CDI and rec/reg.

    The old motor is out and the replacement sitting in the frame on monday (I always laugh at people who get upset at my quotes for engine replacements..''I could have that motor fitted in 4 hrs'' So can I,but you also have to make it run,and that's what takes the extra time) I rejet the carbs and fit them and start bolting on the rest of the crap.In the meantime I am studying wiring diagrams to see how to fit the CDI.It's a stand alone system,so can just use the loom from the other bike into it's alt cable....but I can't use the earth wire into the 1992 system,so have to use a killswitch on the bars.I spent thursday afternoon kicking the hell out of it,and not getting it to run.Shit,these things are hard to boot over without a valve lifter.On friday it's a runner.

    I gave myself a week,and apart from the charging system it would be there.I just extended the wiring back to the rec/reg,the '88 reg looks identical but only has 2 AC wires instead of 3 on the electric start model.But no charge...have AC,but no DC out,tried the other rec/reg but still the same.It's a simple system,the battery only powers the lights,the ign is self generating.So....today I went to Jaycar and got a bridge rectifier and a zener diode - I'll make my own Joe Lucas style simple voltage control.Silly black boxes - I don't need those.

    The bike will have to move into storage in a month,if I can put it in a runner I'll be able to pull it out for day rides....so here's hoping I can sort the charging out this week.There is a shit load of other stuff to do and I can only spend short bursts on the bike.

    But the XT600 lives again!
    In and out of jobs, running free
    Waging war with society

  2. #2
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    Woo hoo. About time.

    What's 5th gear like?

    So what ya going to do with the 500 special ?

    And whats happening with the Yamaha?

    And when are we going to see the Stornello back on the road?

    Not to mention the DT230 !

    So many projects, so few days eh?

    I can't talk I have a backlog of workshop must-dos that would take me several weeks even if I had full time to devote to them

    Still, now that I'm back on my feet hopefully I'll start whittling the list down (Only problem is , now I'm back in the saddle too. With a lot of miles to make up. Which is incompatible with wrenching)
    Quote Originally Posted by skidmark
    This world has lost it's drive, everybody just wants to fit in the be the norm as it were.
    Quote Originally Posted by Phil Vincent
    The manufacturers go to a lot of trouble to find out what the average rider prefers, because the maker who guesses closest to the average preference gets the largest sales. But the average rider is mainly interested in silly (as opposed to useful) “goodies” to try to kid the public that he is riding a racer

  3. #3
    I haven't been able to ride it yet....but 5th gear is one concern....

    Well the 500 was a runner,but I have to pull it down to do some more machining...trial and error you know...But in the meantime I have picked up a 94 crankcase and crank.If I have to take it out of the frame I may as well just put in the 600 crank.But that is too much work in the time frame and the bike has to stay complete....I don't want boxes to lose....

    The DT230 and TLR200 are in storage already,the Stornello will join them,along with all the other projects.When I have a new garage to transfer them into,and more free time...I suspect instead of spending my evenings in front of this computer,I will be putting my world to rights in the comfort of my own shed.
    In and out of jobs, running free
    Waging war with society

  4. #4
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    24th September 2006 - 02:00
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    Yay! I was reading that original thread not so long ago from start to finish, and was rather disappointed at the dénouement I found waiting at the end. Look forward to hearing how the Frankenstein engine progresses.

  5. #5
    I rode the XT600 hybred today.I spent this week farting around with the charging system.I carried on with my plan to use a zener diode,but my research showed it wouldn't work - the zener is ok on a low output system like a Triumph,but this alt has more the 70 volts coming out of the rectifier.I made a heatsink out of a Briggs & Stratton cyl head with a rectifier and a couple of 5 watt zeners....and watched them smoke,turn red and melt.

    The Yamaha rectifier is $200 ex Aust....so I used a tractor rec/regulator,you see them on the front downtubes of Harleys,and they are used on small tractors too.They are bigger and finned....and I had a bit of trouble finding a place for it.Finally got it in,better air flow but no heatsink - on the road it runs just warm,so I think it should be ok,but will keep an eye on it.

    So finally out on the road - there is not that much more power than the 400 (13hp) but it shows on hills where the 600 doesn't even notice them.A lot more engine noise and vibration - the 400 was a very quiet and smooth motor,but the 600 shakes more.I'll just gloss over the engine noise part,if I ignore it then it will go away.When I first fired the 600 up there was a lot of smoke from the exhaust....but when I removed this system to use a Supertrapp I put some oil into it to stop internal rust.But after 10km on the road it was still smoking badly and I was a little worried.However a plug check showed no oil,but maybe running a little lean...maybe I'll have to use the 600 needles and needle jets.It is running on 100 octane,so easy to read the plug.

    A slight oil leak from the right sidecover and maybe some jetting to sort,but small jobs and I'll move it to storage soon,maybe tomorrow.
    In and out of jobs, running free
    Waging war with society

  6. #6
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    25th March 2004 - 17:22
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    Well it makes sense that the 400 could well have bigger mains than the 600 as there is less suck to pull the fuel through assuming he same throat size. Singles tend to wear the needle tubes so check for ovality esp if been vibrating away in a quad idling while the sheep are serviced or whatever quad owners get up to.
    Don't you look at my accountant.
    He's the only one I've got.

  7. #7
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    My sons neighbour was cleaning up his section in the weekend, and in the long grass out the back found three old bikes, that were headed for the skip when Scott rescued them. A twin shock XR250 (which goes) a twin shock PE Suzuki of unknown size which doesn't go cos of missing barrel and head, and a twin shock Yahama single - can't find anything to ID the model but from memory the engine number prefix is 1E2 or similar (it was dark). The bike is complete apart from seat cover missing, speedo/tacho are smashed and the muffler has rusted away. This sort of thing worth restore attempts or should it je put back into the skip?
    it's not a bad thing till you throw a KLR into the mix.
    those cheap ass bitches can do anything with ductape.
    (PostalDave on ADVrider)

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