Re resurecting my old XT600

[Bustaspoke]

The 2017 Classic TT..
After the initial post rebuild teething problems the only fail had been the CDI unit expiring,the XT had been running great,until a couple of days before the Classic TT.The bike started having some bizarre electrical problems,not a good omen.This all came to a crux when I fired the bike up late at night to set off for the daft O'clock ferry from Liverpool.I got a few hundred metres & the headlight suddenly stopped working
I ended up taking the quiet back lanes to the outskirts of Liverpool,but I still had to ride down the dock road around midnight with just the sidelight for illumination.I never got stopped & caught the ferry,having no headlight on the Isle of Man didn't worry me as I wouldn't ride the bike at night & the return ferry was in daytime.Job sorted
I did a few laps of the Mountain course,everything seemed good,then one day I decided to watch from the end of Sulby straight.
When the racing finished I went down the road that is on the left just before Sulby bridge,toward Jurby.The bike fired up no problem,no weird noises or anything,after a mile or so I coasted to a junction & the bike just cut out,no misifire,no stutter nothing just cut out,stone dead.I dropped the clutch in 3rd or 4th gear as I was slowing down,but the back end just locked up.Not being a lardarse I put this down to me not being heavy enough to bump start the bike.I kicked it over a few times,but no spark,so now I've no headlight & no spark.After a few minutes someone came out of their house & said that if I couldn't get the bike running I could leave it in their garden,nice offer but I was hoping to get it back running.
I decided that if the coil had failed,it might work now that the bike had cooled down so I started kicking it over again,but now the kickstart started locking up
At this point I decided to just push the bloody thing & see if somehow a lift would materialise,there's plenty of vans on the Isle of Man
After pushing the bike for a while a van with a couple of builders in it stiopped, & I explained the situation.No problem mate,we can't get you back to Douglas but we can get you to Balaugh where I'm dropping my mate off & see if you can get a lift from one of the marshalls.At this point,this seemed the best course of action,I mean there's got to be a van or two at Balaugh bridge on race day eh?
As we were driving the driver had a better plan,he dropped his mate off,then phoned his boss to tell him what was going on & could he take the van back home to Douglas? His boss agreed,I got a lift to the dock with the bike & he got to take the van home.Result!

[Bustaspoke]

After a few days it was time to push the dead XT onto the ferry,no one had pushed it into the dock so I pushed it onto the ferry.When the ferry docked at Pier Head I pushed it down the ramp & waited for a recovery van to turn up.When he first turned up he brought out a jump starter pack.I explained that it's kick start only ...
He came back an hour later & winched the bike onto the transporter & for the first time in my life I was driven home with a broken down bike ,I reckoned all that it needed was a spare CDI unit plugging in & I'd have it running again by the evening.A couple of hours later & the bike still refused to spark,but what I worked out was that after 2 or 3 kicks the kickstart locked up,but if I put it in gear & pushed it back I could kick it over again,but still no spark.I sent the CDI unit back to Zeeltronic for testing,they found no fault with it..
I took the clutch off the bike so that the transmission was seperate from the engine,put a socket on the end of the crank & there's a big clunk as the crank rotates At this point the XT got parked under a sheet in a state of disgrace,to be resurrected again when I retired.
Now I've finally retired I've got stuck into the XT600 again,first task was to move the FZ750 to make some room for me to work on the XT.



Motor out,time to get stuck into things

The first thing I noticed was that both sides of the crank turned so the crank hadn't sheared ,maybe the con rod had failed or somehow it had dropped a valve,it still didn't explain the lack of sparks...
I took the motor down to my mates,he's just spent a small fortune rebuilding this Z1300.We're not spending much money on rebuilding the old XT.




First task was to remove the cylinder head
This little piece of steel was in there!



You can see where it had been pushed into the combustion chamber & stopped the crank rotating through 360,but there appears to be no damage

For peace of mind we took the cylinder off & everything looks good



None of us can work out what the piece of soft steel is,but all I can think is that despite having a standard air filter & air box fitted somehow it's been sucked in.Maybe I upset the Manx fairies & should have stopped at the Fairy Bridge & appeased the Manx Fairies

[A_morti]

Kinda looks like an aluminium staple.

[Rockburner]

Anybody who doesn't go to say hello to the fairies first thing is asking for trouble!

Loving the thread, keep it coming!

[Bustaspoke]

Kinda looks like an aluminium staple.

It's a soft steel similar to a section of 'Split pin'

[Count Steer]

The only thing I've seen like that was on a friend's MX5. The service mechanic was putting new plugs in and he didn't notice that the swivel pin in his (Snap-on) plug socket spanner head had gone missing.

Of course, they found out when they started the engine.

The garage ended up having to get and install a new engine from Japan. I assume their insurance company covered the cost.

PS I think that that pin was probably hard steel though.

[Taipan]

Golden rule in our workshops was always plug inlets as parts are removed. I can see why our guys were so diligent about this now!

[Bustaspoke]

Golden rule in our workshops was always plug inlets as parts are removed. I can see why our guys were so diligent about this now!

Same here,but this suddenly appeared in the combustion chamber after 7000 miles

[Bustaspoke]

Last week I decided to get on with getting the XT back running again.The bike has been languishing under a cover in the garage & I've decided to get it running again for winter.



The 80's Yamaha section of the garage

The electrics had been playing up before the bike stopped over in the Isle of Man & I had decided to rewire it,to be honest looking at the staate of the loom I was surprised it had lasted as long as it had.I've never wired a bike before,but I was a spark up to my late 20's so I had a very basic idea of how to wire the bike & as it's a kick start bike it's a minimal loom,so if I'm going to learn to wire up a bike it seems as good a place as any to start.

.

I sent the CDI unit away to Zeeltronics to rule out the CDI as the reason for the lack of a spark & whilst the CDI was away I got on with making a wiring loom up.A couple of weeks later Zeeltronics had sent the CDI back & stated that everything was good,this was autumn 2017.
All I had to do now was find out why the motor was locked up,I was in no hurry so I bought my Street Triple & parked the XT up until I retired & had some time for a project.
Roll forward to 2023 & I've got some time for messing about with the old XT.After finding what appears to have been a squashed washer in the cylinder & getting the motor back together & in the frame I parked it up again in the garage waiting for a rainy day or two to get stuck into it again.As it's rained almost every day for the last couple of weeks getting the XT back on the road has become a bit of a priority.
First task was to check my wiring loom worked,a couple of things were wrong,for instance I'd got the lights working but I could still switch the lights on when the ignition was switched off. I also seemed to have a intermitent headlight but when I checked my wiring I had continuity.I then remembered that going for the ferry back in 2017 the headlight had stopped working & I rode to the ferry with just the sidelight.
Turned out the H4 connector was duff so I ordered a new one



I've never had a motorcycle as worn out as this old XT600,I also had no illumination for the speedo when you switch the lights on,that was another dodgy bulb holder...
Last week I ordered a new battery, ignition coil & plug,all the electrics seemed good & all the other circuits were working as they should so it was time to see if I had a spark.I never noticed a spark on the first few kicks I then switched the kill switch a few times,turned the lights off in the garage & swung on the kickstart again,I've now got a spark,result!
It won't surprise me to find that the kill switch is dodgy.

[A_morti]

As volts decrease, amps increase.
If it's had a charging problem then that could be what melted the bulb holders.
Otherwise, check it's not been given higher wattage bulbs as that'll do the same.

[Bustaspoke]

The bulb holders weren't melted,I think the H4 connector had a failed earth as neither high or low beam worked.
This bike is as 'challenging' as that BMW of yours!
It's often a learning experience



I had a spare (duff) stator that I got rewound & might fit at a later date but I would rather fit a new pick up first,the wiring's been through so many heat cycles it's work hardened

[Bustaspoke]

When I bought this bike as a project & something to mess about with & learn new new stuff I didn't think that 14 years later I'd still be learning new stuff ...
The latest unplanned learning experience is the difference between AC & DC ignition systems.
I tested the stator & pick up coil,both the stator & pick up coil are out of spec so I'll fit the rewound stator & pick up coil up there ^^^
I was really disapointed when I got the spare stator rewound,they refitted the old loom which is in a bit of a state,so I'm going to have to disconnect the stator wiring from the old loom & reconnect it with new wiring & they haven't even bothered connecting the pick up coil so I'm going to have to connect that as well.
When I took the old stator off the bike one of the wires to the pick up coil fell off



Here's both stators on the bench.The good pick up coil is on the blue paper.I'd fit a new one but they're unobtainable



I've spent a few weeks trying to track down a new pick up coil & stator set up,but no one makes them for this model XT600,there's plenty for the later XT600E & the earlier XT500,but nothing for these kickstart XT's
The kick start versions are CDI & AC stators,the E start versions are DC TCI ignitions.
This means that I now have to solder or crimp a new set of wires to the rewound stator & fit the good pick up coil to the wiring knowing that I can't get another pick up coil if I get it wrong.
The MANUAL says----------------- PICK UP 90-120 OHMS SORCE COIL160-240 OHMS
The stator on the bike----------------------- 218--------------------------- 505
Rewound stator & loose pick up ------------ 110---------------------------- 220
I've just got to get the rewound stator & loose pick up soldered or crimped to a new sub loom.
Any constructive tips & hints welcome!

[Count Steer]

Can't really help with the stator problem and I assume you've got sleeves/crimps and a good soldering iron (I have those and you'd be welcome to borrow them but I don't think you're local). However, up there you referred to a dodgy kill switch. Some years ago I left my CX500 standing, in a friends garage, for a while. When I came to use it again it would spin over merrily but spark was there none. I pushed it home.

Much delving, discussion on 'dead' petrol and flattened batteries ensued trying to breathe life back into it.

In the end an electrically aware (but knowing nothing about bikes) neighbour pointed at the wiring diagram (we were reduced to looking at wiring diagrams by this point!) and said 'wossat?' Oh! Says I...that must be the kill switch. Waggle, waggle.....press....brrrrrm! It didn't need replacing, just a few wiggles and a shot of WD40.

I do wonder how many people ever use the kill switch for the reason it was imposed. It just seems like an unwelcome complication.

[Lutin]

Have you come across Rex's Speed Shop?

They might not do the bits that you need, but I'm sure that they would be able to advise on repairs.

Not used them myself, but have heard good things of them.

[Bustaspoke]

Yes I'm aware of Rex's speed shop,but once again they do lots for the earlier XT500 but very little for the XT600..

[Ssray]

I had a 600 tenere, it ended up with srx600 carbs because you could get a dynojet kit for them.
Supertrapp exhaust
Kickstart only and the gears removed from the flywheel
Tdr250 front wheel with fzr1000 disc , gsxr1100 caliper and a honda revere master cylinder
Rear wheel re-rimmed to 4.25x17 (I think)
It made 45bhp at the wheel in this spec
It was my trackday and courier round London weapon of choice

Then I added a wisco piston (12.5cr as opposed to 8.5)
No Dyno this time
And a xtz660 gearbox
It would wheelie in second and just lift the front wheel in 3rd.

My mate replaced the carbs with either gsx600f carbs or possibly gscr600 carbs rejetted

[Bustaspoke]

Sounds fun,I'll be happy to get the XT sparking again!

[Bustaspoke]

Last week I took the pick up coil to a auto electric shop,as expected they couldn't replace it but I was hoping they'd have some connector that I could screw in to the tiny stump where the original wire had failed on two of the three connections.They understood what I was trying to do but only had one suggestion,that was to take it to their other store where they have a autoelectrician on site.I got there,explained what I wanted to achieve & the sales staff shouted for their auto elec guy to to have a look at it.He came out from his workshop looked at it & said there's hardly anything to solder to,I'll see what I can do,after 10 minutes or so I realise he must be trying to fix it.After about 25 minutes he presents the pick up coil to me all soldered up,then asks me if I want him to put some putty on it to support the joints.Here's the result



I poked a piece of copper wire into one of the connections on the pick up coil at the top to check the output.The one at the bottom now can go on the bike.
The next problem is how do I get those wires through those holes in the grommet? The original ones were really tight to drag out of those holes.
I've got some silicone spray & I'm tempted to slightly enlarge the holes but they have to remain oil tight,suggestions?

[Le_Fromage_Grande]

Leave the grommet out and fill the hole with silicon sealant once the wires are in the right place, works on my Z1170

[Bustaspoke]

I've been doing more research & I found a thread on a Kawasaki forum were someone replaced their stator & had problems getting the new wiring through the grommet holes,they resorted to enlarging the holes by pushing a bullet connector through.I think I'll do the same,or use a small drill bit & seal it when the wires are through