Mauricio Moldes Lovely Yamaha XJ900s from Barcelona thread

[mauriciomoldes]

Hi ! 

On this thread I would like to discuss some possible modifications on my newly acquired Yamaha XJ900s from 1996. 

Could you be so kind to visit my presentation @  diversionclub.proboards.com/thread/23560/mauricio-moldes-presentation-barcelona

As you can see from my presentation I have recently bough a 1996 yamaha XJ 900s to ride in Barcelona . 
The bike is very straight forward and in excellent condition, almost fully original. 

My objective for April, is to make a running weekend visit to Portugal-Peniche (2500 km) and a weekend in France- Toulouse (1000 km). 

Since I have bought the bike I have change all fluids,(brake, shaft, engine etc), replace the brake pads with EBC synthered pads, and a set of michellin Pilot Roads 3.

Currently I bought a pair of Oxford Heated Grips, and a pair or LED projectors to fit into the motorcycle. Also, a Usb charger, and a pair of philips extremevision (+130) lights. 
I have also bought(still to arrive) a superflip touring screen from skidmarx, from reading a previous thread on this forum. 




I have hit an issue with the heated grips  
They are just a tad small compared to the original, but I am thinking of fixing this with some foam. 

What I cannot seem to get around is the Handlebars Weights !! 
Yesterday I spent around 2 Hours  trying to remove them with no success  
Is there any tip to remove these weights ? 

I am happy to discuss this  

Cheers, 
Mauricio Moldes

[m40man]

Apr 3, 2016 12:54:19 GMT mauriciomoldes said:

What I cannot seem to get around is the Handlebars Weights !!;
Yesterday I spent around 2 Hours  trying to remove them with no success  
Is there any tip to remove these weights ?

Hi - Should be an 8mm allen key, thrust in the end:

Mind you, if the weights have been over-tightened in the past, & the 8mm key doesn't fit well, try a T50 Torx key instead - that should grip fine & undo it:



Normal thread - so undo as you would any other screw.

[bobh]

Heated grips in Barcelona? Makes us Southern (UK) softies seem well 'ard!

[bev]

Apr 3, 2016 21:25:06 GMT bobh said:

Heated grips in Barcelona? Makes us Southern (UK) softies seem well 'ard!

Agreed, but he's new I was cutting him some slack.

Actually I just checked and the average temp is between 5 and 14 degrees. I haven't even put the liner in my jacket at 5 degrees it's borderline tropical.

I once worked in San Sebastian in January. The temp dropped to -5 and the locals went into Hibernation mode. I only had a lightweight jacket with me (which was actually sufficient) The local Engineer retired to his Hotel room for a couple of hours every afternoon to heat up

Yep they do make the UK Softy Southerners look well 'ard.

[dubster]

Apr 3, 2016 12:54:19 GMT mauriciomoldes said:

I have hit an issue with the heated grips  
They are just a tad small compared to the original, but I am thinking of fixing this with some foam. 

The Oxford heated grips you have are the sport version, you need the adventure version to fit the Diversion.

Attachments:

[satnav]

Apr 4, 2016 7:09:20 GMT bev said:

Apr 3, 2016 21:25:06 GMT bobh said:

Heated grips in Barcelona? Makes us Southern (UK) softies seem well 'ard!

Agreed, but he's new I was cutting him some slack.

Actually I just checked and the average temp is between 5 and 14 degrees. I haven't even put the liner in my jacket at 5 degrees it's borderline tropical.

I once worked in San Sebastian in January. The temp dropped to -5 and the locals went into Hibernation mode. I only had a lightweight jacket with me (which was actually sufficient) The local Engineer retired to his Hotel room for a couple of hours every afternoon to heat up

Yep they do make the UK Softy Southerners look well 'ard.

5 degrees, that's when geordies think about putting on a shirt and long trousers

[m40man]

Apr 4, 2016 11:45:36 GMT dubster said:

The Oxford heated grips you have are the sport version, you need the adventure version to fit the Diversion.

Don't panic - the Sports ones will be fine. I have them fitted to my black D9 (they were cheaper at the time, I was being frugal with the wife's hard-earned!):

[mauriciomoldes]

Dear m40man,

Thank you so much for your quick and illustrated reply.
I was able to remove the grips, not using allen/torx keys but a plummer wrench

Dear bobh and bev , Barcelona is quite a warm city, but, If you move 100 km north to the pirineus, or to the inside of the country(visca catalunya !), the temperatures can easily be under 0 degrees, or over 40 in the peak of the summer.
I believe one of my worst experiences with cold was in Cambridge, near the hinxton village,(welcomme trust campus, genome campus, EBI), where In the peak of winter, I flew from Barcelona with a shirt and a wind cutter

Dear satnav, Now it is to late, but I was able to fit the grip, and the missing space will be fulfilled with foam.





Now, I am preparing the wiring harness to mount a pair of led projectors . 
The projectors are big, and my initial toughs for the mounting place was the to use the horn mount, which seems to be strong enough to hold them. 
Has anyone fit some projectors to their divy ?

[mauriciomoldes]

Hi everyone

My last post on the forum dates back to APRIL 4th.
let me provide you with up to date pictures and the completed "mini" project.




Before completing the changes on the bike I decided to try a a track day. Please be aware that my previous bikes have always been on the dual sport category.




Learning to curve on a 4 cylinder road machine


The full completed motorbike :





We are now heading for the 180.000 km mark !
The best 500 € I have ever invested

[mauriciomoldes]

Since my last post, I have been :

- Portugal tour
- South of spain tour
- Basque country
- South of france tour
- pirineu crossing in -2 degrees !
- full - 1500 km non stop in 16 hours, crossing from spain to my home town in portugal.

0 faults to declare 
1000 % smiles  

[satnav]

Dec 8, 2016 19:12:09 GMT mauriciomoldes said:

Since my last post, I have been :

- Portugal tour
- South of spain tour
- Basque country
- South of france tour
- pirineu crossing in -2 degrees !
- full - 1500 km non stop in 16 hours, crossing from spain to my home town in portugal.

0 faults to declare 
1000 % smiles

What were you Southern softies saying about being well ard?

Our Spanish friend here has been all over Southern Europe whilst you guys wonder if the thermostat in your heated garages is set high enough.

A 1500 km trip non stop (except for fuel I would imagine). That's commitment.

[spike240]

A 1500 km trip non stop (except for fuel I would imagine). That's commitment.

Here here!

Well done Mauricio!

[bev]

A novelty here, someone who uses their bike.




I expect a huge number of Softy commuters bleating about doing 2000 miles a year etc. or braving the difficulties of the A19 on a daily basis. I don't view commuting as getting out and about on your bike.

Mauricio could have posted some photos though.

[m40man]

Mauricio - sounds like you are having a mis-spent adulthood - well done that man .

Dec 9, 2016 8:38:04 GMT bev said:

I expect a huge number of Softy commuters bleating about doing 2000 miles a year etc.

I WISH I could bleat about that - alas, only a few hundred for me this year .


2017 might be better - did someone mention JR2017 ?

[bev]

JR17 will indeed be a fantastic run. Many glorious miles of Scottish scenery.

Berriedale braes is an interesting bend going North.

You will be following the route of best bike run I've done for years. If not ever. Coming back down the West side of Scotland is spectacular.

Is there a sign up yet ? I had really planned to go the other way this year.

[ContourMac]

Dec 9, 2016 11:09:03 GMT bev said:

I had really planned to go the other way this year.

Somehow I never expected that your New Years resolution would be Squeezing out of the Closet!

[bev]

Dec 9, 2016 14:51:59 GMT ContourMac said:

Dec 9, 2016 11:09:03 GMT bev said:

I had really planned to go the other way this year.

Somehow I never expected that your New Years resolution would be Squeezing out of the Closet!

 Of course I meant Clockwise, not Softy Southern. 

That would have been a bloody big closet.

[GAv]

Maybe the scum bag(s) that stole my Yammie couldnt finding the heated grips switch so dumped it, but made off with a pit bike engine rear anodised wheel but not the front one or new road tyres to fit.

Anyways, some nice pics m8 , (is he from Barcellona?)

[satnav]

Dec 9, 2016 8:38:04 GMT bev said:

A novelty here, someone who uses their bike.




I expect a huge number of Softy commuters bleating about doing 2000 miles a year etc. or braving the difficulties of the A19 on a daily basis. I don't view commuting as getting out and about on your bike.

Mauricio could have posted some photos though.

Oy! I'll have you know I don't always use the A19. Sometimes, if the mood takes, I'll go through the town and along the coast. Now that's some office commute at six in the morning.

Only thing is I have to then resist the temptation to ride straight past work, through the Tyne tunnel and into the Northumberland countryside.

[bev]

Dec 12, 2016 20:12:17 GMT satnav said:

Dec 9, 2016 8:38:04 GMT bev said:

A novelty here, someone who uses their bike.




I expect a huge number of Softy commuters bleating about doing 2000 miles a year etc. or braving the difficulties of the A19 on a daily basis. I don't view commuting as getting out and about on your bike.

Mauricio could have posted some photos though.

Oy! I'll have you know I don't always use the A19. Sometimes, if the mood takes, I'll go through the town and along the coast. Now that's some office commute at six in the morning.

Only thing is I have to then resist the temptation to ride straight past work, through the Tyne tunnel and into the Northumberland countryside.

It is noted that even you consider yourself a Softy Southerner.

I also find it difficult to attend work when I've taken the scenic route (there isn't a non scenic route) to work. I end up needing to catch up hours after I leave at 1pm to make the most of it.

My commute out of St Andrews takes in the River Eden into Guardbridge, sometimes over the hill into Strathkinnes with a brilliant view over the town and the Tay estuary. through rural Fife and over the Bridge into Dundee (You have to ignore the Dundee part, it isn't scenic  ) Along Riverside under the famous Tay rail bridge, out by Invergowrie with a lovely view of the carse of Gowrie and up a mile or two of dualler into work. 25 minutes.

[DahDit]

Dec 8, 2016 19:02:10 GMT mauriciomoldes said:

Before completing the changes on the bike I decided to try a a track day. Please be aware that my previous bikes have always been on the dual sport category.




Learning to curve on a 4 cylinder road machine

Good work.

If you loosen the 2 x allen bolts at the top, and 2 x bolts at the bottom which hold the forks in place, you can slide the forks up so that 1cm of the fork tubes show at the top.

This improves handling nicely. A really cheap modification

Sounds like you had a nice adventure, in a day?!

Regards,

Neil

[satnav]

Dec 13, 2016 7:31:40 GMT bev said:

Dec 12, 2016 20:12:17 GMT satnav said:

Oy! I'll have you know I don't always use the A19. Sometimes, if the mood takes, I'll go through the town and along the coast. Now that's some office commute at six in the morning.

Only thing is I have to then resist the temptation to ride straight past work, through the Tyne tunnel and into the Northumberland countryside.

It is noted that even you consider yourself a Softy Southerner.

Wot? There ain't no 'eated grips 'ere mate.

Souvern softie indeed? Would you Adam and Eve it?

[mauriciomoldes]

Hi everyone.

I think I might need your expert advice on a issue that started to occur today.

Today morning, after starting the bike, my diversion sounded like a sewing machine. The engine was not stressed in any way. I have been doing mostly commuting for the last 2/3 months.
There is a constant tick (ing) sound from the intake part of the engine.

There does not seem to be any loss of power, and it revs, however I did not dare to take it out of the garage.

The last owner sheet shows a suspension rebuilt front and back (140.000 km), but I cannot find any records of the timing chain ever being changed , or the last valve clearance . Currently, the odometer reads around 180.000 km

[mauriciomoldes]

Ok. I have just managed to speak with the previous owner.

He has NEVER performed the time chain ( still original ) or valve clearance adjustment.

Maybe this explains it

[mauriciomoldes]

Made a small video in or to provide a visual and auditive clue to this iusse :

[m40man]

Hi Mauricio - that sounds to me like it's only running on three cylinders. Doesn't sound like cam chain to me. Or valves.

To test this: With the engine running spray water on the downpipes, do they all sizzle nicely, or is one not so hot?

[bev]

With that mileage on it I'd check the valve clearances and timing chain regardless.

As Martin says it does sound as if there's only 3 cylinders firing. Hopefully the problem is not worse than that. it does sound pretty clunky.

[teejayexc]

Agree with the above two statements, simple things first, check all plugs, take one plug lead off at a time whilst running. For a good cylinder it will make the problem worse when you take the lead off, on the dud cylinder the initial problem will still be apparent.

When you've isolated which cylinder isn't firing check plugs, Ht lead, plug cap if all ok move on to the coil.

[mauriciomoldes]

Hi,

Thank you for all your comments and input into this thread.
Eventually, the issue with the motorbike was related to a little bit of slack in the cam chain, fixed by a quarter-turn of the cam-tensioner. We also change the plugs, oil and filters.
After this quick and painless fix, and with only scheduled maintenance no other issues were found until it was sold, with 220.000 km, this summer as it was no longer fit for Barcelona's low emission zone.

The last photo before being delivered to its new owner.
[img src="i.ibb.co/9cxsmKr/IMG-20190923-092225-0.jpg" style="max-width:100%;" src="https://ibb.co/k5LQVbS" alt=""]