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My buddy had a Holeshot on his ‘02. If you want to be heard - this is the one.

The dent in the downtube doesn’t look like much, but when you look at how far the scoop is out of alignment with the carbs you would have to think that whole side of the frame has been pushed back. I would really use caution to even get on that bike and ride at any sort of speed.

Yes, you have to love both bikes for what they are. The simplicity and light weight of the XS650 make it a bike that is easy to keep on the road and fun to ride the backroads. But hard to argue what happens when you twist your wrist on the ‘Max. And likely the aftermarket will hop on the...

I agree with the last statement about some older bikes. The XS650 in particular. I have owned a few 1st gen bikes over the years and have restored plenty of XS650’s as a hobby. I have had no trouble getting more for a nice restored 650 than I was able to get for the last 2 vMax’s that were in...

I just cut a piece of flat bar to drop most of the way into the race, then lightly weld it into place. Then it’s easy to tap the race out. Probably the bit of heat you apply when welding helps loosen the bearing as well.

I had an XS1100 Standard with a tiny gas leak. You could always smell it and it was wet under the tank. I traced it down to the wire going into the fuel gauge sending unit. Somehow gas would get inside the insulation inside the tank and was weeping out at the connector. Always smell it but never...

The early vMax has one indicator light that tells you if either side is flashing. The way it does this is by using a filament type lamp that is connected to the hot wire of both left and right signals. When one side is blinking, the indicator lamp grounds through the filaments of the lamps on...

I had an ‘89 and an ‘02 and there is a huge difference in the speed the starter motors crank the engine. The ‘89 needed he battery to be in really good shape to even get it going when cold.

You can’t overstate the efficiency of LED lighting when compared to incandescent. Take in the home where you can replace a 50 watt halogen flood with a 7 watt LED and end up with equivalent lighting. I installed a 30 watt LED lamp in a 7” bucket just replacing the stock 55 watt bulb and the...

I have used this method for removing that bolt on lots of Yamaha forks. Clamp the forks lower in a vise (with some aluminum shielding the jaws so not to mar the fork) then compress the slider into the lower as much as possible to hold the dampener rod from spinning, then hit the bolt with a...

Get this guy off the site. He just babbles on about garbage.

I think this Patineto guy is located in China or India or something (spoofing his location) and has very little command of the English language. In one post he quotes distance in meters and no one in the US does that. His posts on a variety of subjects but rarely makes any sense. Maybe he is...

A further note to RampageR1’s advice. First disconnect the negative lead on the battery. Then determine which lead goes from the positive of the battery to the starter solenoid - then disconnect the other big wire which goes to the starter motor, then re-connect the battery. Put a tester or test...

On the advice of a mechanic friend, I have always used an ATF/Seafoam mixture as a means of cleaning the rings in engines that have sat for long periods. I even managed to get a siezed engine free with this. He said the ATF as well as being a lubricant has some detergent properties, and the...

A true Yamaha fan. I also have an all original 1979 XS1100 Special and a ‘79 XS1100 Standard as well. The 900 Seca is a rare and cool bike as well. Nice stuff!

I get a tank of stabilized fuel into the bike, then run it long enough to get it through the fuel system and into the carbs. Then at least you have decent fuel in the lines and fuel pump which you cannot drain without huge effort. Then shut it off and drain the bowls with the bleed screws and...

I haven’t pulled the carbs apart on my Max yet, but when working on the Mikunis from the older XS and XJ bikes I have found using a tiny “pencil” type butane torch and heating the body around the pilot will help soften the grunge and also expand the area around the jet to aid in removal.

If the paint isn’t full of dings chips and dents, but just badly faded or hazed, I have had good luck with the 2 part clear coat you can buy in a spray bomb. A very light wet sand with super fine and then the clear coat.

The easiest solution is to install signals with 21-23 watt incandescent lamps. The flasher needs to see this much load to flash properly. Some people use ballast resistors to simulate the 21 watt lamp when you switch to LED or smaller wattage lamps. The floating ground that one2dmax refers to is...