Keeping the XT350 alive

[norton73]

Older members may remember I bought a 2000 Yamaha XT350 off Klaviator back when Bama Rides 1.0 was still alive.

I drove up to Huntsville and brought it home;



It needed a few things right off the bat,

Chain and sprockets;





Fork seals;



new front tire;

[norton73]

Took it on a few rides,









Fun little bike, I was really enjoying a smaller lighter bike than the GS.

[norton73]

Last year I started to hear a rattle from the top end and decided it need to be investigated.

First thing I found was some debris in the oil filter;





Time to tear into it a little farther;



This is what I found;



This is the bottom of the cam chain tensioner. The one on the left is the new one. The barrel shaped object is what's left of the rivet that holds the bracket to the tensioner blade.

[norton73]

Time for new tensioners, cam chain, and a look at the top end.

I started to reassemble it, but when I started to reinstall the cams, the threads in the head that the bolts that held the cams down just all pulled out .

I tried to drill and helicoil them in the frame, but I couldn't get a straight shot at a couple, so decided to pull the head. Of course, 3 of the four bolts holding the exhaust came out fine, the fourth snapped.

I took the head to a machine shop to let them remove the broken bolt and helicoil the threads.

While I was at it, I pulled the cylinder and inspected the piston and rings.





Turns out the piston was already on the first oversize. .50 and the ring end gap was in spec, so I just reused every thing.



Soaked the piston in a 50/50 mix of simple green and water over night;





ran a hone through the cylinder and installed the piston



Placed the cylinder on the motor and installed the piston pin;

[norton73]

When I took the top end off, the carb boots fell apart;



Found a source on ebay that had them for far less than the yamaha price.

I ordered up a jet kit while I was at it and went through the carb (s).

This thing has the carb with the answer to the question no one asked...



I didn't take any decent pics of the carb rebuild, lets just say it was a bit of a pain.

[norton73]

Cleaned up the header pipes too;

[norton73]

Top end is all back togeather, but the intake valves are tight, so need a couple shims before I can button up the valve cover.

[klaviator]

Interesting that the piston was oversize.  I bought the bike with 730 miles on it and never touched anything inside the motor.  I wonder how that happened?   As for the carb boots falling apart, I had already replaced them once.  They have a tendency to do that.

I'm glad you are getting everything fixed, it's way more than I could have done.

[norton73]

Yeah, I was curious about the oversize piston too. I measured the piston and the bore and both matched the specs for first over in the manual.
I could tell it hadn't been apart before, you can usually notice little things that indicate that someone else has had it apart since it left the factory, but none of those things were present.
I hope to get the shims this week and have it running this weekend.

[norton73]

Well Crap...


The place I ordered shims from sent the wrong ones, plus I guess after rotating the motor a few times the valves settled in and now one of the Exhaust valves is too tight.

Any place other than Big # ! have yamaha shims in B'ham?

[Chitza]

Hall's Motorsports in Pelham? But they aren't open on Sunday. I think there is a Yamaha dealer in Sylagauga, too. Smith Brothers in Oneonta, but they are closed Sunday/Monday...BUT their website says they have a Versys 300 on the showroom floor  :o

[norton73]

I certainly didn't expect anyone to be open Sunday. But it would be nice to find what i need Monday or Tuesday, I'd like to get this thing off my bench so i can move onto Lynn's Norton and steering head bearings in the GS.

[norton73]

Well, Hall's Motorsports won't have to worry about me darkening their door.
Called and asked about shim availability and was basicly told if I didn't buy the bike there they wouldn't help me.
If i had, they would just exchange my shims, but because I didn't buy the bike there, I was SOL.
I had been excited when I read that they were opening in Trussville, now not so much.

Tech 46 is closed this week for spring break.
Moto Ace in Leeds?

[KevinB]

Did you ask them how a model year 2000 motorcycle could have been bought from them when they weren't even in business at the time?

Dipshits...

[klaviator]

Any Yamaha dealer should be able to order the shims and get them in a couple of days.