New owner step by step work....

[Eveready1100]

If the price asked for the brushes is agreeable (do a google search on them to get comparative pricing), I'd grab them as you WILL need a set eventually.
The indicator problem sounds like just dirty / bad contacts in the switch itself which a good clean might fix.

Check your Pm's too, mate.

[Lumberjack]

Well, I was just reading the service manual and it suggested that 16000 miles is about the right time to replace them, and then by coincidence I saw some advertised on ebay from the US.

Also the indicators seem to be a bit temperamental - sometimes I push the button left or right and they come on and blink just fine.  Other times I have to hold the indicator button in the 'on' position for them to blink.

It can't be the battery as I just put a newie in.  Its not the bulbs.  So in my non-mechanically minded brain that left either not enough current getting through or a problem with the indicator system.......

Anyway, I put two and two together and thought there might be a link.....  Like I said...not mechanically minded at all.....

[Eveready1100]

One huge advantage with the XJ is the alternator, which is a brushed type of 364 watt output, as compared to the XS11's wimpy 280 watt unit, so fitting of extra electrical stuff (lights, heated gear) is not such a worry for you.

Sorry Jeff.

LJ, having not seen one of these in the flesh, I'd say the only way to test / check the brushes is to do a visual after pulling the alternator housing off..... but if it were me, I'd order some new brushes in beforehand, just in case.
And, as Jeff asked, what issues do you think you might have with it?

[excess.11]

You have a 280w alternator......no brushes.
What is the issue you think you have ?

[Lumberjack]

I have a total noob question for people out there.

I'm wondering if my generator brushes are worn.  Is there a way of testing them?

[Lumberjack]

After changing the air filter during the week, the bike seems to be more responsive and generally just running better.  Is there a mechanical/scientific explanation for this or is it just my imagination reacting to the glorious riding weather in Canberra at this time of year?

[Lumberjack]

Just changed the rear brake pads.  Can't believe how easy it was.  Remove one bolt, drop out old pads, slot in newies, replace bolt.  Ok many of you old hands are sniggering right about now because I'm pleased with myself for doing something so simple.  But I'm still at the stage where I assume that disaster is lurking around every corner such that when things go right I'm amazed. And yes, I did take it for a test ride afterward - everything was fine.

Oil and filter change tomorrow.

Reading previous posts, I saw that there have been mixed comments on the lead additive 'Nulon Valve Saver'.  I thought I'd spend the $4 and see if it made any difference.

[Lumberjack]

Actually, I should have rephrased that last post.  I have a wiring diagram as part of the complete service manual which I downloaded.  Making sense of it is the troublesome bit....

I must say I am getting massive amounts of pleasure from tinkering with bits.  I've previously mentioned that, being a chalky, I have very few mechanical skills.  And the internet seems to equip me with just enough confidence that I can get the job done....but it is always a relief when things turn out as planned.

In fact I come from a long line of incompetents.  My dad had no idea which end of the hammer to hold.  My grandad was even worse.  He was positively dangerous because he loved power tools.  He had no idea how to use them, but he loved them anyway.

In the early 1980s watched him ringbark his own ankles with a whippersnipper.

[Lumberjack]

Ok, so I used a website that Everready1100 mentioned earlier in the thread to order an obscure part.  A few weeks ago I noticed that a previous owner had somehow snapped what I later found out to be the 'flasher stem' - sounds really rude but its just the bit that mounts the indicator to the headlight shell.  The previous owner had shelled out 24 cents two decades ago for what looked like a piece of plumbing and then tried to jam the snapped indicator back on.  Not the prettiest fix ever.
http://flic.kr/p/dx7MYZ
http://flic.kr/p/dx7MUK

So using that XS Parts finder thingo I had a newie shipped from the US and installed it this arvo.  Took a bit of fiddling with wires but it all turned out well and I'm thrilled with the cosmetic improvement.
http://flic.kr/p/dx7MQR

I had no idea that the inside of a headlight was so crammed full of a spaghetti mess of wires.
http://flic.kr/p/dxdg6y
So I took plenty of photos before disconnecting the black and brown wires.

I'll have to get hold of a wiring diagram.  When I pulled the headlight off I noticed that there were blue wires with male ends coming out of each indicator but not connected to anything.  There were what seemed like matching blue wires with female connectors in there too but nothing was connected.  I'd be keen to find out what's going on there.

[Lumberjack]

Lol, yeah, they really turn up the settings on those rattle guns and lock the nuts on tight.  I have no idea how little old grannys are supposed to get em off when they get flat tyres.....  Same thing applies to jars of pasta sauce.

[excess.11]

The first 30 metres you say Glen ?.................tyres were probably dead cold as well.

Recently had new tyres fit  to a vehicle..........not only worry about the wax and the newness of a tyres......immediately after fitting......it s the soapy compound they used on the beads to help set it on the rim.

Splashing it all over with a brush...........and they don t wash it off............days later i m still trying to get the crap off after its dried.
Some people employed at tyre fitting shops..............are nt that logical in their thinking or give enough care to what they do.

Once had a guy who installed a badly manufactered tyre to my car..............did nt think twice or question as to why he had to fit wheel weights in a continuous semicircle just to balance the tyre. They did nt get paid till it was swapped over.

I always try  to undo a lock nut on each wheel with a wheel brace when they have used the rattle gun.................after standing on a pipe attached to the arm of a cross wheel brace .... to loosen a wheel nut and snapping the brace........

Needless to say..........all the other wheel nuts were tightened up the same.....and would nt come off by hand.....    

[steptoe]

you do need to watch them new tyres,,, it,s not that they.re hard, but are covered in wax to stop them perishing from new, it takes a while to wear off which is why I have a wire brush on the ready to give the tyre a hard time when I  get the bike home, have never had a problem since I started doing this some lots of yrs ago

but of course it is very gently gently to get it home 

[Lumberjack]

I also had a local motorcycle workshop put new tyres on it today.  I noticed that the old front tyre seemed to have some perishing around the tyre walls and the back wasn't much better.  So I decided to get newies even through the tread was still ok.  I figured that you never know how long the bike has been sitting around in someone's shed with the tyres getting harder and harder over time.
When I went to pick up the bike this arvo the guy at the shop informed me that the front was the original tyre from 1981! 
I guess that bodes quite well in many ways.  The speedo is reading 16000 miles.  We all know that these readings are taken with a grain of salt because they might have been tampered with.  But the genuine tyre might indicate that it is a genuine reading.  Anyway, the new Metzelers have made the handling totally different - I'll have to spend some time getting used to it.

I was determined not to make the same mistake as when I had new tyres put on my 1983 GSX1100 back in the mid 1990s.  The guys at the tyre store said to me as I was putting on my helmet, 'Just take it easy for 100ks or so while the tyres soften up.' 

'No problem,' I said and took off into the traffic, where I immediately lost traction and decked it 30 metres up the road.  As I wheeled it back to the workshop (bent handlebars, smashed rearview mirrors and scratched fairing) they didn't say anything and just shook their heads.  Later on they told me that that exact thing happened about once per week.

I caught the bus home, totally humiliated.

[Lumberjack]

Just replaced the air filter on my bike.  I must say it is the weirdest looking thing I've ever seen. 
http://flic.kr/p/dtTXwq
The old one looked a bit manky, had bits of insect wings on it and also smelled strongly of kerosine or petrol or something.  I'm guessing that somewhere in the past a previous owner has decided to try to clean it up rather than replacing it?
Anyway, took a while to track down this semi-cylinder style air filter but all good now.  Can't wait to take it out this weekend.

[Eveready1100]

This setup is a bit different to the front mount castings on the Specials. On them, you have to undo that bolt #14 and drop the cailper off, then undo the pin #7 to release the pads. It would be advisable to remove the bolt anyway to give it a good clean and lube up before reassembly.
Here's a diagram of where all the bits go - courtesy of the UK part number finder.



Oh, and don't worry when you see what your new pads look like.... They're supposed to be angled like that.