XT600 34L noisy motor and poor brakes.
 

Hi, Born again biker here (sort-of) been out of biking for a LONG time and bought a 1983 Yam XT600 34L Tenere basket case a few months back, bit of a spur-of-the-moment thing.
I have pretty much got it back together and running now but it sounds very 'tappety' to me, have tried checking/adjusting the clearances several times but it never sounds any better.
So took the head off, everything looked OK, couldn't feel any sign of little end play but was a bit surprised to see that the cam shaft does not have any kind of bearing, I couldn't find any play in it but wondered if this had ever been know to cause problems.
Or is it just me, are they all a bit noisy on the top end?

I'm also having trouble getting, what I would call, a decent front brake, put repair kits in the master and calliper and must have put about a litre of fluid through it (no sign of air).

Hard to diagnose sounds over the internet ...

Depends what you are comparing it to. If your last bike was a Jap multi, then the XT will sound like a bag of spanners. There is a fair amount of mechanical noise, which goes with the territory of an air-cooled single. If the valve clearances are OK, and there is no obvious play in the cams or small end, then it might just be 'they are all like that, Sir'.

The front brake on mine has never been brilliant, even with a good s/h caliper and new seal kit. It's a relatively small single disc, and was designed to be a good brake for trail riding, which is not the same as a good brake for road use. I'd say it was 'adequate', no more. Good in town traffic, not so good on faster roads.

Probably your best bet would be to find someone local with a similar bike and get him/her to have a look at it. Rest assured that even with a noisy top end, these bikes go on forever.

Thanks, I'll rest assured then, it might not be too bad with a helmet on but it does sound noisy in the garage. I have no experience of modern bikes, only multi I ever had was an A65 Beezer, I did try asking a local mechanic (old timer) but all I got out of him was "a rattly tappet is a happy tappet"

Hi 34Lima

I think we have just got used to the modern liquid cooled bikes where you can't hear the tappets! If you think they are bad wait 'till you get it rebored and stick a forged piston in there. When it's cold the noise is frightening!!

As for the front brake, like BDZ says not really that good (make you look further ahead though!!) I got a better "feel" from mine by fitting a braided front line, otherwise they can feel very spongy.

Fortunately the bore looked pretty good when I had the top off, no sign of a 'lip', don't know if the speedo is right but it only has 10K miles on it but if thats right it's been a mis-treated 10K.

I think it possibly is the spongy feel as much as anything that is my problem with the brake, it has a pipe on with metal braiding and a plastic sleeve on the outside, are there different types about?

That's right - you learn to 'ride round it'. I don't regard my brakes as in any way dangerous - just suitable for the bike's intended use, and I don't ride in a way that demands instant hitting-a-wall type braking. To be fair, if you are looking for a brake that will stand the bike on its nose on dry tarmac, you're probably on the wrong bike.

Definitely not wanting to do stoppies! I suppose I have just got used to modern car brakes so the spongy feel and being able to pull the lever almost back to the grip concerned me a bit.

Sounds like you already have a braided line on the front. The original was the old black rubber type, and when they got old you could sometimes see them flexing when you pulled on the lever.

If the lever is coming all the way back to the grip, and it feels spongy, then it sounds like you still have air in the system. It's a very long line and I had the devils own job getting all the air out. I stood there for about an hour flicking the line and watching small bubbles rise! Back to the garage with a beer time.....

Heh. Every modern car (i.e. less than a couple of years old) I have driven lately has had brakes that are far too sharp and sudden for me. If you're comparing the XT's brakes to that, no wonder you are concerned :)

I guess that on full braking power, the lever comes back most of the way to the bar and the suspension compresses 2/3 of the travel. It stops quickly but not suddenly, if that makes sense. I've accepted that's as good as it gets and I ride accordingly. Don't forget that the lever is adjustable. If it's coming back to the bar, it might just need the little screw and locknut moving slightly. A small adjustment here makes a lot of difference.

34l
 

My xt I got last year sounded a little more clunky than it should of,I checked valve clearances and were fine,so bit the bullet and took top end of to find it had a pretty badly worn small end bush in the rod and looking at piston may possibly have been run out of oil at sometime on its life..
On stripping engine I found the blanking plug in the right hand side of gearbox output shaft had fallen out,hence oil from the pressurised gallery just pouring out the end of shaft..
A Conrod,piston,bearings and a ball bearing welded in end of shaft later all was good,and I've gone from thinking what a piece of junk I bought to actual quite liking it,and doing two fairly big trips on it.
The front brake can seem a bit spongy,I would just bleed it with a syringe from the bottom up then just ride it...my front brake got a lot better with a little use,it's as good as one would want given the front tyre on the things now..
Stick at it and it will be a good bike.