What did you do to your vision today?

[sunburnedaz]

I went to re-seal the stator cover and found a fried stator.  >:(

Oh well time for a new stator, new R/R and some new wiring.

[pinholenz]

I've only had limited experience with stators, but I am guessing that all XZ stators will "look fried" after a couple of thousand miles and will remain so until they fail. Is it still working OK or has it failed?

[sunburnedaz]

Connector at the RR is melted and the insulation is flaking off the stator showing bare copper.

[QBS]

Upon stator replacement, clip off the connector and hardwire the connection.

[sunburnedaz]

Upon stator replacement, clip off the connector and hardwire the connection.

Getting a new stator from a 98 ZX-6R tested the one I had laying around for fit and it does fit. Grabbed a MOFEST rectifier from a 08 ZX-6R going to use a waterproof OEM connector for them.

[fret not]

That should remove some of the gremlins for a good long while.

[muukow]

I did the best thing of all and rode it! Btw it just hit 20k on Saturdays vintage ride.About a 1000 miles a month since February!

[QBS]

Good for you!  The more you ride them, the better they run. 

[skaalster]

Went for an awesome ride on my Red and White Vision this long weekend on Vancouver Island.....well...was great up until I dropped her on some gravel just few blocks from my house...first time dropping a bike in over 20 years...the damage to the bike makes want to cry....lucky all I got was broken knuckle/finger...should really be counting my lucky stars.
Sigh. Still in Pouting mode.

[js9_20]

Will ride mine again today.. same as yesterday and the day before.   :)

Speaking of Stator's, I did finally replace mine this past weekend.  The old one was fried.  I believe running low on oil a few times contributed to its demise.  However, it was on the bike when I got it a few years ago and is probably the original.
So far, it appears that the old oil leaks are gone now too. 
What a wonderful feeling! ... To have a properly operating charging system and no oil leaks too.  Woohoo!
So, I also replaced and relocated the R/R.  I've been monitoring the temp and, it appears to dissipate heat quite well.  So far, I've rarely seen the temp over 140 F.  I have noticed though, that different locations on the R/R retain a significantly higher/lower temp reading.
The upper left corner seems to retain the higher temp.  Now... after mentioning this, I'm wondering if the temp difference is relative to the aluminum plate I added for protection, as well as to direct air flow through the cooling fins.  If so, it appears to be working, since the air flows into the R/R from the right side, possibly providing more cool air to this side.   :D

Now, I will start looking into an oil cooler.  Seems like a real good idea to me!

Anyway, here's a few pics of the relocated R/R.

[QBS]

js, I love your out of the box thinking!  Well done!  Your concept is an excellent candidate for a license plate/rear fender clean up idea that I've had for a long time.

Consider this:  Remove your aluminum rr cover plate.  Remove the factory license plate light and the vanity license plate carrier.  Mount the license plate on the pad vacated by the license plate light using the screws that hold the pad onto the fender.  Mount the plate so that its upper edge ends up right under tail light so that it is over, and covers, the rr.   Use a Dremel tool to remove an approximate 2"X4" section from the underside of the tail light lens and glue a slightly larger piece of clear plastic in its place.  Since the tail light is always on, it now serves dual functions, namely tail light and license plate light.

[js9_20]

Hmmm.., That does sound interesting and would definitely clean the area up back there.  Unfortunately, my Krauser rack is attached (for stability, I believe) per design, to the present location of the license plate.
...  Of course, with additional thinking I'm sure a cure for that dilemma could be devised as well.

Thanks for the comment. 

I'm actually quite pleased with the results of this mod.    :)

[QBS]

Leave the bag bracing intact and use its attachment screws to hold the license plate in place over it.  The plate will then cover the bracing.   Or, leave the bracing untouched and use the two rr mounting bolts to attach the plate.  The plate would still hide the bracing.

[js9_20]

... Maybe a combination of the two, since the bag bracing gets its stability from the existing license plate location.  Not sure it would provide as much support though.

I could always create a bracket to transfer the bracing directly to the fender, in place of the plate holder...  Might even be stronger that way!

Hmmmm.   I'll look into it with daylight, tomorrow.

[sunburnedaz]

Got the from the 98 zx6r installed, and the stator cover sealed with grey RTV. Also resealed the water pump cover as well. I am still waiting on the new RR to come in.

[ceme24]

A local fellow is helping me with mine.  My front cylinder is very low on compression (75).  As luck would have it I have a spare engine with a "clunky" lower half but what appears to be a clean upper half and valves.  I guess you could say I helped (in a minor way) in pulling the head off the front and inspecting it. 

We hope to just lower the engine a bit on the bike and do the front cylinder work with it on the bike.  Time will tell.  We likely won't do this quickly.  I am at his timing and he has 3 different bikes he's rebuilding in his garage.

I am very grateful for him.  I am learning a ton and really starting to like my Vision

[fret not]

Ceeme24, before you remove any cylinder heads have you checked the valve clearances?  They could be tight and that could cause low compression.  I'm not saying this is the case but it might be.  Definitely worth checking if it could prevent the necessity of head removal.  You will need to check the valve clearances anyway.

[ceme24]

Thank you for the reminder! 

[skaalster]

Broken Hand from my bike accident is feeling a much better and swelling has diminished.... so I tentatively got back to restoring the black 82'....finished stripping/polishing the remaining front fork...and my hand seems no worse for wear....guess I have no excuse now...so back at her tomorrow. New bearings for front and rear wheels arrived along with steering head bearings as well....once I get the seized front calliper piston out, I'll paint that up as well and re-install. Front end is almost ready for reassembly :-)

[Jirik]

Today I started to replace the hoses on the carburetor and crankcase breathers. They were still original and not seal well. ???  It is problem to find here in the shops the thin-wall hoses (as are original), I'm going to use thick-wall fuel (or brake) hoses :(. When I disconnected YICS, it occurred to me to try for leaks. I was very surprised, there is both leaks.  :o
http://gordis.rajce.idnes.cz/Yamaha_XZ550/#MOV00017.jpg
http://gordis.rajce.idnes.cz/Yamaha_XZ550/#MOV00017.jpg

I rode last year more than 4000 km, XZ started well and had normal smooth idle... So I will repair it, as it is described in Lucky's web.