It took us two days to get to Guanajuato because we were held up in Aguascalientes. No, not that kind of hold up.
The kind of holdup every motorcyclist loves to run into. A fellow motorcycle enthusiast that can't get enough of your story. Duro spotted us on the 6 lane autopista (freeway) running straight into Aguascalientes. We stopped and chatted for a couple of minutes about our trip, and his interest in taking smaller motorcycle trips, and we were hoping he could point us in a good direction for some lunch. It was about three in the afternoon and we were both starving.
He then noticed that we were burning oil on the right side exhaust pipes. I tried to explain to him that I was constantly watching the oil, and that I knew what the problem was, and that I was in the midst of resolving the issue. Which is our cam chain tensioner not holding tension and leaking a fair bit of oil past the seal. Well, instead of pointing us to a good restaurant for lunch, (we finally made it to the Birria market that I was dreaming of before we left the next day.)
The back of a lamb on the table in front of us.
Pretty good Birria cook. Side note, Birria is a specialty of Northern Mexico where lamb, mutton and goats are raised. The best place to get Birria is in Aguascalientes, so stop right here.
Eat and watch your bike at the Juarez Market.
Back to the story, We got the Birria information later that night when we meet up with Duro and his wife, and got a tour of the city. But, the first place Duro took us to was the infamous motorcycle garage of the Maestro Jorge Venegas Estrada.
We discussed the issue with my motor, and he offered up a quick solution. drill out the old bolt on the cam chain tensioner so we could thread in a stud bolt. This was a good option, but I knew if we made one mistake Jen and I would be stuck in Aguascalientes for much longer than we wished to visit this uber modern city. Mind the Birria market. I chose to talk my way out of the situation, and I learned a good lesson. Even if the mechanic you are talking to about a problem wants to do the work for free, it doesn't mean it is always the best decision.
So to fill you in on why we decided to pass on the offer, I have found a used cam chain tensioner on eBay for seven bucks. This includes the cam chain and the guides. Not a bad deal.
So we get the tour of the town that night by Duro. Auguascalientes is one of the highlights on the Mexico bull fighting circuit. Some of the best bulls in the country are breed here and killed here. We also got to see a Marilyn Monroe impersonator, sorry no photos I forgot the camera, she was standing over a grate in a section of town that had the cars passing underground. When a car would pass underneath her, the viewers would get a little glimpse as she posed innocently for the photos.
The next day I got up early, to check the condition of the bike, oil, and cam chain tensioner. I had to add a bit of oil, but that was expected. We then took off for a visit to the National Museum of death.
Click on our pictures for more great photos from the Death Museum.
So here we are in Guanajuato. I again have the engine out, and I am getting the broken bolt on our cam chain tensioner fixed temporarily as our new tensioner gets shipped to us.
I am going to replace our original one, because I also want to replace our head gasket, the oil seal around the cam chain tensioner bolt, and put in a master link on the cam chain. Plus in the care package with these parts from the states will be a new electric starter motor for the bike. Lets hope all goes well.
Benjamin
That is right, what Jen said. "Hell Yeah Mexico!"
So how did that happen. Two days ago we were fighting a broken starter, and xs500 still did not want to start right with the kick starter. Yes it was running well, when it was running, and did a great job on our test ride to Boca Chica, but it was not perfect.
So, yesterday morning our baffling motorcycle problem of extremely hard cold starts, and a screeching noise that occured on while the engine was starting was finally exposed.
I was recommended to perform a cold engine compression check by Vanya, an "old motorcycle" mechanic whiz on advrider.com. The procedure for the test is the same as in our earlier blog post for the Roadside Mechanics Series #1, except the test is performed while the engine is cold. The idea behind performing this check was that our hard cold starts were caused by a small air leak that can only be present when the engine is cold. Therefore, the air leak did not effect the operation of the motorcycle at normal operating temperatures because as metal heats up it expands thus closing off the air leak.
So first thing I did at 7 am on the day we are supposed to leave for Monterrey, Mexico, was pull the gas tank, remove the plugs and setup the compression tester. Our initial results for both sides were very poor at 90psi and proved Vanya's point. We had a cold engine compression leak. Vanya suggested that if this test resulted in poor compression, I should check that the eight head bolts were tightened to 25 ft-lbs. This is where I discovered our problem! The head bolts were just loose enough that they did not created a good seal with the cylinders until the engine was warm. That is why the warm compression check didn't expose the problem with our compression.
Through this process I have learned that discovering the origins of a problem in a troubled engine requires following a series of steps to make sure that the three main systems of compression, spark, and fuel are opereating properly when you perform a tuneup, and that to check them in that order. First, make sure the engine has good compression. The main check should be when the engine is warm, but if your engine will not start then a cold engine compression test could expose the underlying problem of why the engine won't start. Then, and only then, should you proceed onto checking the electrical system to make sure that a healthy spark is being delivered through the spark plug, and that it is being delivered at the right time. From there you should go onto check the fuel flow. All of these ingredients combine to make up a running engine, but the first systems have to be functioning flawless make sure that you are diagnosing the true problem.
After I tightened the head bolts I got a healthy reading from both of our cylinders. The motorcycle started right up when I put it back together, and is a breeze to start with the kick starter when warm, all of our gear is strapped on, and Jen is sitting on the back of the bike. Hurray!!!!!
Benjamin p.s. Now I am going to go through the other systems and make sure they are functioning flawlessly with the correct compression. Just another step in maintaining a 1976 Yamaha xs500 in Jen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance.
The fuel line was clogged in the petcocks. I had forgotten there was a filter in there. Jen and I had even cleaned them in Dallas, and before we left New Orleans, but I forgot about checking them in Galveston. There was just enough crud getting through the old filters in the petcocks to make it look like our in line filters were doing their job and giving me the false impression that our fuel system was clean. Check, double check, and get it done right the first time.  Our gas tank was in need of an overhaul due to rust. There are many methods to clean out a rusty gas tank. Some people would say the best method is to go on ebay.com and buy a new one, but for our situation we were going to have to get dirty. The prevailing methods for cleaning out a gas tank use a three part system with the last step being the addition of a plastic liner. I went with the first two steps. This involved shaking the tank excessively with a handful of nuts and bolts inside for over an hour. I even tried to sell this bit of work as a workout and get others to pay me to do my work. Unfortunately that didn't pay off, but my labor did. After the nuts and bolts were drained, the tank was ready for its acid bath. For this part I used a ten percent solution of muriatic acid and filled the tank all the way to the top. I let this sit for 2 hours while I cleaned out those pesky fuel petcocks. Once the acid bath was complete I washed the tank out with cold water, and dried it with an acetone to remove the last bits of water. Now it looks like a brand new tank on the inside. Our engine starting is still hard. When cold, I can't kick the bike to life, but the starter button gets it going in about twenty seconds. The screeching is still there and the one mechanic that looked at the bike said the noise was related to an air leak. When warm, I can usually get the bike to start on the first kick. The starter button tends to hesitate when the bike is warm, but quickly gets the juice from the battery that it needs to complete the job, and it fires up in three seconds. I took the carburetors off today to look at the flaps and fit some new gas lines. I found a little bit of Permetex gasket maker on the right side flap. This is in line with the diagnosis that our system is leaking a little bit of air. I also feel that the our RPMs are hanging at 2,000 when I pull up to a traffic light. I have heard that this is a signature sign of an air leak in the intake. This is what we want our spark plugs look like after our tune-up.  Jen says this picture looks like the spark plug is going to hit on the motorcycle. Oh baby-baby. My speedometer went out on me in Galveston. I haven't fiddled with it since then. So no diagnosis yet. I will take it apart and see whats up with it when we get a new front tire. When we started the ride I had to fiddle with it to get it to work right. I am not sure exactly how accurate it is, but most of the time it feels pretty consistent with traffic and those speed indicators that police forces use. 80 mph on the freeway is great. The bike handles well, and has lots of guts still to make passes. At first I assumed that we would be cruising at 60mph max, but soon enough 70 mph rolled around just fine, and when we were in a hurry to get to New Orleans 80 mph was no problem. Benjamin
Wonderful. That is usually what i have to say when i get good news. Great news in fact. I just found out that I did in fact buy a battery with a warranty!!! Wonderful. NAPA auto parts was more than accommodating when I called them and let them know that the battery that I bought from them less than 4 months ago was dying. They told me that the battery had a 12 month warranty, and even though I didn't have my receipt, they would be happy to give me a new battery on warranty. So in the same breath I must thank our wonderful C ouchsurfer friend Katie from Galveston TX for letting me borrow her car to go and drop off the old battery and pick up the new one. Thanks Katie!!!! In addition Jen and I decided that we would go ahead with the purchase of the battery tender. We decided on the Deltran Waterproof 800 battery tender. The idea is that whenever we have stopped at a city and are working on the bike, or on financing our trip, we can keep the bike's battery plugged in and keep it charged, but not overcharged. I have the new battery plugged in right now in Conroe TX. That brings me to the final note of this post. We are in Connecticut right now. Jen's family brought us up here for the holidays! While  we are here we are having our boots resoled with Vibram soles. This will give our cowboy boots the traction we need to get through the Andes, and the Amazon. While still looking good enough to attend dinner parties and work banquets, biker rallies, and paint the inside of a house. Like this interior we completed at our friend Jet's house. It is a western themed room with this great Blaze Folley picture hanging on the wall. So let the reminiscing begin. We will be in Connecticut for 3 weeks. almost as long as we were on the road from Seattle to New Orleans. Have we told you about that trip yet??? Benjamin
The Yamaha xs500 came with an alternate kick start for the very good reason that one day it knew you would find its battery dead. The starter wants to turn the engine over, but just doesn't have the power to do so. Almost all motorcyclists have come across this situation, and the same goes for most car owners as well. Some reminiscent memory of the lights being on when you went inside, or my usually habit of forgetting to turn the key off, drifts to mind as you sit there, cold, on a dead battery. We are lucky to have the alternative kick start on days when the bike isn't fully loaded, but i can just imagine the nightmare of jumping up and down on the motorcycle trying to kick start it with all our gear strapped on. I digress, we have been having an issue with the bike not wanting to start up right away. Getting on the motorcycle and starting it up is a sort of ritual. I always ask Jen to wait to get on until I have it started. Most days it starts just fine. Perfect in fact. Usually all I need to do is touch the starter button and the bike fires up. On cold days the choke becomes a factor, and getting the idle set just right is always an issue. Since we left Louisiana the bike has been hard to start, very hard to start.
When I push the starter button a weak chug-chug emits as slowly the starter motor picks up a little steam. A slight scratching sound of unburnt fuel in the cylinders can be heard as the chug turns into va-va-va-va (I want to start but I am not going to do it) churning. I start to give it a little bit of throttle and the va-va gets quicker. At this point it seems that the engine is doing about twenty percent of the work and the starter motor is doing the other eighty. After about twenty seconds the ratio of work being done by the starter motor and by the engine turning its self over changes as the engine picks up all the slack and starts running on its own.
Before I go to the parts store and plunk down another 50 dollars for a new battery we are going to try to see if a battery tender will save the one we already have. A battery tender does just what the name says, it tends to the battery. It does this when it is plugged in and charging the battery with a current of house hold electricity. Battery tenders are more specifically used while motorcycles, boats, cars, and lawnmowers are parked, or garaged for the winter. For around 30 dollars battery tenders will keep your battery from dying of misuse, or in most cases just plain old non-use. The battery tender maintains a charge level in an unused battery without overcharging it. What I am suspecting is that our daily rides have not been enough to fully recharge the battery, and so we have been slowly draining it to where it now refuses to hold a charge. I need to do some more investigative work but I believe we should be able to install a battery tender and plug the motorcycle in on a daily basis to make sure it is fully charged everyday. I will let you know just how it goes once i have the answer to my dilemma. Benjamin
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