V star 650 hardtail

[dowood1]

Phoned the local battery depot today and they said that nearly all batteries will drop in voltage like that .
It’s the drop in power that really matters , so I’ll have to take it down There and see how it fairs

[TriNortchopz]

They could do a load test on your battery for you, but there are a few tests you can do yourself first- it may be your starter that is the problem.
What type of battery you got - regular lead acid(electrolyte level? specific gravity?), AGM or a lithium?
Bit of easy reading here with a couple of tests...again, make sure all connections are clean and that your grounds are well grounded.

Installation, Testing and Maintenance of Motorcycle and Powersport Batteries

https://www.yuasa.co.uk/info/motorcycle-and-powersport/installation-testing-and-maintenance/

a chart in here with voltage and state of charge:

https://www.revzilla.com/common-tread/how-to-test-a-motorcycle-battery

[dowood1]

Thanks for your help again TriNortchopz ,
Got them to do the load test and was sposed to read 10v upwards under load , mine managed to make about 7.5v and was nearly flat afterwards lol.So it’s been junked and I got a new one which also has a higher cca
It now spins the engine over happily ! !

[dowood1]

Thinking of using a strut till I can afford to modify the swinging arm / frame .
Possibly simply by using an ally bar drilled at both ends with it looks like spacers at one end .
Haven’t measured the bushes as yet , would that be strong enough ! It looks like some replacement shocks are ally bodied ,
Trying to avoid welding here , as I can’t find a cheap welder or someone local that I can trust to weld it at this point in time

[TriNortchopz]

A billet aluminum strut should work good, just use a good grade of material, such as 6061-T6; here is an example of 1" thick billet aluminum struts:

[dowood1]

Ok that’s great , thanks for the info .
Will have to get measuring up now !

[Skjoll]

I also seem to be considering a single carb conversion as I have already bought an SU carburettor to fit , in the near future whenever that may be !

The SU is a great carburetor but getting the right sized jets and needles can be a bear depending on the model SU you have. This may be a good resource: https://sucarb.co.uk/technical-carburetters

I usually see the side draft single carb conversions but I'm looking to do a single down draft on my 650 using one of the original CVs and rejetting it to use a pod filter tucked away under the tank. That should clean up the right side of the bike quite a bit. I'm also welding up a final 2-1 exhaust for it... the quick and ugly protoype I made is hooked to an Akrapovic can (model C in the link) and the motor sounds like an SV650 with an Akro exhaust... IMO so much nicer than the usual 2-2 cruiser or drag pipes.

The XVS650 is such an awesome bike... stone reliable, comfortable for all day cruising and fires up in less than a second even when the temps get down to 0°F.

[dowood1]

Interesting post Skjoll , never considered a single down draft , great idea
My main plan is to make my bike simpler, lighter and easier to work on .
Would be interested to hear how you get on with the single downdraught idea .
Have a two into one on my bike too , using an old HD silencer , they seem to sound better on a 2 into 1 .
Thanks for the reading on the SU’s should keep occupied for a while
I’m 6’5” so getting the air filter out the way is good for me . Was considering a forward facing single SU .
But your path is a good option too.
Someting to think on !

[dowood1]

‘‘Twas mot time again on thurs . But it passed with no problems .
Now it’s the cars mot time next week , hey ho !

[dowood1]

Got a piece of suitable billet to replace the rear shock, just trying to work out how to drill the holes square with only a battery hand drill

[dowood1]

Have got a h4 1 1/2 “ SU carburettor for the xvs650 as I had read a 40mm carb was the best bet , for a single carb conversion
But have now read that it could be a 40 mm outside dia spigot and should be a 30mm carb which would be the h2
Have I got the right carb size please.
My confusion comes from looking at a website called vtc motors ( sorry cannot do a link st the mo )
Who at the mo seem to list two single carb manifolds . With to my mind two confusing size descriptions for each .
I have asked them for clarification ! . But has any one any more information

[dowood1]

Very helpful company and quick responses ( vtc motors ) good prices for the manifolds to .
Looks like I can use the h4 carb as it is a 38mm ID and the rubber mounting pipe on the manifold takes 40 to 43 mm (with jetting and setting up of course) , and making or getting an adaptor made to mount it on the manifold which has a 38mm ID

[dowood1]

Managed to get a clearance pillar drill from a local , builders merchants . For £30 not exactly great but it did the job !

Oh yeah car failed the test , so gonna scrap it, not replace it and concentrate on the bike

[dowood1]

Putting a strut in the rear made the hard seat difficult to use as the 2” seat springs were only for decoration and had a bolt thru the middle of them .
Redesigned the mounts to use the springs , but they were rubbish & bottomed out while stationary . Have upgraded them with some better quality 3” chrome ones which are much better . Now I just want to get rid of the rubbish standard frame bridge they’re mounted on . Have got a bit of 30mm tubing to make a cross rail about 3-4” further back, which will line up with the springs better & also be appx 2” lower and look and feel a lot better and can also act as a mounting point for the rear mudguard tidying things up a bit more

[Luky]

Putting a strut in the rear made the hard seat difficult to use as the 2” seat springs were only for decoration and had a bolt thru the middle of them .
Redesigned the mounts to use the springs , but they were rubbish & bottomed out while stationary . Have upgraded them with some better quality 3” chrome ones which are much better . Now I just want to get rid of the rubbish standard frame bridge they’re mounted on . Have got a bit of 30mm tubing to make a cross rail about 3-4” further back, which will line up with the springs better & also be appx 2” lower and look and feel a lot better and can also act as a mounting point for the rear mudguard tidying things up a bit more

The behive springs work much better than the weak cylindrical springs.