I looked around thoroughly.  I was a man on a mission.  I was as patient as I could be, without lust in my heart.  I allowed only the rational side of my brain to work, waiting for the right vintage bike to turn-up, something better to go touring with my g/f than the GS.  I wanted something good and cheap that I could get straightened-out without going broke.  I shopped for weeks with a wad of $100 bills in my pocket, reading, looking, and waiting.

Last weekend I found it.  A 1977 Yamaha XS 750D triple in original undamaged condition, 9,000 miles, and cheap.  1977 bike of the year.  The bike screamed "I've been owned by adults my whole life and never ridden."  Factory muffler with no rust.  Unbelievable!  It came with the whole Vetter Windjammer touring package.  Fairing, windshield, lowers, locking hard luggage, rack, and sissy bar.  King and Queen seat to boot.  All of it undamaged.  The seat's ugly but it sure is comfy!



It has a sticking front master cylinder and the engine ran rough and wouldn't idle, but it was otherwise better than any bike of that era I've seen in at least 10 years.  A few hours of fiddling and a $2 spark plug was all it took to get it purring like a kitty!  Here's the rest of the story:

I got it from a retired Teamster (retired at 51, that's the life!) who fixes lawnmowers on the side.  He did some work for a guy 2 years ago and took the bike in trade, planning to fix it and ride it later.  The bike wasn't running and was leaking gas.  He bought a new battery, fixed the leaking petcock, then took the carbs apart to get it running, and he was somewhat successful, but his reluctance to be more thorough as it's a motorcycle rather than a lawnmower was my gain.  He cleaned all the varnish out of the carbs and replaced all three floats, as one was leaking.  He also replaced all the O-rings and gaskets, needles and seats as well.  The bike came to life, but ran rough and wouldn't idle.  2 years went by and he never worked on it again as he never got the chance to ride as he still has small kids, so he decided to sell it as-is.  Not a wise move.

After he delivered the bike, (no charge) I got online immediately and got a service manual.  It says the mixture screws should be set to 2-1/4 turns out.  I went outside to check the settings.  Two carbs were 1-1/4 turns out an the other was only 7/8!  The engine ran better with the correct mixture settings, but still rough and would idle slowly for several seconds, then would stall if I didn't give it some gas.  An improvement!  Then I pulled the plugs.  The book says they're supposed to be BP7ES.  Two were BP7ES and the middle one was a BR7ES.  Resistor plug in a bike?  That's what I thought, so I called the parts store and was told it's the right heat range so it should work.  Well, I decided to compare them.  The correct plug is longer in total length, and the insulator and electrode protrude about 1/8 inch from the threaded portion of the plug.  The BR's electrode was flush with the threads.  Wrong plug, I decided, so bought the right one, cleaned the other two, and put them in.  The other two plugs were not eroded at all so I kept them.  The engine ran rough for a few minutes, but as it warmed-up it started running better, so I rode it around the house a dozen or so times, and it kept getting better.  I then rode it up and down my g/f's side street a few times and as I did it, the bike's performance improved steadily.  By the second pass down the street it started running like a new bike!  Now it will idle smoothly at 1,100 rpm until it runs out of gas!  Brake parts are on order, bike will be on the road soon! 

It pays to be patient and somewhat flexible.  I had no idea what make or model I'd end-up with, but I didn't care.

Whowa.........Nice find. I would have snapped it up too.

They were popular over here, seen as Yamahas take on the Triumph T150 Trident and as such they sold well to the older bikers looking for the character and looks of an old brit-bike but with the Engineering and quality improvements the japs were good at.

That bike will turn a lot of heads and if looked after and kept stock can only go up in value.

Some parts available here.... http://shop.wemoto.com/index.dyn?oid=2147973

Very nice deal!  Not my cup of tea but congrats on the purchase!

Nick

nice bike!  that seat looks like a couch!  you'll probably get a helluva lot less monkey butt from that   

Sledge, perhaps you can shed some light on this.  According to what I have read this bike isn't supposed to exist.  What I mean is, I read that the 1976 model is the D and the '77 model is the D2.  The D2 has two mufflers and cams that open the valves 4 degrees sooner and close 4 degrees later.  This bike has a single 3-into-1 system, the owner's manual says it's a D, but it's a '77 on the registration, and was made in August of 1976.  This would be consistent with many other bikes I've seen, including my GS, which is a '94 but was made in August of the previous year.  According to what I read, all '76 models are D's and all '77's are D2's.  I guess this is a myth?

















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Found a rare treasure.  Good luck with it

Wow, nice looking bike.  I guess it pays off to wait around a little and to really know your stuff.

Awesome find  Looks fantastic! 

hubba hubba.  Me like.

Quote from: bill14224 on May 06, 2009, 03:30:26 PM
Sledge, perhaps you can shed some light on this.  According to what I have read this bike isn't supposed to exist.  What I mean is, I read that the 1976 model is the D and the '77 model is the D2.  The D2 has two mufflers and cams that open the valves 4 degrees sooner and close 4 degrees later.  This bike has a single 3-into-1 system, the owner's manual says it's a D, but it's a '77 on the registration, and was made in August of 1976.  This would be consistent with many other bikes I've seen, including my GS, which is a '94 but was made in August of the previous year.  According to what I read, all '76 models are D's and all '77's are D2's.  I guess this is a myth?

Nah, 3-1 exhausts were a pretty popular mod with the yammy xs triples. 

I had a 78 xs850 with a 3-1 and the megaphone completely blown out.  The damn thing sounded like hell's own thunder.  Matte black with a bobbed rear-end.  I gotta lot of smiles on that bike.  Ended up trading it in for my GS because I was commuting on it and only getting 35mpg.

There's a good forum for triples owners out there: http://www.yamaha-triples.org/

Enjoy the ride!

Sweet bike! 

Quote from: bill14224 on May 05, 2009, 08:59:32 PM
blah blah blah...

sharp bike !!!!



blah blah blah...

It pays to be patient and somewhat flexible.  I had no idea what make or model I'd end-up with, but I didn't care.

i like this game myself. i'm waiting for a few awesome deals on:

phones
bikes
houses

oh, and eventually i'll find a better job. that's going to be a really long wait though me thinks. good luck with that yami, that should be an awesome load of fun with the missus.

congrats !

Quote from: bill14224 on May 06, 2009, 03:30:26 PM
Sledge, perhaps you can shed some light on this.  According to what I have read this bike isn't supposed to exist.  What I mean is, I read that the 1976 model is the D and the '77 model is the D2.  The D2 has two mufflers and cams that open the valves 4 degrees sooner and close 4 degrees later.  This bike has a single 3-into-1 system, the owner's manual says it's a D, but it's a '77 on the registration, and was made in August of 1976.  This would be consistent with many other bikes I've seen, including my GS, which is a '94 but was made in August of the previous year.  According to what I read, all '76 models are D's and all '77's are D2's.  I guess this is a myth?

Phew...cant help you on that one mate.

Maybe these guys can..... http://www.xs750e.com/page22.htm

[/quote]

I have an update.  The PO was mistaken about the brake problem too.  The master cylinder is fine.  The left caliper was mounted wrong.  Whoever replaced the pads put both washers on the heads of the 2 mounting bolts instead of putting the flat washer between the caliper and the fork.  The slot in the caliper wasn't centered on the disk so it was dragging.  The bike is now road worthy.  I also had a loose fuse.  The clip was weak so I replaced it today with an in-line fuse holder.  Now the brake lights and signals work reliably.  Total cost to get the bike square: $5.00, but I ordered a used master cylinder I don't need.  Oh, well.. I'll just keep it for a spare.  Insurance papers are in the mail for me to sign.  It will be on the road in mere days.  I looked up the bike's value on NADA and it's $1000 more than I paid for it because it wasn't running right.  I'm the luckiest biker in Buffalo right now.

Yea ... some guys have all the luck. I turned down an over priced ex500 yesterday. Really really over priced and it was free.
Good crap I dont mind paying for. I seriously thought I'd take anything as long as it was free ... guess there is a point beyond which I wont ... good to know I have standards too.
Cool.
Buddha.