Let me start by saying that this is the second three cylinder Yamaha Motorcycle that I have owned.
I used to own a 1977 Yamaha XS750 Standard, but sold it before my son was born.
I've missed owning the XS750 a great deal since then, and decided to find another one!
About a year ago, I came across this 1978 XS750 Special, and bought it for the whopping sum of $150.
It had a rod knocking in the engine, and a busted piston skirt on #1 cylinder! I began immediately by
removing the engine from the chasis, and taking it to the shop where I work as an automobile technician.
After tearing the motor down and assesing the damage, I began to check on parts to effect the repairs.
After a visit to my local Yamaha dealer, I had become somewhat discouraged.....$500 for a new crankshaft,
$50+ for a new piston, can't remember the cost of the rod, but I think you get the picture! Of course there would be
gaskets and other odds and ends on top of that! Out of desperation, I began searching for good used parts,
and soon located a motorcycle salvage yard, in my home state that said that they had a good crankshaft, piston, and rod
all together that I could have for $175, and this includes shipping! I jumped on it!!!! Unfortunately, the other items,
such as gaskets had to come from Yamaha, and soon, my money was tapped out! I ran out of money before running out of things
that I needed, thuis the engine went back up reusing old piston rings! The bike ran!!! I managed to get the last half of the summer
in riding this bike, before it got too cold to ride. The bike went into storage for the winter, and I somewhat neglected it during
the cold months. Spring time arrived and the sun began to shine again, and temperatures rose! Sadly, when I went to crank my bike,
it wouldn't start. I began the process of finding out why, and discovered that I had no compression on two of the three cylinders!
I tried the old trick of pouring a bit of oil into the combustion chambers to hopefully bring compression back up. It didn't work.
Now I'm back to trying to scrape up enough money for new rings, and another set of gaskets. In the meanwhile, I found
the Yamaha 400 Special II sitting outside of a local pawn shop, with an $800 price tag on it, but after some smooth talking (practically begging),
I rode it off for $600! Well, now I've filled you in on what has happened so far, and I will update this site on a regular basis, filling in details
and any additional repairs/maintainance that I perform on either of my bikes in the future!
PAGE 2 a major set-back!
For cost of repairs chart, Click Here!
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