My first vintage sled

SXVIPERGUY21

SXVIPERGUY21

New member
Joined
Jul 19, 2015
Messages
30
Location
Columbia City, In
Bought a 1985 Yamaha SS 440 today. Was at a buddy’s grandfathers house and seen it asked about it and he told me if I loaded it in my truck I could have it for 350 lol so I couldn’t turn that down. 2300ish miles, seat and track in good condition, hood is pretty nice other than a couple scuffs along with a small crack. I pulled the carb and cleaned it when I got home, checked compression right at 118 in both cylinders. Started right up after I got some new gas in it and replaced a few gas lines. Ran it around the yard a few times with the little snow we have but seems to run like a top! I’ll get some pictures posted up here soon. If anyone has any suggestion on anything that would be great I’m not to familiar with the fan motors but seems really straight forward, I know everything was easy to get to while cleaning the carb compared to the 700 triple lol
 
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Pictures

Here are the pictures
 

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good looking sled!

i would check the fan belt and fan bearings as well as the crank seals, just because of age. repack the speedo and jackshaft bearings and it should last another 20 years easy.

i have one for a project sled that the rear suspension was junk and the track. just gathering the parts to long travel it with a better track.
 
Awesome thanks for the good info. We got about 6-8 inches of snow so I was able to actually get it out. Filled it up with oil and premium gas and took it for a 50 mile crusie. Ran great other than on the way home the headlight was like going half way out then kick back to full bright a couple times. The thing is just super light and fun to play around on! Not quite as smooth as my SX lol
 
as to the headlight, sounds like is needs the grounds cleaned and possibly a ground wire added from the engine plate to the chassis.
 
Try playing around with the high/low beam switch to see if the headlight dims intermittently. The rubber caps are usually shot and moisture gets in and rusts the contacts. Both the switch and rubber caps are available from Yamaha or after market. I generally add an extra ground wire from the engine to the chassis on the the SS as recommended as the bullet connector from stator tends to loosen up, collect dirt and lose contact over time.
 
Also want to check and make sure the headlight socket and bulb are not corroded. The rubber boot over the headlight socket tends to let moisture in and corrode the socket. The other weak spot for the headlight wiring on the SS is where it is clamped at the hood hinge. The wires tend to crack or the bullet connectors come loose in this location from opening and closing the hood in cold weather.
 
Not sure on this model ... if the tail light socket came loose ,,, it would flop around and give erratic head light BUT when you applied the brake , it made the
ground connection through the switch circuit ,.... fixed with a wood screw between socket and rear storage door.
Ron
 
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