So I picked this bike up yesterday off Craigslist from a guy in Goldsboro figuring it'll be a good project and give me something fun for the summer. He thought it was a 750, but turns out its actually a 550cc (4-cyl with 4 carbs, who'd have thought). For $350 I figured I can't go wrong.

It's all intact, nothing missing, but it's definitely going to need a lot of work before its road ready. And I've never worked on a bike before. At that I've only ridden a few times, on other people's bikes, since getting my permit in Oct. So its definitely going to be a bit of a learning curve.

Some pictures:










The story behind it is the bike belonged to the brother of the guy I bought it from's gf. He lost the keys, tried to jury-rig the ignition and failed, and then said fuck it and got a different bike and it's sat in a garage ever since. He had a clear title in hand so its okay legal wise, and the stripped wires sticking out from under the ignition switch would seem to support the story. Supposedly it ran fine at that point . . . . back in 2003. There's some rust and such but nothing too bad, and nothing seems to be frozen or seized.


So for starters I figure I'll need to replace the ignition switch and battery, drain and replace the old fluids, and pull and clean (or rebuild) the carbs then see if it'll start. Any recommendations from those who know something about bikes? I'm going by some internet research and would appreciate some advice from someone who's worked on something like this before!

2/26/2011 10:05:25 PM

might want to pull the heads and let them sit in kerosene to get the shit off.

2/26/2011 11:37:35 PM

I'm balls deep in a motorcycle restoration project right now. I'm less experienced that some of the dudes around here, but it's all 100% motorcycles and I have a pretty good idea of what to do and what not to do and how to approach things so you don't end up getting pissed off and letting it rot in your garage.

1.Take pictures of everything before you touch it.

2. Every part that comes off goes in a zip lock with an appropriate label

3. You plan sounds good for now, but the carbs can be tricky if you haven't been into many of them. If you're around raleigh and want a hand, I'd be glad to come by. Either way, when you get everything apart, boil the bowls, jets, needle valves, etc(sans any rubber) in water and lemon juice and it will help get rid of all the varnish. Boil, scrub, reboil, rescrub, etc. A toothbrush works pretty well. Only when you get everything clean will you have grounds from which to decide if it needs rebuilding or not. There's lots of little tips and tricks to getting carb parts back into shape, so let me know if you have any questions.

2/27/2011 8:24:53 AM

I can also lend a hand on pretty much anything there. I've been pretty deep into my old GS550 before I finally sold it. I've still got a bucket of Berrymans dip if you're interested in using that on the carbs, and I also have a heavy duty electric stapler for when you get to that seat. An investment in a harbor freight blasting cabinet is helpful too.

I can go ahead and tell you now that whatever you think it will take to restore it, double it - time and money. You will learn a ton of stuff in the process though.

Good luck, you're gonna need it.

[Edited on February 27, 2011 at 9:47 AM. Reason : .]

2/27/2011 9:44:44 AM

True story about the double time/money thing.

I'm not done, though damn close, and I'm at ~5 months and more money than it'll be worth on my 73 cb175 project. That's with a full top end rebuild though.

2/27/2011 9:51:10 AM

Before you tackle this, I'll allow you to restore my '82 XJ650.

You know... for practice.

2/27/2011 10:05:24 AM

You'll probably need to derust the gas tank. There are a few ways to do it. Harbor Freight sells a derusting chemical, you can set up electrolysis with a battery charger, or you can dump ball bearings in it and shake it. I prefer the latter. Once you get the rust off you can seal it or just keep it full of gas. I don't recommend the Kream brand sealer.

New battery is a must, they never last more than a couple years. Once you get a battery you can do a compression test, you can borrow my gauge. I wouldn't tear into the engine before you hear it run and ride it unless you have to. Just swap the spark plugs and a compression test.

As mentioned, go ahead and pull off those carbs. The airbox will be a pain to get off. An impact screwdriver will help with the carb screws, or you can clamp vice grips onto the heads to help get them loose. Don't strip those screws. At the very least dump the crap out of all the fuel bowls and check the float level(very important). If you change the air cleaner or exhaust you'll need to re-jet, otherwise leave them alone until you can get it running and do some spark plug readings. Just pull the jets out(again, use a perfectly fitting screwdriver and don't strip the jet slot) and blow some air through them. When it doubt use more pbblaster. As mentioned above the best way is just remove all the rubber parts and soak the carbs for a while. Buy a good sintered or paper fuel filter. You'll need a vacuum gauge to sync the carbs back up once you're finished.

Be sure to jack up the bike and spin the wheels, listening for any grittiness, you may need to repack the wheel bearings with grease. Shake the swingarm to check for play. The steering head bearings should be smooth as well with no vertical play. The forks will probably need to be rebuilt as well. The tires are fine to roll it around, but if they're from 2003 they are trash for the highway. Cycle Gear is the cheapest place around here to have them mounted, or you can do it yourself if you like cussing. Take off the chain, clean it with brake cleaner and soak it in oil until you're ready for it.

All of the cables need to be greased with chain lube. I have a little device that helps you squirt the lube down in them. Start at the top and keep squirting until it runs out the bottom. It sucks when your clutch cable breaks and you lurch into traffic.

If you don't care about keys you can drill the tumblers out of the lock and not have to buy an ignition switch.

[Edited on February 27, 2011 at 10:48 AM. Reason : .]

2/27/2011 10:37:00 AM

The gas tank was actually full when I got it, and probably has been since it was parked. Looking inside it actually looks pretty clean, but I'll hit it with some of the rust removal stuff to be safe when I drain out the old gas.

I really appreciate the offers of help and I'll probably take some of them up, especially on the carbs! Grabbed the service manual pdf, and reading up a bit on what's going to be involved with pulling the things I'll need to. It'll probably be a week or so before I can really get started, but I'll keep this thread updated with the progress!

My father has a sandblasting setup, so I'll take the frame and any other parts that need it over to him for that before repainting them. As for the seat, there's a very nice recovered one on eBay ending in a week or so that I'll try to grab, seems a lot easier than trying to recover this one. For now the first matter of business is getting it running, then I'll focus on the cosmetics, heh.

2/27/2011 7:02:20 PM

I love that tapered gas tank. It's a shame that visual line doesn't continue through the rest of the bike. Of course I've never cared for king&queen seats, but they are comfortable. And those are the classiest cast mag wheels on any bike from the 80's.



[Edited on February 27, 2011 at 9:15 PM. Reason : How are you at fiberglass fabrication? I've seen the custom audio guys make swoopy shapes like that]

2/27/2011 9:13:45 PM

Yeah, I love the look of the tank. And the wheels are cool, hopefully they'll look that good once I've repainted and polished them.

As for the seat I might replace it with something else eventually but for now since there's a cheap recovered one on eBay I'll just stay stock. I'll wait until I have it running and road worthy before I consider doing any major modifications . . . . and who knows, maybe I'll want to take a lady friend riding.



Also, anybody know a good place to get parts locally? My usual auto parts haunts don't stock motorcycle stuff, and it'd be nice not to have to order every single part off eBay.

2/28/2011 12:55:41 AM

You're not really going to find that stuff locally anymore. Your best bet is online, and do check out http://www.z1enterprises.com for routine maintenance stuff. I've used them a bunch, they're good and pretty cheap.

2/28/2011 7:10:19 AM

http://www.partsnmore.com/parts/yamaha/xj550/?filters[fitting]=custom

Yeah, I know of no local bike shops that sell parts reasonably or keep them in stock. I doubt even the Yamaha dealer will be able to get parts for it. Such is the nature of antique motorcycles. I try to anticipate the failures and order backups ahead of time.

[Edited on February 28, 2011 at 8:52 AM. Reason : .]

2/28/2011 8:49:31 AM

In case you haven't already been there:
http://www.xjbikes.com/

Its an incredible XJ resource. The forum vendor will sell you a stock replacement for any part of your bike, for a reasonable price.

From my personal experience with a '82 XJ, issues to watch out for:
-leaky petcock
-everything electric, particularly the fuses
-rotted rubber manifolds causing air leaks
-seized idle mix screws on carbs

2/28/2011 2:37:54 PM

Quote :

"You're not really going to find that stuff locally anymore. "

You can, on occasion, find NOS parts through the dealer. Usually works better for items used across several models -- no idea what that means to an XJ. I can still order the toolkit for my 77 CB550 through Honda WS!!

[Edited on February 28, 2011 at 3:52 PM. Reason : http://www.servicehonda.com best internet retailer for old bikes]

[Edited on February 28, 2011 at 3:55 PM. Reason : Don't expect anyone at a parts counter to have any clue concerning your bike]

2/28/2011 3:51:19 PM

http://ebld.net/website.mv?webuser=hsi88&website=goldenagemotorcycles&webpage=link_page8

A friend sent me this page. Seem like a good plan of attack before I try firing it up?

2/28/2011 6:30:32 PM

Sure, sounds good. Don't use automotive oil in it. Verify this with the XJ forum, but you should be using a diesel grade oil with lots of ZDDP that is not energy conserving so the clutch doesn't slip. Shell Rotella 15w-40 seems to be a common choice.

Don't crank the motor over with the spark plug wires hanging loose, will burn up the coils. You can pull off a panel on the left side of the motor and turn that crank bolt counterclockwise with a wrench to make sure it's not locked up.

[Edited on February 28, 2011 at 6:57 PM. Reason : .]

2/28/2011 6:54:39 PM

Cheap parts bike:
http://raleigh.craigslist.org/mcy/2240705082.html

3/1/2011 9:48:27 AM

few random things from that:
Putting a little Marvel Mystery Oil in the cylinders before turning it over is a fine, and some Seafoam in your first few tanks of gas won't hurt either. Shell Rotella is good stuff for bikes, I use the synthetic now, but the dino works great too. I would try and get it running before I pull the carbs to clean them. Then at least you know you're not fighting valve or electrical problems if it doesn't start later.

3/2/2011 8:26:05 PM