The Koolaid Project

Alright... some of you may have seen the bike already from my thread in the general section. Well, I got the bike home now, so I guess I'll start a build thread of sorts. There won't be too much building going on right away, but I'll keep this updated and use the thread to ask questions and get some ideas from you guys since you all have much more experience than I do with these bikes.

Here are a few pics when I got home with it yesterday....

 

I lined the tank today while I was rebuilding my deck, so I should have it back on and ready to see if I can get this thing started up on Thursday. Unless I get impatient and end up hooking up the aux tank I have to it tomorrow

Let me know what you guys think of the bike and what direction you think I should go in with it. I originally was thinking hardtail or lowering struts until I could get it hard tailed, bobber seat, z-bars, different exhaust or just the stock exhaust cut a bit, different tank or just adjust this one a bit. Round headlight in the front, smaller turn signals, and forward controls.

I'm used to sportbikes and the seat on this thing is COMFY! It made me reconsider chopping and bobbing it eh..... I don't know what I want to do now. I was also thinking of being able to carry a passanger, so I can give my kids rides now and then. They love it...

 

cool bike
start it, ride it, it will come to you
best of luck, will keep watching

 

looks great good luck

 

Yeah man that looks awesome. Love those 750s. Not so much the lights and bars and instrument cluster on em, but the body is sleeeek Those headers look in great condition. Chrome looks good on er.
Good luck man! She'll be a fun project

 

That Bike will run a whole lot better just leaving it Stock and Cleaning and preparing the Carbs to be as Tuned-up and set-up for Maximum Performance.

With you knowing how to Tweak it to keep it on the hairy-edge of giddy-yap-'n-go!

 

nice find, look in my gallery
you think that seat is comfy ? my butt must be getting soft

 

Great score! There is something to be said for keeping it original but I never cared much for the crotch rocket look, (I'm 56) I do like the bobber look but to me function comes first. I think that if you can afford to have the rear shocks repositioned you'd get a lower bike and more travel too. The side covers are a real sore spot with me, they do look better with them I think but they're poorly designed. (mine blew off in a 50 mph cross wind). Its your bike what turns you on?, That's what to do.

 

May be do what vegabob says, get it on the road and ride it for a while. Let the bike tell you wat mods to do.

But if she's not talking to ya here are some suggestions

Strech the bike 4 or 5 inches (that would involve lenghtening the drive shaft.)

Maybe rake the front some(don't know what would be best there) I know its been over done.

Remove the air box and make a PVC 'airbox' with two pod filters going back where the old airbox was.

Handle bars - almost anything except those stock adjustables (there on my 82 and I am not a big fan of them) personally not a fan of ape hangers either.

Tank - well I doin't know. I realy don't like the penut tanks but I don't like the look of most seca tanks either. That your on your own.

Ultimatly you have to decide what you like. Your the one who is going to ride it.

Good luck with it.

Edited:
**********************Disclaimer ***************************
This post is not indorsed by this forum.
DO NOT ATTEMPT to re-engineer the bike with out knowing what you are getting your self into. Removing the airbox WILL cause baldness (from pulling your hair out because the bike will not run correctly). Stretching or raking the bike will change how it handles (it will be more like a Harley at best at worst un rideable 8O ). This is BAD advice.
PLEASE DO NOT ATTEMT ANY MODIFICATIONS THAT ARE BEYOND YOUR SKILL LEVEL. (I always thought that was a given)

 

Superbike Bars...sporty but still comfortable. Good lookin bike.

 

Stretching the Bike 4 or 5 Inches would involve considerably MORE than lengthening the Drive Shaft, now ... wouldn't it?

Suggesting a New Member do anything to the Geometry of the Bike is the SECOND worst piece of advice to suggest.

Removing the Airbox and altering the Intake Air Design to someone who has just acquired an XJ Bike is the #-1 WORST suggestion to make.

You got NO BUSINESS making a "Remove Airbox" suggestion without some warning or discussion on Tuning, something like the ... One Minute and 47 Seconds of Mandatory Legal Disclaimer ... that is required by Law, after they tell you that taking CHANTIX will help you quit smoking.

You may experience decreased performance.
Some airbox removers have needed to rejet.
A loss of Mid-range pick-up might occur.
Some studies showed a Lean Condition unable to correct.
Some hesitation and the inability to achieve full power has been reported.
Many who remove airbox become depressed over their Bikes lack of performance and the inability to restore fine tuning.

 

Sorry Rick, I did forget to add the disclaimer.

KoolAid5 seemed intelligent enough to do his research before attempting any mods. I was jus giving Ideas. I know other Newbes may read the post and not be so diligent then blame the site for suggesting it. Thanks for covering me.

 

dump the goofy a$$ lights and atari looking gauges and it'll look more respectable to start with. otherwise just enjoy riding it this season and mod the pi$$ out of it during the winter months.

 

Ya that last pic really makes it look like it has a big plastic tumor on its forehead. Other than that it looks like a great bike to start with.

 

Yea, even I kept the stock airbox, which is pretty amazing considering how much I modified everything else, lol. It works really well and if it ain't broke.........

My XJ 650 will do 72 mph in 2nd gear still pulling strong. Haven't seen one with pod filters that could do that without nosing over.

 

Ha! Comfy my axe. My last bike was a Townie 21/Electra beach cruiser hybrid. (That's a bicycle) and I installed a narrow mountain bike seat. I don't like squishy seats and I'm 56 years old. A firm seat provides more feedback.
I narrowed and sectioned the seat on my XJ. I eliminated the passenger section and took a serrated carving knife and scalloped the part where my butt sits down lower but reinforced it with some high quality carpet padding and recovered it. It appears lower now but the handling remains the same (exc. 11 1/2" eye to eye Showa shocks).
The biggest problem with the stock air box system is the inlet is too small and the stock filter is restrictive. A box knife and a better filter can correct those things. If you plan on getting a lot of miles out of the engine, the stock breather hose going to the air box is a good system because it only allows well filtered air into the crankcase and blow by is recaptured and goes back through the intake to be consumed rather than spit out on the road. Its proven to add 10\s of thousands of miles to the bottom end of the engine. I added a trap to mine so at high rpm/s the excessive oil doesn't spit out of the factory drain tube(which is also located attached to the stock air box and onto the pipes and tire. I have stock exhaust up to the dual outlets under the bike then step up to 1 5/8-1 3/4 open pipes then at the tips I have cones necked back down to 1 5/8 ID. Like 650 rigid, mine pulls strong in 1, 2 &3 up to till rev limiter cuts in around 9500 rpm's.
The rake is still adjustable about 2" by use of the stock air forks but I just leave them at 0 because I ride inner city and busy freeways 90% of the time so handling is more important to me than ride.
Drag Racing taught me that the length of the footprint is quite important just like width, and since our "shafties" are limited due to the drive shaft and its cover, I passed on the idea of installing a 16" rear wheel and kept the 18" Handling is now better part in part to reduced ride height without altering the suspension geometry much. I use a 110/90x19 front and a 130/80x18 on back. I measured the clearance and realize that a 140 will probably fit on my 750 but it would be very close.
I can't and won't tell what to do with yours but I only know what I've done with mine. It's loud, its fast, it handles well, and it's paid for 8) .

 

Project bikes tend to change directions as you go. So do what makes you happy cause in the end you will be the one riding it.

Great looking bike to start with. Look forward to seeing the transformation.

 

Woa, I like that 1100. I logged back on because I remembered if you should decide to chopperize it, AME advertises that they have a triple tree pre-raked at 7* over stock as a bolt on, with stock forks it lowers the bike 60mm (2 3/8") in front and its approved by the German auto club up to top speed of the bike but you won't be able to carve any canyons with it.

 

WOW! It's like the vision in my head jumped onto the screen. I looked at your gallery and your bike is VERY close to what I was thinking of when I picked this bike up. Do you have a build thread? I love the seat, tank, and rear fender. Did you get those struts made or what? What are you using for gauges? The only thing I'm not sure of are the handlebars... I'm not sure if I want to go the drag bars route or go with some z-bars. I'm not going to decide that until I get the seat and rear suspension sorted out. Then I'll decide where I want my hands while riding.

Thanks to all of you for the feedback, advice, and encouragement. I am planning on fixing up the tank today and hopefully getting it installed tomorrow and attempting to fire the bike up. This project is going to be very slow going, but I'm in no hurry. I also have to get the oil leaks on my '90 gsxr 1100 cleared up, so I can have that as my daily rider.

Thanks again....keep the advice and suggestions coming.

 

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/SLVR-YEL ... ccessories

This is my exact shock from the same seller I bought mine from. They are a good deal. I was leary at first but after recieving and installing I definately recommend. Cheapest way to lower and save your back.