Just a suggestion for Newbies

Using this Forum for Technical and Mechanical Advice and Direction

First...take a deep breath. Being frustrated over an issue with your bike, a repair or a reply post is not going to help matters.

Second...spend time searching the forums for answers before posting a question. You will be surprised what you will stumble across. Many of the new questions have been asked and answered many times over. Use Google site search, it seems a little bit better than the forum search.

Third...If you do post a question, realize that the person answering is really just trying to help. Ask 5 people the same question, you may get 5 different answers so be patient with what you read.

Fourth...Don't expect a complete detailed walk-through of a major mechanical or technical procedure of a repair from a post reply. Most of the common repairs have already had posts with pictures on how to's. Again, try searching before asking.

Fifth...Know your limitations, both mechanically, technically and financially before trying to restore or repair a bike. Some need to fix a bike as cheap as possible for it is there daily driver and others on here are collectors and restorers. Taking something apart can be easy, but putting it back together and having it work may take special tools, knowledge and skills.


and Last, but not least...the guys that have been on this site the longest and that are the most active do have a wealth of knowledge and are usually very patient and helpful to us newbies. Sometimes the answers are not what we want to hear, but it is what it is, and we should be thankful they are there to help other bike owners.

 

Nice post and good points, think there's always going to be people who just plain have a bad day & decide to chew out those trying to help them though.

Bet those people regret it next time they have a problem :?

 

I'd like to add....please only start one thread for your bike. Posting one for every problem that you have makes it more difficult to sort through how to help you fix it. Many times seemingly unrelated symptoms point to a common issue.

 

bump for a reminder..happy 4th of July

 

New Members:

Use the SIGNATURE Feature!
Include "Thumbs" about your Bike.
_________________________________________
(Year) - (Model) - (Miles) - (Stock or Mods)

This info will greatly assist those who are going to try and help you.

 

So how do I get the bike to idle properly?...... lol

 

Hi, new guy here...Thanks for helpin' getting a wider perspective...I'm sure, like myself, many newbies roll into the forums all sorts of gung-ho lookin' for quick answers and quick-fixes... I appreciate the pointers; helps to set a pace Cheers!

First time rider: 81 xj550r Seca, Cafe.

 

Advise for Newbies -
What would you do if you bought a Cessna 172 for cheap, that was 33 years old?? You'd get it flight-worthy and inspected before leaving the ground.
Just assume your brakes are bad (for starters)

The Real Cost of Maintenance

Be the Bunny
and more safety links in my Sig Line. \/

 

Assume not only that the brakes will need to be FULLY rebuilt, but that the valves have likely been ignored, the carbs will need to be properly serviced and adjusted, and pretty much any rubber part exposed to the atmosphere will need to be replaced along with any gasket disturbed for the first time after 30 years.

Also assume that except for rare circumstances, anybody who has worked on the bike before you probably had even less of a clue and you may come across damage that will need to be repaired as well. Stripped screws, broken float towers, and my favorite, incorrect fastener substitution, are common.

And here's the biggie:

Assume that this will take three times longer and cost three times more than you originally thought it would; even if you know what you're doing. It will.

So take the advice given by those who have been through it; there simply IS NO QUICK or EASY answer for the most common issues. You have to either "go big" and do it right; or go crazy trying to beat science. (Science will win.)

 

NOW YOU TELL ME!!!! :evil:
But seriously, this being my first bike, guy tells you it ran good when I parked it and you think "cool, all gotta do is buy some polish and some gasoline and off we go", you don't think about going to xjbikes.com to see what youre getting into. Seems like most of us wouldn't trade our xj or the experience or the knowledge gained from this site and hands on for the neighbors 1995 tip top Hoonda anyway. At least, that's how I feel about it.

 

Truer words have never been spoken! Two area of most expense are getting the carbs and brake system into tip top condition. This includes cables and anything that controls there operation. And these two areas are also the most frustrating to get right. If you can be patient and get past these areas everything else will seem like a piece a cake to repair and get working.

You think these bike are a pain to rebuild you should try a Venture rebuild. Even the clutch is hydraulic! AND I get to learn how to fix plastic this time around! BUT with what I learned on this site I feel quite confident that I'll have it back on the road come next spring!!!

 

And even when you get one of these 30 year old pieces up and running they have tendencies to throw something else right back at you. 30 years of hard riders, sketchy maintenance practices and bad POs lead to cavalcades of continuing headaches. Just remember that these bikes are not even so much motorcycles as the are passions and exercises in quality and patience.

 

They don't have to be. I've put over 10K trouble-free, "turnkey" miles on my '83 since it was recommissioned. (Still requires doing the scheduled maintenance.)

The thing to remember is that anything you overlook or "skip over" no matter how minor it may seem, will probably come back to bite you.

Post-resurrection reliability is a direct reflection of how thorough you were to begin with.

 

Hahaha..

This is what I did to the bike prior to finding this website.
Paint the tank,
seafoam the carbs,
polish the rust off the chrome,
recover the seat.


AFTER finding this web site.
Replaced front and rear wheel bearings
Rebuilt brake caliper and master cylinder
New brake lines
Complete clean and rebuild of carburetors, bench sync and wet set floats
New air filter
New oil filter and oil x 2 castrol 4t dino.20w50
New clutch cable
New throttle cable
New choke cable
New front and rear tires
Balanced front and rear tires
New rear brake shoes
Changed front fork oil
Changed rear drive fluid
Serviced speedometer
Replaced headers and exhaust gaskets
Valve clearance and shim replacement, with new gaskets and donuts
Colortune
Running carb sync
New Mirrors,
$4.03 per gallon for ethanol free gas
New headlight bulb, directional and brake light bulbs
New blade style ATC fuse box conversion
New hand grips
New ignition switch and used speedometer/tach assembly.
ON AGENDA
Rebuild and service clutch
Replace coils with dyna coils
Replace rear shocks.

Right now the bike runs great and has the clackity clack of the valve train.
Starts right up and idles great…Super pull through the power band and the bikes loves to run at 60mph….just hums….handles well and stops on a dime.
This is completely due to reading this forum, listening to the wizards and understanding that they are only sharing advice and suggestions out of the kindness of their hearts. I for one did not give enough thought to what needed to be done to the bike, but I feel very fortunate for this forum and the people on it…

All the work I did myself with only the help of a manual and the people on this forum. What I learned the most, take your time, learn to understand what your doing, don't force anything, it will break..and search the forum before posting a question, the answer is probably here..

 

What I did to my bike prior to finding this site:

Changed oil and filter once a year. (Oh, Fitz! I'm sooo ashamed.)

 

It really is.

 

Can't agree more with that. If you have the time, place, patience, funding, etc. to do it all correct from the ground up, do it. For me it kinda went like: Bike up and running; 100 miles later, front MC clogs up (fixed), a few bolts to properly tighten (fixed), 300 miles after that, third gear starts jumping off on me. I'm still stuck on waiting for funds for parts on the third gear rebuild. Looking like they'll be around this week or so.
Sometimes you just can't predict everything that will go wrong until it does.

 

but when should I put on Pods?

Kevin

But seriously.. I bought mine.. thought great I am good to go
got told I was an idiot and I needed to go over everything

then I got pissed off.. then I thought shit over
now I am going over everything
right now I am taking everything off.. checking for leaks
checking bearings
looking over the brakes.. going to replace front pads and line
next step.. pull off rear brakes and inspect and maybe replace?
will find out this weekend
after that.. Compression test
Valve clearance test
then replacing Valve cover gasket as well as probably shims
then going to change clutch plates, and springs
after that new clutch cable
if things go good there I can start the things I was originally going to do
ohh yeah don't worry I am doing the carbs
going to change bars, switch to a solo seat
and repaint.. not the 200 dollar change up I was expecting
but all the things I am learning by doing this
priceless

 

Good man. Sounds like you're going to stick with it.

About 75% of the folks who pop up on here expecting a "quick fix" for 30 years' worth of neglected maintenance and are instead rudely awakened to the fact that this is an inescapable process give up, somewhere around brake lines or valve clearances and we never hear from them again. Or they start (or even finish) a bunch of cosmetic work only to run hard up against the fact that the bike needs actual work to RUN.

Sometimes the half-finished bobber turns up in another new frustrated members hands, but then he disappears after a couple of months too.

Resurrecting genuinely old motorcycles with any degree of success simply takes commitment, on many levels. Glad to hear you've decided to go for it. We're here to help.

 

Thought I would revive an old thread. It seems that there are quite a few new members who would benefit from these pearls of wisdom.

 

What I did prior to fully trusting this site and myself:

Paid a shop $215 to "clean" my carbs. Then I did it correctly with help from this forum.

 

I am still here but just browsing for the most part. I have put around 1300 trouble free miles on my find after doing everything suggested on this site by you guys. I'll just hang out and lurk until I have a problem arise.