First Bike, First Project

So this is my very first bike project but deff not going to be my last.

Picked up this gem for the grand price of $125. Was missing some electrical parts, but luckily found some pretty quick.

Was going to go for a bobber/chopper style look until I heard the actual sound of these bikes, they sound super mean and more sporty then chopper imo. So i decided i want to do a low profile, mean stance, sleek look.

heres how it started;

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Stripped it;

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Started cutting and welding. Will get some picture soon

 

Bike looks great
but before changing the look of the bike
make sure the motor and everything else is good to go
Valves
Brakes
Tires
Compression
and so on
then go from there
otherwise you are throwing money into a pit

 

10/10 on this.

 

Welcome to that addiction! I agree lots on the more sporty/cafe direction than chopper/bobber direction. With the exception of brat-style, I think that it works well with XJs.

For what it's worth and if you are anywhere serious about bike building then become a motor-tuner guru. That's what counts. Cosmetics will follow. XJs run really well and have high output when dialed but they are really, really finicky when it comes to air leaks in the carburetion /exhaust systems. Get the bike running at it's peak with the stock air/box and stock or similar after-market exhaust. Once there, then start to modify. This is so basic but so many skip dialing the stock setup and have never ending problems. There are countless Sawz-All projects on this site than never go anywhere. Literally... bikes are for riding...

 

Agree with all above statements. Deff getting it running. Have pretty good mechanical skills and knowledge so learning shouldnt be too much of an issue but i do see how it can get complicated.

thanks for the suggestions!

 

Mine runs great ( 81 Seca 750) it has a little over 13k original miles and it has been in my family since new. I want to get rid of factory air box and put those small cone filters I see on the carbs. Anyone know where to find those? I also want to rework the exhaust a little.

 

Bad idea. Without a tremendous amount of patience and time you will struggle to get the bike running as well as it will with the air box and stock pipes on it.

 

Exhaust isn't stock, dad put some random suzuki exhaust on it.

 

Not necessarily true. Do your research and you shouldn't have any problems. PM sent so as not to further the hijacking of jeuro's thread!

jeuro - good luck with the project bud. Your pics aren't showing up for me but sounds like you got a pretty good start on it.

 

From the people on here who have had the most sucess with pod filters: Keep the airbox boots, attach the pods to those, and your tuning problems will nearly disappear.

 

Keep us updated on your build! We love progress shots.