Ikea 1984 XJ1100... some assembly required

Hello Everyone,

I am the newest member of the XJ club having purchased an abandoned project bike. It looks pretty good with the brakes and shocks rebuilt and the tires replaced. I have a good chunk of a parts bike and almost all the parts I need to get it together. The head is off and after some cleaning I should be able to get the engine back together, all in all it looks like a winner. I'll create an album somewhere and share some pics. The only 2 real problems are:
1) the exhaust is garbage with a cracked pipe and holes in one muffler
2) The tank looks awful, with a coat of red goop over the rust inside.

I'm waiting on a set of carb kits and intake gaskets but I think I have everything else. If nothing else this should be an adventure.

I've been googling "clean out motorcycle tank" but haven't found anything to take out a disgusting liner.

I'll try to keep posting the adventure and welcome any advice you might choose to share!

Karren

 

Congrats on the bike. That thing looks super clean. Extra parts bike came with it? Even looks like you already have stainless brake hoses. I've got an 1100 project also but mine is a bit rustier and totally disassembled .

The tank liners are controversial. I've used the KBS stuff, but was very careful about cleaning and prep. I suspect a lot of the issues are from improper prep, and if yours was coated on top of rust, that ain't good. If you have a pressure washer, the best thing for tank cleaning is a sewer jetter hose. The 1/8" kind is best...more flexible than the 1/4" hose. That will remove the loose stuff. I'm not aware of a chemical treatment that will dissolve the remaining tank coat, but one school of thought is make it reasonably clean, run inline filters and just let it be as long as the tank isn't leaking. Once you get pinholes on the seams, which means there's a lot of thin metal, acid treatments and other stuff are a delicate business.

Also I'm jealous of the nice heated shop and lift!

 

Nice setup, bike is looking good too.

 

As far as tank liner removers:
- Depending on what kind it is, acetone or methyl ethyl ketone (MEK) might work - which the older and crappier it is, the more likely one of these readily available options are more likely to work.
- If an easily attainable option doesn't work, Caswell will sell methylene chloride to "professionals"

Either way, it's a nasty job. No getting around that.

 

Thank you! I've been waiting for a decent garage for 20 years

 

So I got back into the garage today, I had a big side project to get done first, assembling a trailer. It went reasonably well with a few setbacks like putting the sides on inside out but in the end it turned out just fine.

After getting the trailer done I took a look at the bike, I've got a parts washer arriving today from amazon so I'll give the head a bath but I took care of cleaning of the old gasket material from the head and block (or is it more properly called a sleeve?). It's amazing how fast it all comes back, I haven't used my air tools in probably 15 years but they still work and I still remember how to use them! As I was taught I got the big chunks with a razor blade and then cleaned the rest with some gentle die grinder work and the 3M brush wheel. The block is now ready and the head is waiting for it's bath. all in all I'm pretty happy with the results. Depending on when amazon gets here I might even install the head tonight, if not tomorrow.

Thank you for the Shop love guys! I've been waiting for a real garage since 2004. That was the year I left the trades (I'm a journeyman Automotive Technician) and started a new career in the computer world, it's a lot easier on the knuckles! Since you seem interested I've got a 30 x 25 shop with a 12 x 20 extension that's heated and came with a 80 gallon 5 hp compressor. The bike lift was part of the deal along with the parts bike.

My goal for the bike is to get it up and running, inspected and on the road for the summer. The frame has some rust and the upper crankcase has a couple of the threaded holes for stator bolts partly broken. when I get it going and if I'm enjoying being on a bike again then over the winter I'll probably pull it apart again to swap out the upper crankcase with the undamaged spare (probably hone and re-ring at the same time and inspect the gear-train) and blast the frame and either paint or get a powder coat. If it's a keeper then I'll spring for the new exhaust. I got it for an amazing deal so I can put a few bucks in and still be ahead of the game. So far this is a really nice re-introduction to motorcycles and mechanic work again. I'll keep posting as things move along.

 

Also I've got an email in to Red-Kote asking how to remove an installed liner, I'll let you know what they say. Looking at the MSDS it looks like acetone and melting ie: 130 deg C (not at the same time!) might do it. I'll wait for a reply but I'm thinking acetone is the first thing I'll try.

Any suggesting for checking cam clearance? Am I better off checking it on the bench or with the head installed?

 

"The frame has some rust and the upper crankcase has a couple of the threaded holes for stator bolts partly broken. when I get it going and if I'm enjoying being on a bike again then over the winter I'll probably pull it apart again to swap out the upper crankcase with the undamaged spare"
No you won't, not if you want that engine to ever run again...
Crankases are machined together as a pair, crankshaft main bearing tunnels are final honed as one. Your answer to the broken lugs is to give it to your local friendly tig welder person, buy him some beers and then refettle the holes and tap.

 

Ok that's a good tip! thanks.

 

My parts washer showed up and looks like someone dropped a cinder-block on it, no cleaning today, I ran out to princess auto and got the local version, probably should have done that in the first place. I'll clean and mount the head tomorrow.

 

It can be done on the bench, but easier when installed with the timing chain on. Cams have to be pried around by the sprocket bolts otherwise and when one is up to measure, another is straight down and can snap one way or the other from the valve spring.

 

Cam chain cavity cylinder seal?!?! can anyone confirm that this is not needed anymore?

I don't have one, I'm going to hold off installing the head for now, the manual say to install it, but I found a post on the XS1100 forum that it is no longer a thing.

 

Back in the garage today, side project and a little bit of work. My blast cabinet showed up so I got it mostly assembled and all the seams sealed with silicone, I left the glass out and the gloves off to give it all the airflow I can and so I don't get any silicone on them. I still need to plumb in the dust collector and get some parts for the gravity feed mod but I'll be ready when the carb kits show up. I've got 50 lbs of soda ready to go. I set myself up to check valve clearance and I'm glad I did it on the bench, pretty much all of them were out of spec. Three of the valves were running zero clearance, but I confirmed nothing is seized everything turns as it should and it looks pretty good. I don't have the right shims to get all of the valves in spec so that another parts order. I've got the table from the manual so I'll try to get them ordered tonight. overall I'm pretty happy with how it's going, I'd like to have got the head mounted but, this delay is for the best. I think it's easier to check and adjust on the bench. The head is still pretty grubby so another clean is on the list. order.

 

Good news and bad news today. The new shims arrived and bring the valves into spec. bad news I've got a sticking intake valve, no good reason it was moving 2 weeks ago but it's sticky today. I'm going to see if the local engine machine shop will take it for a rebuild. This is getting awfully close to no longer worth it price, hopefully it's not too much to bring it into spec.

 

Is anyone even slightly interested in this or am I just sharing with myself?

 

We are reading with interest. Maybe use a brass rod and hammer to tap on the valve stem to see if it will move.

 

415 views is pretty good
Keep on posting

 

Hi Everyone,

I've got no fresh pictures unless you want to see my new riding mower and weed wacker. As for the XJ I brought the head to a local machine shop and after disassembly they reported a bent intake valve, as suspected. The good news is the machine work is within budget, the bad news is I had had to source the valve and some new stem seals. I did a bunch of shopping around and found a N.O.S. valve and some modern stem seals that are within budget. The seals arrived today and the valve is supposedly arriving Monday, it's not beyond possibility that I'll have the head back for next weekend. I'm pretty sure that after touching up the valve faces and the seats I'll have to redo all the valve shims, I'm just hoping the ones I have will work (I've got 18 in a small variety of sizes) if not then more shims will have to be ordered. I'm considering just ordering the full shim kit just to make some progress. I'm going to take a peek at the carbs soon, supposedly they were rebuilt but I want to be sure they're in spec and really clean. I'm getting impatient to move this project along.

 

The Valve showed up today, and looks about right. I'll be stopping at the machine shop tomorrow.

 

The valve is wrong, please insert several of your favorite curse words here (I sure did). Another valve is on the way, this time from XJ4ever. Please stand by.