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Intro new XJ900 owner

Discussion in 'Hangout Lounge' started by railtrolley, Oct 20, 2008.

  1. railtrolley

    railtrolley Member

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    Hello all,

    Saying hello and introducing myself to the forum. Bought a 1988 XJ900F. Found her at a bike wreckers. Complete, and too good to part out. But a real "what you see is what you get". It has about 85 000 km on it, or it could be the second time around the clock. The only things missing are the toolbag, passenger foot pegs, and the belly pan. And a battery. It even came with a key that works all three locks.

    I have attached a few pictures. I'll try to post some better ones, but she is a bit hard to wrestle around. The front brakes, or wheel is sticking. It has the 891cc engine, with Mikuni BS36 carbs, same as the FJ1200. I have the side panels, but they are off at the moment as I keep having to remove the fuel tank and seat to work on it.

    The wiring is original and has not been messed around with. All I have had to do so far was wiring the LH front indicator back in. The fuse box will need updating - unreliable. A bit of cleaning and all the electrics work again- even the dash clock.

    The fuel tank and carbs have now had a basic cleanup. Again, I was very lucky. I made the mistake of removing the carbs by the inlet manifolds, but all the bolts came out ok. A new battery and the engine starts. Doesn't smoke either. Found quite a bit of rust in the fuel bowls of 2 and 3 carbs, but only dirt in 1 and 4 carbs. Had a look at the various jets. What I think is the air jet is #160. The main jet is #107.5, and the pilot jet is #40. The jet needles are an F5 262, and set on the middle clip of 5. Next job is a fuel filter, and a complete dismantle of the carbs.

    As you can see, there is a heap of work to do on the suspension, new tyres, and might need wheel and swingarm bearings. The steering head bearings seem to be ok. No freeplay or notches in the straight ahead position.

    There was a lot of dust on the bike. Got into everywhere, so I have given it a good going over with compressed air.

    Had a look at the gallery. There does not seem to be any photos of the white and blue F model. I'll try to post some better pictures, and let you know how I go at getting her back on the road.
     

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  2. bill

    bill Active Member

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    Great looking bike. Glad you rescued her from the scrap yard. Sounds like you are on your way to getting her fixed up.
     
  3. mlew

    mlew Well-Known Member

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    Nice find, how much did it cost?
     
  4. oby_2

    oby_2 Member

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    Welcome to another Aussie and another XJ900. Good group here so all the best with the rebuild.

    Cheers
     
  5. Hillsy

    Hillsy Member

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    Yeah - nice find. It already looks better than my old 900 daily rider.... 8O

    Couple of things:
    - Swingarm bearings will start to "creak" under takeoff when they are worn.
    - The XJ9's disc rotors are the same front and back (that's pretty unusual in the Jap bike world).
    - I never had any electrical problems with my old style fuseboxes on my XJ's :?:

    That's my 2c of useless trivia... :D Welcome aboard
     
  6. railtrolley

    railtrolley Member

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    Hello,

    I got it for $1300. Not bad, a lot of bike for the money. The average price for a new bike is about $15000 in Australia.

    regards,
    Richard.
     
  7. railtrolley

    railtrolley Member

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    Hello Hillsy,

    Thank you for your welcome. Oddly enough, the rear rotor on my XJ is the same as the 1983 model -vented disc. But the front discs are the slotted type. I had an RZ250 once, with the same type of brake discs. It is possible that the rear disc has been changed at some time. I have to get another one anyway, as the rear disc is quit badly chewed out. It must be well under the minumum thickness. The previous owner must have braked very hard on the rear brake.

    regards,
    Richard.
     
  8. Big_Ross

    Big_Ross Member

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    Welcome to the forum....and don't worry about that 85,000km. That's about what my XJ900F had on the clock when I got it. It's up to 127,000 now, and I still ride it every day.
     
  9. jack737

    jack737 New Member

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    I think the 900 is a fantastic bike! I got mine a year ago for $100, it had been sitting outside for 6 years! Cleaned the carbs changed the oil and it started right up. But the rest of it looked much worse than yours!! I'm sure you'll get many years out of that bike. Cheers!
     

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  10. jeff4995

    jeff4995 Member

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    Welcome to the forum. I have a 1984 XJ750RL I am hoping to get going this winter. Been trying to round up all the missing or wrecked parts as alot of them are shared with the 83 XJ900 and are not the easiest to find around here. Thank goodness for ebay.
     

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