XJ900RK Seca resurrection

As you know, last week I picked up another 83 XJ900RK. It's in fair condiiton, but has a really not very nice paint job on it. So, I started doing some minor cosmetic stuff just to make it look more presentable, and to also start developing a list of things to do.

So far, it's all cosmetic.

1. Virtually every rubber grommet is missing and all the posts are wrapped with multiple layers of electrical tape......

2. right rear grab handle is incorrect

3. tail cowl is cracked beyond repair

4. one side cover is good, other is missing two tabs

5. one manifold boot is on upside down

6. Paint-- uh.........gotta get this stuff off!! I stripped half of the fairing and got to the factory finish, but there's so much spidering in that, so I'mm gonna go right down to plastic and completely redo it. I'll probably do the same to the good side cover since it has the same paint layers.

7. Tank -- the top is stripped and about half of the sides. This tank had reportedly gotten into a small wrestling match with a small chainlink fence and was subsequently bondo'ed and repainted to make it look presentable (from about 20 feet away). I have gone through up to 5 layers of paint at some spots before getting to the metal. Some of the layers are a really thick sticky black paint that reminds me of a spray-on bedliner. Some of the paint has been close to 1/32" in thickness. I've removed a lot of bondo, too. Over half of the top of the tank was covered in it, and after removing it all, there are only two very small dings less than the size of a dime. The sides have some places where it's close to 1/4" thick but almost all of the contour lines are original metal. So, I should be able to get the rest of the bondo off and redo it a bit more accurately. I'll have to clean the inside of the tank. I looked in there, and ........something growled at me. I shut it quick.

8. Seat cover is incorrect--its just a flat piece of vinyl stapled and folded onto the foam/pan, and the foam had been re-shaped. so that's gonna need to be redone.

9 handlebars have been re-angled to more accurate positions. Grips need to be replace with original style yet, not the thick foam&chrome.

10. Supposedly new battery won't hold a charge, so gotta find out if it's really new, or if I have a drain somewhere other than the clock (which does run)

There's loads of stuff to do, but once the tank is done, I'll be able to at least feel like I can be seen in public on it.

Right now the bike looks pretty good.....of course, that's because I took the seat off, the rear cowl off, the tank off..................

Dave

 

Well now, much of the paint and bondo is off the right side of the tank except for around the front, and down on the 'wing'. Virtually all of the bondo was unnecessary. I found a couple more small dings and only one larger dented area....that's only about an inch wide and a few inches long. I am starting to suspect that whoever did this was trying to build it thick enough the make sharp lines rather than the nice smooth contour lines of the metal.....that in addition to an amateur bondo-job covered with incredibly thick paint.

dave

 

Wow, kinda sounds like my project.. You got any tank pictures(before and after?) I want to straighten up my tank, but im no mechanic or artists. So ill stick to repainting my tank badges at the moment

 

The only 'before'pic is on the bike in my gallery....the black/red 900. I didn't take any 'during'pics cuz the paint was SO messy it wouldn't have looked like anything other than black smear all over. I'll take a pic of the bare metal tank tomorrow though!

Dave

 

Man Dave.....I'm sorry, I really had no idea it was THAT bad!! and The battery IS BRAND NEW I promise... I have to stop reading your post you're making me feel terrible. No hard feelings I hope I really did tell everything I knew and honestly.

 

Don't take anything personally. I'm not commenting on anything you said. I'm just calling the shots as I am going through it. We both saw that it was a "diamond in the rough" and needs some work. No complaints here. I'm just trying to give a report on how things progress, that's all. I' haven't had a chance to get the bare tank pic done cuz my camera batteries are being recharged. I'll try to photoshop it or something to show where the bondo was and where it only needs to be. I gotta say,though, there's no wonder you had fuel problems with the petcock....there's so much junk in the tank that it probably clogged everything up quick. I'm going to try the electrolytic tank cleaning method and see how that works out.

I gotta couple other quick questions to ask you, but I'll pm you on those....nothing bad, don't panic.

Dave

 

missing rear grab bar has been replaced!

Dave

 

Dave you get my PM about the stock exhaust system on ebay?

 

yeah, I had already seen that.

Dave