New 1982 xj650

Hello, I recently just bought my first motorcycle this weekend and it happened to be an xj650, for the past couple days I've just be looking through the forum to see how many small maintenance and mods are done. With that said I've started digging into the bike. I pulled of the gas tank, petcock, carbs and other small rusty pieces to try and clean them up.

I've never done any big mechanical projects as this before so you can say I'm a first timer and any suggestions are greatly appreciated.

So I have a couple question, I'm going to attach pictures numbers corresponding to the questions:

1: My gas tank has a very small amount of rust in it, the bike has been sitting since '09. I can rub it off with my finger so is there anything I can use to flush it out to give it a nice clean?? Also there is a small orange needle inside the tank, looks like a fuel filter I'm assuming it goes with the petcock.

2: After that I'd like to repaint the tank, what would be the best method to remove all the paint I'd like to take it down to the bare metal. Any way that would be best, with out having to sandblast?

3: I took the carbs off so I can clean them they also have some rust on the top of the bowls what is the best way to remove it? I also plan on giving them a good cleaning, I got a manual with the bike so I'll refer to that but an good tutorials on here would be greatly appreciated.

4: The chrome on some of the engine parts is chipping/bubbling what is the best way to deal with it/make it look nicer?

5: After I started tearing into the bike I noticed one of the engine covers on the side has broken off, is this an issue?? And where is the best place to get a replacement for it?

 

Oh boy, where to start? 8) Best advice, find a GOOD friend who has a LOT of experience with bikes from this timeframe. You've got your hands full.

 

1 and 2: Use an orbital sander on the tank to remove the paint. Start with a 60, 80, or even 100 grit depending on the paint and work your way up to a super fine grit into the 1000's (pending preference of how nice you want it to come out). The finer you go then the nicer the finish.
3. Not sure about the "best" way to go about the rust, but make sure you have a service manual and not just the owners manual. If it's going to be your baby then get the service one.
4. The chrome, if it's real bad, may be best stripping it down and getting it re chromed or painted. Chrome is not really "repairable" that I know of (would love to hear if someone knows a way).
5.Your casing is busted where the right engine cover goes. That is why it is busted off. I have engine covers for you, but it doesn't look like it has anything to attach to unless you epoxy it or something. Your tank does not look that bad at the bottom as far as rust. Riding season is about to begin so you better hurry up. It's not an issue that it is missing other then cosmetically and dirt will build up in there. Just make sure nothing damages that black part because the crankshaft is right behind that.

PM me if you need any parts. I'll hook you up to get you going.

 

Anybody ever try flushing the tank with vinegar and salt? or muriatic acid??
I've heard the both work for minor, which is what I have, looks much worse in the photos than it is. Vinegar seems to be much cheaper, and from the look of some videos on youtube really does work wonderfully. Of coarse you have to neutralize the acid after your done.

LE: I have a Haynes service manual for the bike, I've skimmed over the stuff I have planned to do for right now, and I'll do my best. I'm gonna try an get it back together asap, but I truly wanna clean it up as much as possible. Might be a while before I'll be riding but should be a good experience.

 

that tank rust isn't bad, i'am starting a new thread about some new to me stuff i tried on rusty stuff.
that cover is the worst, if you get a cover you can try to build up JBweld to fill in the missing area but the cases split there so be careful. the fuel valve has to come off to put that filter back on. but it has to come off to derust the tank anyway.
hardware store paint stripper will make short work of the paint on the tank.
after a second look at the rusty tank, maybe just forget about it, it's not bad at all

 

you're about in the same boat as me dan, just got my first bike, been ripping it down. not as in as much neglect as yours it looks, but still needs it's share of work. What i've ending up doing is completely dismantling the bike, down to the frame, and concentrating on one or two things at a time as i try to get it back together. It was a bit overwhelming for me to look at the thing as a complete object of non inherent existence. This way i have the things that can wait in their corner, right now i just finished painting the frame, today i'm trying to re-build rear brakes, getting a new rear tire, re-filling forks with oil, then both tires are going back on, from there i can look at getting the engine squared away. So far looks like i just need new shims and a valve cover gasket, which i already have. minus the shims, maybe today.

for your gas tank question, you don't have to take all the paint off. I know a lot of people do, but i used to paint cars for a living, and a basic rule is, so long as you scuff it up real good, sand out imperfections, be sure that all remaining paint is feathering out when you sand it and not just flaking, you can most definitely paint over it. bondo for big dents, top coat (green/blue bondo) for small nicks and to fill in pits over reg bondo, and high build sandable primer over everything. high build primer is most def gonna save you a ton of time and it's a pleasure to work with.

for the inside, they make a bunch of stuff you could try, i remember using some kind of milky stuff as a kid on my three-wheeler's gas tank, it coated it all, to a almost rubber/ceramic finish. mine was rusted pretty bad, much worse than what you have pictured, that stuff worked great, but it would not be petcock friendly.

for me my gastank is one of the last things i'm focusing on.

letitride is right on about chrome being non-repairable. something small like carb parts, hey no big deal to sand it out real nice and repaint, might need high temp tho. For the engine though, i'de say don't paint it. Just because if it doesn't work out, it bubbles, or flakes, or you don't like it, good luck trying to get it off in all those nooks and crap. I vote just clean it up best you can. engine side covers are a different story though.

if ya ever wanna bounce ideas around hit me up, donno how far into it you are but maybe we can help eachother out and be up and riding by this summer

 

Ground: Yeah I plan on doing one thing at a time. At first I'm just cleaning it up a little bit, like the carbs and petcock, changing fluids and brakes and other minor stuff and I'm gonna make sure it is rideable for the time being. Then I'll focus on appearance, like you I plan on taking everything off stripping the frame and everything. What I really wanna do to the tank is strip it all of paint and then just clear coat the meat, I kinda like the industrial look.

So today I got the fuel pipe/filter from inside the gas tank cleaned the petcock, and well those little pipe things wont stay in snug in the petcock which I'm assuming means it time to replace them. I saw they are available through Chacal. Anyone know best place to get them/what they are exactly called?

 

Best place to get the petcock parts is through Chacal. Since you have the petcock apart you will need a full rebuild kit. Here is a link to how to rebuild it.

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=25058.html