A rant to all PO!

Well, just picked up another XJ550.

This thing looked clean, was cheap and ... well I brought it home. For a few hundred dollars more I would of had a clean running bike.. but I like issues or so I think

I have never seen such MANGLED up carbs! All jets are stripped, thick coating of smeared crap all over... ugh its depressing working on it.

So here is rant to all POs who cheaped out or hacked at bikes, cars, whatever before the wonderful invention of GOOGLING answers.

Otherwise, cheers to the 550 motor, love that darn thing.

 

PO(s)

 

NEVER TRUST A PO!!!! Unless he's on this site!

 

My personal favorites are incorrect fastener substitution; and a gallon of oil in the sump (not gas-polluted; just had exactly 4 quarts of oil in it.)

Oh, and the one PO that was riding the bike with jellied brake fluid. He rode it to my house; it took me 4 months' work before I'd ride it myself.

 

Thats 1 of the reasons i do not buy bikes that have been apart you do not know what your gonna find. I know its hard on bikes this old but with carbs you can usually tell by the way they have been put back together stripped screw heads air cleaner boots not installed properly. More then likely if you see one where the screw heads stripped out and you see vice script crushes on it you have an idea whats inside

 

my XJ750 has 48000km on the clock..... and I reckon the air filter does too....

 

I've seen Air Filters much worse than that.

I changed one, once, that was choked by a Fungus growing on it.
There was the skeletal remains of a mouse in the airbox.

 

Well, the Seca is my first bike that I'm seriously working on, so I only have the stories from it. I've been keeping a list: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=3 ... art=0.html

Now, if you wanna talk used cars, I got enough stories for a week. My personal favorite, even though it's been many years, is this van I bought once. About a week after I got it it started smoking at lights something fierce. Every time I stop I would be enveloped in a cloud that made New Jersey take notice. Vans with the engine under a doghouse in the passenger compartment have a long oil fill tube. At the point that tube enters the valve cover there is a big rubber grommet. When I went looking I found that the grommet has been replaced by a glob of silicone somewhere between a big orange and a small grapefruit in size. Leaked like a sonofabitch right onto the header below, causing the oil to burn and produce the smoke. The funniest part is that the grommet is $3.99 at any parts store and maybe $5 from the dealer. The silicone had to have been three tubes or so, which at $4 a tube means the PO spent three times the money to do a crap job over what it would have taken to fix it properly.

 

while there's a rant about PO, I'll add another.

I took the ignition timing cover off the other day and there were only 3 bolts securing. Didn't think much of it until this morning.
Had a closer look and the bolt hadn't rattled out but had very nicely been snapped off virtually flush with the case.

out with the centre punch, drill and helicoils .... all fixed.