New addition to the RobbieRobot stable.

Here are some pics of my latest purchase. She's a 1981 XJ650 4K0. She's been road registered until very recently but she's only running on three cylinders at the moment. As soon as I get some time I'll investigate. Purchase price £485 GBP.

 

Another project watch out!

 

Well, I think I've struck lucky with this one. On investigation I found that number one spark plug was sparking correctly so I did a compression test and got No1 140psi, No2 130psi, No3 130psi, No4 132psi. So next step was to spray some carb cleaner into the open throat of No1 carb with the top cover, diaphragm and slide removed whilst the engine was running. Sure enough the engine started to run on four cylinders. After removing the carb rack and No1 carb float bowl the problem presented itself to me when one of the jets literally dropped out of the float bowl. It just needed screwing back in. I then took the time to tension the cam chain and once the carbs were back on she was soon running sweetly on all four. I think this one could be a prime candidate for a good restoration job.
I entered my Café Racer at the Lotherton Hall Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club show yesterday and I was surprised to find there were no examples of any Yamaha XJ. There were however, some beautifully restored bikes on show and my Café Racer was much admired and photographed. I found this footage of the event on YouTube if anyone is interested. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e_-rBdcSVh0

 

score!

nice vid, I saw your bike near the Suzuki sign long about 3:00 in, cool stuff!. that 6 cylinder Honda was pretty cool! that has to be all kinds of go!

CN

 

I snook a ride round the block when I finished nightshift this morning and she seems to go well. I'm definitely considering lining this one up for a resto.

Well spotted CN, pity the cameraman didn't get a full shot of the Café Racer. He seemed to favor faired bikes. There were some superb 70s restorations.
I think that stunning Honda CBX won the 'specials' category.

 

How many miles on the mill ?

 

The odometer reads about 45K and all of the previous MOT certificates support this.

 

The youtube vid reminded me of the college car park (But we all had bikes!) when I was 17. Of course, nobody had a bike newer than 3 years old and my trusty RD250 was on second oversize pistons with only 10,000 on the clock! They had a hard life.
That XJ certainly looks like it should be on the "Yamaha" line next year.

 

Nice looking bike!

 

Can't wait to see how this one turns out.

 

NIce find Robbie - where from ? If I wasn't a 550 man I think i'd be quite jealous !

Best - J

 

A confirmed case of MAS if I ever saw one. (Motorcycle Acquisition Syndrome.) But you're certainly not alone.

Good strike! It certainly does look to be a prime candidate for a resto. What appear to be the original paint and graphics seem to be very close to perfect; if you can "save" those in the process it'd really be worth it.

 

Nice result, As Seen on your local Auction site!

My Bike has went quite the reverse of yours. :cry:

Good luck with the New Project.

 

Maybe the year after haha

 

Definitely in need of some TLC

 

Definitely a case of MAS. Ha ha

I'm enjoying riding my Cafe Racer too much to start on it anytime soon. 4000 miles on the clock and counting.
There's a dent in the tank on the LHS otherwise she's good.

 

Sorry to hear you're having problems. Good luck with the spark plug thread surgery.