New bike+first oil change= Idiot PO

So bought another 81 xj650! Price was right $200.

Previous owner tells me they did an oil change and after bike would not start. They tell me that they cranked on it and the battery died eventually. Hooked it to a battery charger and cranked it again starter button got stuck and before they could pull the plug on the battery charger it burnt out the starter.
They planned on keeping it and getting a new starter this summer.

After an hour of trying to get this thing loaded. ( front brake locked up) get it home.
Take off the start bolts and try to pull it out no luck. Wiggle it a little bit and notice oil start to drip out. Put bolts back on and figure I should drain the oil cause they got it over filled.
Drain bolt won't budge.
Took a 2 foot long breaker bar and a 2.5 lb mini maul to finally break it free. (It seemed like it was never opened)
Oil starts too flow. Before I could even get around the bike my 5qt drain pan is over flowing. Put the drain bolt back in. Jacked it up on my motorcycle jack and let the oil drain into a five gallon bucket.
I called the previous owners and asked how they changed the oil. His exact words.

" take the top cover off and fill it till the oil stops draining into the engine"

I asked how do you change the oil filter he says:

"There isn't one but that hump on bottom of the motor is where you drain the oil"

He then gave me the run down on how to do an oil change on this bike ending with:

"Fill it with oil it can take 3 to 4 gallons then put the cover back on the engine"

If I wouldn't of drained at least three gallons out of it I would of thought this guy was just trying to f*** with me

Now hear comes my questions.
Should I try saving this bike? Is it even worth the time?
What would I need to check out?

I already know the carbs need cleaned pulled them off and they are full of oil.
He says it was his dad's bike before he died and all he has ever done was start it and rode it around the block. Then changed the oil. It only has 438.1 miles on it. Block number matches the frame almost no rust. Guys dad was the original owner.

 

Pull the plugs and see how much oil is in the cylinders, inspect the starter and see how badly they damaged it. Clean the carbs and make all of the bench adjustments and see if you can get it to run.
You paid $200 for a bike that has such low miles and potentially can be restored. I would say if its all there you have nothing to loose to try and get it running. Post some pictures I would like to see it.

 

My avatar is a pic of the bike after I started tearing it apart.
Isn't the prettiest thing but it has potential.
Switched the starter button which was broke for the horn button.
Threw in some new starter brushes, went to charge the battery and someone had twisted six paper clips together in place of that steel bar that goes between the battery and the starter solenoid. Got to figure out something for that.
Fresh oil and filter in it.
No side covers
Plugs soaked in oil
Cylinders coated in oil and a small pool of oil in each cylinder.
Good thing I got the house to myself this weekend. I keep updating

 

Much to sort out but I think you will get it up and running with some TLC and knowledge from this site.

 

omg

You can't script stuff like that.
Definitely one for the PO file.

With my limited knowledge it is scary to think of the pressure build up inside that motor with all of that oil . . . . however if the engine never fired then perhaps it is still good. such lows miles!

 

I've never heard of someone stupid enough to put 4 gallons of oil in a bike, I don't even put half of that in my GMC 1500.

 

if the po ever got it started the oil would have pumped out into the air box check there as well

 

If you have one already then you have a template. Imo rebuild it.

Rebuild the starter button switch.
Rebuild the horn button switch.
Rebuild the starter or rebuild a good used one (plenty available).
Replace the transfer clip from the + batt post to the solenoid (proper gauge wire with o-ring connectors on either end can be used for testing purposes).
Clean all electronic connections.
Use the battery from your other bike to test the starting system. If everything checks out proceed from there.

Gary H.

 

good deal, you got three gallons of oil for free

 

He filled it with enough oil that the engine could not possably turn over afterward.

What you have is a bike that has sat with the engine full of a fantastic anti-corrosion treatment.

I would go ahead and recomission the bike. Start by pulling the spark plugs and turning the engine over to pump any excess oil out of the cylinders (though most of it will have drained down past the rings by now since you already drained the engine). Be mindful that it will smoke quite a bit on startup, and for a few minutes therafter.

 

Honestly this site is the only reason I got my other one running. So that's a big thanks to y'all.
Carbs cleaned (I need to pull them apart and do a full rebuild)
Plugs changed
Used some 10 gauge wire to temporarily conect battery to solenoid
An old oil jug (cleaned out) to use as a gas tank. Gas cap lock has something in it key won't go all the way in.
New gas cap ordered
She fired up and ran rough for about 15 seconds before I shut her down. Didn't really Smoke.

 

Well at least it fired up even if it was for only 15 sec.

 

Alright
Fingers crossed none of the cylinders hyraulic locked. If it never ran after the oil, so far so good, but simply turning it over on an uncompressible cylinder-full of oil can bend a rod.

 

He can use a baby snot syringe with a piece of clear tubing attached to remove whatever oil he can then remove all the plugs and rotate the mill to blow out what's left. Like k-moe said it's going to smoke a little til it burns off the rest.

Gary H.

 

That is the funniest thing I've heard in quite sometime. How did you manage to not burst out laughing when he said this?

Did this guy star in the movie Idiocracy? Lucky for you that he didn't fill it up with 4 gallons of Brawndo (it's got electrolytes).

 

Please take pictures before you fix everything on this bike...........

 

So new battery and starter solenoid
But then my girlfriend come home early and pointed out some bad news.
The inside two carbs have some nice long cracks in the housings. I couldnt see them till I pulled the carbs back off. The cracks are so fine I can't get them to show up in picture with my shitty cell phone camera.
Looks like I'm going to be on the hunt for new carbs.
Might have to do a little more research on a two carb setup

 

Trust me it took everything I had not to lose it but I kind of figured if I did I wouldn't be getting any more info out of this guy

 

Almost forgot this guy must of found turn signal fluid cause left rear turn signal was full of something and lets just say that socket is rusted like crazy

 

Where exactly are the cracks located? It is very unusual for there to be any cracking in the aluminum carb bodies.
They may be shrinkage marks from the casting process, which will look like cracks, but aren't

 

They are cracks just delivered them to the local machine shop he is going to see if he can fix them.
Looks like someone hit each one with a hammer at some point

 

Definitely a prime candidate for worst PO ever.
It has been suggested (and it works) to use a hammer handle for leveraging the carbs back on . . . not the hammer head!

 

Well he was able to save the carbs. So they are currently soaking in pinesol bath to break up this fuel varnish.
I'm going to have to say the original owner know what he was doing. The carbs where rebuild recently just about everything is new inside.
He covered the mixture screws with silicone caulking(something I use to do with all my carbs) trust me it works.
Now onto valve shims. Anyone running a shim pool?
Almost forgot where is everyone getting those nifty little shim tools? Cause I sure need one

 

Start a conversation with Hogfiddles about your shim needs.

I use a length of insulated solid copper house wire to hold the valve open (bend a small "L" into the wire and fish it down the sparkplug hole and between the open valve ane the valve seat; then rotate the crank to close the valve), a small screwdriver to pop the shim free from the bucket, grab the shim with a retrieval magnet.

Chacal sells the valve bucket hold-down tool. It does work, but there is a technique to it. I find that it makes for a fine Christmas ornament myself.

 

Start a conversation with Chacal about the tool.

Gary H.

 

I bought a bucket hold-don tool from Chacal and couldn't get it to work--initially. So I went to the bend wire method and it worked. But being hard headed and curious, I decided to determine why the hold down tool wasn't working since it is the recommended tool by Yamaha. Looking at a diagram of how it was supposed to work I finally determined mine simply was not reaching the bucket. I scraped the paint off the bolt slot and took a small rat-tail file and took off just a little metal and now it works perfectly. If you try to file it as I did be careful to take off just enough so that it will catch the bucket and not the shim.

 

Search for BigFitz52 posts on the valve adjustment. One howto for the valves, one for the zip tie method. Enter this in a Google search : "valve adjustment site: xjbikes.com". Fitzie's threads are gold! We miss ye!

 

It's called "Blinker Fluid". Sounds like yours is due for replacement. Here's where you can buy some more---

http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?mai...9&products_id=22&zenid=uN7mrPSRDPUx6uFCjtPZD0

 

If it didn't come from you Dave I'd thought this is a joke.

 

Some people think it's a joke when the see it says that it can be used in any car..... But works just as well in a bike-- 12v is 12v. It even works in old tractors, and British bikes with Positive ground (even 6v !!!). + pole or - pole , doesn't matter.... It's BiPolar.

 

Man what would I do without you?
Now if I could find some aftermarket mirrors that would work I'd be about set

 

did we miss the disclaimer at the bottom of the page

"Copyright © 2015
This site is satirical in nature, and no advice, products, or any content should be attempted, replicated, or used by anyone ever.

check this page
http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=6&zenid=lKpJ4uBVRFCJiT8x8RmV-1

do you need a left handed screw driver or a wiper blade sharpener
http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=13&zenid=5UKMCm8qEu,d-DVvtwBvf2

great stuff

 

who could live without a 710 cap in their tool box
http://kalecoauto.com/index.php?mai...2&products_id=44&zenid=tslzcRbr64YwOUSln04yb2

 

You may laugh, but I DO have a left-handed screwdriver. I also have a left-hand adjustable wrench, and a metric adjustable wrench.

 

Sh*t! I got had one more time...