Ikea 1984 XJ1100... some assembly required

You're doing an awesome job and having the time of your life in spite of every obstacle known to man biting you! Frustrating, but like you noted earlier, you now know pretty much every system on the bike inside-and-out. Congrats.

Now once you get out on the road with it, take it easy for a while, it's a monster bike and you can get in all sorts of trouble on it..........

 

A heat pump? Must be a stand alone one that only draws head from the water table? I know here in WI they are water and then LP or Natural Gas to bring up the BTU's. Either way, I know it sucks waiting for the garage to warm up during the cold season. I use a old stacked double barrel wood to bring mine up to temps. I have drop tarps in the area I work to hold in the the heat, no reason to heat the rest of the garage.

Them relays can be fun. Those must be the ones located under the rear of the gas tank and attached to the underside of the frame. Mine too needed some TLC and had to use them a while before they worked right. I don't know if you have tried the turn signals yet, but mine was the round relay left side by the battery that was weak or dirty inside. The more I worked with it the better it worked. Will be 50 here in WI today, but with the rds full of sand and salt, need to wait for some good rain showers.

 

I went through the whole thread and it reads a little like a script for a disaster movie, well one very specific to old motorcycles lol. I'm pretty happy with getting it running and down to the last few details, even the compressor committing suicide isn't such a big deal after some creative combinations of words directed at it. I've left it for a couple of months because it was just too cold to go out and fight with it. I've got a new motor on already so its just reset the governor and replace the pressure cut off switch when the new one shows up. I'm very excited to get this thing on the road but I agree Chacal, I'll be taking it easy. 1100 is a lot of bike! my riding buddy is brand new so I've got a good excuse to keep it slow and steady. This is my first liter+ bike, and looking at some YouTube videos these things are absolute beasts. I hope it'll have a nice soft ride, especially with the progressive susp. springs up front.

The compressor cleaned up pretty well and the garage doesn't smell like burnt insulation anymore, I had to cut the cage around the belts a bit to fit the new motor. Thank god for princess auto.

 

I got the heat pump from Costco, it's an air source unit. This one in specific:

https://www.costco.ca/danby-18,000-...ariable-speed-inverter.product.100980779.html

I installed the unit and head unit but hired an electrician for the wiring. It's not a total loss, we can probably get it put in the house somewhere. I think for next winter I'll have a propane furnace in the garage, I want more BTU's!!!

You called it Timbox, the relays under the tank! the ignition kill one is 100% failed closed with zero clicking when I tested and continuity all the time. The one for the starter circuit works but sounds funny so it's getting replaced as well. I took a quick look in the XJ4ever site for new relays but for $20 I've got some sealed "waterproof" aka splash-proof one on the way.

I read that it's suggested to scrap the original fuse box with the glass fuses and I think I'll do that. There are lots of inexpensive blade style fuse blocks available and that's one less headache. That may be a fair-weather project.

I did overhaul the turn signal switch and gave the internals a good clean and fresh dielectric grease and they're working like a charm.

I'm in the same boat as you with weather, here in Nova Scotia it was -7 deg c (19 deg f) and there's still snow on the grass so I've got some time.

 

On a slightly different topic is there a go to tool kit for under the seat? I don't have the one that came with the bike. Does anyone have any suggestions on what to carry in the way of tools while riding? any small parts? fuses for sure.

Also I'd like a windscreen, does anyone have any experience with adding one of the cheap generic ones?

 

Yes, but you probably already know, eventually you''ll have to encourage him to keep up.....

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/YCEJDonhGoY

 

Getting rid of the old glass fuse box is a must IMHO. I have mine mounted on the right side of the battery compartment, just above all the other stuff. Hoping it will tuck under the side cover okay. I don't have a right side cover yet. Nice on the work with the turn signal. I have not broken into the left bar switches yet, as they seem to be working okay. We are looking at a little better weather this week and up to 60F next Monday. I have a few road ready bike, might have to get one out.

As far as tools, that is your call. Even finding a old OEM kit on ebay as long as it is not an arm and a leg. Once most metric bikes have had a good refresh and good shakedown ride, tires are my biggest worry on ride. A plug kit and some way to get air back in a tire.

 

The new relays showed up today and they are quite a bit bigger! but I really like the idea of waterproof. I did a quick design on tinkercad and came up with a soft mount and printed it up in TPU. It's flexible but stiffer than rubber. I tried a test fit on the bike and they do fit but will need to be removed if the carbs come out again. The relay holder doesn't easily pop on the mounts on the bike, I might need to make the slot a bit wider. I also made mine a fair bit thicker so it shouldn't break.

As a prototype I'll call it not too bad. I'll probably make a version 2 with a little more clearance in the mount slot.

 

Very nice! I've never tried printing with TPU, but obviously would be very useful. Those little buggers are always breaking.

 

Thanks Dan!

Here's a link to the .STL on thingieverse and the relays on Amazon in case anyone else want to do this. This is the Version 2 with a slightly wider slot to fit on the bike.

https://www.thingiverse.com/thing:6969999

https://www.amazon.ca/dp/B0BZYRLTGN?ref=ppx_yo2ov_dt_b_fed_asin_title

 

So today I was back in the garage. I finish up with a big win, a probable win and a miss.

Big win, the compressor is back in action!! I got the new pressure switch installed and that was the problem, it cycles properly and even the pressure release is working. I upgraded and got a decently reviewed one and the install was straight forward. I'm going to play with my sandblaster tomorrow to celebrate!

Probable win, the relay is installed of the ignition kill circuit, however it's untested because of the loss. It took a bit of time with me double checking then triple checking to make sure the right wires go on the correct terminals.

Loss, I replaced the stock fuse block but I didn't really think about it and added a powered compact block, when I turned the key I let the smoke out of the new block, oops. Oh well, minor screw up, I've ordered some sealed individual fuse holders, un-powered. Live and learn. It's not the solution I wanted but will work fine.

I had hoped to be ready to seal it up this weekend, but I'll settle for progress. I'm still on track for riding this spring, the snow is still on the lawn so I've got some time.

 

I had a good day in the garage!

The new fuses are in, it's ugly as hell but functional, I ended up with loose, individual holders not the block I wanted, but I want the damn thing working, inspected and on the road. I'll take ugly.

With that done the rest of the electrical checked out, signal lights, horn, headlight hi/low,start circuit. The front brake light switch is good, the rear is iffy. I'll need to figure that out. The start kill circuit is again acting up, for now I've got it unplugged again. Good enough.

I fired it up and got the carbs balanced, big check mark.

I got the fork and shock air pressure set. one more check mark.

On the minus side I have a flat spot on the throttle at about 3000-ish RPM. I dd a quick google and I see this is a known thing, I'll look into the fix tomorrow.

Sometime last year I removed the octopus and tossed it in the parts bin. Included in the pile of bits and pieces of were 2 different sets of Petcocks. 1 set vacuum activated and one simple on/off set. I put the vacuum ones on the tank but they interfere with the air-box. I don't love the idea of constant flow but I might give them a go until I can find a lower profile set of vacuum ones.

I am ridiculously close to being ready to ride this thing.

 

I had a very productive day. The bike is off the lift. I fattened up the idle mixture by about 1/8 a turn on the carbs and that was enough to get rid of the flat spot around 3000 rpm. With that gone I switched the petcocks out for the manual ones, they fit without sticking on the airbox. Next I set the idle, checked the tire pressures and then went to work looking for the problem with the rear brake, brake light switch. The switch was faulty with random resistance so I swapped it for the one on the parts bike. Problem solved. I got the tank mounted, the seat on and took it of the hoist. With nothing obvious needing attention I was out of excuses. I found my gear and jumped on for the test drive.

It's not perfect, the bike does not accelerate as hard as I thought it should, it almost feels a little boggy. I think the clutch plates are dragging as the shifter takes more effort than I remember previous bikes I've owned. The front brake lever need a ton of effort and hardly applies. I've got brake, battery and fuel warnings lit for the "computer" So I've got stuff to keep working on. That's the "work in progress" stuff. On the plus side IT RUNS!!!!!!! It idles fine, it drive fine, the combo front/rear brake stuff works perfectly. It's comfortable and easy on the butt. I drove it 5 km to the gas station and filled up then rode back, aside from the stuff I listed above it's working fine.

At this point I'm going to fix the obvious stuff, the front brake issue, and look at what's setting off the computer, I tested the battery and charging circuits and they're fine, 14V when running. so it's in the monitoring stuff. I think I'm going to put some Km's on it before I try screwing around with the carbs and looking at the clutch dragging, I think this thing sat for a couple of decades so it just might need some run time to get everything moving like it should. I'm on track to get it on the road for real and enjoy the summer.

 

That is a loud tick.

 

Nice work. I am with @Robert Strumbell with that tick. Once you are ready to look at the valve spec you might find they need a little tlc.

As for that front brake. I know what you mean, the MC only operates the left front brake and well, you would think it would have more distance to move when you try to brake? I have been busy with other things, but with the weather finally looking like spring, I hope to get motivated and get my 1100 on the road.

 

Hi Robert and Tim,

I agree the tick is pretty impressive. I have very little desire to ever take the valve cover off again, the 4-5 reps I got in fitting and re-fitting shims left a sour taste in my mouth. that said I know I have to go back in but it can wait for a bit.