New Member w/ a '81 XJ750

Greetings!

I just took possession of a 1981 XJ750 being offloaded by a graduating senior at the local diploma mill. He locked the front wheel late last season and decided he'd had enough. Fortunately the case savers did their job, and unfortunately the rider took most of the damage.

I joined up to learn as much as I can about the bike. I've named it "Tina", as it looks like a reject from a Mad Max movie. One previous owner painted it with truck bedliner paint and there is so much grime on it nothing shines anywhere. The brakes need attention and it needs a rear tire. All the electronics seem to work fine. The carbs are clogged, but when I can get it to idle it sounds OK.

I need a right side cover as well, but judging by the prices they are commanding on Ebay vs the left side, there must be an issue with them.

Time to research, read, and lurk. Cheers!

 

Where are you? Find a motorcycle scrapyard for the cover, ebay will be much more.

Good luck with that paint, maybe with some pictures of the bike some of the excellent painters on the site could give you some tips.

As for cleaning the carbs, that's a right of passage. It's like Yamaha's way of hazing in new riders.

Stephen.

 

I'm in the Lake Champlain corridor. Nearest serious yards are either Montreal or southern New Hampshire. Montreal yards rock, but with the dollar in the crapper used parts from north of the border are alot more expensive than what they used to be.

As for the paint, if it wasn't for the tankslapper damage, it would look OK. First things first, make it run, then pretty.

The carbs will come. I need a manual first to wrap my brain around the brake/anti-dive units to deal with the sticky front brake.