Interesting chat at the bike shop

I was at my favorite local bike shop the other day. I had brought in the tank from my project bike to see if it was rust or varnish. The bike had been sitting for 14 years with gas in it and I was hopeful.

The guy I normally talk to wasn't at the counter, but a co-worker (possibly the owner?) was there. He said that it was a waste of money working on this bike. It will cost more money than I know to get it working again. I should just dump the bike and get a new one.

I bought the bike in question (83 Nighthawk-gasp!!) off of CL with the intention of getting it running again (after sitting for 14 years) for as little money as possible. Or just part it out if I couldn't get it to run.

The way that the guy tore into me was almost comical. Here I am, money in hand, ready to buy stuff to get the bike rolling and he was pretty much calling me an idiot. It was almost laughable.

This was my first time ever being told that these old bikes weren't worth it.

Some people....

When I get the bike running, I am going to go back to that shop. Under the pretext of needing the twit to help me with something on the bike, I am going to bring him outside and then point at the bike and say: "Remember that bike you said was not worth it? Well, after putting $x into it (Currently I am at less than $100), I think that it was $500 well spent. Don't you?"

 

I have heard that more and more lately. But if you look around (ebay, craigslist etc) there are more, older bikes being fixed up and sold then ever before. Sometimes, the person is asking more than what the bike originally sold for! (It's an antique now) Old bikes (late 70's early 80's) are being seen on the road again since people are putting in the wrench time to save money on gas. My XJ was a $700 deal from a coworker that didn't want to mess with it. It's only not worth it, if you think it's not. Some of us love old bikes. The style, the lack of plastic, the ride position, nostalgia, etc. I've always been in love with the 80's styling, ever since my first 81 XS650. I agree with you on going back to give him the raspberries on the bike "not being worth it" when you're done. I doubt he'll care but it's a good feeling anyway.

 

If You can fix it yourself you might come out pretty good. But if you've got to pay someone else to do it you probably would not do well on the final price. There are a lot of things that generally go bad from sitting and if it sat outside thats even more stuff that is going to be bad. You can dump a lot of money into just getting the carbs cleaned up not counting any other issues.

Sean

 

The only thing I will hire out will be replacing the tires. That is unless I get up the nerve to try it myself.

I bought this project as something to keep me busy when I don't have my kids. Or when I don't have a date. Which, is usually most of the time.

And, to make a bit of money.

Luckily, it was garaged and not stored outside.

I am doing this as cheaply as possible. Doing the work myself unless I absolutely can't do it any other way. So far, all I have put into the bike is a battery ($30), new plugs ($10), oil and filter ($15), and fuel filter ($3). And, I only did this after confirming it wasn't frozen, it spun and it had spark. Otherwise, I would have stripped it down and sold it on E-Bay. The side covers alone have gone for over $100/pair.

I figure that sealing the tank will cost about $50.

New tires will run about $100. Combined.

Mounting $70.

Carb Kit will be $50 to $100, if needed.

The rest of the stuff I either have or will be using on my other bikes. Carb Cleaner. Brake Cleaner. Tools. Battery Charger. Stuff like that so I am not counting it towards the bike per se.

And, if I can get by without touching the carbs, I will. As long as I can get it to run.

 

I applaud your frugality and would encourage you to tackle the tire mounting yourself. I tried it for the first time a few weeks ago and I'm not going to tell you it was super-easy, but I got it done and I'm pretty sure it made me a better person. :wink: That, and the extra 70 bones in your pocket, can go a long way. Even the balancing is pretty simple when you get down to it.

The only tools I needed for the job were a couple of rounded-edge flat pry-bars for tire-irons, some dish soap, a piece of threaded rod that I happened to have in the garage (for balancing) and some stick on wheel weights. A total of $4.85 spent, which was for the weights.

 

Local independant bike mechanic near me could not be more helpfull, i was chatting about getting him to check valve clearances and was quite suprised when he said he still had all the required shims and if i wanted to try it for myself he would let me borrow them and the required tools and just pay for any shims used. Also main Yamaha dealer has been great getting any parts i need.

Guess i have been lucky when you hear stories about dealers and bike mechanics not wanting to touch old bikes.

 

defiantly do the tires yourself, get some tire irons and a helper and you'll change your third tire in 15 minutes
unless you really need to line the tank, save your money
you might get a perfect job that lasts forever but if it starts coming off your in a world of poop it just ain't worth it unless it's necessary
i'd rather see a little rust than a cover up

 

I'd highly recommend changing your tires yourself. I just did my first set a couple of weeks ago and from taking the wheels off the bike to changing them and putting them back on it took me 4 hours. I'd never done anything that intensive before and it went fairly smooth. My biggest tip, use soapy water to lube the tires on and off the rims, and don't be froogle with it! My dealer quoted me $5-10 a wheel to balance them. Not bad from what I've hear around here.

 

I'd love to do tires myself but I can dget them mounted and balanced for $20 for the pair. Even my time is worth more than that.

 

My bike sat in my barn for over 8 yrs and I got it going by myself with lots of help here. I changed the oil, filter, plugs, battery, brake fluid, and cleaned and tuned the carbs. Runs great now. I just had new tires put on it cost me $120 for the tires, mounted and balanced. The mounting and balancing was $20. I had them put on at a local tire/repair shop, just ask around to see who does motorcycle tires. Stay away from that bike shop, the owner sounds like a real piece of work...

 

Its tough to beat a real tire machine made to do Motorcycle tires. It only takes about 5 min per tire to dismount and mount back on with out screwing up your rims. Tire irons are ok for steel rims. I prefer to have my wheels done by a machine. My hat is off to you folks who can do it with out nicking up the aluminum. Bead leaks blow big time and I really dislike putting air in every time I want to ride. So that I will leave to my favorite MC shop. The guys over there ride XS Yamahas. The one mechanic has a 650 Heritage Special with a few mods it sounds and looks great. The other guy has a XS 400 and it is real nice too. They are great guys and I'll trust them anytiime to change my tires.

The other part about working on your bike is "its your bike" You can not pay enough money get the TLC you can give your machine. You learn alot and is very satisfying to get it done and save those hard earned bucks. It can also be the most flustrating to try to figure out some of the glitches these bikes can present. But once you master those problems its as good as it gets. As far as people that tell you to send your bike to the scrap heap. Tell them that its too bad that they have such a sour opinion of truely classic motorcyles. Anyone can go take a loan and buy a new machine. It takes a lot of ambition to restore and keep these XJ's as they should be. I'm not from that throw away generation. I'm glad to have what I own and love my bikes. Besides I really don't like Harleys and you don't see any grey haired guys cruzin on Ducati's.
The last but not least part of all of this is tracking down those parts. I personaly like to go to the bike bone yard, Shopping on e-bay and craigs list. Its just a good past time for me anyway.

 

8 yrs ago, when i started riding my 750 midnight maxim, there were very few older bikes on the road. now, they are everywhere. i live in harley country(20mi from a harley plant), and they looked at me like i was dirt. now, they wave all the time. back then it bothered me, now i could care less. kinda funny how times have changed. when i look in the bike ads, all i see are hd's for sale, no jap bikes. as soon as one goes up for sale, it's gone. i have a friend who just bought a 74? yamaha 200cc 2-stroke street bike. been in a garage the whole time, has 1500 mi on it. it looks like it came off the dealers floor. he's having a blast with it. warms my heart