81 xj550 project

Update pic from paint guy. primer is on. Also got word that my custom seat is done and was shipped today.

 

He's still fixing the small scuffs that the primer made visible.

 

seat pan came out great! can't wait to see it on the bike.

 

Tail light and turns

 

Seat came in

 

Your suspicion is not at all likely.
The first time you had it running did you let it get up to operating temp? How about the second time?

 

Thanks for replying. I opened a separate thread for this where all of it points to not yet having carbs synced.

Both times it only ran for like 5 mins, so from a warm up point of view there is no difference.

 

Getting there...

 

what exhaust/mufflers are those?

 

Not sure, they were on bike when I got it.
I always thought they were original, I guess not.

 

There should be stampings on the underside, or backside of the mufflers to tell you who made them.

 

Slick! I like it.

Gary H.

 

A shame that the pics show the bike in too yellow. It's actually more towards slight orange and better looking in person. The first pic shows the real color pretty close.

And a tip for future: always have all part painted at same time with same paint mix. There is a slight difference in shades which, unfortunately, is noticeable. But the painter, who used to build bikes, loves my bike and agreed to repaint if I want.

 

Finally finished moving and can begin to focus on my bike(s) again. The KZ650s as well as the Honda CB750 are sold and I finally have some room in my garage again.
I dropped off the tail for a repaint. It appears as if the color was right but not enough layers were put on.
I am going to change my current vacuum petcock to a gravity one and finally managed to contact Len for some final parts, like shorter clutch able as well as a new throttle cable.

While I am waiting on the above mentioned parts, I think I am going to tear down my other project bike and start the clean up process there. I hope it is less involved as I am not doing any mods there. Just back to original. It's a 85 Kawa GPZ550. Cool bike.

 

Nice build dude, it looks great!! I'm in the process of figuring out the frame layout for my build and I was wondering if you had any advice for me. I want to chop the back and weld on a hoop, did you purchase yours or make it? Do you have any more pics of where you cut your frame? I have a pretty good idea of where I want to cut mine but want to be sure before I start chopping!