81 xj550 project

Well, looks like the bike is gone by next weekend. Just had a guy look at it and he's in love. I'll drop it off at his place next Sunday. For that kind of money, I'm happy to be the delivery service

 

I don't think even Harley imagined that....

 

Decided to keep Major Pita for a bit longer. She seems to run better every time I take her out. Turning into a fun bike.
Also, there is a bike show in September I wanted to take her to and also wanted to get nice pics taken at some point. You know, the lady-bike themed ones.

 

So what you Really mean is…

The deal fell through, Huh?

 

Well, yes and no. Last weekend's guy did fall through but I wasnt so sure anyway. A: bike is fun (rode it every day in early morning this week) and looks cool and B: that guy in particular was new to riding. Another thing is that I am not yet done with her. Still have to do details, add the neutral light back on etc.
Even thinking about swappable tank and tail to change looks if I like.
And it bothered me not to have had pics of girls on the bike. And the show. For 4 years I have been trying to get a bike ready for that show. Now I finally have one.
On the other side, the money would have been nice.

 

BTW, here is a video of the bike when hot and idling high. Not as bad as the first time I reported, but still a bit high.

 

Sounds like about 2 grand, She does came back down right away after the throttle blip though. Can you back the idle speed screw out a bit? Won't take much. I forget whether you have a tach or not, but if you back it down and start to hear the primary chain slap then bump it back up until that goes away and you'll have the idle set.

 

Not sure if taking some out will cause issues when bike is cold/warm but will definitely try. Just need to figure out how not to burn my fingers.
And no, don't have a tach, but can easily hook up the original one for testing. If bike is warm, what should the idle be? Around 1200 if I remember correctly?

 

Well, usually the label on the side cover says 1050, but really you have to find what works best for you... My bikes like to idle best around 1100 or so, but my 700 idles best right around 900-950

 

^ that.

 

Ok. I will play with the adjustment and see if I can bring her down a bit. Thanks guys.

 

Probably in manual somewhere but when do you adjust idle? Warm or hot engine? There seems to be a slight difference, at least when looking at the behavior of my bike.

 

I do both..... Find out where it likes to be cold, then fond out where it likes to be hot.....then try to find the best happy medium that I can live with.

 

Ok. So it's really playing around and finding the sweet spot.
And why is it 100 degrees again today?
This heat is not bike friendly at all. Not even to work on them. And I have so many things i want to do...

 

The heat is far worse for you than it is for the bike.
Painting the house is taking forever. I have to stop around 10 AM, or the paint will dry before it even hits the siding.

 

Can imagine. Best time to work these days is between 5 and 9 in the morning.

 

Quickie: how long do fork springs last?
I didn't rebuild my forks, just new fluid. There are no leaks so I didn't see a reason to disassemble them.
I feel like the front could be a bit stiffer and I think the bike doesn't fully come up sometimes. When taking off after a stop and there is less weight on the front, the bike comes up by maybe half an inch.
Nothing concerning, just wondering.

 

They last a long time.... All my bikes still have them in them

 

Thanks, thought so. And it had good pressure when trying to squeeze them back into the shafts to put the cap on after the fluid change.

Possible that because of the riding position, it gets more weight than what they were designed for? Just throwing ideas out there.

But again, nothing important, just trying to learn more.

See, now I'm going into all those little details on the bike since there is nothing major going on anymore

 

Careful... you just might reconsider selling it... heh...