81 xj550 project

Yeah BUDDYY!!!!!!! Always an exciting moment the second they come back to life

 

Very true.
Smoked like crazy but that's ok.
I'll put a chain on next week and take it around the block. This should clear it up. But maybe I should go to DMV first and make it street legal.

 

Uh---yeah..... This IS New York. Lol

 

Well thinking about it, you're downstate----- up here you'd probably have no problem

 

Finally started to look into seat again.
Originally I wanted a hump kind of style but I never really liked that style anyway.
I was just playing around when I saw the tail of the recently purchased KZ650. And I love it. It needs some cutting, fiberglass in etc but it suits the bike perfectly.
Here a pic of the original fairing..


I cut almost an inch out and put it back together..




Before I continue with this one, I have to fiberglass a smoother transition to tank. It's done but is drying at the moment.
More to come.

The only "problem" is that I now wish the frame hoop was bent upwards. It is sticking out. Since I don't want to start cutting the frame again, I will just fiberglass it and put my tail light in that area. Difficult to explain but see below.

 

In case anyone wants to know what it looked like with hump, for ideas etc, here it is. I actually shaved off the top a little more after the pic was taken.
I used plumbing/sealer foam (comes in spray can) which is easy to shape with a knife after it is dry

 

Depending on how I like the finished product, I might cut off 2 inches in back and make it less "pointy". But so far I like it.

 

Finally managed to go to DMV today. Yay.

Bleeder kit and chain tool are on their way as well and should be here before weekend. Fiberglass process is slow but I take my time and do it bit by bit. And my long workdays don't help either.

Any good links about putting on a chain and brake bleeding for dummies would be appreciated.

 

Sloooow progress.
I put the chain on this morning and fixed my foot pegs. They were kind of "hanging". Turned out I only needed a wider bolt.
The brake and clutch foot lever went on as well. All that's left now is to fill up the front brake, figure out my shorty brake lever, finish the tail and finally hook up the tank. Still waiting for the fuel line to arrive.

I have been taking my time with my new tail fairing. A lot of fiberglassing but it is getting there. Once done, the paint job will set me back 400 bucks but it will be worth it. Also found someone to custom make a seat for me.

I think I will take the bike around the block today. Fingers crossed.

 

The seat will be where that wood thing is at the moment.



Work in progress...

 

Turns out that kawasaki kz650 side covers are an almost fit for the bike. Some cutting and maybe fiberglassing should do the trick.
It's a shame I have to ruin the pieces, but oh well, it's for a good cause

 

It'd be a little slower, but why not pull a mould from the Kawi covers and make some shiny new ones? You could modify the mould and end up with covers that don't have any repairs from being cut to fit.

 

Thought about it but too late

Sanded tail, comes out better than expected. Still minor things to fix.

 

Finished seat attachment. The tongue will slide into gap under tank mount and keep it from going sideways. Two bolts in the rear hold the entire seat down. I was lucky that i didnt even have to bend anything and the seat is not moving at all. Yay
The seat I am about to order will bolt right onto my fiberglass seat pan. No issues with clearance underneath as I raised everything anyway.
Today I am going to just clean up a bit. Sand everything down and hit it with a layer of fiberglass resin where needed. That's mostly the area that will be covered by the seat anyway, but I would still know it's there if I didn't do it.

 

My seat dimensions. As long as my butt doesn't grow bigger, I should be fine. Seating position at the moment is pretty good and enough room. I won't be able to slide back though. But it's not my sport bike, so it'll be ok.

 

Built brackets for rear turn signals. Not super pretty but good enough for now and mostly hidden anyway, especially once they are painted black.

 

Just got an update pic from the paint job guy. Yay..

 

Got a question:
First time I fired up the bike it idled smoothly.
Last weekend I started her up again on stand to shift through gears.
After that, it idled very high.
Since it was fine the first time, I am thinking that maybe it has something to do with the clutch/gears? I did remove the clutch cable but maybe something got stuck or did not shift back correctly? I have not replaced the clutch plates yet.
Is that a possibility?
I even removed throttle cable to make sure it doesn't keep the butterflies open.

 

My new plate came in today