'95 XJ600 - New horse in the stable (Pic Heavy)

Re: New horse in the stable (Pic Heavy)

I can def see that, I have never ridden on one of thoes xj600s but they just look like they ride smoother from all of the videos. They look much lighter than the ex500 to.

 

Re: New horse in the stable (Pic Heavy)

LOL!!! Must start thread about how many of us play WoW!!!

 

Re: New horse in the stable (Pic Heavy)

I have played it all, but was mainly a swg fan. I belive owning and building bikes evens me out a bit. That way I am not a nerd. I am just normal.

 

Re: New horse in the stable (Pic Heavy)

Couldn't have said it better lol

As for this project, the tank is almost done. The brushed aluminium Yamaha badges will do great.

Right now, I'm working on a carb holder for checking the float levels off the bike. Pictures soon!

 

Re: New horse in the stable (Pic Heavy)

OK

Since people get their yarbles more excited about pods than checking float levels, maybe this will dull your pain if you have a Seca II and you're apprehensive about properly maintaining your gasatory floatation.

Don't get me wrong. Floats are a pain. I hate adjusting them. But with this carb holder it's a little easier to keep them stable and work on them without having to put them on your bike every time.

I'm glad they changed the orientation of the Seca II carbs -- air direction and level. In the holder, they're sitting just as they would be on the bike. Yamaha, I forgive you for the ten less horsepower and 25mm valve shims.

Nothing like PVC jabbing the back of your legs while going down the highway. The police around here will pull you over for "having protruding objects from the vehicle without proper red flags." And no, the Ninja tire isn't bald, it's a race slick with chicken strip wet weather treads.


Since I'm no PVC slicing expert, the Foredom made a mess and uneven cuts for me.


Initially I tried the 1" pipe in some old booties I had, but it was unstable and unsatisfactory.


Instead, I put the carb shaft in 1" connectors -- which really measure something like 1 5/8ths or something like that. They're called 1" because they're connectors for pipe that is 1" inside diameter. Can you tell I'm a world class plumber? Actually the nice fellow at Lowes told me this and I went +1 in plumbing knowledge. Anyways, the 1" connectors are almost big enough to get on the carbs. I had to sand just a little bit of the inside to get it to twist on the carb.

And yes, like a numbskull I only got two end caps. But you can see how it's connected. Yea.....YEA that was on purpose.


It's very stable. Stupid simple, but it makes things easier.


And here it will sit until I clean off my workbench that is filled with other carbs I have yet to finish. Woe is me.


Now just get your clear tube, run some gas from an auxiliary tank, and adjust those floats. Maybe I'll just make a video.

I should have some pics of the finished tank next post.

 

Re: New horse in the stable (Pic Heavy)

Floatacious nonsense part 2

I have the tank sitting up on top of a 5-foot ladder


There's the rigg


Petcoque on prime


And the initial results....low. Disastrously low.


The higher line is where it should be, the lower line is where it was.


Same case for the other bowls


Off comes the cover


You can't get the float pin out on the right side because it hits the bowl. Just remove the emulsion tube needle nut with an adorably cute little wrench like mine. Don't use sockets and a wratchet wrench on anything brass or the Yamaha gods will haunt you in your sleep.


Poke the pin out with a claper pip


Here's where the tang is. To get the fuel level in the bowl higher, looking at it like this the tang needs to go......down.


Down like that. Let's give this a whirl.


Alright, at this point I turn the petcoque to prime, gas starts to fill the tube. And then it doesn't stop. And then there's gas coming out of the overflow. And now there's a puddle on the ground and I'm yelling dirty words.

I opened up the bowl again and bent the tang back a little from where it initially was. Well, that's the right direction.


The tang get bent a little more, and beauty! That's close enough for me, because the line where it needs to be is at 4mm of the recommended 4-6mm.


Repeat for bowls 2, 3, 4. Unless you just want just one carb to run correctly. It's up to you, hawss.

 

Re: New horse in the stable (Pic Heavy)

Tank before the final clear coat

 

Re: New horse in the stable (Pic Heavy)

Haven't updated this in a while, but things are still in the works

I finished the tank. Take a look and see! It turned out way better than I thought it would. Pretty proud of it since I've never painted anything automotive before.

Three coats of prime
Sanded
Two coats of paint, Duplicolor GM Black (it has those little Yamaha sparkles!)
3x Layer of Duplicolor Clear + 1000 grit wet sand in between each
Two layers of SprayMax 2K



And I scored this on FleaBay for $35! Couldn't believe it. It popped up as I was browsing. Felt too good to be true, but it showed up at my house!



What's holding me up right now are the carbs. The rack it came with was in horrendous shape, and it needed to be completely taken apart, down to the throttle shaft seals.

 

Just an update for the sake of updating:

It's been a while since the '95 has gotten any attention. I've been trying to go through the long expensive emotional paperworky process of getting the title since it did not come with one. It needs to be adjusted and tuned and synced but I can't do any of that unless the engine is good and hot...and that sure as heck isn't going to happen sitting in the garage.

So Friday, I did it. I got the title. Well, it's coming in the mail. There was overwhelming joy abound. The process to acquire a title with a vehicle that has none is probably the same as other states.

On Friday, I:

1) Rode it to the local Sheriff's precinct. They ran the VIN to make sure it wasn't stolen, and then filled out some paperwork for me. The officer who did the inspection was a neat guy, and we ended up talking about bikes for 30 or so minutes. Turns out he rode as well.

2) Continued my journey to a local insurance agency, where they can to a title bond. A title bond insures the state of registration that if the original owner ever came looking for the vehicle, the new owner would have to give it back (with no legal repercussions). This is why it's important to be 100% sure no one is looking for the vehicle. After a period of usually one to three years, the bonded title will turn into a full title in your name. After paying $125, I took that fat stack of paper to the tag office.

3) At the tag office, the kind lady took my fat stack of paper, and five minutes later I had the registration info and license plate. Done! I guess it wasn't as long expensive emotional or paperworky as I thought.

Total spent: $200 for bike, $95 for a year of insurance, $125 for bonded title, $38 for tag and title = $458. Not bad!

Time to get this puppy running perfectly. Saturday rained terribly so. Today I rode around for an hour or so to get the motor nice and spicy hot. I use a ladder to hold the tank, and then run a fuel line straight in to the carbs with the petcoque on prime.


Good thing the mixture screws are easy to get to with the fairing off.


At idle, #1 was at ~200 degrees, #2 ~400 degrees, #3 and #4 ~500 degrees. Hrm.


Well, let's see how bad the sync is off. Except I can't, because some wise guy thought it would be a good idea to put phillips head screws on the sync port. I just could not get them out with the engine hot. Well, I got one out. The others are in there pretty good. If I try and manhandle too much I'll just strip em since they're hot. I'll just have to try again later!

 

That is a great find WTG man

 

Two hundred dollars? - that's only £129, bloody hell.

Look how much XJ600 I could buy over here for that...

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/GENUINE-YAMAH ... 456wt_1163

 

great score and awesome documentation- thanks for sharing it with us!!

Congrats on the title!!

 

The front fairing has a nasty crack.


Taped the outside to hold it together and keep the cement from coming through


I use a for sale sign cut into strips for repairing plastic. It's tough and flexible.


There is some existing cement from a previously failed attempt by the P.O.


A flapper wheel on the Foredom will help with that


Much better. Softened the surface with a little acetone.


These clamps aren't mine, so I need to be considerate...I guess. :roll:


It doesn't smell Oatey, though


Liberal amount applied to the offending crack


Sign strip squished on there. Since the strip is on a bend, I put the clamps on tight and then push the strip down to form to the contour.


Not sure what I'm going to do about the back of the fairing


While that was setting, I needed to get those sync port screw out. The vice grips did the trick since they were pointy. Not a whole lotta room to move around.


Some new hardware


And washers to go with the screws. Although, what good does a package of three do? Maybe in case I lose one. Thanks for your confidence in my organizational skills, Lowes.


Much better.


I need to order a couple of these since the bike didn't come with all of them. $2.50 each though. Good thing I don't need all of them.


Because the '95 has six fairing mount points on each side.


Started to find supple materials for fabbing the belly pan hardware. Found some aluminium peices for about five bucks each at Lowes.



These little mounts will work superb once I get the bracket sized and shaped correctly. You drill a hole, stick em though, and use two little screws to anchor it.


The fairing crack is nice and secure. Gonna get some of that black cement and fill the crack.

 

I've been working on the mounting hardware for the belly pan. So far its been successful as far as lining things up, but I sure wish I had a metal shop :laughter: My methods for aluminium bending have worked so far, though. Had to be a little crafty.


Aluminium is easy to bend, but strong where it counts


Straight enough for me!


After I get a good piece, I'll measure it up so it's easy to make the second one


This is a different bracket, but you get the idea of how it will mount


Now on to the front fairing. It needs more crack repair and sanding.


The stickers must come off, but I took some high quality pictures of them if I decide to re-create them in Photoshop and have them printed.


P.I.T.A without the heat gun


I use this stuff religiously for sticky stuff removal


The sweet little air scoop screens


The sweet little air scoops


Sanded up, now to cement some cracks


With the back corner liberally cemented and reinforced, I'll let that dry tonight and sand the flugen out of it tomorrow.

 

Sanded the flugen out of the cement, now ready to prime


On my makeshift holder. Outside in the cold and wind, too :x My paintbooth isn't assembled yet


First coat of prime


Good, good


Let it dry for a while, then sanded, then a second coat of prime

 

nice work on the fairing dawg!!

 

Very nice work. The pictures really give you a sence of being there with you watching you do every step. This would help anyone who would want to try this themselves. Nice job and thanks for the posts. Keep them coming.

 

Thanks for the positive words. It has been a while since I updated, but always in motion, the future is. **yoda chuckle**


Had to fab some mounts for the belly pan


Here's what I did:

This is the mount that you mount onto the mount. The three little mountie holes were a little too small for the metal screws I got, so they needed to be manhandled a bit.



Using this whatchamacallit bit


Nice, nice


Mounted on two the front mounts. I broke the head off of one screw, eheheh.


Now for the rear mounts. Need to give them a little room for fastening.


Beautiful!


Oh joy of joys


Not the prettiest thing, but I am happy.


Cleaned up the edges a bit so it's not messing up my paint.


The rear mounts. The tape is just to keep them from scratching up the frame until I can find some suitable rubber to put behind them.


Front right


Front left. I have rubber washers that going in between the fairing and mount, so it's not pressing right up against the three screw heads. Did I even use those things right? I have no idea.


Rear right. This is just temporary until I can replace the blue tape with rubber and paint everything black


The rear left is a little tricky because of the kickstand. I'll have to make another mount that extends down the frame where I can attach another clamp. It's on there pretty good, though.


And there you have it.






(4) 1/4-20 x 1/2 round head screw for attaching belly pan
$2

Package of 4 x 3/8 zinc metal screws for fastening nutplates
$2

(4) 1/4-20 x 5/16 nutplates
$6

(4) 3/4" to 1 1/2" #16 clamps
$3

Package of 1/4" nylon washers
$1

(1) Piece of 1/8" x 3/4" x 3' aluminium
$6

Total: $20

Windscreen:


Front fairing. Once this dries, I'll wet sand and clear:

 

I was going to ride down to Daytona for bike week, but my head gasket decided to be a @&%!@. What do you expect for a bike that had been sitting with crap in the cylinders for 14 years and then I hop on and ride the dickens out of it... Bought it with 2.3K miles, currently has 3K.



Oil was leaking down the side


And ganked. The piston crowns weren't too bad.


All I need to do is replace the head gasket, but I'm going to replace the valve stem seals and lap the valves. Let no job be half done!


I should have checked that valve clearances, but oh well


Someone WILL walk by and knock all this over. Never fails.


Head is dissasembled and soda blasted. The valves need a little extra cleaning which will happen tomorrow. Here are some before shots.

Crusty valves


Baking valve muffins


This stuff is amazing. I used it to rid the head of dirt and oil. It is mainly used for cleaning my chain. Love it.


Despicable


Exhaust valve


Intake valve. Look at that unacceptable crusty.


These will look so schmexy after some lapping.


Oh the tragedy


This will not do

 

Dude, definitely keep this up! I read your whole post and it was as cool as an adv ride report, pics are awesome and so is your ability to describe all the steps you are taking with the restore! What an inspiration to all of us!

Mac

 

Thanks a bunch Mac! Plenty more to come I guarantee that.

 

Head is back on, but as you can imagine after lapping the valves and such the clearances have drastically changed. Addressing that is the next step.

Enjoy:

[flash=660,400]http://www.youtube.com/v/Is3DNOL61gw.swf[/flash]

 

Andrew
I must tell you that what you are doing in this thread will be soo beneficial to many of our members. I don't have anything to work on my bike but after going through this thread, I must say it makes me want to tear into something just so I can do it!! Please keep this up. I like the video and it is very nice to see the detail you are doing with this bike! Awesome!! Thanks.

 

That's pretty cool Andrew... Nice work

 

We all want one of those nice shops with all the expensive tools, but being skilled enough and smart enough to do the work without saves dollars for the bike. :wink: Great job, great fabrication skill. 8)

 

Great work Andrew,

Bike looks great and yeah i'm sure those pics will come in handy at some point!

BTW...

<notahijack>Thanks for the youtube link, finally figured out that flash link option! it's not you youtube anywhere!!! </notahijack>

 

Man, I do love watching your progress!

 

Thanks a bunch fellas.

Yes, all the pictures come in handy. I refer to them very often to remember how a procedure was done, or what part I used, or using them as a visual when explaining something to someone else, ect...

Oh yea, the actual title showed up in the mail today...I cried a little cry.

 

Hey guys, thought I'd show you where the bike is now.

I decided against putting the front fairing back on. No surprise, right? Well I turned it "naked"...no surprise, right? And I found a round headlight and some gauges....no surprise.....right??

Alright, some pictures. Of course, I have to wash first. You don't need to see my filth of the day.


Front view. This is a good spot for them. Good distance and angle. They're from a FZ600.


Basically, I made a aluminium mount that goes across and connects to the headlight brace.


...connecting here. This was probably the most simple mounting method, but it's very stable and looks decent.


The aluminum piece was painted with some DupliColor black engine enamel, using the "Distance Texture" method.


I like the gauges from this angle.


And from this angle. Heck, from every angle!


And a gratuitous rear shot. My Podium is almost outside the safezone.


And I finally got my '92 frame home. It had been sitting at work this whole time. This project is going to pick up real soon!

 

That is a thing of beauty

 

It is. But it's gonna need a rear tire soon.

Love the turn signals :wink:

Nice Tupperwarectomy. Looks tons better.

 

Just read the 6 pages in one sitting,impressive work, do it once,do it right! any chance of a front on shot?

 

nice pics man!

 

Yes indeed, that tire served faithfully.

And I like the stock signals. They look tons better than little crummy LED things people slap on.

Thanks man! Here you are on those front shots. I still need to clean up the mess of gauge wires, but they're decently tucked away for now.

 

AHHH!!!! Looks so much better naked! <3

Is there a thread where someone elucidates the differences in the 80's and 90's XJ's? Is the only thing the same the engine itself (except 600 instead of 550)?

 

Hmm, differences that immediately pop into my head -- Other than styling, it has a CDI ignition system instead of TCI, 17" front wheel and 18" back (I don't know what 550's and 650's have), a mono shock, and Mikuni BDS26 upturned carbs. The airbox is under the tank. Really, everything else is similar. Oh, and a rear disc brake. The engine is probably closest to a 550 since they're both chain driven.

 

Perfect clocks.
Nice one.
Al