Advice on '83 xj900rk

Hi everybody,
I've been reading this forum for some time since I have an '84 FJ600 and... well, it's pretty similar to the xj600.

However, my current question is unrelated to my current bike; I heard of a guy who's got an xj900rk for sale, a project bike. A project bike I was looking for, but I don't know much about this xj900rk. Would any of you please shed some light on what kind of bike this is (mechanically and otherwise), and what sort of "rebuilding" I probably should expect to do on it? The man claims that it has around 40 thousand Kms.

As a more general question, what's the best way of buying a bike that's not working at the time of purchasing? Am I taking a huge risk here?

Thanks in advance for any pointers!

 

Not that familiar with the 900's but being it is an enlarged top end 750 I would have to say , just look at what good stock it comes from. Buying a non-running bike is at best a crap shoot. You have to ask pointed questions and determine if you can trust the seller. I would ask about oil consumption, 2nd gear, running history and how that ended, storage while not running, electrical problems and clear title. Just for a start.

Then ask yourself what do I want to do and what do I not want to do to get this bike running. Do I want to split the cases? Do I want to rebuild the carbs? Do I want to repaint it? How much money do I want to spend? How much time do I want to spend? Rebuilding an engine will cost about $600 US if you do it yourself. This counts rings, gaskets, carb kits, cam chain & it's three guides, inserts and one trip with head to machine shop for valve lapping and checking. Best deals are those where owner has given up on an easy problem because he/she doesn't know it is easy. I am looking at and engine right now out of an 83 Seca that is being parted due to transmission problem. It only primary chain guide pieces in the shifter drum. I would normally just tell him but he has already started parting the bike and not enough is left to rebuild it. Now I don't have the heart to break the news to him. Wish I had found him earlier.

 

I bought one for $500, put another $1500 into it and had an almost new bike for two glorious seasons. I would pay as much for it as I could comfortably write off if it turned out to be a total basket case. If you can part it out for what you paid for it, there is really not a whole lot of risk in buying one. As far as the engine goes, it's just a bigger XJ engine, solid, no major weak points. It's a classy, smooth bike, with just a little punch in the powerband around 7000K to keep things interesting. Think of it a a bigger, more powerful, better looking Nighthawk S.

The biggest task I faced in getting it working was cleaning the carbs, which had jammed solid due to deposits left in them after sitting for 13 years in a garage. One thing to look for is any bubbling or rust coloring near the bottom rear of the tank, which could indicate it is ruting through. Mine was, and it cost me $800 for a new tank, although I am sure I could have gotten the old one fixed up. I never regretted buying that bike, only selling it!