First time owner with a big project

Hey everyone,
I just wanted to share my story. A couple of my friends recently got new bikes and started nagging me to get one as well. I resisted their pressure until one day my friend showed me his 82 XJ650J that he put down a couple of years ago. I looked at it, sat on it, and basically fell in love with it. It had the "just right" feel for me. We started talking about it and we came to the agreement that he would offer me a pretty good deal on the bike, and we would fix the bike up together as a project. Any parts that I bought for the bike, he would take the cost off the final price. So I started lining up parts and finding out as much as I can about the bike. Along the way, I stumbled on to this website, and after paging through some of the forums, my want for an XJ of my own was increased about 3 times.

And here's where everything takes a turn for the worse. About a week after making this agreement with my friend, I received a message from him saying he couldn't sell the bike. He bought it before he turned 18, so the title is technically in his dad's name, and he didn't want to sell. Less than a half an hour later, i jumped on XJForums and began a search for a new bike. I wanted a project bike, because I don't have a lot of money but I have a lot of tools, friends, and connections to make it work, as well as a willingness to learn and do things for myself. I found a deal that sounded too good to be true, and for me it was. The bike was being sold dirt cheap, but was 1600 miles round trip away. I'm young and stupid, so I decided to go for it anyway. I agree to buy the bike, and for 3 weekends in a row, make plans to make the trip. The first weekend the buyer didn't get a hold of me in time. The second and third time I got all ready to go, but he had other plans instead. He got frustrated and backed out of the deal, once again leaving me without a bike.

I wasn't ready to give up. The next couple of days i spent looking everywhere for another bike to call my own. I found an '82 1100 only 2 hours away on craigslist. I began talking back and forth with the seller, found out how much he wanted for it and what needed to be done with it and decided to give it one more shot. The day before I went to look at it, the seller informed me that there was a problem with the carb so he was gonna knock the price down to make up for it. I went up and looked at it, and ended up buying it for $150. I finally have an XJ to call my own!

This is where I'm at now. The bike looks like hell. the carbs need to be almost completely redone. The previous owner dropped the main carb body on the ground and broke the one of the tabs to hold a float in place. He also spray painted over the front and rear chrome fenders and painted the gas tank a dull army green. To top it off, he was planning on making a custom bike out of it, so he cut off about 8 inches of the back of the frame. I have my work cut out for me.

This is my long, oftentimes furstrating story. I will try to post some pictures of the bike along the way to show everyone my progress. I'm looking forward to the challenge and I am trying to get the bike at least road worthy before the end of the summer and worry about cosmetics over the winter. If anyone knows of any ideas or suggestions to help me out i would appreciate any help I can get. Thanks for listening to my rant

 

Good luck and may the Force be with you!

 

Save yourself some trouble and buy a rack of carbs off E-Bay, using the feed at the bottom of the home page. You will then have practice carbs and spare parts.

A bobbed frame? Hou to un-bob? Motorcycle junkyard, digital camera, tape measure, hack saw, $30.
They should be able to sell you the back part from a picked over Maxim for cheap as long as you are buying other parts as well, like the grab bar, shiny fenders, signals, ETC.

Did you do a compression test? Have fun with it !

 

I like the carb idea. What other models have the same carbs as the 1100?

I was able to get all the parts the old owner cut off, so I should be able to weld the old pieces back on. I have not gotten a chance to do a compression test yet. I got the bike only 2 days ago and haven't gotten a chance to really begin work on it. Is there any way to get the paint off the chrome? or is it better to just get new fenders?

 

Depends on if the PO actually prepped the fenders before he painted them. If he did prep them, then the chrome is likely shot. If just did a spray job over the chrome, then the paint can come off and it will likely be ok.

My guess would be to use some stuff called Aircraft Paint Remover. Can't say from experience on chrome, but it says it's safe on metals. I have used the stuff before on my tank though and worked great.

 

Just giving everyone an update. I took off the gas tank and found that the inside had a very large amount of rust in it. I also discovered that there was no air cleaner given to me. I have cleaned out the gas tank using muriatic acid and rinsing the tank clean. I did a compression test and all 4 cylinders are working good. This weekend, I'm going to meet up with a fellow forum user, MN-Maxims, to take a look at my carbs and possibly buy a set from him. I'm gonna hit up a salvage yard next week to get the rest of the needed parts and start rebuilding it.

Sorry, I don't have pics yet, but I'm working on it

 

KDog,

I am actually in better shape with the parts bike that I want to turn into a looker. The carb rack and gas tank are the two major missing parts on that bike. The frame on it looks better than the running bike's frame. For me, the frame butchering would have been a deal breaker. Good luck with it. I say try to find a good frame with title.

Take Care!!

 

efigalaxie,
I agree with what you are saying. I was rather disappointed when I found out the frame was chopped and had no title. However, i looked into getting a title for the bike, and at least in Minnesota, getting a title is rather simple. I just need to fill out a paper describing the bike and done! Welding the frame should not be a problem at all; I have several friends who are professional welders.

I also decided before even buying the bike, if this doesn't pan out, my back up plan would be to part out the bike. I'm sure members on here can use some of my parts! 8)

 

Update time! The bike is about 85% ready to ride. I found and installed all of the needed parts on my bike. I'm still missing a few cosmetic pieces (side covers, ignition cover, etc.) but as long as I can get even a little riding time this season, I'll be happy. MN-Maxims has helped me out greatly by selling me some parts and fixing up the carbs. Once they are done, I should be able to start riding

 

KDOG Great news! I gotta tell ya I thought you might have bitten off more than you could chew! Especially the chopped frame news. Get the thing up and running but before you ride it on the street take the Motorcycle Safety Foundation Rider Safety Skills course. You don't even need a bike to take the course as they will provide one for you. I guarantee it will make a safer rider out of you. This is dangerous business and we all need to do everything we can to help even the odds. Even the odds? Hmmmmmmm............

Check with your state licensing authorities and they will tell you who offers the course in your area. The cost of the course is often subsidized in part by the endorsement fees you pay to ride a motorcycle. DO IT MAN!!!!

Besides, it's fun. Class time and then time out on the range! The range time is the best!

Loren

 

I'll be honest. I thought the same thing when I first started on this venture, but a bit of patience and a lot of help from this forum made it possible. Thanks for the info about the safety course. Luckily, I'm friends with an instructor and the class is only about 10 minutes away. I'm gonna register as soon as I can.

 

Another thing,

An 1100 is not a beginner friendly bike, if this is your first bike I'd say pick up something small and light to get your skills down before jumping on it.

A smaller bike is much more forgiving to beginner mistakes, and they will happen...

Otherwise, I'm assuming you followed the XJ gospel of swapping out the fuse box, adding an inline fuel filter and checking the rear brake for de laminating?

 

The 1100 was not my first choice. I wanted something smaller, like a 650 or 750, but the price was right in this one and i have a limited amount of money to work with. If I can find a cheap fixable 650 or 750 near here, I'd try to get that and fix it up as well. If not, I'll have to take it very easy and work with what I got.

As for the XJ gospel, I got the fuel filters, the fuse box will come once I know the bike will actually run, and as for the brakes... well I didn't check them until you mentioned it, and sure enough, the front ones were destroyed. I gonna replace all sets anyways, just to be on the safe side

 

Pity you couldn't get some pictures up, but it sounds like you have done wonders in the time.
You never said what the comp' readings were.
Good luck with the project. Wiz.

 

Good score kdog! I wouldn't work a lot about the chopped frame if it's the tail section. The tail chop is one of the most common starting points for XJ'ers. There's a ton that can be done with these bikes. Your imagination is about the only limitation. Here's what I'm doing with my project. It's been a long time in the works but I have another bike to ride, so this one is more of a hobby
http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=13861.html