give up or hold onto hope?

Been trying to do some work on my '82 but am completely frustrated.

When I first got the bike, it wouldn't start. Turns out, it was the batter. Replaced the battery. Worked best kind for about a week and then it just wouldn't start anymore. After getting advice on this site, I discovered that it was the start button. I tried to spray wd-40 inside the start button to no avail. So, I ordered a new start button part off this website (or one someone had recomended) and got the part. But in the process of removing the start button cover, it cracked off. Now, I have nothing to hold the start button in place.

I am thinking about taking the bike to a local bike garage, but don't want to spend a fortune of money on a bike that I probably wont drive for a long time, as this is my first bike. I am just wondering if there is anything I can do to"shimmy" this into place so that the bike starts. Thanks!

 

ask on the buy sell trade forum, i'll bet someone can fix ya up

 

sorry I can't be much of any help. but I am on the breaking point with my bike too.

carbs carbs carbs

and I've even spent a $400 repair rebuilding the entire upper engine with new rings, a piston, and new gaskets. for a bike that supposably had only 20 some thousand miles...

 

Ready to give up on a cracked piece of plastic? Really?!

You haven't even gotten to any real problems.

If you really are ready to quit... save a few thousand and buy a modern cheap fuel injected bike... :-(

 

Sometimes ya just have to walk away and clear the mind.

Vintage motorcycles ( out of production makes/models) will test you every step of the way till they are sorted. I started on a 46 HD in 1971...What a learning curve that was.......Britt bikes after they went under.....a little bit easier. Oil Cooled GSXRs from day one.....at least they were new at one point when I rode em......still have one too. Now its almost 30 yrs old.

Now I have a 82 550 Seca . Got it for free so I said "why not"? Needed sumthin that did not challenge me every time I thumbed the start button and slipped it in gear. Nice little 550....I mean really , how much bother can one of those be?.... :roll:

Its been fighting me every inch of the way....but.....I am winning! Its only a G#$D#@n machine, I am in charge.

Will it be worth it in the end?....Ya....I think it will be, or I would not make the effort. Its never gonna be some hi dollar collectible museum unit, but it should be a real hoot to ride when its sorted

Bottom line....it ain't easy, its not cheap and most important ya gotta want it

Kind of ranted a bit here, hope it helps.

 

MetalB, try to see it through his eyes.....you need to understand that for those that aren't mechanics or have lots of experience working on their bike, things that you and I consider very trivial, aren't to them because that have no "bank" of experience to call upon. Yes, as funny as it might sound, buying a battery can be a major dealfor some of our friends. They usually know that if they install it wrong, it can be catastrophic but they still have to unbolt it, then HOPE they buy the correct model number, then they have to put it in....and for someone that has never or only barely worked on a bike, that's a reach FOR THEM. So, I see where Jewel is coming from....I've seen it happen a lot.....usually, new, or fairly new guys are seduced by the lower prices of a older bike and also by the fact that they are far less complicated than new machines.

Jewel...don't ever let a machine get you upset....as inet said, it's only a machine, it doesn't posess the ability to "screw you" as much as we would sometimes like to personify it. Hang with it, one step at a time. Always work slowly until you really know what you're doing since 90% of the work that you'll end up doing is damage that YOU caused by going to fast and missing something or breaking something because you weren't paying attention to what that screwdriver was going to hit when it slipped, when you wacked it with a 5 pound mall!!


That's put pretty well Inet

jeff

 

Well said. Not all us are mechanics or wish to be one.
Also for many of us this is not a passion/hobby/vocation etc.
We are doing this because we have no other choice than to go the motorcycle route for transportation.

 

On my Seca 750 - at first, I rode around with a 1/2 inch wrench in my hip pocket - to cross the solenoid, to start the bike. Didn't bother me a bit to ride with a side cover missing.

Eventually I fixed it. Needed a solenoid, replace switch pod, AND wire harness.

Don't let a small item keep you from enjoying the bike.

 

wait wait WAIT. Dude go to radio shack and get a toggle switch and take the wires off the button and put them on a momentary-toggle switch. I've had a toggle switch hanging from my handlebars for FOUR YEARS. I taped the wires to the bars and let the switch hang tight. The switch can move momentarily in both directions, that's ok, only one direction will work. It's 3 dollars and 10 minuets. to save you a lot of Real Pain, Please be sure you have a fuel filter between your gas tank and carbs

 

My intent was not to be rude, but if a battery and switch makes someone want to give up... an older carburetor bikrle might not be for them.

Mechanically inclined and used to minor (non vehicle) wrenching, things like carbs and brakes still have me worried when I get to them (this fall?).

Maybe we should link to that overview post about taking care of older bikes. (On my phone so can't find it so well).

 

In that case, there are a lot easier ways to go about it than to start with a neglected 30-year old bike.

For some of us, me for instance, it's BOTH. It's been a lifelong hobby/passion; but it's also currently a very necessary form of economical transportation.

If you're going to run a bike THIS OLD, and THIS COMPLEX, as your daily transportation device, then you're going to have to work on it yourself. There are lots newer and lots simpler bikes that don't require nearly as much effort to 'recommission' and maintain, if cheap transportation alone is the goal.

 

I have a nice little switch you can have for free if you feel like devising up a way to keep it on your bars, like how "yamaman" had his. P.M. me your address and I'll send it your way.

- Matt

 

You can figure anything out with the shop manual and this website.

 

I agree 100% and I also understand very well the source of frustration the original poster is feeling.
Then read a flippant remark " If you don't like it. Buy another bike", just adds gasoline to a burning fire.

All I am saying is tread lightly.
Tearing a bike apart to it's bare elements on a Saturday afternoon may be one man's idea of heaven, to another it may be hell.

 

I can remember a little thing like cleaning carbs or doing a
valve adj as scary.

And even some good shadetree machanics shudder at anything
to do with electrical systems.

But I'm with the others that say "don't give up " just yet. It is an
easy fix-like the hanging toggle. I took a old button off
a space heater for my start switch and it still works after
2 1/2 yrs! I glued it to the bottom of the control.

 

That's not what I said, and I wasn't being flippant. What I said was, if you choose to use a 30 year old bike for the purpose, you need to understand that you'll pretty much have to work on it yourself. If that's not something you're able to do, or willing to learn, then there are easier and more economical ways to go, cheap-transportation-wise. I never said "buy another bike." My point is simply that this particular choice requires certain efforts and expenses that a newer and simpler machine might not.

NONE of this is all that difficult, mechanical ability-wise. There's just a LOT to it; if we were dealing with one or two carbs and screw-adjustable valve clearances, it would be a lot easier.

Quite honestly, the spectre of shim-over-bucket valves and 4 carbs is what drove me to the SR500 back in the day; one cylinder with screw-adjusted valves and only one carb. If only I had known then what I know now...

 

I know you didn't say that. I should not have lumped a reply to that in a message to you. It just pissed me off to see someone say that.

I grouse about the money but I really shouldn't the bike was free and think we are into it for about 600 bucks.
I do believe in the long run the cost combined with my sweat equity. will give me a better bike with more personal value than just buying an"Old bike" that already runs.
At least I know what is wrong with this one
My mistake was thinking this would be like working on my Honda. The most easy thing I ever owned to keep running. I have had lawn mowers that were more complicated.

This isn't rocket science, it is a matter of being thorough and knowing when to put the wrench down and walk away when things are not going well.

 

As a noob and a first time bike owner. I gotta say I was lucky I bought a 29 year old bike that ran, well. The PO took care of the machine. But there were things he didn't know about these bikes. I gotta tell you I was scared about doing the valve shims. Replacing my valve cover gasket and 'donuts'. But with the advice of people here and some great how to's I got it done. I am not really all that machanically inclined. I am an I.T. professional. I can fix computers, configure routers/switches and troubleshoot network (wan/lan) issues in my sleep. But a machine like this XJ650? Completely new to me. But with some research, some advice and going slow and double and triple checking I got it done. Now I am not saying I am ready to rebuild the bike. In fact this fall when I do my front breaks I will be terrorfied. Simply because, it is the breaks and well honestly you screw something up with the motor it will not run. You're safe, breaks, however, will just not be there when you need them.

I guess what I am saying is don't give up hope, listen to some of the guys who have been around here for a while and do what you can when you can. The reality is this. These bikes, I am guessing are still around and I am sure they have way out lived their life span as designed. With a lot of patience and time you can get your bike running. The down side is yes it will cost you some money as well unless you can buy an alike bike to part out...

 

The only thing that defines the lifespan of any vehicle is the state it is in ( I don't mean Michigan :roll: ) when you get it.
If you have the patience, good information, basic (and some specialized) tools and money and time you can do it. If you want a bike up and running in a few weeks then money will be a significant factor in the process, but if you don't need it immediately then the costs can be spread out over months if not years and just keep plugging away.
With my Maxim-X, I took it off the road at the end of 03 and it just sat in the garage collecting dust until this year. Over the past two years I've been scrounging around on eBay and the classifieds here and buying stuff from Chacal (Len).
It was supposed to be on the road this year, but no job, fixing up my in-laws house to rent, then taking a nose dive down the basement steps and severely spraining my ankle has kinda put the Kibosh on that idea. So, now it will be a winter project (I hope).
As far as taking the bike to a shop for repairs you don't feel comfortable doing yourself, I have to agree with the other guys. Unless you can find an honest shop that does have knowledge of these old bikes, prepare to pay a lot of money to someone that may not know what they are doing just for the simple reason that they can't plug a code reader into the harness and have the onboard computer tell them that it's time to fidget with your interphaser and reset your throttle settings to 400 megahertz! :roll: :roll:
If you do get jammed up, then look in your area for a local Vintage Motorcycle Group, I'm pretty sure that someone there would be able to help you out or at least be reasonable in what they charge you to do the work, plus you'll make some great new friends. The people that are in those groups are dedicated to keeping older bikes on the road, so it's a passion to them as compared to a dealer that is profit driven regardless of how well they do the sevice on an old bike.
Just some food for thought before you decide to throw in the towel out of frustration.
Just sayin'.

 

A lot of the people in this group are dedicated to keeping old bikes on the road; and TRYING to help others do the same.

(When they'll listen.)