It's The Waiting That Sux

Got the bike on Friday, got it home, filled the cylinders with Marvel Mystery Oil, yanked the carbs and gave them an initial spray down with carb cleaner, took off the tank and seat and started poking around for obvious issues/missing parts.

After about 36 hours I spun the engine by hand to see if it was siezed or not and it wasn't. Cranked it by battery and the starter works. Started to dismantel the carbs. The rubber diaphragms up top look good and the springs seem to work well now that the pistons are not glued stuck with 6 year old dried gas.

Once I determined the engine looked like it would run without tearing into it I got on eBay and ordered all the parts it looks like that I need to at least get her running - assuming I can coax the wiring harness to cooperate. The harness will need some repair or better yet will be replaced. I may just order wire and make up a new one.

That's my phase one. Phase two will be tires, mirrors, and repairing or replacing the control pods. Phase Three will be prettying her up - paint, new chrome, forward controls, etc.

So right now I am waiting on my parts for phase one to arrive. The bike is on the carport, on the other side of the window from me, begging to run again.

This is my first bike in 10 years away for riding, and a huge departure from my last which was a tricked out 91 GXR, so I guess a few more days till I get my parts won't be too bad...

Meh... who am I kidding. The waiting SUX.

And yet still I am already starting to think about what my next bike will be. This is why I got out of them a decade ago. They cost more than a crack habit - or a girlfriend with a crack habit but then that is a whole *other* story ;-)

Tonight I got the gas cap lock unfrozen.... Tick-tock, tick tock. Wonder how pissed the neighbors woul be if I went out back, fired up the compressor and media blasted the tank and the headlight body. Tick-tock, tick-tock. Is it daylight yet? It is somewhere. Tick-tock, tick-tock. Yep the waiting sux.

 

Good things come to those who wait. These bikes are a ton of fun, but patience is required to own one. Good luck with your project.

 

P.S. XJ4ever, the supporting vendor is a great parts source with fast shipping.

 

Two HUNGRY buzzards were sitting in a tree. Finally one turns to the other and says " F**K IT! I'm gonna kill something!!!" :lol:

skillet
BTW patience is HIGHLY overrated!!!

 

+1on the xj4ever shipping! if you pay for quick shipping it is really quick shipping!!!

 

These bikes will definitely teach you patience.

 

+1 on xjforever. That is a great place for parts and Len will take good care of you. My hat is off to them. :!:

 

I know what you mean. It's been a lot of back and forth getting mine in shape for the season. Just got her last year from my brother and looks like all he ever did was change the oil for 4 years. Who knows what was done prior to that.

So now, three orders into Chacal (XJForever), two trips to the local shop for new tires and a new chain (she still had the factory chain on her from 1981!), and she's close, but still not done. Hopefully when this final order arives (throttle and clutch cables), that'll be the last of the waiting.

On the bright side, I've been learning a lot and touched all of the critical parts of the bike through the process...so she should be safe and back on track for regular maintenance.

+1 on XJForever from me also. Great experience so far.

 

I've owned a lot of scooters over the years. Worked on even more. The thing that always amazed me about the older bikes was how forgiving they were - a least compared to the superbikes that started coming out after the Interceptor was introduced. (and even that was not too hard to work on). My Honda CB's and my XS850 - you could beat'em to death and they just kept on running.

Of course back then it was all about speed and winning the street races. Didn't matter what it looked like or what you bolted on it, or how, as long as you could beat the next guy at whatever quarter mile stretch of road you set up in the middle of the night. Well that and outrunning the city rollers when they found you.

We used to say the only thing better than 80 on two wheels was a hundred and twenty on one ;-) Of course back then we were cocky kids who were gonna live forever and counted the wrecks we survived as badges of honor. Used to mark 'em on my tank like notches in a gunfighters colt 45. Not sure how any of us lived through all that. Funny thing is, other than a few broken bones here and there, my wors injuries came from being rearended while driving a car.

This time around I just want a cruiser. I stopped bouncing and started breaking, when I hit the pavement, years ago. A buddy of mine who has never ridden in his life just bought an old ZX9 and has been racing around town on it. I keep telling him to slow it down and take it easy but he has that glossy look in his eyes, when he talks about his bikes aceleration, that I recognize quite well.

I followed him in a car when he took his bike to the shop for a tune up after he got it. Rides, like a newbie, right on peoples bumpers and in their blind spots. Tried to talk some sense into him but he thinks, after 4 weeks of owning the thing, that he knows better than me even though I litterally lived off the back of a bike for years. *sigh*.

Thanks for the tip on the vendor. I think the next thing I have to do while waiting for parts to arrive is check the wheel bearings and the gooseneck bearings. Brakes need a good going through as well. Those are not part of making it run but part of maiking it safe to ride. First thing I checked before buying it was the frame. My XS850 (I had turned it into a cafe race/stunt bike) had frame cracks in three places when I retired her. That bike almost broke in half from all the jumps I used to make with it... kinda wish I had that one back now...