My Build

after tearing off the carbs, it looks as if the carb holders aren't in very good shape. THey've got cracks and are fairly stiff. Being on a budget, replacing them is completely out of the picture. I remember reading about wrapping them with the inner tire of a bicycle..

so im guessing I just wrap them, then secure them with clamps, and i'm good to go?

 

Yes, that will work. You can forego the inner tube and seal the outside of the intakes with Permatex "Ultra Black". You only need to replace the petcock if it is leaking. To check just switch the petcock to ON or RES and see if it leaks fuel. Fuel should only flow with it set on PRI. Main problem with a leaking petcock is fuel getting into the oil. Not a good thing. Congratulations on your progress!

 

Tonight, christmas eve for all of you who celebrate it, I was working on putting the brakes back. I reassembled the front, and was about to fill it with fluid, but then I decided I would wait until I got some teflon tape for the bleeder threads to be 100% sure I wouldn't have to do this again



so in the meantime, I decided to work on the rear. The PO said something about disconnecting some brake bar on the rear, I didn't understand until today, when I was messing with the rear drum.

And there was when I hit a wall.

here is that brake rod he was talking about. I had the repair manual out, but it didn't show the whole rod, and I am totally new to this stuff, so i thought it was supposed to be bent, but...

when I tried to put it on the bike, I realized that the bend was not a good thing... Now i'm pretty much frozen until I can get my hands on a rear drum brake rod

 

Straighten the old rod. That's not a precision part, it's just there to keep the drum from spinning when the brakes are applied.

I wouldn't worry about teflon tape for the bleeder either. The tapered base of the bleeder seals against the opening in the caliper, no pressure on the threads. Clean the threads and reinstall. Maybe some anti-sieze but I wouldn't bother with that either.

 

I totally agree, just lay it on your nice concrete floor and bash it with an appropriately sized hammer until it's straight enough for your liking. Maybe a quick coat of Krylon gloss black and your back in business :mrgreen:

 

If you're feeling especially frisky, throw it in the bench vise, heat it and knock it straight. You probably don't **NEED** to heat it, but playing with fire is soooooo much fun... I bought one of those butane torches with the auto ignitor on it, and use it any chance I get. Lighting the fireplace with it is a favorite.

 

finished bleeding the front, hooked up the rear drum. I actually tried banging the rod straight, but I guess I'm pretty weak or something b/c it never budged. I ended up just rotating the drum a little to make the rod fit.

All i need to get this going now is the carburetor/petcock, then I can fire it up and take it for a spin around the block, hopefully


btw, my front brake is dragging pretty badly. I know some drag is normal, but it gets hard to move the bike around the garage b/c the drag is so bad.

 

That torch of yours Kevin is also good for lighting coleman stoves and campfires, I always take mine camping so I dont have to have matches.

I even use it for sweating copper pipes every couple of years too.

That front brake dragging like that is not normal... you should check the return port in the mastercylinder reservoir.
Could also be that the disc pad pins are goooed up but more likely the rtn port is plugged.

 

if the return port were clogged, would that require dissasembling the master cylinder and rebleeding the entire system?

Cleaning the carbs today, hope I can get it fired up today. I just got a shipment of fresh plugs, battery, battery charger, fuel filter, and uni pods. I charged the battery, only to find that my ebay battery charger decided to crap out on me... whatever, it was 5 bucks shipped anyways

 

Sometimes you can use a piece of wire like off of a wire brush and try poking it into the return hole to open it up.

You only need to open the top of the mastercylinder to get access to the port.

 

ahh cool thx, i'll try that

 

I read some horror stories on here about serious crashes caused by dirty master cylinders before I got my bike home. I cleaned the master cylinder before I ever put it on the road.

If you had seen mine, you would never even think about riding an older bike you hadn't cleaned the MC and lines on.

 

What I havent mentioned this whole time was that I actually got this bike over the summer. I've been working on it for a good 6 months now, but i really didn't start any of the grunt work until this winter. I had been studying the repair manual, checking clearances on the engine, rebuilding the wiring harness (yea, i was that poor), soldering like a madman, examining the bike, accumulating parts.

when I tried to start it about 4 days ago now, I somehow fried the starter motor. That was pretty much the final straw. I tore down the starter to find the commutator and the brushes were prettymuch at the end of their lives.

After a couple days of contemplation, I decided yesterday that going on with the bike just dind't make sense. For 6 months, I had been working hard /w the bare wires of the harness across my dining table, opening and rewrapping nearly every wire. My parents had told me that my priorities were all out of wack, because even though I had been pulling straight A's, I slept less than 4 hours per school day.

I don't want you guys to get the sense that I'm giving up. I'm just saying that I've reached the end of where I am financially capable and the limit of how many hours I can physically devote to the bike.

It's been a good run, here are some pics of what It could potentially have looked like

 

Well I wouldn't give up dude. I would heed the folks advice and adjust my priorities. Turn it into a weekend project. Just a little bit every weekend and let us know what parts you need and some of us may have a good used part that will save you some $. I felt overwhelmed on restoring my 750K. So I stopped for a week and made a list of things to do. Put them in order and started back, concentrating on one thing at a time. That gave me small victories without the bleak outlook that comes from seeing 5 things not finished. It was ok that they were not finished, they weren't supposed to be ....YET!

 

I'd say dont give up!!!

There is a life lesson here...
(My kid says I preach too much)

Maybe persistance and sticktoitivness might pay off, when your riding that finished bike and telling everyone else how you did it yourself.... well youll never know how it feels....... unless you finish it.

YOU CAN DO IT!!!!

We got faith in you!!!

You can eat that elephant, if you take one bite at a time

Now go do it, and dont let us down

 

Thought I might share a bit about my 550 story.. See if it gives you any incentive to continue...

So early last year I had m Volty that needed a tidyup, but because it was my only transport at the time I couldn't take it off the road to do the work it needed. Then one day while checking out the local auction site I came across a cheap 2004 GN250 so I bought it, tidied it up and took the Volty off the road...

What does this have to do with an XJ550 I hear you say... Well after I had stripped down the Volty, my mate who had been looking for a bike turned up on my doorstep with an XJ550 in need of front brake, front fork work, which he couldn't do himself.

He got the bike fairly cheap and it was road legal but nose dived and wouldn't release the front brakes. Still had original paint and a couple of other bits needed attention but it went and was rideable.

So the Volty got pushed to one side and in came this beast.... I took the tank and seat off it and immeadiately called my mate back and asked him if he could take this piece of .... back where he got it from, to which he said no. I asked this because once I had the tank and seat off I realised that this bike needed stripped, cleaned, repaired and some bits replaced, which was a lot more work than I had agreed to.

Because this was for a good friend I took the job on and proceeded to clean, clean, and do some more cleaning. I stripped pretty much everything but the motor off the bike and hit the frame with a wire brush and started painting. Gave the tank, sidecovers and tail cowl to a mate who did a really good cheap job in black on them for me. I replaced an engine bolt, footpeg, hand grips, stickers, rear shocks & tank badges, painted most of the frame, kitted out the master and slaves on the front brakes, got the bike shop to do the forks and threw it all back together.

By the time I had it finished I was completely fed up with it, just wanted it out of my garage so I could get back to work on my Volty. It took quite a while to find some of the parts and even once the shop had done the forks there was still a bit of dive in them (probably could have not had them done). So all in all I had just spent 4 months of my spare time fixing someone elses bike.

Once completed I felt a huge amount of relief and that first ride was wicked. I was stoked at how good she came up and how well it went (engine knock included), but because it was not my bike I had to give it back.... My mate was over the moon, but the bike was too big and not really suitable for him, so he left it at my place and I sold it on the local auction site, kept the money and gave him the GN once the Volty was back on the road.

This was my introduction to XJ's... Now I have 5 of them in my driveway and garage lol

I know how you are feeling right now... My advise would be, take a break, get a little cash together, then get back in to it. If you have to, try and get another complete wiring loom.

In my opinion there is nothing more satisfying than finishing a project and looking back at how much work it took and being proud of what you have achieved. You are doing an amazing job and have come too far to quit now... Hang in there, you will be blown away at how good it makes you feel when you get it running and take her for a ride.

Thread hijack over... 8)

 

Oh and I will post my before and after pics in a few hours so you can see the beast

 

As promised... Here are the before...





And these are a couple of the after...





I have more photos if anyone is interested in them

 

Daliumong,

I have to agree with BlueMaxim, you can't give up. This is how people learn. When I was in high school I was just like you. I spent every minute I wasn't in school working on my cars. That is how I learned to weld, wire, powdercoat and lastly, become a custom painter with my own shop now. You need to take your parents advice and rearrange your time, but don't give up on the bike. There is nothing more satisfying than to stand back at the end and look at something you built with your own hands. Something you brought back to life.

And as for time, as a senior in Electrical Engineering finishing up my degree, job hunting and working part time for two firms, I reassure you that these older guys are absolutely right! You won't have time like this forever! I didn't think it could happen to me, but it does! So carpe diem so to speak.

And as for your electrical problems. As I said, I have another semester of class before I take my FE exam and go to work, and I am working on a custom harness and wireless electronics set up for my bike, but I would be glad to help you if I can with your electrical stuff.

Anyway, before I get completely off topic... DON'T GIVE UP!

 

I agree with the guys. Don't give up....just throttle back.
If the electrical is kicking your butt, check this out; ebay item # 250069042091.