My first rider, an '81 XJ650!

Hey everyone, just bought my first bike the other day. Found your forum and plan on being an active member of it. 8)

Here's the bike:





The bike was sitting out in the weather for a while and the chrome needs to be polished. Can any of you recommend a good product to use? I already picked up a cover for it until I get a house with a garage which should be in a couple months...

It's missing the left side highway peg as well, are those easy to come by?

Cheers!

-Nick

 

Hey Nick! Welcome to XJ Bikes! Your bike looks very sweet! Congrats! Can't help you with the chrome, but I know someone on here can. The highway pegs can probably be bought from Chacal (top right corner of website) or on ebay. Check the for sale section of the forum as well. Again, welcome, this forum, it's members, and these bikes are awesome!

p.s. the vw van is pretty cool as well!

Mac

 

Welcome! Don't forget to put your bike year/model in your signature.

Nice looking bike. The chrome doesn't look too bad from the pics, so should be an easy clean up. I like to use Maguire's Chrome Cleaner, but there are a number of good ones out there. Mother's, Turtle Wax, Black Magic, any of them should work for you, just grab some and start buffing away.
I recommend using cloth diapers to apply the cleaner and for buffing it off. These are sometimes called "finishing towels" by the auto industry. They are some of the softest towels you can buy.

Don't forget to check the rear breaks for delamination and again, welcome to XJ

 

A lot of the shiny aluminum stuff on your bike was polished at the factory, then clear-coated. It will begin to get grey mottling and you won't be able to figure out why you can't polish it off. The clear coating needs to be removed first, then any of the aluminum can be polished as shiny as you want. This process is best accomplished with the parts off the bike, using Aircraft Paint Stripper.

 

Nice scoot Nicksny!
After you get the chrome pieces shined up, just keep them looking good with Lemon Pledge (highly recommended) It even advertises it's for motorcycles.
Those pegs ae cheap and sold by the pair (2) if you want to get some.
I think I have one from one of my bikes out in the shop (one was broke so I tossed it) I'll have to find it.

 

Nice looking bike even the chain lock is there what did you give for her? How many miles on the clock she looks to be in great shape someone took care of her it appears. There is no product out there that will restore the factory finish, you have to strip the clear coat off then buff with rouge then clear coat again to preserve the finish.

 

Just remove the clearcoat and polish the aluminum parts like chrome will work just fine. My engine parts are more like chrome now and all I dois polish them a few times a year. No clearcoat needed.

 

Congratulations on your new ride! With a couple of days of fun work, it will look really nice. I restore older Japanese bikes and use never-dull. It comes in a can about 4 inches tall by 4 inches in diameter and it's an impregnated almost cotton ball type fabric. You tear off a small piece and go to town. You can also wrap a strip around a soft bristled brush and put it in your drill, or even spread a wad out on a buffing pad or buffing cone or ball and chuck it in the drill or polisher and go to work. Excellent stuff for aluminuim or chrome.

jeff

 

Hey guys thanks for the responses.



The bike has just over 36k original kms on it. All 4 carbs were rebuilt 1000 kms ago and the front and rear brakes just recently done as well. I paid $1500 for the bike. Everything is good to go on it so I can concertrate on learning how to ride. I'm been taking it for rips up and down the alleys and side streets and I feel really comfortable behind it already, I can shift smoothly and turn decent. I love the feel of leaning into turns! This is my first ever bike I've never even been on a dirt bike.

I'm going to try that Never dull stuff first , they carry it up the street at Canadian tire. How can you tell if the clear coat has been removed?

Do you guys suggest taking a motorcycle riding course or to just learn on my own?

-Nick

 

A motorcyle safety course is definitely worthwhile, also usually means a discount on insurance

 

I love that seat.
Our bikes could be twins!

 

NEVER DULL is the stuff you want for the chrome, nothing can compare. Tear a lil piece off and go to town. It will turn black or brown when you need a new piece but that takes a while. It smells a bit like lighter fluid but its not messy and you can reuse the stuff all you want.

 

Welcome to the Forum
I see in one of your posts you mention Crappy Tire, so where in the Great White North are you located?
Never ridden a bike before, and you are going up and down the street? Be careful, you obviously don't have any insurance, so a cager backing out, a dog running in the street or worse case a little kid, will bring your enthusiasm to a screeching halt. Not to mention if a cop just pulls you over. Tell us you at least wear a helmet while on the bike.
+1 on the bike training course, then licence, insurance and the best riding gear you can afford.
There are a couple of spring bike shows coming up in April, always a good place to get great deals on riding gear.
Sounds like you bought a well sorted bike and all it needs is some tidying, congrats stay safe and stay in touch.