New Member & Almost New 550R

Hello everyone, just thought I'd introduce myself and my 1981 XJ550R

I picked up this 550R a couple of months ago from an old hot rodder who got it in trade years ago. It was one of those "almost too good to be true" situations.

I was at the So-Cal hot rod gathering in Phoenix when I was talking to this guy about old motorcycles. He said, "I have a 1981 Yamaha sitting in my garage that I haven't run in years. If you pick it up, I'll let you have it for $200. It only has 3500 miles."

So, that afternoon I went over to his house and picked up the bike. It was actually under a tarp, had 4000 miles and the carbs were in a shoe box. He handed me the title and I handed him the cash. The only problem was the person on the original title from 1981 had never signed it over. Since it was only $200, I figured I would chance it and try to get in contact with the original owner. Worst case scenario I give the bike back to the original owner and it cost me $200 to return a lost bike. That's good karma I think.

After a couple hours on the phone I finally got to him. I asked if he remembered the bike and if it had been stolen from him. He said that it was all legit but he never signed the title because the guy still owed him $150. So, I offered him the cash and after two months of trying to meet up I finally got the title signed.

Now, I need to make another trip to the motor vehicle department since they have to do more paper work since the title was purged. But, I should have that all taken care of on Monday.

It will at least need:

1. Carbs reassembled & the boots are cracked
2. Tank cleaned out
3. Oil change
4. Brake fluid flush
5. Spark plugs
6. Fork seals (oil has been running down the left tube for quite a while)
7. Battery
8. Blow out all the spiders that made this bike their home
9. Tires!

So, here are the pictures as she sits today! The paint looked all oxidized and flat, but after a little wash you could tell that it is still nice and pearl white.

I'll be sure to keep showing the progress here and will have even more detail on my personal motorcycle webpage (in the signature below where you can see some of my other bikes.).

 

My GOD! Nice find! Worth every penny and all your efforts! Good Karma on ya for doing it all the right way. I would have just signed the title myself and chanced it. Not such good karma for me! :roll:

 

WOW, what a sweet find! I love that color scheme--keep it original if you can. Welcome, and congrats. Do keep us posted!

 

YOU ROCK dude
Good find a great attitude. The differance between adventure and ordeal is attitude.
Enjoy it!
the buff

 

Real nice steal!
Njoy

 

Thanks everyone. I can't wait to get this bike back on the road.

The first step will probably be ordering that XJCD so that I can make sure I get those carbs back together just right.

 

Welcome to you Napalm, your attitude is commendable! I think you got one of those "once-in-a-lifetime" scores! Glad you are happy with the whole affair, it looks to be in very nice shape. Do keep us posted with progress, I've a feeling it won't be too very long! Now, get those XJCD's ordered up and get a maintenance manual.

 

Congrats Napalm! I have the same bike, also with low miles. They're a blast, and worth the effort. Enjoy!

 

Motor Vehicle Dept. update:

I just spent an hour at MVD to get the title transferred. They found their copy of the title but they couldn't give me a new title. Apparently, the VIN on the title is a 9 digit number and all VINs must be 17 digits. So, now they have to issue a new VIN for which the bike must be inspected.

So, I guess I'll load her up on Wednesday and give it another try!

 

They should have put a big red bow on that bike for you.
Merry Christmas in October!

Take your time assembling the Carbs. They are all Brass and Aluminum. Easily cleaned if you have the skill and patience. If you need help there are Members near Members all over the map that offer assistance.

Make it go good!
Nice score for the money.
Also nice of you to reach out to the former real owner for the Title autograph)

 

Title in hand!

I finally got the title under control. It turns out that in 1981 the gov't gave a 9 month grace period to the japanese motorcycle manufacturers to clear out their inventory of 9 digit VIN stamped frames. So, essentially those frames have two numbers on them. An etched 9 digit and a 17 digit sticker.

It was pretty easy, though it required a few trips to the MVD to get it taken care of. They had to inspect the bike and note the engine number and frame number. Then I had to take that paper back to the original guy who did all the previous searching for the title. And 20 minutes and $4.00 later I had a new title. I just wonder if the 17 digit VIN sticker gets damaged and I sell the bike if the buyer is going to have problems? Anyhow, it's now officially mine.

Not 4 hours after completing the title transfer, I was rolling the bike out of my truck and slipped and dumped it on it's side. No real damage. Just a dent in the right exhaust and a small dent in the tank and a giant bruise on my left side. I guess I was just a little lazy about it because the bike is so small and light. . . now to get her going.

 

You probably live somewhere close to ArizonaSteve. You've got a good XJ-Man close enough to cook-up a Carb Clinic and get a few other things looked-after or straightened-out.

I'm pretty sure you are going to have to do some Cleaning work on those Mikuni's those 550's come with.

DON'T try to remove any Jets or Mixture Screws without a Screwdriver you fabricate (grind) to FIT the Head Slots of the Jets and Screws with absolute precision.

ZERO ~~> slop, give, end-play ... None. A Perfect tight fit ... or, the "Wings" of the Screw or Jet slots will "Move to the free area and become bent and eventually break.

Not a fun thing to deal with.
Mikuni's are easier to get the Stuck Jets out-of because there's space to hit them with Heat.
Use Vegetable Oil if you need to heat-up and get-out a Jet. The Vegetable Oil won't ignite as quickly as a petroleum by-product and will boil its way down around stuck threads to help get the stuck part to come free.

 

Napalm, if you get around the ShowLow area I'm 50 miles east of there.

Let me know

 

It's alive!!!

It took about 6 hours to get her running. The bike is completely untuned, since I just put the carbs back together and had no idea where to set all the screws. I was surprised at how simple these carburetors are. I've sat and stared at the springs on my CB900 for hours trying to get everything just right. These go together like a puzzle. Once you see where one piece goes you know where the other must go.

So, in the past day i've changed the oil, put in new spark plugs, put a little oil down the cylinders to help the pistons along, flushed the brake fluid and installed a new battery.

I guess the next step will be to fix all the fuel lines that are pouring gasoline and tune the carbs. Still need to address the fork seals, chain and tires.

Will be on the road again soon!

 

Thanks Hvnbnd. I'll let you know as soon as I'm back on the road!

 

Thanks RickCoMatic. The carbs were actually not bad since they had been disassembled for cleaning many years ago and just never put back together. It was almost like having NOS parts.

Good idea with the vegetable oil, never done that before. I've always just let them sit in super-carcinogenic chemicals. I'd much prefer your method.

I'll certainly have to hit someone up for help in getting these guys tuned. While it's running now, it's nowhere near rideable. Throttle response is practically non-existant.

 

Update: I've been traveling so much during this past month that I've only been home three days this month. However, when I returned I had a whole bunch of parts to work with.

First order of business was the petcock. The rebuild only kind of worked, so I ordered the Z1 enterprises package with a pingel adapter and a on/off/res petcock. Aside from splitting the paper gasket, it went pretty well. No leaks and looks nice and shiny.

Just for fun I installed the clubman handlebars. There are all kinds of clearance issues with the stock position of the turn signals, stock cable length etc. But nothing that can't be dealt with at a later date.

Then I tuned the carbs as best I could without having finished my YICS tool, but enough to get a smooth idle.

I ran into some problems with fuel in the crankcase prior to the petcock swap. I believe that was directly responsible for a terrible sound coming from the starter (it would stay engaged and rev up to engine speed). A quick oil change and a minute of listening to the starter and it went away.

So, with all that said my XJ550R rolled under it's own power for the first time in 24 years today. There are barely any front brakes, NO rear brakes, a very stiff clutch and no shocks. While it is rolling, it's far from safe!! I think during the next couple of weeks I should be able to get her prepped enough to hit the DMV for registration.

I've got tons of pictures that I need to upload of the progress. . . so stay tuned or check out my other links below.

 

Congrats on your progress! Definitely check those brakes. Every bike I've had here that has sat for more than a year or two I've found the rear linings have delaminated from their shoes. Very dangerous!

 

My parents spend the winters in Mesa. If you get tired of the bike, you can send it back to Canada with them. LOL. We spent Christmas 2006 in Mesa. One of these winters I'm going to trailer my bike bike down to Mesa and spend a week riding. You will get a visitor if I do.

 

Slight delay in updating.

The bike is now insured, registered and on the road. I lost a couple of weeks trying to get my hands on tires. Each time I ordered a set, I'd wait one week and then get a phone call that the rear was discontinued. Michelin Macadam, Commander, some Metzeler. I ended up with a set of Avon universal front/rear. The tire isn't bad. And I'm not going to be putting my knee down with this bike any time soon.

I did the front fork seals and made a huge mess in the process. (Yes, I started getting in a hurry and it was late and I forgot to put the giant hex bolt in the bottom.... turns out that a lot of oil can go through there in a hurry.) They work like a champ now too.

Now get this... It passed emissions on the first try. Amazing what happens when you set up a bike by the book.

So, after paying $20.75 for a year of registration (the cheapest I've ever left the DMV) I'm on the road with 100 fresh miles on the Seca. Thanks for all the help. I've referred back to this board many times in the past couple of months!!!

It's riding season in Arizona... who's ready to go?