New to motorcycle repair

Hello all,
I'm new to motorcycle repair and wanted to bounce my "slated" repair schedule off of some seasoned veterans. When I bought the bike it fired up and ran for 5 seconds at a time. Seemed to sound good when it was running, nothing too out of the ordinary. The PO stated he thinks theres a mouse nest in the exhaust. Either way here I am with an 82 XJ650J with 36K on it. This is not my only bike so I'm plenty content doing this right and taking my time. So here's my schedule of repair.
-Check Valve clearances (completed today and 2 of 8 are in spec clearance, going to remedy as soon as I get the tool to remove the shims, but most measure to .127mm).
-Clean/Rebuild depending on current condition)/Sync Carbs and intake the intake manifolds are shot, any recommendations on intake manifolds, stock vs "rigging something up"? Buying a sync tool and the necessary tool for YICS motors.
-Check Compression...once I buy a compression tester.
-Fix brakes
-Replace fork seals
-Replace all fluids and replace the plugs.
Well hopefully that will be all that I have to do but whatever else pops up I'm okay with...afterall it's a 30 year old bike with 36K miles. I guess I'm looking for some feedback/guidance regarding my order of repairs. I can't wait though to really start this thing.

 

Clean out the fuel tank, clean out the petcock & make sure it's delivering fuel when you suck on the vac' pipe. You wouldn't want to re-infect your clean carbs. Adjust cam chain. Make sure there are no rodents in the mufflers, as the PO stated, although I can't see the critters staying there even if the bike ran for a few seconds, more like a red herring than a mouse, IMHO.

 

Your first order of business should be making sure you can stop that bike once you do get it running. It is a simple fact. If the bike runs. You will want to ride it!

Ghost

 

There's no "fixing" the brakes.

The word is REBUILD. Anything less is both dangerous and a waste of time; because the bike will force you to go back and do whatever you skip (just like with the carbs.)

The original brake lines had a factory-recommended life span of FOUR years. The orginal caliper and master cylinder seals were to have lasted TWO YEARS. Granted, this may be a tad conservative; but 30 years is WAYYY past any designed-in "margin" of safety. Old pads crumble; original brake shoes are known to delaminate.

The brakes, front and rear, need to be completely rebuilt, period. Not "fixed." Your safety depends upon it.

 

As a new Seca owner and rider, I'm going to recommend you expand the "brakes" section a bit.

Rebuild front and rear brakes. It could save your life.

Also hi and welcome to the site!

 

Alright I hear everyone loud and clear...Keep in mind this in not my only bike so I'm NOT riding it until it is 100% entirely safe. I can get my urge to ride taken care of with my other bike. But my focus now is to find out what shape the engine is in and what state the carbs are currently in. Then once that is all taken care of it will be onto the brakes. And YES a rebuild is in order (sorry for the oversight on wording), but why start rebuilding the brakes if the motor and rest of the bike is toast and you don't know it. So yes I hear everyone...thanks for the concern, brakes will be entirely rebuilt.