PROJECT 900

Amazing, Redcentre has only been gone a week & he's turned into a pirate. 8O

 

Frame finished.

 

Starter motor neads cleaning.

 

Starter cleaned & ready to assemble.
Where possible I remove tags / labels with heat gun & set aside to re-fix after painting / pollishing.

 

Looking good Wiz

 

First 2 things to go back in the frame are:
1/airbox
2/rear brake shaft, if you have put the swing arm back before the brake shaft, you are in the#@&*, I hold it the right way up with a cable tie, cos you can,t turn it later.

 

You can protect the Frame with "Hot Water Pipe Foam Insulation"
Two lengths will cover the Frame while the Engine is replaced.

Tape the insulation together ... away from where Mounting Bolts belong.

The Flying Wallenda's were the only Circus Act good enough to work without a net.

 

Can you guys double check for me, the free length of my fork springs is,520mm, the book says 522.5 for the '83 & 557.5mm for the '84-'86, my bike is '85, have we got a typo or the wrong springs?
Thanks, Wiz.

 

522.5 > '83 Factory Spex.

286 cc's of Fluid

I replaced the Stock Fork Springs with Progressive Suspension and added Preload Discs 2.5 cm compressing the Fork Spring.

 

Yes, Rick, but is 557.5mm right for my '85?

 

I don't know.
I have no reference manual.
No 900's in US after 83 and Yam deleted 900's fm Parts List.

 

Babbitts still has it, though. There are a lot of differences I have found between the '83 & 4,5,6, noteably, forks & carbs.

 

I've fitted new Progressive springs from Chacal, when I overhauled my forks. My old springs were 500mm, very sagged. The new springs were about 522mm. They sat in the fork tube, with one coil sticking out, so with the seat washer and top bolt, they are preloaded about 3/4". Firm now, they need quite a good shove to compress.

I used Castrol 10W fork oil, leveled to 200mm from the top of the fork tube, which is about 30mm down from standard oil height, to allow for the thicker wire in the new springs.

I'm thinking your forks are the same as mine, so 557mm is probably a typo.

You did a nice paint job on the frame.

 

Progressive Suspension fork springs are definitely the hot tip. They simply work a whole lot better than even brand new stock springs.

You can always just preload the old springs a bit more but if they're sagged they're going to continue to sag more.

 

If you are going to add Preload to Progressive Suspension Fork Springs on the XJ-900 with the Ultra-fine Threaded Fork Tube Cap, ...

You're in for a FIGHT!
The Threaded End cap must be made of Kryptonite!
You lose you strength.

Eat your Spinach.

 

Chacal has come up with a plausible explanation, there is a spring with the prefix 41Y which is stamped on my outer fork tubes & he gives the length as 517.5, so th 557.5 could easy be a typo & as my springs measure 520mm I think they are the correct spring & in spec'. Now do I add some preload or not?.

 

Just wait until you ride it. All you need to do is put spacers under the fork caps so it's not a big job.

 

Headlight & oil cooler, wheels finished looking for tyres.

 

This one's a keeper! :lol:

 

Am I that transparent? 8O

 

Not transparent......just thorough :wink:

Are you going to show this bike??

 

Engine back from the soda blasters, this new guy charged me less than half my usual guy ($40) but didn't do such a thorough job.

 

Did you do the wheels yourself?

 

Yes, I used a gloss enamel, should be easier to clean.

 

That's a damn fine job... Nice work

 

Curious, is that $40 uk or USD? Bike is coming along very nicely. I'm seriously considering going the route you did with my max x engine this winter and repainting it....your bike is going to be gorgeous when it's done, can't wait!

 

you're right wiz, that engine just isnt up to your par

 

Niether, that,s Australian dollars, worth about 80% of the greenback.

 

It will be Schoot', just got to put more work in, I'm going to do the block, starter motor body & valve cover in gloss black, with the YICS polished, a la BigFitz.

 

If you are going to have the Engine "RE-Blasted" you might want to consider having it done with some other Media than SODA.

Some other Media could enhance the beauty of the Cast Light Alloy by not only Cleaning ... but, leaving a nicer "Finish" on the Vanes and Cases than you can get form gust a straight Cleaning Media.

Walnut Shell, Dried Corncob, Plastic Beads, Glass and some Oxides can be uses as the Blasting Media and will leave behind a cleaned and polished surface that will look closer to jewelry other than Cast Aluminum.

Here's a link to a Supplier that provides a Pic of the Medium and a complete description of what to expect after treatment.

http://www.kramerindustriesonline.com/b ... -media.htm

 

soda? is that baking soda? as a dry medium......was considering this myself but was ewondering about results....comments please. thank

 

baking soda works fine, just a poor job

 

I'm glad this bit is done, a real PITA. 8)

 

Oh, no!
You got a bad case of Alumabuffitis.

The year I restored my 900. I got it bad.
You just have to quit, "Cold Turkey"
You can't go to meetings.
There ain't real cure, either.

You know it's bad when you start takin' artsie-fartsie polished shots.

 

Are you going to clear coat the parts that dont get too hot? or all of the engine....on another note, no not knee scraping just long sweeping bends...rrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmm..rrrrrrrrrrrrrrrmmmmmm
And you would think my bike is filthy, in need of a dose of alumbuffitis.

 

I don't go in for laquer / clear coat, 'cos it fades & peels, I would just sooner give it another rub, once you have the disease there's no cure.

 

You did a fabulous job on the polishing. Can you describe how you went about it? I'm considering stripping my maxim x engine because as my paint spider webbed. I was not a happy camper. Besides, how many x's do you see with a polished engine??

 

H i mc', if the case has paint or laquer remove that with paint stripper, wash with soapy water, brush off any oxide with a fibre rotary brush, rub down the whole piece with 180 wet & dry (keep it wet) then 240, 360, 400 & I finish with 600, but you can go down finer, make sure the marks of the previous grade paper are taken out before you start the next grade, wash & dry the piece. now start buffing with the rotary buffer, using a course then fine solid polish, finish with Mothers ally' polish to protect the shine.
It's hard work, but rewarding. Wiz.

 

Where's the "like" button on this thing?

 

350 bucks worth of bling. 8O

 

Valve cover.

 

Wiz, I've done some polishing, but the smell of it gets to me after a few days. How long did it take you to do the valve cover? Man, that looks good. Looks Like I might yank my engine and re do it this winter after all....damn you! lol

 

mcrwt.... On my cb750 engine... I would use a dremmel with one of those cotten wheels, and I would say if you spent 5 minutes on each section of that cover, it could look like a mirror, though you'd probably go through 2 rolls a section, and by section i mean 1/4 of it. just add some mothers and let her chew

bot wow wiz, i didnt know it cost so much to get stuff chrome plated..

 

Rack.

 

What colour are you painting the tank and fairings?

 

No fairings, this bike is naked as a jaybird, colour will be:
Yamaha Blue Dupont Colours AM74 Blue
Pearl 24.2
AM29 Light Blue 31.1
AM20 Violet 43.7
AM732 Medium White Pearl 48.3
XB155 M.S. Binder 98.0
With silver trim.

 

Nice....

When I said fairings I meant side covers, tail piece

 

sweet thanks! I'm getting my seca painted yami blue whenever i get the funds and a tank

 

Engine back in the frame, laying the mill on it's right side (on some carpet) & protecting the frame as shown, it's a 2 min' job to lift the frame over, slip some bolts in & stand it back upright.

 

Wizard:

Hand the camera to somebody and make sure there are several photographs of you doing this tedious and beautiful restore.

This project is worthy of the highest praise and should be featured in one of the Bike Mags.