Skwerly's '82 750cc XJ Bobber Project

Hello all, I’m Derek. I have an ’82 750, bobber style. It was mostly pretty much sorta kinda done when I got it, but it had issues and so I have been having fun fixing things here and there as time allows. Now that the heat is approaching, I really want to get this guy out on the road!


I traded a boat for it and I’ll never look back. I’ll use the bike waaaay more, period. Anyhow, here’s a little bit of where I am now.


The previous owner had no clue what he was doing in many aspects. Either that or he did and didn’t care that this was a major throw-together and wasn’t in the least bit safe.


The seat/fender mount, for instance, was installed completely incorrectly. There’s no way he knew how it worked lol. I fixed that today and feel real good about it.


Other things that have to be done:

• Front brake system has no fluid. I’m sure that’ll be fun.
• I admittedly haven’t fired the thing yet. It needs gas, it needs a ton of little tweaks done before I start it, but I got it from a buddy (wasn’t the one who did the work) and he said it ran strong, so I’m not too worried. I’m sure a valve adjustment and carb work is in my future, but that’s down the road a tad.
• Even though everything is there and technically works, I plan on redoing a ton of it, including the front headlight, blinkers/brake lights, probably the color of the tank and fenders, the pegs, etc, etc, etc——you know how it goes.

Anyhow, here are a few pictures of the victim.

This one was taken about an hour ago. Coming along!



My garage--it's really not as messy as it looks, it's more like organized chaos.



The work I did on the seat/fender mount today. OP had it completely backward, literally, and in the darndest place--seriously, it was weird.


Top view of the area.

OP had the mount turned around and mounted in the middle hole on that crossmember, and the fender was mounted to the beam itself, waaaaay back from where it should have been.



Aaaaaaaand, full bike, taken today:

 

Oh! Can't forget my helper, Wookie. He's an Affenpinscher and his personality is as adorable as his face.

 

if you could raise those struts a bit your u-joint would thank you, that's about at the limit.
so far so good, keep going

 

Thanks for the tip, I hadn't even considered that!