The Koolaid Project

Cool, I know Barzu was planning on that too, plus a 6 inch stretch. I would love to see it. Apologies for the rant.

 

-just sayin', you're going MORE than the extra mile cutting out the shafie swingarm and making your own...

 

you call that a rant? hahahaha.....try harder

6" stretch would be nice, but I think I'm sticking with stock on this one to keep it easier.... actually.... the more I think about it the more I'm thinking of maybe keeping this one on shocks. I could always turn the '81 cb900f into the hardtail. That will let me get this one up and running a lot quicker and then to take my time and just fool around with the cb slowly. huh.....that might work.

 

Well Iguess each individual knows their own limits as to what they can do.

 

Then again..... after looking at this build and a few others maybe I WOULD just go the easy route....

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic ... art=0.html

That is probably my favorite looking XJ. I would make a few changes, but it is REALLY clean looking.

 

Alright guys.... There might be some work done on the XJ in the next few days if I can get the garage cleaned out and organized a bit tonight. The wife is going to be out of town until Friday evening, so I may move the XJ out from behind the shed and into the garage

I got the seat that I am going to be using on it the other day and it looks great. I should be getting the king sporty tank that I MIGHT use on it in a few days as well.

First things first though... I need to clean out the garage and get it in there. After that I'll pull the carbs again, rebuild them, and see if I can get it running right. I'll post up pics of the tank and seat sitting on there.

Oh, and the 10" shocks should be here tomorrow as well.

I don't think I'm going to hardtail it anymore. I might save that project for the '81 cb900f instead. I'll be asking advice and opinions in a bit, so stay tuned.

 

+1
I couldn't have said it any better.

 

I'm not hardtailing it anymore. I think I'm reserving that project for the cb900f project. I'm also thinking the king sporty tank will go with that project as well. I got it today and I'm just not feeling it on the XJ. I'll make the final decision after I strip all the bulky crap off of it, mount the new seat, lower it with the 10" shocks, and decide on some different bars.... THEN I'll revisit the possibility of the sporty tank.

I got the tank about 2 hours ago. The XJ has been drug out from behind the shed and is on the back patio now I'm still waiting on the shocks that should get here sometime today though.

 

Ok, so today I slapped the carbs back in along with the battery and hooked the bike up to the aux tank. It fired up first try with full choke and then died. I fired it up again and was able to keep it running for about 15-20 seconds with some throttle. Then it fired up a few more times, but I couldn't keep it running and then nothing.

I wish someone was around here that could give me a hand. This is frustrating. The wife gets pissed when I fool around with bikes instead of doing other shit, so with that annoyance and the stress of just wanting the f'n thing to run, so I can start doing the fun stuff and modifying it..... ggggrrrrr f***! any advice?

 

Will it start without the choke? Maybe you're flooding it? Is the battery dead now?

 

I don't think I messed with it long enough to kill the battery. I didn't check it yet. I'm trying to get the place cleaned up before the wife gets home after being gone a few days.

I'll throw it on the trickle charger before I head to work tonight.

I figured I might be flooding it, so I quit trying. I really only messed with it for 3-4 min.

Oh, and the one time I got it started for about 3-4 sec was with the choke at around half, but it never started up with no choke.

 

Mine hates full choke unless it's about 40 something degrees outside.

 

it wouldn't start at all with choke though. With full choke on it fired up IMMEDIATELY and then I was giving it a bit of throttle and attempting to take the choke off. Then it died and I'd try again.... did that 3-4 times before I couldn't get anything.

Oh, and when I first turned the fuel on I got a puddle under the bike from the overflow tube. I shut it off right away and cussed a bit then it didn't do that anymore..... weird

 

ok, I only had a few min to look at the bike real quick today before I have to get ready for work....

Again... with full choke it fired right up, but only ran for 2-3 seconds. I couldn't even get it to turn over with no choke. I bench synched the carbs, so I should be good, right? What could be causing this? I just want it to be able to idle, so that I can get the carbs synched and get this thing functional. IRRITATING!

Oh, and I discovered a few more things. the blinker relay doesn't work, no big deal..... and I knew the headlights didn't work and wasn't worried about it, but today I had the headlights switched on for some reason and they turn on when the motor turns over. After they click on they stay on until you turn the switch off. Well, the aux light works with the switch after it comes on, but I just thought it was odd that the headlight doesn't come on until the motor turns over. Whatever..... I just want this thing to run.

I'll be searching all over the forum tonight from work to see if anyone else got good advice for a similar issue, but feel free to chime in and help me out

 

The headlight doesn't come on until the motor's running to save juice from the battery.

How are your float levels? I didn't reread the thread.

 

aaaaaaahhhhhh......that makes sense. GOOD, I'm glad it's not another issue

Float levels.... I actually didn't check them Probably should have, huh? I'm guessing you think they could be set too low?

 

I hate carbs. I just want to send them to someone and have them go through them for me.

Chacal - do you provide that service

 

If you messed with the idle mixtures it could be that they are too lean and it would cause the bike to not idle. I had that problem that she wouldn't idle unless the choke was on all the way, and turning the idle screw up to where it would idle it threw the carbs way out of wack. When I started my project i had never done carbs before. It took a lot of patience and thought. Read this it may help, or maybe not.

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14751.html

 

This is just payback. The first time I ever touched carbs was with my gsxr 1100. Everyone was saying that I would need to fool with them 5-10 times ....on, off, tweak...repeat. I cleaned them, put a jet kit in, put them back in, synched them with a motion pro tool, and haven't touched them since

I DID mess with the synch screws as well as the idle adjustment screw as per the bench synch thread....

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic ... synch.html

 

Did you change the idle screws?

 

I didn't this time, but I think I did last month when I first started messing with it. At that time the only one that was unplugged was #3, but I have drilled all of the plugs out now. What should I set them to as a starting point with my all stock setup?

 

Well, personally I maybe wouldn't change them if they haven't been messed with. Also it seems that checking float hieghts is to reverse PO mess ups. I find it highly unlikely that the floats would chnge by themselves, so if they look like they are suppose to i wouldn't change them either. It sounds like maybe the enrichment circuit is clogged and won't get the bike going, or you have an air leak. Just a guess. I would check the enrichment passages and the pilot jets again for craps and giggles.

 

Well, I DID mess with the #3 air screw, so I just woke up and am getting ready to go out and tweak it to see if I can get it running. After a lot of reading last night it sounds like I'm just very...VERY lean and there just isn't enough fuel to get the bike running. I'm going to start at 2.5 turns out and go from there backing it out a little at a time until I can hopefully get it to idle.

Fingers crossed and I'll be back in a few hours either happy as shit or still frustrated

 

That is what I did also to get it to idle. Good luck. You'll get it.

 

well.... first round was unsuccessful, but not COMPLETELY frustrating. I found that my battery was a little low, so I hooked up the jumper cables to the JEEP with it turned off and was able to have more success. I tweaked the synch screws in half a turn and got the choke just right and the motor was coming to life a little more. It's still not idling, but showing more promise. I'm giving the battery and starter a break for a few and then I'm going to go out and turn the air screw out half a turn and try again...

The wife is going to be home in about half an hour though, so I want it all cleaned up and put away before that

 

what do you guys think about this gas tank? I like the shape better than the Seca tank and if it fits I think it will look better than the sporty tank.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... K:MEWAX:IT

 

$100??... ouch! You should be able to find something cheaper or in better shape for that price

 

really? so far I've been having a tough time finding anything... if you see anything let me know. I'm a bit impatient

 

Have you looked at the maxim tanks? They're close to the shape of that one and will defintely fit.

 

Yeah, I HAVE been looking at the Maxim tanks, but I just liked how much wider that one was at the front.

 

The 750 tanks are wider and hold more fuel than a 650. Either one will fit. I have a 750 tank going on my 650 for the extra miles per tank and the wider front.

 

that's what I thought, but I can't find any 750's up for sale right now. Can you send me some pics of yours?

 

On my thread here: http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=22150.html

The black one is the 650 tank (sold)

The bare metal one is the 750 tank (keeping)

 

thanks... that would be perfect if I could find one. Where did you find this one and how much was it?

 

I bought it on ebay. I paid $50 including shipping. I hunted and hunted for awhile. I also bought it in novemeber. This time of year is not good for finding cheap bike parts. High demand and all that.

 

cheapest I've found so far is $100 shipped and that's on a 700 tank from a fellow member here.

I take that back... I found one for $20 + shipping, but it will need a LOT of work, so the extra $50-$60 for one in great shape is worth it to me.

 

The one i got has a few dings in the front corners and had ugly red paint on it. As you saw the paint is gone and the dings will be filled in shortly. The inside looks great and it doesn't leak.

 

I can deal with a few dings....that's no big deal.

 

OK.... today I tore the carbs apart again and boiled them on the stove with some vinegar, lemon juice, and a bit of dish soap Not sure if that was the best thing, but I figured it would handle the grease and eat away at some shit with all that acid in there. They look better. Now they are in a pot soaking in carb cleaner. I'm getting ready to go out and give them a good scrub, blow them dry, and reassemble, so I can get them back on the bike tonight and make another attempt at starting first thing in the morning. Fingers crossed.

While the carbs where boiling today I went ahead and stripped some of the bike down. Took off the rear fender, all signals, headlight and aux light, bar covers, grab bar....all that good stuff. I was going to swap out my risers for one of two sets I picked up, but both of them have larger mounting bolts that won't fit through the existing holes in the top triple. If I use those they'll have to wait a bit. I'll take some pics later tonight of the risers to see what you guys like and to get some feedback on them.

Ok, stripped down, carb cleaning in progress......

I also bought a maxim 650 tank to have as an option. I'm not sure if I want to go with that or with the king sporty, so I'll be taking pics of both mocked up to get a better idea.

I am also in the process of buying some screamin eagle slip ons from a fellow member as soon as I can get the MO to pay him (tomorrow). With those on the way I need to pull the trigger on some pod filters tonight. Then the next step will be a jet kit, but I can't find one listed for an '83 XJ750 on the dynojet website. Any help on that one???

Stay tuned for pics....

 

Lets see them pics

 

watching US of Tara with the wife and then I'll go out and get to work. I'll take some quick cell pics then.

 

just messing with ya, take your time.

 

ok, so here's the plan for the bike. I'm going in a bit of a different direction. I'm putting a ducati tail on it with the stock tank.... check it out.



let me know what you think.

 

ok, I was just f'n around. That tail was for another project that I was working on, but never did anything with.....YET! It's an '81 cb750f. I guess that will be the next project.

Here is what I'm really doing....



wait.... no....no...that's not it either. Maybe the tank is wrong.....

Here we go....



Nope....just really don't like that stock tank on there. Maybe if I go with the sporty tank and the seat off of the duc?

 

ok, ok, ok.... enough joking around. The plan is to go with either the sporty tank or the maxim 650 I bought today. I'll make up my mind when I have both tanks to look at. In these pics the sporty tank is too low and it's just zip tied in place. I'll need to move some components and redo the triple backbone to get it to fit right. Imagine some 15" apes on there as well. I'll be getting those sooner or later....hopefully sooner.

 

I think the maxim tank will look alot better on there. I don't care for that sporty tank.

 

See the above reply :wink: ...

skillet
BTW it's REAL popular with a lot of folks, but I've never been a fan of the tank sitting up high like that. As always that's just my opinion AND not my scooter

 

If I would decide to keep the sporty tank I would be converting to a single backbone and moving everything out of the tanks way, so It would sit down about an inch or so lower than it is in those pics and it would be about 2 inches up closer to the handlebars. I agree with you guys though. I am most likely going to be using the Maxim tank.

I just ordered handlebars, rear fender, forward controls, and some tubing for my hardtail from TCBros.

 

i wont lie, and ill go against popular opinion, but i like the sporty tank, i think with a different set of gauges, it could look pretty slick,
mainly, i'm just commenting tho, so i can get notifications of updates to your build. lookin good.

 

hahahaha....Thanks Kenny. Yeah, that's why I am waiting on the final decision until I'm closer to being done with the bike.

Things I still need (in case you have them laying around):

- Side mount license plate/brake light
- Gauges
- ammo can/s for electronics and/or luggage area


uuuuuhhhhh.....that's all I can think of right now.