What did you do to your Yamaha today?

That sucks. I'm no metallurgist, but it seems like this caliper aluminum in particular corrodes when you breathe on it wrong. I have some r6 calipers that feels like they could be converted if I squint just right while holding them next to the forks. One of those "someday" projects.

 

This bike supposedly has been sitting for 10 years , or it was stolen . The old guy I got from claimed it was dropped off at his buddies shop and they never came to get it. He wanted iwhen I asked for at gone so they put on FB market place for 100$ . He was scetchy when I asked for a bill of sale.

 

Clean and lube the ignition. I swore I had already done this and when I pulled it out of the parts box I was surprised what a shitty job I'd done. Then realized that was the ignition of a bike or two ago. At least they're all basically the same and a familiar process.

 

Rebuilt both calipers, the seals were hard and had to use my grease gun to push pistons out, messy but efective . I also found the slide was stiff , it all freed up and reinstalled. Was getting quite cold out so bleeding will have to wait. If I do keep this eventually would replace orginal rubber hoses , for now they will have to do . I also reused the brake pads they were still in spec and don't look bad . I did order a battery waiting on it to show up , so so far have put a little over 100$ into it .

 

Paint on the fuel tank got damaged and I decided that Ford grabber blue looked a lot better in my head than in reality. So cleaned up the sore spots and repainted something called Lexington Green which is still kind of funky but not nearly as ostentatious.

And, hopefully, drove a stake through the heart of any and all potential remaining vacuum leaks by removing and reinstalling the intake boots with Permatex Motoseal gasket maker. One thing I've learned through this, using propane to find vacuum leaks does not work versus small, directed spritzes of carb cleaner.

 

Ha, I used a compressor and thankfully it was pointing in a safe direction when the piston came out like a musket ball. I'd say .380 Auto loud. Shoulda stuffed a rag in there first...

 

Made a new set of motor mount bushings from polyurethane. They turned out better than I was thinking they might since I don't own a lathe.

 

I finally got to do a test ride on my bike. The front brake caliper needs a rebuild put in it so I really didn't have front brakes. I still need a speedometer cable so I don't exactly know how I was going. The clutch & gears worked great. Really happy to get to ride the bike after having it for a year.

 

Nope I have a big aircompressor cranked it up to 130 psi and pistons would not budge. So grease did the trick.

 

First ride ever on my 750 (now 900) Seca. 100m around the yard, over 10cm fresh snow on the ground and in my shoes but that still counts.

https://youtube.com/shorts/-kicwiEnq_I?feature=share

 

Today removed handle bars and popped fork caps , drained the forks took chance and refilled forks , waiting to see if seals leak , if they do will have to pull forks and replace . Not real warm out so tried to fill master cylinder with the fill by the cap neck , no Bueno gave up for now .

 

Checked compression, when I got the machine #1 tested at 60psi - less than half the other three cylinders. After the usual sticky ring treatment, setting valve clearance and riding a few hundred miles it tested 150psi, 147psi, 150psi, 152psi today. The plugs had some ash so the valve guides or seals are probably leaking a bit.

Reinstalled the carbs, got it running and confirmed there are zero vacuum leaks anywhere on the engine side of the plungers. According to my questionable set of vacuum gauges the sync is pretty dialed in but pretty sure the mixture needs tuning. I think at this point I'm ready to bite the bullet and buy a Colortune plug and either rent or buy a Carbtune and put a bow on it.

The paint on the tank came out pretty nice. The local auto paint store mixed up the base coat in an aerosol can along with a 2K aerosol clear coat that's supposed to be fuel resistant, at least to the degree a factory base coat/clear coat would be. The petcock needs to be rebuilt anyway so I'm going to let it cure for a week before sanding and polishing.

 

Worked on the XJ today, finally did work on the gas tank, rattle can black with a few coats of clear. Finished the vinegar clean out a week ago. Replaced the fender with a pretty nice chrome one from Ebay.

 

More progress, I had ordered a new sealed battery, finally showed up after going to multiple states . Installed it and cranks over great, beats using a car battery and jumper cables . Still will make up a battery jumper for the BATTERY light on the Atari. Still need to bleed front brakes after the caliper rebuild . So tired of this weather so want to drag out my other Seca and ride . Keeps snowing and is cold , when is spring supposed to get here ?

 

On today's episode of "How much labor can I spend to save a couple nickels?"

 

Timing chain tensioner gaskets?

 

Gaskets between the head and the carb boot/rubber thingy.

 

That sure makes sense when there are four!

 

I'm with you on that! Indiana weather is trying my patience also.

 

i can assure you that Finnish weather isn't any better, this weeks forecast had every weather sign there is, temps from -14C to +5C, rain, snow, fog, storm wind, you name it