First real ride!

I picked up my bike Friday night.

The bike has lower handle bars with a bobber mirror. What is the bolt size/threads for the old mirror posts mounts? I need to paint those and put a pair of bolts in those holes.

I had previously ridding it around the last owner's neighborhood but nothing far or fast. The weather was incredibly warm at 49 degrees Friday night. The bike was downtown and so my first ride included several intersections, a baptism by fire of sorts. It rode great, holy cow these engines love to rev. Getting on the freeway I took it up to 10,000 RPMs and it seemed nice and heathly. The intake roar from the K&Ns sounds awesome.

All day Saturday I spent checking it out. I received a pile of receipts and so I could verify when everything was replaced. Fork seals, wheel bearings, clutch pack, throttle cable, brake line, brake pads, tires, new paint, new seat, etc… it all looks great and checks with the receipts. I bought a mother's polishing cone and went to work on the exhaust, crash bars, shocks, and the engine covers. I used Shout and Magic Erasers and got the white walls spotless, so much easier than SOS pads. I used oven cleaner and a few more magic erasers on the exhuast to get the melted boot rubber off. I got the bike spotless.

I need a new rear foot peg and I still need to check the valves. An oil change is due next month and so I'll probably take off the valve cover then.

The old agage is so true! Let the other guy spend his money fixing and repairing and then sell it to you less than what he paid in parts.

 

The mirror holes aren't the same on both sides; the one on the RH is reverse-threaded.

What I did was use a couple of black plastic push-in autobody trim plugs, with a dab of black RTV for peace of mind.

Look closely, you can see the LH mirror mount with its trim plug sticking up by the speedo:

 

great looking bike - what kind of seat is that?

 

The previous owner had a custom seat made. It looks and feels great. A little low but it works fine. I think the guy charged him $275. Let me know if you want some close up pics if you would like have your own made.

Fitz, thanks for your help again.

 

Those white-walls look really good. In fact, the whole bike looks good.

Perhaps a black front 'guard instead of the chrome one?

 

A couple more.

 

Like the white walls, like the fairing, but I don't know if I like them together. Still, the bike looks effen slick. I really like the seat.

 

Its definitely a strange combo but I like it as something different. It's a mix of the 70s/80s with a little bit of rat bike thrown in. It's the Hipster bike.

 

I can dig that

 

i think your throttle cable should go through the forks, not behind them

 

Yeah, I need a shorter cable

 

yeah dude, hella sick bike. just curious if you wouldnt mnd sharing what you paid for it as it was good to go when you bought it with everything replaced on it. if not its chill, but i was just curious.

 

The bike does have some high miles with 38K. It's not perfect, the frame could be powder coated. The wheels need to painted and polished. The hand controls are weathered pretty good. The exhaust is scratched underneath. On the other hand this bike has been ridden often for the last couple years and everything that has needed replacement has been replaced. It was really nice to find a great running old bike, not just one that ran a year ago. I don’t think the guy I bought it from paid a whole lot for it originally, I got the impression like a few hundred bucks.
He had it up on ebay for $1400 and didn’t get any bids. It was up on our KSL classifieds for about a month at $1,200 when I found it and I figured that was a good price with the new paint and tires. When the rain and snow is flying it’s a great time to get a bike. I looked at a lot of bikes and almost bought a rusty 1981 Suzuki 750 that needed some carb work for $1,200. I'm glad I found this one.

 

Fitz, do you know of any shock guards/fork guards that would fit XJ forks? I'm not sure what they are called. Something to break up those super long forks.
Something like the Bonnie's below?

 

Looks like you got a nice bike there for a decent price. I've gotten a couple of XJ's and dropped $800 into each one getting them road worthy. Just remember, if you ride during the winter (like I do) make sure you clean the road salt off often, things start to rust quickly. Hopefully the sun will melt the snow off the roads today so that i can get back to riding. Be sure to find a clean parking lot to improve your riding skills.

Remember this is how they drive here in Utah!!!
http://youtu.be/xrJuigh2aCc

(Watch the whole thing it gets better (or worse ) by the minite.)

 

That’s the plan Man.
I'll keep wax on the frame, especially around the welds. We'll have to get together some time soon, I want to check out yours and your son's bikes.

That crash video is hilarious, I have been sending it around all weekend. Although I do feel bad for the SS TrailBlazer.
I was picking my son up from the Rec Center there in Bountiful at that same time. It went from slush to ice back to slush in about 45 minutes, it was crazy. I was smart enough to stay off the hills.