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New member with an 82 XJ550

Discussion in 'Hangout Lounge' started by REVELCAL, Jul 13, 2015.

  1. REVELCAL

    REVELCAL Member

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    Hey, nice to meet you all. I picked up a 550 about a month ago and (much to the chagrin of those of you who like to restore these bikes) I'm working on making it into a fallout*-themed rat bike. It was in rough but running shape when I bought it, lots of little things and of course the carbs. They are going to get the attention they need in a few weeks, just waiting on parts and a free weekend to take over the dining room table.

    *Fallout is a video game if any of you managed to get on the internet and not hear about it. lol.

    I also used to own an 82 XJ750, and gave it to my brother to turn into a chopper because I wasn't riding it enough to justify owning it.

    Here are some pics of the bike at varying stages of my decoration/destruction. (Haters can hate all ya want, but its my bike and I'll ride it how I want. I'm always listening to technical advice and opinions but I'll just laugh at anyone who wants to tell me how it should 'look'.) :)

    http://imgur.com/a/tGzVx#0
     
    Ted likes this.
  2. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    I like it. You have not cut the frame, and you have kept to your theme. I have one serious niggle though. Your gas cap solution looks very much like something that will fail in an accident (it also looks like it is not vented). That would be a very-not-good thing. I think the same look can be achieved by modifying a stock gas cap (preferably one with bad chrome).
     
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  3. lostboy

    lostboy Well-Known Member

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    I like the rear can lights. I have a mechanical suggestion try to get the clutch cable away from the exhaust header. It will melt a hole in the cable.
     
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  4. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    It won't. The factory routing has it running between the #4 header and the front downtube.
     
  5. EarMachine

    EarMachine Member

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    I think it looks pretty sick. As long as it's safe and you enjoy it :)
    -EM
     
  6. hogfiddles

    hogfiddles XJ-Wizard, Host-Central NY Carb Clinic Moderator Premium Member

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    As long as its routed correctly. Sometimes people have replace the cable and put incorrect ones on and wrap them right around a pipe. THAT might cause melting....
     
  7. REVELCAL

    REVELCAL Member

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    You're absolutely right, its not completely safe in the event of a wreck. In fact, I knocked it clean out with my knee the other day. I'm still contemplating a way to anchor it in better... which will likely involve some sort of a flange. Maybe a rigid bit inside. Still thinking on it. It is vented by way of a hole punched in the side of the neck.
    The whole filler neck thing was 'inspired by necessity' as the original cap had been mangled and used a screwdriver as a 'key'. After a few times opening and closing, it decided to give up the ghost and stayed permanently locked open... so as I'm riding along the dang thing is flopping around and banging and pinging and I couldn't listen to my engine. I called around all the import shops in my area and nobody had a gas cap WITH keys, so I started getting inventive. Tried a dust cap and rare earth magnets...tried shaving a sportster gas cap down (almost worked...almost...) then I cooked this up for less than $10. 2 flexible PVC plumbing joints and a quik cap, hose clamps included (in fact I had 2 left over!) The smaller joint has a lip on the bottom that sits inside the tank and holds it from coming out. It sits in there pretty snugly, but it is flexible so if you slap it around it will pop off. A length of rigid pvc might pinch it in a bit better, but then my filler hole would be pretty small. Still thinking on it.

    It works for me. Its not as safe as it could be, but its safer than what I had. And I'll keep innovating until I'm satisfied.
    :)
     
  8. REVELCAL

    REVELCAL Member

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    That might have actually happened tonight, I'm not sure. I was on a little joyride around the neighborhood and it started shifting like I only had the clutch half in and wouldn't take to neutral because it was shifting so hard. I'd see the light blink real quick as it sorta slammed into 2nd instead of gliding into N.

    The sun was just going down, though, and I'd had a long day of garage cleaning thanks to a cat knocking over a full drainpan of oil. Kinda forced me to clean up all the clutter and throw some things out, ha. So I just said "F it in the A, I'm going inside for beer and whatever is wrong can wait until tomorrow."
    Tomorrow morning the clutch cable is getting a nice once over, and I pray its something that simple.
     
  9. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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  10. REVELCAL

    REVELCAL Member

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    Nah. I'd rather find a workaround. That's what makes it a Rat Bike. If this idea doesn't pan out, I'll probably end up draining the tank this winter and welding the filler neck from an old truck right to the top of the tank or something.
    Thanks, though.
     
  11. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    I was thinking of it more as a base (that you know will seal) that could be creatively decorated.
     
  12. REVELCAL

    REVELCAL Member

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    Sure, but then its just complicating something that works.
    I think this maybe works better than you might think it does. I'm sure I could lay the bike down and it wouldn't probably pop off unless something actually hit it, (like a direct knee hit from a 300 lb guy swinging his leg over the bike while getting off from the wrong direction). I think just making a little bracket out of hanging strap will probably work fine.
    In any case, its $30-40 thats better spent on new brake shoes or replacement gaskets so I can venture into the engine (it needs gaskets, no exploration until new gaskets.) or put toward my carb kit.
     
  13. EarMachine

    EarMachine Member

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    Just make a to do list.
    Valve clearances, compression test, front and rear brakes, carb cleaning.
    -EM
     
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  14. REVELCAL

    REVELCAL Member

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    I've more or less got a to do list, although its not strictly ordered yet. The cosmetic stuff is all just fabricating things out of junk, and maybe a dollar here or there on some bolts and washers. . Roughly in order:

    -rear brake job. (I don't have much rear brake left, don't know if they are original, and if they are delaminating I want to find out sooner than later)
    -valve clearances and new gaskets (current gaskets are no bueno, not gonna crack them until I have replacements on hand.)
    - REVELCAL's Big Carb Weekend (full carb job, top to bottom, new idle pilot screws bc current ones have been abused... #3 is mangled mess and I didn't do it any favors while I was searching for a !!!temporary!!! sweet spot, new air & intake boots because those are cracked)
    -front brake job (front brake works, but It has more wear on the disc than I like)
    -get flasher relay for turn signals

    I want to take off the speedo and the tach. Tach doesn't work, speedo is inaccurate over 30, tested using gps... when doing a steady 45 the speedo jumps between 30 and 50. I unplugged the tach from the engine and its a mess. I could use advice on what can be done to the tach cable plug once its off. I assume it can't just be left open?

    engine wise, I haven't done much yet. I got a new air filter, changed the oil and filter (good news, no metal on the magnet.) New spark plugs b/c #1 and #2 are carbon fouling, #3 and #4 are nice and light marshmallow tan. Since the bike only wants to run with the choke about 1/4-1/3 on, I'm assuming that #3 and #4 are actually running lean with the choke off. Just a guess though. Gummed up carbs or mangled idle pilot's fault I'm assuming. I did drain the carbs and definitely got some rusty water out of the bowls, popped the tops off and blasted the hell out of them from every direction I could with carb cleaner. Also had a cracked vacuum line from the petcock to #3, moved it to #2 and replaced the hose. (Initially moved to #2 because I trimmed the crack off the hose and it wouldn't reach 3 anymore... then bought more hose and just kept it on #2)

    Tightened the chain up to spec. Adjusted the shocks firmer since I'm a huge person (6'6", 290 lbs). Screwed in a new fuse block and wired in a little charging adapter I had in the chain box, ran a usb up to the handlebars. Reupholstered the seat with $20 worth of bargain bin suede and a jar of weatherproofing wax.

    Every little thing I've done has gotten it running just a little bit better but it still runs rough. choke on: it searches. Choke off: it dies. Sweet spot is about 1/4 on, it will idle and ride (relatively...I know that a well tuned carb is another world..) nicely, but it needs to find its sweet spot every time its started, regardless of if its warm already or not. Tail pipes put out just a little bit of white smoke, just barely enough to catch notice of if you're not looking for it. Left side has a little cough every so often but that cleans up at road speed.

    brake cables work fine. Headlight works fine. Made my own tail light assembly and it works fine, but I need to rewire it because I cut my wire about 2 inches short and couldn't route it where I wanted. Tires are good, hold air, decent tread.
     
  15. EarMachine

    EarMachine Member

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    So you didn't do all three? Chain and front/rear sprockets
    -EM
     
  16. REVELCAL

    REVELCAL Member

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    Any draw backs to the taller front sprocket?

    Yes, the carbs are begging me to rip them open and pour drain cleaner down their throats. The only thing stopping me from doing that ASAP is money for the carb kits. I leave to work at Sturgis (only 30 mi away) next week and when I come back some of that paycheck is going to order several types of gaskets and some carb hardware. I'm bringing the bike with me so I can show off/get laughed at/tinker on it during my free time and just in case I come across any deals on any parts I can swap out in my campsite.
     
  17. REVELCAL

    REVELCAL Member

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    I need a carb kit, because although I'm usually of the 'just make it work' camp instead of the 'do it once, do it right' camp I can see that I have brown gak syndrome around my throttle seals and one of my pilot screws is mangled into a brass booger, so I want to just do the whole thing, top to bottom left to right and go back to bolting garbage to my fenders. :)
    Also don't want to get it opened and watch some nasty gaskets crumble to sludge or something of the sort and have to set the whole bike on the shelf while I wait for parts to come in. I'd rather just make a weekend of the whole thing, set the phone to silent, turn the internet off and just drink until my carbs look pretty.
     
  18. REVELCAL

    REVELCAL Member

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    although there is a parts bike for sale on CL here that I'm going to buy if its still for sale when I get back. In that event I might just rob peter to pay paul.
     
  19. MattiThundrrr

    MattiThundrrr Not a guru

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  20. REVELCAL

    REVELCAL Member

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    PVC is not really in the 'fuel system' per se. Its just a filler neck, and its flexible PVC plumbing joints, so they are already flexible. I thought, initially, that I had bought some old fashioned rubber...then I decided to look up the part and material just to make sure. Of course it was PVC and I've always heard 'don't use PVC for fuel lines' so I said a few swear words. Then I looked up a bunch of scientific studies on PVC and gasoline interactions, and long story short its all heat dependent. The PVC isn't recommended by manufacturers for use with gasoline mostly because of the consequences of failure, but at room temperature PVC can handle being submerged in gasoline for 500+ hours with only a slight loss in mass, and thats possibly due to the leaching of the gasses in the PVC but thats still up for debate. Once you start getting hotter, though, the PVC starts experiencing 'softening' (starting at about 110 degrees F) so I'm sure being that close to the engine was cooking the gas into the PVC on those intakes.
    I do still have to keep an eye on my filler neck, because a black tube in the sun in august in south dakota is probably going to be getting up around that 110 mark. When I made the neck I was inspecting it a couple times a day, at this point I'm inspecting it about once every couple days and of course when I'm fueling up. I'm just eyeballing it and giving it the touch test, but it seems to be holding up well.

    Come winter I think I'm going to just weld something together and replace this, but for now it works.
     
  21. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    Tose aren't usualy made of PVC. Most boots of that type are a synthetic rubber that is meant for joining PVC pipe, hence the label.
     
  22. REVELCAL

    REVELCAL Member

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  23. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    REVELCAL likes this.
  24. EarMachine

    EarMachine Member

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    lol
     
  25. REVELCAL

    REVELCAL Member

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    Hey, I've been off the site for a while but I'm back. Just thought I'd drop some updates as I've been doing some work on the bike lately. I rode through the winter without doing all the work I wanted to (mostly due to having a POS broken garage at my apartment but then moving into a new house with a great little garage) mostly just <5 mile trips around town, back and forth to school or the pool hall etc. The bike still needed to have the choke on a hair to stay running, still searched while tuning that choke into the sweet spot, still no sweet spot in the idle adjustment.

    Now that I'm settled into the new place some real work has begun.

    Currently my carbs are pulled off and in the loving hands of a co-worker who is going to clean them. I know.... never trust anyone but yourself to clean your carbs the way they need to be cleaned, but something is better than nothing, and he volunteered to do it for free as a friend.

    I checked my valve clearances and all shims are within spec, but getting close to the tight end. I figure I'll be re-shimming in the spring. I made a mistake when following the bouncing ball in the shim-along-songbook and where it told me to put silicone grease on the bottom side of my gasket I read "lithium grease." I don't know if it was dyslexia or sixpaxia kicking in, but now I have a very greased gasket. From what I understand this shouldn't hurt anything, just make the gasket really really easy to remove next time... but heck, I have no idea. If it leaks like edward scissorhands waterbed I guess I'll clean it off and try again.

    My fernco fuel filler neck has worked fine since I installed it. The gas fumes sort of 'baked' the pvc into a hardened state in which the fernco adapter sat perfectly in the hole, well sealed and (as I found out when getting ready to vinegar the rust out of the tank) impossible to remove without cutting. I tried hammering and prying and actually ended up bending the tank before that fernco adapter gave way. Eventually just took the hacksaw to the neck and will be installing a new one once my rust treatment is over. All in all 10/10 totally happy with the mod.

    My wear indicator for my rear brake was showing I was past due for new brakes and I had lots of play in my brake pedal so I went to install some new brake shoes this weekend. I pulled everything off and went to change my shoes...lo and behold they were the wrong friggin size. I've seen I'm not the only person that has received smaller brake shoes than expected. But!!! It turns out I still had a good 4 mm left in the brake shoes, and it seems that previous owner had replaced the brakes as well as the wheel bearing and everything inside was looking very nice. I'm glad to see no delamination was happenin.

    When marking the shaft of my brake assembly I noticed someone had already marked it with a pin, and that mark sat about 60 degrees of from where the lever attached. After looking at some pictures and some diagrams it appears that the lever sits with a backwards angle but mine was at 90* from the floor. I wonder if anyone has any insight to that, I might post in a new thread about that. I angled it backwards a little bit, which gave me more reasonable adjustment room on my brake lever (now about 1.5 inch of play before brake engages) without bottoming out the adjustment nut. The wear indicator seems to indicate buggerall.

    So there is a little update. Tryng to get everything back together and ready to ride by july 28!

    PS- I'm still an a-hole.
     

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