Hello from Oregon!

Hello all, I've recently joined this forum as the new owner of a 1981 XJ750 Seca. It has 31,000 km and has been pretty well care for.

I wrench on classic cars but have never worked on a bike before, and I have all sorts of new things to learn. Hopefully with my prior skills and some assistance from the community here I can get this bike in tip-top shape for either the end of this season or the next one.

I think of motorcycles like aircraft and want to go through the whole bike before I sit on it, so if there is anything you can refer me to as far as an "intro" guide for new 750 owners, I'd greatly appreciate it!

Thank you in advance and I hope to post some pictures of the bike soon.

-Andres

 

https://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/the-information-overload-hour.27544/

From there, make sure you can get it started, then move on to the brakes, then back to the carbs and engine.

 

Thanks, I'll be sure to read through that thread. Today I had a chance to visually inspect the bike all over. I think it's going to need a lot of work:

The bike runs and idles well (have compared the idle sound to other running bikes).
Haven't checked compression or vacuum yet.
Oil leaks throughout the block - seals are all cracked in some form or another. Mostly minor cracking but enough to cause leaks in several spots on the block.
Right front brake disc has major scoring.
All 4 carb boots are cracked near the circle clamp.
Wiring harness has been futzed with (I see a lot of crimp connectors and such especially near the tail end of the bike).
Looks like the E-brake is not functional.
Front brakes dont work at all and I see some kind of gel-like substance built up near the bleed valves for the caliper and anti-dive system.
There's some surface rust on the frame underneath the battery tray.
Bike seems to roll well but probably could use a bearing re-pack considering the condition of everything else on the bike.
Front fork seals have cracks in them and I see some light residue.
Front handlebars seem to move back and forth ok without any binding that I can feel.

Needless to say I have my work cut out for me!

 

It's been a while since I've shaed an update, but the bike is completely taken apart at the moment. I still need to remove the swinging arm from the frame before powdercoating, but that's about it.

While it's been apart I've been reading threads and trying to decide if I'm gonna go the custom route. I've basically decided I'm going to keep the bike basically the same as it was.

One of the shitty things that happened when I disassembled the bike is I cut the airbox because I figured "oh I'll just run pods". Needless to say it didn't take much reading to see that approach is really not the way to go. I only cut a small square out of the airbox to clear the frame without removing the engine, and a sizeable portion of it was already cracked so not a huge deal - I'm planning to fiberglass over the portions that are cut/cracked.

I also found that the bearing races front the steering head were badly scored, so those will need to be replaced. Based on guidance from other members in the community I'm planning on redoing all the bearings anyway. I plan to ride the bike quite a bit, so want to make sure all that is good to go...

Today I finished repairing the main wiring harness on the bike which is the first project I've completed since disassembly. The brown wire circuits (mostly lights it seems) had a bunch of crispy looking splices from a short circuit. I cut all the burnt splices in and soldered in new ones. I used doubled up heat shrink wherever possible. Next I'll be working through any wiring that's left attached to components, but aside from cleaning the connectors I doubt there is much work to be had there. Stay tuned!

 

Today I've been reading and watching mainly. I've started a spreadsheet to keep track of what I'll need to order, who I'll be buying it from, and what it will cost.
For the last part of the wiring harness project, I've opted not to go the fuse block route, and will instead be installing in-line blade style fuse holders. I don't see the huge advantage of having a fuse block on top of the air cleaner lid with a ton of extra wiring, so I'm opting to K.I.S.S. for this one.

Based on my disassembly order, the next order of business would be to start working on the engine. I've begun watching these video series, and studying the Haynes manual where engine overhaul procedures are documented:




Tomorrow I will write a checklist of things I'll need to replace on the engine and start compiling part numbers.

 

Backtracking on my prior post (Not sure what I was thinking lol) The engine is one of the last things to do before putting individual bits and pieces back on the bike. Right now focusing on suspension and brakes. Bad news is the prices I'm finding from Chacal are pretty spendy. I think I'll be over-budget just with brakes and suspension parts alone, so I'll try to salvage what I can. I'll absolutely be getting new brake lines from chacal but other than that I may have to source parts elsewhere. I can't afford to spend over 2k on brakes and suspension....

Today I took a look at the fork tubes, as I finally got the forks out of the triple-tree...looks like both tubes are slightly bent in exactly the same way. Puzzling because the prior owner had never been in a wreck, reported no issues with steering, and the bike has no body damage that I can see. I'll be looking for a set of inner fork tubes I guess.

 

I managed to find a complete front suspension setup on Ebay today - both front forks, and lower trip. Also has some front turn signal posts that aren't broken off like mine!
Also scored a full rear cowl and grab bar from the same seller. Not a bad day!

 

E-Brake?

Did you read the link provided by Kosel?

Slow down.

It's rare to need to tear an engine down, aside from a broken alternator chain guide or slipping starter motor clutch. Don't go there yet.

Clean the engine thoroughly (no pressure washer), and determine where the oil leaks are coming from. 99% of the time it will be the valve cover gasket, and maybe the shift cover or clutch cover.

Do valve clearanes, then perform a compression check.

Everything on the front end is rebuildable, so unless the forks are bent save the front end you bought for spares, or later resale.

 

Hi K-moe, I've been doing a lot of reading in threads where you pop up I know it seems like I'm moving fast, but my first post was in July of last year. I've done a lot of reading and learning since then. Yeah, I know the bike doesn't have an E-brake hahaha. Just wasn't used to the idea of a pedal operated drum brake on a bike at the time.

The fork tubes are both for sure bent, to the point where I don't need to roll them to verify. If it was cheaper to just get the upper inner fork tubes, I would....but it's not. I plan to swap over to this new set of forks, rebuild them if needed, put in a progressive spring and block the anti-dives off.

I've read through the information overload hour at this point, and go back to reference what I need as I move along. In terms of engine tear-down, the only real "teardown" I'd be doing would be to re-seal the cases (if needed) I don't plan on getting into anything else engine-related besides the valve shims, a general inspection of the bottom end, and maybe clean up the valves, cylinder hears, and seats while I'm in there. I think you had mentioned to another member that the wet clutches in these bikes tend to disintegrate after a while, regardless of how many miles are on em, just due to age, so that may be an action item as well. When I first inspected the bike, there was evidence of oil leaks below the valve cover gasket but I know how that typically goes on these bikes - it can go further than you'd expect.

I'm open to any advice you can provide. Still very much at the beginning of this project and my learning journey on these bikes overall.

 

First couple vids. This was the same day I bought the bike, last July I think.

 

My clutch is the same one that was in the bike when I bought it. @bigfitz52 reccomends replacing clutches that have sat, but I've not had any issues with that on any vehicle.

Regardless of where the oil is on the outside of the engine I still would caution against a teardown before making sure that it's not just a valve cover leak or some other easy-to-replace gasket. The alternator chain guide is worth replacing, as is rebuilding the starter clutch, but it's not worth opening an engine for if it's otherwise sound. If the head gasket or base gasket are leaking then go ahead and do it all in one go.

 

Understood, I know it's easy enough to do work on the engine with most of it still in the bike... so I'll go with the easy gaskets and test before I think about a full teardown. This motor doesn't have any issues with shifting or startup so I think we're good at the moment on those fronts.

Sorry for mixing you up with Fitz haha. I'm still not sure if I should go ahead and do the clutch or not - it seems pretty easy to do. I guess I'll decide once I ride the bike around a bit. This isn't going to be a commuter by any means so if things start to break down / not work so well I can live with that and address as things come up. My main goals are to get the big glaring safety issues or "known things" that should be replaced on the bike taken care of before putting it back in service. Seems like most things can be done without the bike having to be completely in pieces like it is now.

In other news, my front fork assembly came in today along with a correct rear taillight housing, tail light assembly, and grab bar. I was surprised to see the newer style tapered roller bearings and rubber dust boots attached to the triple-tree - prior owner must've gone down the same road at some point. Only thing I don't have is the races. If the bearings are good that would save me a bonus bit of coin! Also looks like he did a fork seal on one side but...not the other? One seal is a different style than the other, and the other appears to be "factory". This may be one of those things where I change the oil, mount the forks, test, and rebuild if needed later. They seem to be in much better shape overall than the forks I took off my bike, but looks can be deceiving.

 

Second video up

 

My Johnny Cash bike started with a frame and an engine , I bought it at a Walneck swap meet . The bike was taken apart , dude was selling pieces of bike ,when I showed up bought it for 120$ . I bought pieces from eBay , forum member Joe Eliff sold me rebuildable forks, and numerous other parts, Chacal supplied others as well . I already had many parts from my other Seca ...now Chicago weather it is way too cold to work in the garage . Not trying to hijack your thread just stating shop around , if possible buy a parts bike if you find one , or try to find a cycle salvage , Wisconsin cycle salvage, Cycle Recycle part two are two that I have gotten parts from in the past , most do mail order. Agree with Kmoe most engines will last 50k or more as long as engine has have had regular oil changes and not flogged to terribly. My yellow Seca the starter clutch was slipping when hot I finally , swapped out an engine I bought off of Joe Eliff...one day I will tear down old engine and replace starter clutch . Cheers .

 

Alright, so yesterday I looked over the frame again, and I'm not seeing any compromised welds or cracks in the frame so we should be go for powder coating.

I'm at the point where I need to start buying some parts from Chacal as I've got everything else I need, but I need to make a decision about how I'm going to get through the forks:

1. Do I rebuild these donor forks with a regular kit, rebuild the anti-dives if needed, and get stainless brake lines for everything, OR

2. Rebuild them with a progressive spring kit, block off the anti-dives, and forget about the stainless lines to the anti-dives as well (saves me about 90 bucks just in brake lines).

It seems to me I can get similar if not better performance out of my forks for MUCH cheaper if I just upgrade the springs and forget about the anti-dives altogether.

Anyone have opinions on this? I've heard the anti-dive units didn't really work all that well when they were brand new. No sense in spending hundreds on something if spring tech has evolved to the point where it doesn't really make sense to make them functional.

 

Save money on springs , buy a piece of 1inch pvc pipe ,cut an inch off and put this on top of the spring , and install top caps . I'm running 20 w fork oil , but I know the European 650 says 10w30 engine oil . As to the anti dive mine works on both of my Secas , cleaned them out and checked seals . As far as if you bypass them you will need a shorter " B" nut on cailper and will need to block off the port on the anti dive unit . I personally like "kool" factor . Cheers

 

I think you are referring to the union bolt on the caliper? If you disable/eliminate the anti-dive, you lose that brake line (from the caliper to the anti-dive), thus the need for a shorter (single-depth) union bolt.

The anti-dive system works "OK" when it is working, and tuned (note that it has an adjuster) for your riding style/conditions. Most bikes over a dozen years old or more no longer have fully functioning anti-dive systems, because no one attends to them and they get gummed up.....they still (may) "work", but poorly (top half filled with brake fluid....who ever changes that?----and bottom with fork fluid....and who ever changes that, either?). But....even in perfect working order, they are not going to give you a track-bike feel (nor was that their intent, I believe). They simply prevent excessive front end compression during hard braking, sort of like having a stiffer spring rate during braking, and normal rate the rest of the time.

 

Keep in mind that the factory springs are progressively wound. New springs from Progressive (the company) might be needed, but the anti-dive is good to have in working condition as well.

 

Frame and swing arm are at the powdercoaters right now. Forgot to give them the kickstand and center stand but might have those done later.

I am strongly leaning towards rebuilding the master cylinder. Since this is a 750RH it has the non-handlebar mounted unit. I've read through the procedure for rebuilding this in the Haynes manual, but it doesn't go into much detail. Does anyone know of a good thread on this?

 

Just placed my second, and final order with Chacal. I should have all the parts I need coming or here at this point. Powder coaters called today and the frame is ready. Going to go pick that up this weekend. I've started making a checklist of the order I'll need to do things in as I put them back on the bike. Man, it seems overwhelming when you list it all out! I'll just have to work through things one at a time.

I'm still searching for a good guide on rebuilding the Master Cylinder for this bike. I have the Haynes manual but It'd be awesome to have a thread to look at as well!

I just got promoted at work and picked up a second job on Tuesdays to help fund the restoration on this bike and my other project car. I decided to spare no expense and bought the performance rebuild kit for the forks, the steel brake lines, and the rebuild kits for the anti-dives. Hopefully it pays off in the long run!

 

Was working on getting the calipers apart for rebuilding once parts arrived and noticed one caliper had an "ear" completely broken off on the casing. Brake pads tell a story that it has been like that for some time as the outer pad on that caliper looked brand new, but the inner was running against the backing plate. I need to measure the disc thickness later.
I have a pair of rebuoldable calipers coming from eBay soon so I'm skipping to working on the Master Cylinder for now.

 

I have six sets of calipers could have sent you one for cost of shipping.

 

Hey, I appreciate that. Honestly I didn't think about asking here until I had already gone and purchased em. I'll keep this in mind for anything else though

 

Today I'm going to try and get my ultrasonic cleaner going and use it on the brake master cylinder since there is a bit of gunk inside. What do you all recommend for a solution? I'm leaning towards a 50/50 of simple green and tap water for both the MC and the Carbs (down the road), but curious what you've all found to work best. I know the carbs need to be squeaky clean.

 

I used a combination of brake cleaner and a brass brush on the end of my dremel (and a pair of safety goggles!) which got everything looking brand new, on the master cylinder.

On the carbs, i spent far too many hours sitting there with compressed air, carb cleaner, a toothbrush, and microfiber cloth.

 

I fill my sonic cleaner with water and put my part to be cleaned in jar filled with gasoline and put the lid on. Works well on greasy parts.

 

I've been making steady progress since last post. Everything came back from the powdercoaters and I've completed the rebuild for the master cylinder, brake calipers, anti dives, and fork tubes. This is an updated list of where I stand:

Rebuild Fork tubes - Complete
Rebuild Anti-dives - Complete
Rebuild Brake Calipers - Complete
Rebuild Master Cylinder - Complete

Drain Final drive and de-mount rear wheel - Complete
Re-assemble frame (kickstand, center stand)
Install new race and bearing in swing-arm - WIP
Mount swingarm
Install new race and bearings in steering head - WIP
Mount steering head
Replace Front wheel bearings - WIP
Replace Rear wheel bearings - WIP
Assemble rear brakes
Re-mount rear wheel and final drive
Re-mount front fork tubes + front wheel
Re-mount handlebars
Assemble front brakes (Calipers, brake lines, master cylinder)
Bleed brakes

Check valve clearances and replace shims (if needed)
Reseal valve cover
Detail engine - Complete
Rebuild Carburetors (TBD)
Tune Carburetors (TBD)

Repair Airbox.
Mount battery box and airbox
Mount Engine
Mount carburetors
Mount wiring harness
Lube control cables

 

where about in Oregon are ya? I just picked up an 85 maxim xj700

 

Based out of the Eugene area!

 

Today was a beautiful day and I made a lot of progress. Front and rear wheel bearings, steering head bearings, races extracted from the swing arm. I painted the brake discs, the headlight bracket, and the final drive. Got the rear brake shoes installed as well and the center stand.

I did have some issues installing the rear wheel bearing so I'm not considering that completely buttoned up. It almost seems like I mixed up the spacer collars, as if I seat one bearing, the other pops out, and if I seat that one, the other one pops out as well. I see a little bit of space in the axle hole between the spacer collar and drice side bearings, but not enough to account for the difference, so will check on that next weekend.

 

It sounds like you are making great progress, congrats!

 

Hey thanks yes making very good progress. Slightly ahead of schedule for this week even!
Ps: still need to get those springs back to you - sorry for the delay I've just been lazy about it. I'm eyeing some other parts in your catalogue so I'll try to get those back to ya this week.

 

No worries, whenever you get the chance, keep up the good work! Kids, take note: having a well-planned and structured to-do list really helps to keep the project moving along quickly and successfully.

 

Hey all, looking for some guidance on my final drive unit as I have it off the bike currently and I'm a little concerned. The condition of the wheel and swing arm bearings on this bike don't make me feel super confident in the condition of the bearings and seals within the final drive. The output shaft seal looked ok, but not sure about the input shaft seal and bearings. Is there an easy way to grease any of that or anything that should be checked other than to hop on and see if it "feels" right? I know things felt right with the wheel bearings before I took her apart but they looked like crap once I got them apart.

Thanks!

 

Without special tools (and a fair amount of experience with servicing helical gearboxes) the only thing that should be done is to drain the gear oil and replace with new. All of teh moving parts of the final drive are lubricated with gear oil, and they are generally bulletproof.

Watch for leaks at the seals, and if any show up then we can talk about replacing them.

 

When I was cleaning the body of the final drive to prepare it for paint, I noted that water collecting on the outer perimeter o the output side was able to drain freely through the "neck" where the input shaft joins with the final drive casing. I know there is supposed to be a seal and an oring there. I let it dry out a bit and shot some wd-40 down the neck in case any water pooled...

Is this an indication the input shaft seals are bad?

 

Just wanted to share some progress photos as I've moved along.





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If you want to see more check out my Instagram under "The XJ750" https://www.instagram.com/stories/highlights/17869245734299899/

 

RIP. Looks like my file host deleted all the pics. Oh well, I'll upload a video compilation when it's put back together. Only a few weekends to go now

 

It seems my final drive is leaking out of it's main oil seal, as when I took the rear wheel off the bike (with the FD attached), and let the axle point itself at the floor, it leaked oil from the part where the final drive bolts to the swing arm assembly. From what I've read though some other threads, this means my main oil seal is toast, and most don't advise replacing it because of the difficulty involved (really?). Do I really need to get a new final drive unit to fix this problem?

It kinda makes sense that it's leaking because I noticed the breather doesn't stay on well at all (they're supposed to be a press fit), and someone tried to build up a bunch of RTV around the breather hole so it wouldn't fall off haha). I'm guessing they probably plugged the breather and it blew the seal.

I could see from the factory service manual that there are some special tools involved so maybe I'm SOL, idk.

 

I ended up buying a used final drive for about 19 bucks, the coupler area was dry and there was no leaks on the unit pre-cleaning. I cleaned it, painted it up just like the other one and slapped it on there. Now I just need to get a new inner shaft seal for the driveshaft and we will be basically ready to roll minus putting the engine back in and getting that hooked up

 

Update: got the inner shaft seal, going to install that this weekend. This past weekend I worked on fitting a replacement airbox (the fiberglass repair on my old one went south, and it wasn't worth my time to clean and re-attempt). Cleaned the rubber boots and treated them with Len's carb diaphragm renewal serum - also the driveshaft boot.

I ran into some issues this week. I popped the valve cover to check shims and re-seal, and discovered 3 of the valve cover bolt holes were stripped completely out. Seems to be a common problem due to the aluminum head and the spec not being in in-lbs.
I got a helicoil kit for these (M6 x1) coming this week and will have to pop the cover, clean the surface and re-seal again. Shouldn't be a huge deal, but I did use hi-tack on both sides of the gasket instead of just the cover side...so a little cleaning is in order.

New to-do list:

Bleed brakes (Day 1)
Adjust air level on forks (Day 1)
Helicoil valve cover bolt holes and re-install cover (Day 1)
Torque spark plugs (Day 1)
Install engine into frame & torque to spec (Day 1)
Install carbs, control cables and hoses (Day 2)
Hook up engine electrical bits (Day 2)
Adjust new swing arm bearings (Day 2)
Install new seal on driveshaft, install driveshaft and u-joint (Day 2)
Torque all rear-end to spec (U-joint bolts, final drive to swingarm mount bolts, rear axle pinch bolt and castle nut, torque rod) (Day 3)
Mount battery and terminal connections (Day 3)
Fill final drive oil (Day 3)
Fit filter + fill engine oil (Day 3)
Paint exhaust and fit for bake-in (Day 3)
Lube control cables (Day 3)
Startup (Day 3)

 

Your to do list is very organized....3 days of fun. Love the "mars bar" scheme on you bike!

 

Got the helicoils installed in the block. It was a bit hair raising drilling into the soft aluminum but I got them installed. When I went to install the valve cover I couldn't get any of the helicoils to thread in very easily past the tang in the bottom. maybe I didn't totally break it off with my punch or the holes were a bit cock-eyed. I cranked them down until I could see the valve cover contact the "ridge" of the gasket and didn't crack the head so I'm calling it good. I replaced all the rubber grommets and made sure the mating surface was clean as a whistle...applied some hi-tack on the sealing surface for extra insurance.

The nice paint on my final drive lifted and cracked all over so I had to strip that yesterday. Of course this happened after I got the rear all torqued to spec, so I decided to paint it on the bike and mask everything off. It took a long time but I got a fresh coat of paint on it that (fingers crossed) won't lift like before.

Had some issues installing the rear wheel and getting everything torqued down....the castle nut was sitting too far below the cotter pin hole once everything was fully torqued down. Ended up following this procedure I found on the forum:

1. Tighten the pinch bolt with the hole in the spindle fully outside the shoulder of the pinch joint.
2. Torque the castle nut to spec and secure with cotter pin (ben cotter pin to fit inside castle nut if they don't exactly fit inside the castle nut grooves
3. Slacken and re-tighten the pinch bolt to relieve pressure on the swing arm and let the axle "seat" where it is most happy.

Hopefully this doesn't cause any issues. I remember when I took the wheel off the bike the first time that it seemed like the axle was way too far inboard on the right hand side near the pinch bolt. You couldn't get a screwdriver shaft into the spindle hole to extract it and this doesn't match what the pictures in the manual show. The manual always shows the spindle hole being just fully exposed beyond the pinch bolt. Not sure why mine wants to go inside. I triple checked that the all the bearings and spacers were correctly installed.

 

Alrightyyy....update. This is going to be a long one, and I'm sorry but I feel the need to document my struggles (maybe it makes me feel better).

This weekend was supposed to be the weekend I put the finishing touches on and rode, but my to-do list above wasn't as organized or detailed as it seems. Let's go through this step by step:

Bleed brakes (Day 1) - I have spent about 5-6 hours so far attempting to bleed the brake system with a vacuum pump. I started with a rebuilt MC, rebuilt calipers, rebuilt anti-dives, an empty distribution block and empty lines so it makes sense there would be quite a bit of air in the system. I rigged a "IV system" up to the MC so that I could fill the lower half of a 2-litre bottle with brake fluid, and have a line attached on a nipple running down to a rubber cap on the MC fill neck. This worked wonderfully and I was able to see the level fall in the bottle as I attempted to bleed the system. However, I ran into some challenges:

• The right anti-dive unit's bleed screw (the screw which directly faces the fork leg and is impossible to adjust without removal of the brake piston portion of the Anti-dive valve) started leaking once fluid began to flow through the lower lines. I was able to get away with not having to disassemble everything by simple detaching the braking portion of the anti-dive valve and maneuvering it out of the way. I tried tightening the bleed screw but it still leaked. I tried lock-tite but there was too much brake fluid on the threads for it to cure and no way to stop fluid from flowing, so I had to turn to Teflon tape. I know Teflon tape has no place in brake lines, but it was the only thing that stopped the leak. Hopefully because this is a bleed screw this won't come back to bite me in the ass.
• When I initially began to bleed I noticed my brake lever was moving freely without springing back into place. This was due to a sticky brake piston within the MC which I was able to dislodge. I am 100% certain the brake MC was put back together properly during the rebuild, and with a light smearing of the red assembly grease on the piston bore and rubber seals, but I guess the cylinder is a bit tighter than anticipated even after I bored it out (or the lack of brake fluid being present in the chamber for 1-3 weeks while it sat was enough to make it bind in place). The piston is also prone to getting stuck in place if the system has a vacuum on it and the brake lever is depressed. If this occurs while I'm testing the brake lever for building pressure, I have to crack a bleeder and wait about a minute for it to slowly return to position.
• Despite my best efforts, and using an appropriately sized tube on the bleeder valves, I continue to pull quite a few bubbles through the line. This is after going through a bottle of brake fluid maybe 4-5 times. Considering I have no leaks at the MC, and all banjo bolts are torqued exactly to spec (which new crush washers as well), I sincerely doubt I have a leak in the lines or fittings. The only place I'm not sure of is the small steel brake line which runs from the MC to the distribution block. I noticed a lot more bubbles if I cracked the bleeder more than a quarter turn, or moved the hose attached to the nipple. I was able to overcome 95% of the bubbles induced that way by teflon taping the bleeder threads, and putting a smear of silicone grease on each of the bleeder nipples, however I am still seeing way too many bubbles over an extended period of time and the lever is not getting harder. (I can see the brake piston move on each side, but not enough to force the brake pads into contact with the rotor.
• I have looked over the entire system and cannot find evidence of a fluid leak anywhere, so I'm not sure how I would go about isolating a leak. One would think that if an air leak was present, there would also be fluid present or at least some sort of "sucking" sound along the lines. What I may end up doing is smearing something on the joints and putting a vacuum on the system and just put my ear to various areas...

Adjust air level on forks (Day 1) - WIP
Helicoil valve cover bolt holes and re-install cover (Day 1) - COMPLETE, but with some difficulty as the helicoils may not have been 100% straight.
Torque spark plugs (Day 1) - COMPLETE
Install engine into frame & torque to spec (Day 1) - COMPLETE, but I'll need to re-do this because I can't get the carbs in.
Install carbs, control cables and hoses (Day 2) - WIP
Hook up engine electrical bits (Day 2) - COMPLETE
Adjust new swing arm bearings (Day 2) - COMPLETE (The book tells you to secure the adjustment bolt with an allen key WHILE you tighten the top nut, but there's no logical way to do this without specialized tools, as your socket covers the adjuster lol)
Install new seal on driveshaft, install driveshaft and u-joint (Day 2) - COMPLETE
Torque all rear-end to spec (U-joint bolts, final drive to swingarm mount bolts, rear axle pinch bolt and castle nut, torque rod) (Day 3) - COMPLETE

• As mentioned before, I had some difficulty with this but managed to get it to a spot where it should be safe and I am happy. I ended up having to torque to spec and then back off a turn to get the castle nut into a position where the cotter pin would catch. From what I have seen others do, it seems the torque spec is to get everything to "seat" in place, then you back off a hair to secure the castle nut, otherwise it's too tight for the wheel to turn.

Mount battery and terminal connections (Day 3) - WIP
Fill final drive oil (Day 3) - COMPLETE
Fit filter + fill engine oil (Day 3) - WIP
Paint exhaust and fit for bake-in (Day 3) - WIP
Lube control cables (Day 3) - WIP
Startup (Day 3) - WIP

Im taking a rest day as the bike kicked my ass yesterday (in terms of my body taking a beating). I'd welcome any advice on the above struggles.

EDIT: I just finished reading through Joejr2's thread "struggling with 81 750 seca front brakes" and I think I'm going to give the traditional bleeding method a go now that everything should be 97% filled with fluid. If I still get bubbles then I will know it's probably not a leak at the bleeders.

 

Pull your brake lever continuously to slowly move your pistons and pads to the rotor. I just rebuilt my sons brake calipers on his Vulcan and it took quite awhile to move the pistons all the way in.

 

Update: I kicked ass today. The bike is completely reassembled and I got to turn it over with the starter. Only items left as follows:

• Bleed right side anti dive and caliper, test for lever pressure.
• Rinse tank out with fresh gas, and fill er up (set petcock to PRI)
• Paint and bake in header pipes.
• Align front forks and secure pinch bolt and top hex bolts
• Startup??

 

Good morning! I volunteered to work Memorial Day so I can't wrench on the bike until I'm off for the day, but I was out there yesterday.
I managed to get the brakes mostly bled last weekend but still don't have the lever pressure I would expect. The brakes don't seem to engage until the lever is at the end of its stroke. I've tried adjusting the lever itself but that doesn't seem to be the issue. This was after following the vibratory sander procedure as well...so I'm hoping I won't have to bleed again but I suspect I might. I did make sure the brake fluid level only touches the bottom of the filler neck. Curious though if this level needs to be super precise, and whether it should be measured on the centerstand or when leaning to the left...?

Anyway, besides that I got the exhaust painted and mounted, broke the wiring in my right rear turn signal while trying to troubleshoot it, ended up re-doing that wiring as a result which fixed the original problem (LOL). Replaced my missing tail light bulb, and the second horn miraculously started working again!

Unfortunately, It wasn't all roses. Right now the bike is not running well...at all...which is a HUGE bummer because that is the one thing that was working great with the bike 6-7 months ago.

Trying not to complicate things, I thought about what I've changed since the bike was put back together that was fuel/air related, and there are some things to note.

1. Before the bike was taken apart, the air filter was not seated properly inside the airbox, meaning air was rushing straight past the filter. Now that the filter is engaged and hasn't been cleaned, it's probably not pulling the proper flow.
2. I changed the petcock to an aftermarket style that I commonly see posted about in this forum. I suspect this petcock isn't pushing the right amount of fuel at idle, causing some fuel starvation issues.
3. I added an in-line fuel filter and new vac and fuel line.

As far as the startup behavior goes, if the bike is cold, it starts right up with the choke fully engaged, however it will not run after 5-10 minutes with the choke disengaged more than an eighth of a turn (idles starts to creep down after about 5-10 minutes).
The idle is somewhat erratic and tends to "wander" from 1.2k all the way to 3 or 4k depending on choke engagement and giving her throttle, sometimes the throttle seems to "stick" for a bit which is odd as well, as I see no binding in the throttle cable or mechanism during operation. After about 10 minutes time, I can hear popping coming from the exhaust (probably unburnt fuel), and the idle starts to creep down. If I don't keep the choke engaged and keep giving it throttle, the bike will slowly start to die.

I have been through this process three times and it always takes roughly the same amount of time for the bike to die. If I try to start it right away afterwards, it wont fire at all, just turn over. If I leave the petcock on PRI for twenty minutes or so and come back, then I am able to start it again - to me this points to a fuel starvation issue as it appears to be pulling fuel through the line, but I'm willing to bed the fuel level in the float bowls creeps down steadily as time goes on until the demand for fuel overcomes the amount of flow provided by the petcock. I removed my fuel filter from the equation and the behavior is the same.

Today I'm going to clean up and throw the OEM petcock on and see if there's any improvement (also clean the air filter). Based on those results I'll start looking at other things.

Bonus conundrum:
When I sit on the bike with it not running, I'm only able to shift freely between 1st and Neutral - is this an issue? I've compared my clutch cable adjustment to pictures taken before removal and it is adjusted exactly the same....

 

Any thoughts about the last post? Especially about the brake lever travel? If I observe the armature inside the rubber boot that pushes on the MC piston, the brake lever only really gets "rock hard" near the absolute end of the piston travel, I'm just not sure if that's "normal" or not. I have no baseline reference for "normal" (and neither does PO since he had broken front brake system the whole time). How far should the brake lever need to be pulled for the brakes to be fully engaged?

I am planning to play around with spraying some carb cleaner near the boot mating surfaces and in between the carbs to check for vac leaks.

If I need to take these carbs to church I will, but this bike was running like a top less than three months ago so I'm reluctant to go through that effort right away.