1982 XJ550 wont start.

Im new to the site, and would like some advice. A buddy of mine has an 82 XJ550 he wants $500 for. He got it last year when another dude was drift starting it, to get it running. He got it going pretty good all last year untill the battery started to act up, then he parked it for the winter. I spotted it, and got kinda interrested in it, which he told me that he'll take $500 for it. The bike wouldnt even try to start when i tried it, so we stuck some fresh gas in it, jumped it off of my jeep which it did start up and ran untill i pulled the red jumper cable off, and it stalled right out. He told me that before he parked it, the battery only held a charge for 20 to 30 min's, and it was dead. We placed a fully charged battery in it this time, it turns over just fine, but wont start now. Pulled a plug out, stuck the plug wire back on, layed it against the motor, turned the motor over and we get a week spark. Not sure if something went bad by jumping the bike off of my jeep, but my ? is, is this thing worth throwing 500 bananas at. (Please Advise) :?:

 

500 is not bad, I paid 400 for mine and now 1000 later it is customized and running.

If the starter is strong and the starter clutch is working fine, I would change the plugs to ensure they are not the problem. As for weak spark, it could be a couple of things, but others would know more then me. Could be the spark plug leads and/or caps are acting up, or your coil pack(s). Jumping from your car should not have caused any damage.

 

Um... The battery is toast obviously and I'm going to guess that it is missing some water in the cells. Since it was running good and then the battery began to act up I am guessing that the charging circuit is above 14.6 volts which will boil the battery acid resulting in a drop in fluid level. This is usually an easy fix by cleaning up the involved connectors described elsewhere on this site.

Also, since it sat for a winter (I assume w/o Stabil or Seafoam) it is going to need a carb cleaning. But, since it runs and if it looks good mechanically, you could expect to throw another 200-300 bananas at it but you'll have a great runner in the end.

 

Yeah the bike looks like its in good condition atleast to me. The guy with the bike really is'nt a bike guy to begin with, which is why he's lost instrest in it and want to get his money back out of it. It needs a lot of cleaning probly because of neglect. After we placed the fully charged battery in it, and gave it a try, we didnt have time to jump it off my jeep, so we used a jumper box instead. This time the bike would'nt even try to start, even with starting fluid. I know the guy pretty well, and know he would'nt bulls@#t me when he told me it ran good when it did run, which is why he purchaced it. But watching him work on it, you could tell right away that he has no clue about the way a bike works. But after jumping on this site im getting pumped up about wanting this thing, because i've only been in and out of the site for a week now, and have learned so much from you guy's, and feel confident that i can takle the project. Im just looking for something to tinker with, and want to see if i can put some life back into the bike, and if so it might just turn into a bobber some day. :idea:

 

I would say that you need to give the carbs a major cleaning if its not starting. There are lots of good posts on this site for carb cleaning and syncing.