1993 CRB900RR Overhaul

Hey all,

As my XJ project is coming to a (for the moment) close (just waiting on a petcock rebuild kit from Len, then paint, synch and tune and see if there are any issues), I've had the opportunity to take on a bit of work for a friend from the motorcycle community in my area.

He owns a 1993 CBR900RR, and purchased it used around 48000km. Rode it home, then let it sit in the garage for a couple years as he was busy with other toys (and at 60, the seat on it killed his back if he rode it for more than 10 minutes).

From what i know, he had one when he was younger in England and when he moved here found one at a steal that he figured he'd snap up to keep as more of a running showroom model than anything, kindof a monument to his youth. He's on no big timeline, and he's not 100% sure on what level he'd like to overhaul the bike to.

Having said that, I went over to his place today to take the carbs off, and view the bike in person. it turns over, wants to fire, but just won't catch. As the carbs weren't drained, I took them off, drained them, and brought them home to rebuild (man, when the new parts are on someone else's dime AND you're getting paid to do it, carbs are fun little critters ). My plan following that is to do his valve clearances, as he has no service record and I'd like to at least verify that they aren't dangerously out of spec, and then sync and tune the engine for him, maybe do a coolant flush (the oil is new). I'll probably check his brake lines and let him know if he's running cracked, 30 year old lines, and the tire is squared right up on the rear, but like I said he isn't planning to ride it much (or at all), so it's his call as to replace it.

The other concern he raised with me was that he has a leaky fork seal. Now, I redid the seals on my XJ550's forks without too much issue - yes, it took me a few days, and yes, making a tool to be able to unbolt the stanchions from the tubes was.... iffy, at best, but I definitely would be able to do it quicker. However, the XJ550 has... pretty simple forks. These are adjustable 5 ways to Sunday, and a little intimidating. The carbs are Keihin 38mm CV's, IIRC.

If anyone has any advice, or has worked on these components, please let me know as a guiding hand is always appreciated. I'm confident with the carb rebuild, but the forks make my knees knock a little. Having said that, he has 2 or 3 other bikes which need work, and this would be an awful nice way to offset the cost of my 550.