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New rider and new member

Discussion in 'Hangout Lounge' started by Adkride88, May 8, 2022.

  1. Franz

    Franz Well-Known Member

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    Makes perfect sense as I stated if he gets dirt falling into the cases that is bad as is the potential for broken piston rings.
     
  2. Adkride88

    Adkride88 Member

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    @Minimutly to your first question, yep. Easy out from harbor freight. That cost me a hundred bucks to get a new #1&2

    The second bit, I decided today that was what I was going to do. I'm going to clean it up and when I get cylinder head back I'm going to just reassemble it with new gaskets and orings. Bolts are corroded, sure, but not terrible. I'll replace them some other time. I'm not tearing anymore down on that bike except to put the wiring harness I bought from @750MaximSeattle in place (and to get my AGM battery in place since it's just a little too far to slide in easily but WILL fit once it clears those pins for mounting the side cover).
     
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  3. Adkride88

    Adkride88 Member

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    My to do list-
    Steering bearings cleaned, greased
    Fork seals, oil
    Carbs assembled, bench sync, install
    Wiring harness (and potential component replacement if that doesn't fix my fuse blowing issue)
    Rebuild master cyl
    Rebuild front caliper (new pads, new brake line too)
    Rear brake
    New tires
    Crank case clean (seafoam/ATF/whatever I haven't decided exactly what I'm doing there yet)
    Cylinder head back on
    New oil in drive shaft would be nice
    Drop the new gas tank on and the seat in place and hope it works
     
    Last edited: May 22, 2022
  4. Dan Gardner

    Dan Gardner Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    That's a good list, @Adkride88 , but I would add priorities since time is a factor. In other words, new tires can come later, need to get it running first.
     
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  5. Adkride88

    Adkride88 Member

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    @Dan Gardner one of tires is baaaad. The rear at least holds air but it's got a scary amount of dry rot on sidewalls. The front tire can't even take air.

    I'll be honest, forks are low priority. Low enough that I'm about to just load my grease gun and put the bearings back in on head stack and send it. Bigger fish to fry, that can be a winter project. Same as those sheaths on bolts in engine. I'll make that a project when it's too nasty out to ride.
     
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  6. Adkride88

    Adkride88 Member

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    The new gas tank came in. Looks nice, changes the lines on the bike with such a fat tank. Its beautiful inside too, no visible rust. I need to get a petcock for it but that's no prob. The stock tank that was on this was nasty; I thought there was a mouse nest in it and found it was just a giant clod of rust stuck together. It has holes rusted through on both sides too. I was going to get it cleaned up and welded, but that would have cost me as much as just buying this 750 tank. I make a frankencap for it, using all the seals and springs from the new tank and the lock mechanism from the stock tank and now have a functional cap too (the stock tank cap was corroded and rusted badly). Little bit of brake cleaner through it to clean out the rust and gunk, air blow dry, and some graphite powder and it's working great. I might only have one key, but my ignition and gas cap are as smooth as butter now so I won't risk breaking the thing hah.

    Tonight I am planning to finish pulling the old wiring harness. I'm going to clean all the contacts with spray and/or brush, and make sure all ground points are also clean and well connected and get it all wired back up.

    Next after that is cleaning up the top of engine so I can just put new gaskets on and replace cylinder head when I get that back from the shop. Get carbs back together and bench sync. Then front brake/tire/bearings, rear brake/tire/bearings, new oil in shaft housing (I'm just going to drain, flush with new oil, and then fill- I'm not going to split and disassemble it). Then hopefully I'll have top of my engine here and I can put it all together and try to start it up.

    Looks like we're not closing on new house until end of July... So I have plenty of time to get it done before we move still. While a month was nice thought, before we move was the ultimate real goal. Still gives me time to actually go get my permit too.
     

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  7. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    750 Tank? you will like the extra gallon of fuel it holds.
     
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  8. Adkride88

    Adkride88 Member

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    @XJ550H yep. I was going to buy another 650 tank but then read a bunch of posts on here saying that it was a direct replacement, no modification needed. I think it was about $50 more than the 650 tank I was looking at, but that extra capacity was worth the couple extra bucks. It really changes the lines on the bike too, I like it.

    Picking up some new handlebars on Friday too, closer to stock appearance. Gotta get my order in with chacal so I can get this thing all ready for whenever I get the cylinder head back.
     
  9. Adkride88

    Adkride88 Member

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    I've identified why it kept blowing fuses, I think; every single grounding connection I've found was corroded all tf up. I'm still putting the replacement wiring harness in, I've got it partially hooked up now, but I think it was at least in part due to every ground being corroded and poor contact.

    The pile of bars I picked up for $40 had a half dozen 7/8", including ones I love, both look and feel on my wrists when sitting on the bike. That pullback is going to be a good bit more comfortable than the forward lean required with those straight bars the previous owner had on there.

    I may be totally wrong on my interpretation of NY law, but it looked like drag pipes are a no-go when it comes to getting it inspected. So I picked up a pair of baffles to do both sides, also two repair kits to patch and seal the small cracks in each side where the condensation rusted through on the two decades in storage. Then I'll throw on some fiberglass exhaust wrap and call it good on the pipes (yes, I know I need to hit it with the high temp silicone paint too, but since I can't run engine to cure it yet I'm going to just do that later when I can actually cure it proper).

    I think I'm gonna get my tires this weekend maybe. We'll see.
     

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  10. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    sportster mufflers are known to fit the xj and can be had really cheap.
    you may need to add some stainless steel wool pads to help quite it down with the baffles installed
     
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  11. Adkride88

    Adkride88 Member

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    @XJ550H I never would have thought of using steel wool. So that is a better choice than the fiberglass batting they come with (or do you use both)?

    Last owner put 3" drag pipes on it. I'll be honest I do like the look of the big pipes. I just need to make them a bit more quiet
     
  12. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    stainless steel wool it will last longer than steel wool.
    fiberglass or the wool both work
     
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  13. Adkride88

    Adkride88 Member

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    So I've been at this, trying to figure electrical out.

    I've ruled out rectifier. Headlight. Taillight. In fact I can plug everything in but my controls. Plugging either one in alone blows fuse, also plugging both in does the same thing.

    Replace them as the cause? Or is that indictive of something else?
     
  14. hogfiddles

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

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    Sounds like you got a hot short somewhere
     
  15. Adkride88

    Adkride88 Member

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    @hogfiddles can I just bypass it like precious owner had it and pretend nothing is wrong?

    I'm out of ideas. I bought bulk bag of 20 amp fuses so I could just try one by one unplugging components and seeing when they blow. I've been chewing through them trying different combinations since the numerous hours trying to test with DMM have revealed nothing major to me (did help me ID dead starter cutoff relay though, in tandem with my variable DC power supply). Unplug something, replace fuse, connect battery and hope. Repeat.

    I've replaced wiring harness. Rectifier. There's currently no relays connected at all. The ignition coils are not plugged in. Head/tail/all signals disconnected. Horn also disconnected.

    If I leave bar controls unplugged it doesn't blow no matter what I plug in.

    If I have rectifier off, I can connect controls- problem is THEN my console lights come on when battery is connected (even with key removed and even when the ignition switch is unplugged too). That light does not come on when my bar controls are unplugged, rectifier in place.

    I'm out of ideas.
     
  16. hogfiddles

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

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    Have you studied a correct wiring diagram to compare with what’s hooked up?
     
  17. Adkride88

    Adkride88 Member

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    Additionally- when lights are disconnected, rectifier disconnected, relays except the cutoff one replaced... I blow the signal fuse. Removing the signal auto kill module fixes that, so Im going to say that might be bad? The console lights still come on though, so that can't be the only issue. I have no idea. I've walked through the guides on here, I still don't feel like I'm any closer to figuring this out.
     
  18. Adkride88

    Adkride88 Member

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    Yes. Printed in color, also used Haynes manual (currently open and sitting on the bike).

    The dude that I bought it from had main fuse bypassed. And the signal fuse. Silly me decided to start replacing janky stuff like that.
     
  19. Adkride88

    Adkride88 Member

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    And now I can't get the starter to turn over even bridging relay with screw driver. Fml.
     
  20. Adkride88

    Adkride88 Member

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    @hogfiddles could .. handlebars be doing it?

    Just on a whim I took bars off but left everything plugged in; rectifier, controls, the works. As long as the bars dont touch the bike frame, it's good. I connected clutch cable to lever, to properly ground out bar and tried again. No blown fuse. When I accidentally touched the headlight housing with the bar-main fuse went pop.

    Could it really be that simple and stupid? Just paint where the bars sit and have the brige connecters screwed down, or buy some kinda little insulation shim to prevent the bars ground grounding out right there?
     

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