richiedan40 Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Hello guys , and thanks for the welcome let me tell you a bit about this bike. Ive always been a bit of a Brit bike man , mainly BSA,s,not because I didn't like Japanese stuff , I did , a BSA was always easier to work with ,mechanically they were good , my mate did 100 000 miles on his A10 , same engine. they sounded nicer to me and not wanting to go into warp drive at every traffic light they suited me , yes I did get fed up of pushing an A65 lightening home from work , but that really wasn't BSA,s fault , it was joe lucas.....prince of eternal darkness. Then I had this prang in the ninetees.....put me off bikes for a bit. so lets jump forward to april 2014 , and in a local pub in holywell N Wales myself and my good friend Alan , who incidentally originates from the Shetland isles , have sunk a few and started to talk sh........silly ! "now ive got that bonnie , I reckon we should do a tour of Ireland.....says Al "on what , says I , I havnt got a bloody bike ! " well what about that BSA then ? " its in the pipe line" " well so,s my pint so get em in ! when the laughter died down , we laugh at fruit when were avin a few ! , Al offered to give me his old XJ600 , he hadn't ridden it for ten years and it was in the Shetland islands for god sake , let me take care of the travel, he said, you can take care of the rest. So a week later it arrived on a palet in a sorry state , itd been covetred from head to foot in wax oil to preserve it , enbarmed more like ! I thought I,d get it going first to see what the mechanics were like before spending any money , it seemed ok.... sort of.....I mean it would only run between 4 and 8 thousand rpm , and it took half an hour to start.....but it didn't smoke or leak any oil...happy days ...or so I thought 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Airhead Posted July 9, 2014 Moderator Share Posted July 9, 2014 Great story riciedan, looking forward to the next chapter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richiedan40 Posted July 9, 2014 Author Share Posted July 9, 2014 so , before I upload some pictures of this boufante haired eighties glam queen ! let me tell you what I found , first the good bits....it was all there......that's it.......oh and the chain and sprockets were new......ish. A strip was now inevitable , the ale fuelled promise of " well itll probably need a tune up and a damn good clean " was as near to the truth as the princess Diana post mortem ! on a stand it went , well four bits of scaffolding and a piece of wood , front and rear wheels off , calipers , forks out , fairing off ( Yamaha must have invented the "fairing self removal system " ) then came a hot pressure wash to remove the wax oil.....and all the paint ! The trip to Ireland could now surely only be done on LSD. Both the fork stations resembled rat tail files , the tank had been shot with a 12 bore full of rusty screws , the exhaust pipes had been glued to the head with shetlands industrial strength porridge , there was a mice nest in the air box ( that is not a joke ) and all four carbs must have been running on tank lining and rust particles , tight sods these jocks you know ! so there you have it , another heart ache project that soft lad here is going to pump all his hard earned cash into.....if only bikes could talk " youre looking a bit rough lately XJ " " eye , I dream of ending up at Richies place where money is no object even on an old piece of sh%te like me " its starting to go together now with its rebuilt forks , new hard chrome stantions , bushes , seals and dusties. the calipers have been stripped cleaned and painted gloss black and so has the swinging arm , couldnt live with that " not been painted look " the wheels look lovely in their new paint and the discs cleaned up surprisingly well in my wifes pedal bin full of caustic soda.I fired it up the other day to balance the carbs , it run ok considering its got the cheapest nastiest 4 into 1 system this side of utter Pradesh . Now heres my question , if you can help guys , its done 30 000 miles and its got a rumble from the bottom , mind you so have I after anight out on the ale , this rumble come rattle disappears when you pull the clutch in.... would I be right in presuming its the clutch basket bearing and if so where can I get one ? cheers guys , pics coming soon and more stories of woe. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Airhead Posted July 9, 2014 Moderator Share Posted July 9, 2014 .....if only bikes could talk " youre looking a bit rough lately XJ " " eye , I dream of ending up at Richies place where money is no object even on an old piece of sh%te like me " ......... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dt502001 Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 That has to be the best description of fix anything I have ever read my sides are hurting from laughing. Them clutches are known for making noise,check the play in it and if it's not to far out then it will carry you,as for fixing it you could get a bushing made and press it in,and if your mate was hard on the clutch check the pins holding the gear to the basket thats where most of the noise comes from. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator drewpy Posted July 9, 2014 Moderator Share Posted July 9, 2014 is you keep the bike on its side stand (if oil in the engine) you'll be able to take off the clutch side cover without losing the black stuff first check the starter gear isn't loose (mine was) and then take off the clutch basket and check the toothed drive on the back,its held in check with a pin and gets worn which makes a horrible noise. An Austin mini (as opposed to a BMW one) door pin will fit when drilled out and shortened. this is a common "fault" and is about right for a 30k engine keep up the writing, makes great reading 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dt502001 Posted July 9, 2014 Share Posted July 9, 2014 Cool fix drew will put that in the memory file,last one I fixed I had them spun on a lathe out of cromoly not cheap but should last forever. I too cant waite for the next chapter,and the sequil of the trip. ,what happened to the guy who did the cartoons the 2 of them could work together and make some really funny stuff. This guy's writing and his toons would have me on the floor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
slice Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Thanks for the amusing read mate, been there done that, my XJ is the 750 version and it has had a rattly clutch since I got it, rebuilt it twice now and it still makes horrible noises and has yet to actually break or let me down, if I were you I would just ride it and forget about the rattle/rumble as even if you fiddle with it for a month it will still rattle. Tried all sorts of fixes and can't for the life of me see what makes the thing actually make the noise, tho I suspect it is the plates in the basket making the thing rumble/rattle but above 15 hundred RPM it quiets down and works fine, it's just the way it is. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator DirtyDT Posted July 10, 2014 Moderator Share Posted July 10, 2014 Great stuff, this! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richiedan40 Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator drewpy Posted July 12, 2014 Moderator Share Posted July 12, 2014 sweet, a 3KM engine too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richiedan40 Posted July 12, 2014 Author Share Posted July 12, 2014 hi everyone , thanks for the comments and advice . after reading all your replies I realised why I joined this club , great helpful people , just like the old guys that offered advice on bsa issues when I was a kid , like you could set the gap on lucas points with the lid of an embassy regal packet , great advice when your on the side of the road , not so good If you didn't smoke ! any how , now you can see the old Girl , you probably think I was talking utter crap when I described the sorry state but those photos were taken at low res. so you cant see too much. Cop for the mice nest made from bits of air filter , wonder what was going through their mind when I opened it up to 10,000 revs , apart from two valves. Imagine the cartoon to that......their little front legs clinging on to the plastic airbox as they slowly lose their grip as they waver about horizontaly and are sucked through the carbs into the cylinders , being squeezed to a third of their size ( cut to the cartoon bit where they continually get squashed by the piston,and pounded on the head by various valves over 40 cycles ) then suddenly the bike splutters and coughs and there is this thud thud , thump , high pitch squeeking noise as the exhaust down pipe bulges with lumps ( that strangely disappear as they make their way down the exhaust system , great cartoons , aren,t they ? ) then there is this ( polystyrene on glass ) type noise as , one by one they get pushed through the tail pipe and land on top of each other ( the one on the bottom of the pile squeezes his eyes shut as each member of the family lands on his head ) when its all over hes just sitting there with a sooty face and that " oliver hardy " look on his face. well today folks I,m balancing the carbs and painting the tank , may I add that this is a temporary painting around the graphics job until I get new graphis . I,m using four sets of kitchen scales and some dope dealers weights to balance the carbs , only joking , I,ll let you know how I got on. ive also decided , whilst writing the mouse story , to strip the clutch down and investigate , I,ll also let you know what I find the mouse story was true , for the record ! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dt502001 Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 Another funny one,went away camping for a weekend and on the sunday when I went to leave my bike wouldn't barely run then it stuck open throttle. I opend the air box to find mice had moved in and along with them they brought some yarn and not just a little bit! took me a hour to get it out of the carbs/ air box I can see the punch line "ollie what just happend I was napping nicely" but I think I would go more for the pinky and the brain approch to the toon,none the less you are keeping me in stiches. Your bike dosen't look bad at all,rode a few of them and very comfey riding position should do you well for the trip with the top box.Here we have showers at the truck stops anything like that avaible your side or will it be B&B/ camping trip? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tommy xs Posted July 12, 2014 Share Posted July 12, 2014 I don't know if you already have the paint but if you don't you could try this http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/200803251515?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649 I used it on my xs400 82 which look's same colour as your bike and its a very close match used on a silver base coat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richiedan40 Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 cheers for the replies fellas. firstly to the Canadian guy who only has member as his name , I,m glad to see I,m not the only one with mice problems , it sounds like one of yours got stuck in the butterfly/slide , scary stuff if you were cruising along pal.......I,m back in cartoon mode again picturing " dick dastardly " mouse holding your throttle wide open whilst " mutley "mouse sniggers away in the corner of your airbox. we are not sure what we are going to do in Ireland , other than knock the froth of a few ! I was going to take a two man tent in case the weather is nice ( bet theres a few irish lads reading this in the ale house laughing their heads off right now " Jasis , have yer hord this eejit Michael , ......in case there is nice weather......nice weather my feckin arse ! " so in Ireland , the land of eternal drizzle , we may well be paying up to £ 3000 a night for a guest house over there , and £50 a pint for the black stuff. slight exaggeration but it is expensive. they don't have truck stops as such in Ireland , mainly cos they've only got one motorway and that's only from one end of Dublin to some where up north , I think. its ten years since ive been there. Tommy XS , you don't live too far from me , I go past you when I,m working in Halewood. thanks for the info on the paint , but its already painted , did it yesterday , its some ford fiasco colour that's pretty close to the original. I didn't do a top job cos ive painted around the graphics , its going to get done in the winter , new graphics , logo and two pack paint. this is "just for now " but I,ll check that website out ( bloody hell that sounded too American did that ) but thanks for all the help , this is exactly why I joined. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richiedan40 Posted July 13, 2014 Author Share Posted July 13, 2014 my apologies Canadian guy , I failed to see the DT at the top of your post , please accept my apologies. its my age y,know ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noise Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Cracking story that Richie, why is it that all great things start in the pub? or should i say, why is it they always sell there shit in the pub?? haha How did you find the 600 with taking it apart? i struggled like buggery with gettin ghte carbs out and then back in again on the 1984 XJ900 i just did, also have you thought about up dating the fuse box under the seat? just that i found that the pins that hold the fuses in are now "never to be sold ever again.............EVER" so the man at Yamaha told me, so if they snapp then its out with the gaffa tape. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richiedan40 Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 Yes you,re dead right , everything starts in a pub , the bible should be re-written..... Genesis , book 1 , verse 1......" and in the beginning there was nothing so God said " let there be a free house selling real ale , I could do with a few jars before I start this job , could be a big un ! , and there was a free house selling real ale "........He probably drunk real ale y know , well he had a beard didn't he ? ok , how did I find the job of getting the carbs off , bloody nightmare pal , there is no means of taking the airbox out with the engine in , so I just had to sort of tilt them and wiggle them as I pulled em out of one side , it was no fun , and they had to come out twice ! that was cos I stripped , cleaned and re built them with new gasgets , screws and fitted them only to discover the new tapered needle valves were still in the bag ! the fuse box was ok , yes those brass holders are very flimsy but they were ok. the only electrical issue I had was indicators would only flash when THEY felt like it. that was cured by soaking the switch in wd40 and operating for 50 cycles , doesn't sound technical but it worked. I painted the tank for the second time yesterday and then wrecked it again by spilling fuel on the bugger. should have left it a week but I,m getting excited now cos its a gnats chuff away from being finished. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noise Posted July 14, 2014 Share Posted July 14, 2014 Yer thats exactly the way i took them out, and i had the same issue with the indicators till i swaped the fuse box and that seamed to solve loads of problems the main one being the secret code to start the bike by turning on the ignition tapping the head light three times and then it would start! Best thing for the fuel tank mate is to buy a can of petrol resistant laqour from Halfords and it works a treat, only costs less than a tenner. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
richiedan40 Posted July 14, 2014 Author Share Posted July 14, 2014 yep , I,ll get some of that , if there is any more paint on that tank itll look like one of them bmw touring things. I,ll have to get new yam decals too. I,m not really bothered about it too much cos I masked around the decals its going to get done proper in the winter, two pack paint new graphics the lot. but the Halfords juice resistant gear should do for now to tart it up a touch eh ? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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