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Well that has to be the bargain of the year mate, well done and it will look smart on your newly rebuilt bike.

Hi Alex, the best mechanic you have is right between your ears mate, you know what you can afford and you know what needs fixing so why give it to someone else to work on? Buy the manual - read the manual - then follow manual instructions. You need to ask are you doing it right? Well mate we are right here and will to tell you if your making a complete tit of yourself and generally laugh at you and then tell you HOW TO and be interested in the results whereas your usual mechanic is ONLY concerned that he gets paid and you make room for the next customer. PS as an aside I asked my local dealer what it would cost to service my XJ, he said (with a straight face) £200 !!! WTF, the oil is £38 a gallon oil filter £4 air filter £8 that's £50 and it takes me an hour.

The only time a car driver hears you pipes is when you pass him otherwise your just another target, loud or quiet makes no difference if they are going to tag you anyway.

Try "hotels.com" Tommy, I have found a couple of hotels and pubs nearby that do "B&B" recon that anything within about 10 miles will do me and as long as they have a bar and a bar maid I'm going to be like a pig in s**t.

Very tidy little bike, I do like the hidden exhaust and think it looks really neat. As above a small fairing might make life easier but each to his/her own.

Mc, I see in the photos you have the old brake pads and you say THEY ARE OK! I bet they are not, after 20 odd years of standing around you should replace them, they delaminate the same as the old brake shoes after a while and you will be getting a nose full of gravel if they choose to go off when you really need them, best advise "bite the bullet" and buy new as all your hard work will be undone if you get spat off for the price of a pair of pads. Just my thoughts on it you understand but are you really going to trust a pair of pads from 1994 if they really are 20 years old? PS love the packing on the battery, reminds me of the late 1970s when you fitted what you could afford

Hi, can't help with your problem but it might be an idea to do an INTRO in "new members" section BEFORE you ask a "how do I fix my bike" question or you will get few replies if your a one hit wonder.

Mc I had a similar problem with my machine, I asked ALEX what was happening and he had no idea what was going on, I switched to FIREFOX instead of IE and not had a problem since.

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.

Yep your right DT, "steers like a tanker driven by a wanker" seems to come to mind.

Hi Gaz,Do you have a manual for your bike? that should tell you all you need to know about how it's setup and how to test if it's working mate.

Faulty side stand switch, at least that's what happens on mine if it goes wrong, if this is your problem then you can get round it by connecting the 2 wires together and bypassing the switch till you replace it. I think?

Can't see why they would not fit, but you have to make sure you have the same bar width and the same cable end nipples or it will get ugly. your best bet is to give the supplier a call and ask if they are suitable for your bike the worst he can say is "NO" PS just as an aside, if you want red levers why not just paint your own? a lot cheaper and who is going to notice except you. You could even send your levers off and get them professionally painted for a lot less.

Yeah I know Foamy, but you make such a BIG TARGET !!

Thanks for the warning !!!! Laughed until I cried that old guy ROCKS !!!

Hi Richie and welcome to the YOC, always nice when someone actually does a good INTRO most just don't bother and get grumpy when no one talks to them, there are a few 600 owners on here and any questions you have just put them in the WORKSHOP section and someone will be along to help out, if your doing a project then put that in the PROJECTS thread. Hope you get to stick around and let us have a look at your new toy.

Just a thought but did you remember to put the ball bearing back in after you took the clutch apart? You would be surprised how many people lose this thing when they have the clutch apart. I think most bikes have it on the end of the push rod.

Good luck mate, a photo of the offending part might help others to come up with a solution, it's always better to see the problem than to describe it, no matter how good the description.

Not sure about your exact bike but if it's like most folks then it is probably just rusted into the surrounding areas, not much anyone can say really except if that is the case then you just have to keep working away at it to get the buggers out, PLUS GAS spray is good if you give it time to work or better yet HEAT will shift most rusty bits but depends on wether or not your going through plastic as to how much heat you can use before you start distorting the surrounding plastics, on my XJ the bolts your talking about are threaded through and also have a nut on the end so if you chop the heads off you still have to get the thread out of the hole, looks like your in for a bit of drilling and thread cutting I'm afraid unless someone else has a better solution. sorry mate, just remember not to lose your temper with it then it becomes expensive to repair the added damage that 10 seconds of satisfaction will give you.

Yeah I saw that Cynic, it's being thrashed around a field right about now by a bunch of snotty teens, or set on fire for a laugh

Right last problem first - stuck between first and second - this might mean you need to adjust the clutch cable, although false neutrals do happen on all bikes, second problem - misfire - try changing the High tension (HT) lead and the spark plug and see if that is the cause of your problem, probably the cheapest first fix, if that don't work come back and try again. The reason it stalls at low speed is because of the misfire so if you fix that then most of the other problems will go away on their own.

There you go Noise, that rusty old lump your repairing came in handy after all.

What about the previous owner? Can't you give him/her a call and ask what it was they put on it. The worst that can happen is that they tell you to "sod off!!" and yes time for a name change I think or add "UN" at the front.

Ah ok then my bad!

Hi Drew and welcome to the YOC.