On the road again at 40.............the bike that is..........PART DEUX

First of all, let me apologize for what will likely be a long intro to this thread. If I'm wrong, I'll go back and delete these sentences, but I have been told that I can be a little verbose.

I thought I'd start a new thread for my next project, the refresh of my 78E that was introduced here…....
http://www.xs650.com/threads/on-the-road-again-at-40-the-bike-that-is.49360/

I know this thread name isn’t very original, was going to title it 'Cleanin’ up a dirty old girl’, buuuuttt, then thought better of that, don't need the mod’s mad at me. This title is in keeping with my last project and my intent for this one: to have her on the road next year for her 40th.

Also, I'm not very creative with making up names. You’ve probably guessed what letter my surname starts with and I’m not in the habit of naming my vehicles. But, buddies would say ”which bike are you talking about?”. The ‘77’, or the ‘78’, doesn’t mean anything to them so I’d say “the blue one, or the black one”, which morphed into ‘Ol Blue” and ‘Blackie’, which works for me.

Thinkin’ now, maybe ‘Black Betty’ (Bam-ba-lam)?

Details: 19,529 kms, 12,134 miles. Had been sitting in a garage for 12 years and shows the results of our extremely humid Southwestern Ontario climate.

PO stressed he wanted it to go to a good home where it would be well taken care of again.
I assured him it was, that I'd do my best, and that it was my intent to return her to some semblance of her former glory.

Plan is, get it fixed and tuned with some basic upgrades keeping it stock.
Make it stop again.
Clean it up, repaint the tank and tins (As close as I can get mixed up to the original Star Black) with new 78E decals (tank is pretty corroded and dented, need to pull and/or fill the dents) and get er back on the road as another survivor.

Chrome is pretty badly pitted from years of sitting, so can't do too much about that, but it will 'shine’ again.
I'd love to refit all that pitted chrome but for what it would cost to replace fenders and pipes I can find another 'project’ and I don't have the time, money nor talents to try for a ground up restoration so going to fix her up, get her roadworthy, and clean her up best I can to return some of her former elegance.

Some pics from the day after her midnight arrival.





















Well that's pretty representative of what were starting with.

So now, let the games begin!

Nice Robin! She is a bit dented and dinged, but looks quite sound and complete. I noticed the angle of the LH spark plug lead - very odd.

Cheers,

Pete

Ya, she needs a little love Pete. But that's the fun. Everything's there though, and she runs, so that's a good start!

Never noticed that plug lead as in the picture, I spect' I've turned it back to normal by now. They're coming off anyways with new NGK 5K caps and new wires and plugs when we get to the tunin' stage.

Alright Robin! This is defiantly going on my watch list. Good luck with your new project!

Yes, Very complete ! Nice to look over and realize how familiar all those components are. And you know, even a rattle can of semi gloss black will finish up some of that ! Nice exhaust too. "Black Betty" lives to rock another day ! I'd like to participate and might . I've learned sending gizmos to you Canadians is perhaps not really cost effective lol. But whats that got to do with it ? Common sense ? Na, Cheers-RT

Thanks Bob. Like you I am very busy right now and look to be for a few months, so shop time is limited but I'll fit some in whenever I can.

At least this gives me something to do while waiting for my carbs for Ol' Blue to get done. Unfortunately like any good bike/machine shop at the start of the season they are crazy busy.

Thanks TM. LOL. I have really enjoyed reviewing the pics of your bikes, have them saved on my computer and will use them as reference pics hoping I can come close to duplicating one of your beauties.

Take care.

One left.. all there is way over here and pretty is fine, but that doesn't mean it works lol.. Time is hard to find for all of us ! XS650's are worth the wait !

TimeMachine said:

Time is hard to find for all of us ! XS650's are worth the wait !

Click to expand...

Amen brother.

As mentioned, it was supposedly stored in a garage, but 12 years of sitting in our humid SW Ontario climate took a toll.

While cosmetic issues are at the bottom of a long to do list, I could not bear the thought of allowing her the indignity of sitting any longer in her sorry state with all that corrosion. She deserves better, so awhile ago I spent some time cleaning off the worst of the surface rust.

I know you guys know better than me what can be done to clean up rusted and corroded chrome, but for the sake of someone who may be new to the sport that stumbles across this thread I thought I'd show some before and after clean up pics of what's possible, or at least what I was able to accomplish.

But first, a public service warning announcement



I used 00, 000, and 0000 steel wool as required with a little dish detergent / water mix for a lubricant.

I read on here about using aluminum foil, and did give that a go but found it scratched worse. Seems counter intuitive, but that was my experience.

Have since read another post by WER that he uses brass brushes as they are just as effective and do less damage. Wish I had known or thought about that but will try it on the next one.
(There will be a next one, I'm already breaking out into a cold sweat thinking about what I'll do when Black Betty's done. Although with the way lakeview is going, I don’t know if there’s any left around here…...lol)










After cleaning off rust with steel wool I polished with Autosol to give some protective coating. Man I love that stuff!


















Used brass wire wheels and cup brushes in a cordless drill to clean up shock springs.







Unfortunately all those years of rust have eaten through the chrome and left some pretty major pitting, but it cleaned up not too bad and certainly 'shines' a little better again.

Robin, nice improvement on the chrome. Regarding the chrome, you have done the most important thing; cleansed the rust and mitigated future damage by creating a seal against air and water (the chrome's original job) with the Autosol. Happy miles ahead.

Thank you DoubleE. It's an improvement for sure and I will continue to polish often. Lot's to do before any miles though.....lol.

Well done Robin! That old girl is well on its way to a resurrection. It's lucky you found her. I also used steel wool to bring my exhaust system back up to a shine. I had mine off and up on the bench where I could really work on it. On mine, the underside had years worth of burnt on oil from a seal leak. I think I must've worked on that four different times!
I started out with steel wool and kerosene to try and dissolve the thick crud , and moved on to soap and water and steel wool and finally buffed it out with chrome polish.
And as for your shocks, they look like an old Triumph I restored. I did exactly the same thing you did. It's amazing how good they can look with a little love.
You need to start softening up the Mrs. for a new shop/garage to house your burgeoning collection!

Thanks Bob, and that looks nice! Good luck with your carb quest my friend.

Robin, though there is the chrome pitting form humidity, your bike looks like it has been sheltered from the elements much of it's life. 12K for milage is a great number. This bike will be purring in no time.

Yes, I think you're right DoubleE. If it hadn't been it would be in much worse shape.
She runs, but will take some work before she runs great.

So far after carefully loosening it up I have:

1. Changed oil and filters, a little plastic in there, and a fair bit of metal filings as well. Signs of some cam chain guide breakdown I guess. Oil was really dark so who knows how often it was changed. No fuel smell in oil.
2. Cam chain adjusted, about 1.5 mm loose
3. Checked valve adjustment. One intake valve off by .001, so pretty surprising I’d say.
4. Checked I had spark
5. Replaced burned out neutral light bulb to verify it wasn't a neutral switch problem
6. Compression strong, 150 each side
7. Started ordering parts

Just had to let her talk to me one more time before I start taking her parts off. Even if she is talking real fast.



Doesn't sound too bad for an old girl that was rode hard and put away wet 12 years ago. Haven't touched the carbs yet, obviously need doing. If I try to set idle below 1500, she stalls, so I’m guessing that indicates the idle circuit at the very least is all gummed and plugged up. I'm surprised they run at all. Can't get one of the float bowl drain plugs out so it's been sitting with some gas in at least that bowl for 12 years.

So, start on the carbs, or start cleaning up electrical connections before tuning, upgrades, brakes, etc.and cosmetics.
I think electrics……..I need a break from carbs and I've run out of cookie sheets. Both of mine are full of bagged and tagged carb parts from the 2 sets for my 77D I'm waiting for from the Chief of Carburetor Surgery.

Looks & sounds great Robin - very nice indeed!

Pete

Damn...I have serious garage envy.

My favorite XS model/year. Nice find and subscribed!

Hey Brassneck - how is North America's prettiest XS650 cafe running these days?

Pete