favorite pics of previous owner carnage!

[gggGary]

You want scary? It was too late but while checking the log books for a friend's Bonanza airplane I found two pages had been razor bladed out of the book! A little digging found it had passed through the hands of a notorious wreck "fixer". I had to advise he sell it and we did so, with full disclosure. The buyer flew it home and reported he was happy.... Can you say take a bath?

 

[deadchef]

Yaaaa... Customer brought it in because the paint was "starting to lift"

damn, a lot of bondo to cover that mess up! seems like it would have just been easier to find a replacement tank instead of putting that much work into something that trashed.

 

[Iron_inc]

All the bondo he used wasn't the problem, the problem was the holes he left from trying to stick weld it. Your right a new tank would have been an easier route, but not necessarily cheaper. A lil bit of tig welding and some patch work good as new and no holes.

 

[Iron_inc]

Sorry don't have a closer/higher pic

 

[deadchef]

Sorry don't have a closer/higher pic

that looks freakin' sweet! fresh and clean!

 

[650Skull]

Done about a 100 miles on the bike and was putting new swing-arm bushings in. Twiddling with the shock, (before installing the swing-arm), next thing i know there were bits flying every where and i was holding a spring.

I quess the PO can't be completely to blame for the metal fatigue, but with other things i have found i don't mind giving the bigger portion of blame to him.

Shiny bit was all that was holding it together

 

[Iron_inc]

Thanks deadchef I wanted to do some "tattoo" airbrushing but the customer was worried about cash for other things

 

[deadchef]

Done about a 100 miles on the bike and was putting new swing-arm bushings in. Twiddling with the shock, (before installing the swing-arm), next thing i know there were bits flying every where and i was holding a spring.

I quess the PO can't be completely to blame for the metal fatigue, but with other things i have found i don't mind giving the bigger portion of blame to him.

Shiny bit was all that was holding it together

whoa! thankfully it happened at your shop instead of on the road!

 

[YL82]

This may be my new favorite subscribed thread.

I wish I had taken a pic of the cardboard washer used to replace the copper one on the float bowl drain plug below the main jet.

The PO had bought this '76C for his 14 year old son, who the Dad proudly proclaimed was mechanically-inclined and good with tools like he was (a Mechanic). His son apparently lost interest in this bike and now has another bike.

Refer to Post #9 of this Thread. Damn Straight, 5twins!

Moe pics to come, I'm sure.

 

[jd750ace]

Shadow 1100 "Custom" LED lighting,

a little white and red airplane that's for sale now with a few parts replaced (brakes WORK now)

and me and a buddy putting a big ol chunk of new skin on a Falcon 20 (20 years ago!) that the Belgian Air Force used. They took the flush toilet out of the opposite side and used a 5 gallon bucket on the right side in the back for a head. It turned over. Several times. Over the course of 15 years. Each time they hosed it out with a garden hose, according to their records. Problem is, this is a no drainage area, and had "fluid" standing in it when we got it.

 

[YL82]

Can I take a bottle of Dawn or can of Gunk and a pressure washer to this Exxon-Valdez-esque disaster??

 

[YL82]

 

[deadchef]

it's definitely hit but every one of my xs650's (four of them now) looked like that when i got them. i think it's a right of passage with these bikes. typical of the pushrod and sprocket seals leaking. any decent degreaser will take care of that. aren't old bikes charming?

 

[gggGary]

+1 that looks normal, the starter gear case looks a bit too clean....

 

[5twins]

I just refilled my 5 gallon kerosene can recently, lol. Old school but great stuff for routine cleaning.

 

[YL82]

I like kerosene too. Method of application of a given degreaser over a relatively large area of rough terrain should have been my question. I've used a pneumatic AC Flush Gun to apply solvent but the container is rather small.

I'm looking at HF's. Engine Cleaning Gun for $8.

http://m.harborfreight.com/catalogsearch/result?q=Engine+gun

 

[5twins]

Get a box of these from HF .....

http://www.harborfreight.com/pack-of-36-1-inch-industrial-grade-chip-brushes-4181.html

Cut the bristles down to about half their original length to stiffen them a bit and have at it. They last quite some time but are cheap enough so you don't mind throwing them out and grabbing a new one occasionally. Just dip in a cup of solvent and apply/scrub.

I have that engine cleaning gun. It works well with a bucket of hot, soapy water for cleaning out the insides of rusty, gummed up gas tanks. Never tried it for solvent applying but I suppose it may work. Be aware that it sprays a high pressure stream, maybe not the thing for initially applying a solvent. Probably better for washing it off afterwards (with the mentioned hot, soapy water), after it's been applied with a brush and allowed to soak in.

 

[YL82]

Thanks, 5twins. That sounds like a sound approach for the situation...

 

[YL82]

I've recently thought of using an old Water Pik teeth cleaning machine to blast nooks & crannies with solvent or hot soapy water, but I can't find it - probably sold in a yard sale or thrown out along with the lava lamp and bean bag chair.

 

[gggGary]

I just use squirt bottles. Like a windex bottle. BUT it's hard to find good ones that hold up to kerosene or my prefered paint thinner. Hudson sells one for herbicide that works great and my wife gets some horse fly spray ones that hold up for years.