"The Basketcase" Episode I : A Slow-motion Build

Nine years ago (!) I wanted a motorcycle. Something inexpensive (yeah, how's that workin' for ya?), that I knew I was going to have to work on. But then I would know what went into it, right? So, I bought a '75 Xs650 for $200.00 and three bottles of booze.

I thought it had potential because it had such low miles.

I thought the engine was seized at first. It turned out to be corrosion in the generator. I used a rubber mallet to 'whack' a breaker bar on the crank bolt to get it to turn.

But it had many, many more problems. This is the horror show I found in the master cylinder.

The caliper was worse. I could not take that sucker apart. Even using the hot wrench (torch). Corrosion had welded it into one useless block, only suited for the scrap bin. I guess it had held up the side of a shed for just a little too long. Fine. Move on. Lots of cleaning later, I tried to start it. Wasn't gonna happen. It had a bad coil, and all the plumbing leaked. Oh well, I have other things I need to do. It sat, I dreamed. And a couple times, during heath emergencies, I was trying not to die. It wasn't the only thing I had to live for, but damn it, I have a motorcycle to build.
A few months ago, I was able to move it (and a '79 and '81 I picked up over the years) to a friend's shop, where he keeps/works on hot rods.

I built a motorcycle table, so I wouldn't have to work on the floor, bought an engine stand, and ordered engine stand brackets from Chop Source. They arrived early, and work perfectly! Then I started tearing into it for real. I was finally working on The Basketcase !!!

With my friend's help, we got the engine out and on the stand. I stripped the frame down to the bone, forks, wheels, swing arm off.

Next up is cleaning, cleaning, cleaning. Then the engine tear-down. It'll get soda blasted, new gaskets, and all new hardware, plus a few surprises. Stay tuned for "The Basketcase" Episode II : A Phantom Motor

 

Smeggy,
I built the MC table from mostly scrap wood I had (because I'm a cheapskate!), with the exception of the plywood deck, front tire chock, and hardware. The engine stand is a pretty simple setup. I bought the stand itself from Harbor Freight Tools (during what I call a "stupid sale". That's when the on-sale price is so low, if you don't buy it, you're stupid.)
https://www.harborfreight.com/1000-lbs-capacity-engine-stand-69520.html
And the engine stand brackets are from ChopSource:
https://www.chopsource.com/yamaha-xs650-engine-stand-brackets.html
I decided against whipping up something myself, because the R & D would've taken me too long, and I don't need to re-invent the wheel. We know they are round.... This combination works (so far) exceptionally well. The real test will be at the conclusion of "Episode II : A Phantom Motor", when I start the motor (on the stand) for the first time in over 20 years(!).
That "wooden dashboard" was a pretty popular styling cue in the '70s. Many people on here recall a time when the family car was adorned with the "woodgrain" (plastic) dashboards and even the "woodie" side panels (Country Squire, anyone?).
And, yeah, gggGary, many car dashboards (or steering columns) got barked up by key chains....

 

It took me long enough, but this is "A Slow-motion Rebuild", right? I wasted enough time trying to remove the old tires (original?), so I cut the sidewalls, removed the carcasses (carci?), hack sawed the beads, and found the insides of the rims looking as bad as the outsides.

So I sprayed the nipples with some WD-40 (because I had some)

And removed the spokes. I only had to cut three of them off the rear wheel with bolt cutters.

Next up: removing the bearings and seals. Then, cleaning the corrosion. Anybody have any insight as to how I would go about it? Keep in mind, this will be a pre-cleaning, before they go into the soda blast cabinet...

 

No way, gggGary! I made my own "hooked-end" tool and drove the seals (hard as a rock) and bearings out with a three pound hammer, and managed to bend the thin (sheet?) metal washers on both of the axle spacers. Oooops. "Top hat" recovery to follow. Very little was done by the P.O., so pretty much everything on "The Basketcase" is original equipment, e.g. 40+ years of crust & corrosion! Things have been super busy around Chateau Tebo lately, but I hope to have some time to get back to the rebuild soon...

 

Hey now! I'm gonna get me some o' that fer sure! +1 on the paint stripper. Were the hubs clear coated also? I know I need to do the forks and side covers with stripper. Are there any other parts you can think of? My plan is: if it's aluminum, I'm gonna polish it.