Advice? Hairy Electrical Mess - New owner 1982 XS650J Heritage Special
Hi everyone- I've been a member of the site for 3 months now, looking for a motorcycle and hemming and hawing about what to buy - and what's available. Thanks to the expert advice of many of you, I finally pulled the trigger on a homely 1982 Heritage Special.
My last motorcycle was a 1979 Suzuki RM250. It was fairly new at the time and I bought it with my paper route money. Well, I sold the paper route to Jimmy Flanagan and eventually the RM too and now I have 3 active boys, a wifey who just said did you buy, and a great dog I rescued from the pound who loves the sound of my new Yammy. He knows who's boss.
The bike was cheap, came with a clean title, 18,000 miles, the serial numbers on frame and engine match 5V4-005X57, and the build tag on the frame says it was manufactured September 1981. Alright alright!
That is not the original tank as many of you know the 1982 HS was black only (thanks again for the album Skull650). The PO bought it from a PO who disassembled it and then lost interest. The guy I bought it from slapped it back together, including the pod filters, mixed up some parts, and flipped it.
OK by me. It's a good platform to start from for what I have in mind, without paying for great condition parts that I won't use in the final product anyway. Because of that I am not going to bother with the electrical (new harness) or brakes before I tear it down, but I do want to get the carbs halfway decent first so I can do a proper compression test and determine if engine work is needed. Right now it only starts with the choke on full. Sounds strong though. I read an article in the carb tech section that I need to go back to.
Here is my plan, what do you think?
PHASE ONE - Goal is to get to a ROLLER
1. Clean and rejet (?) carbs so she runs without choke or significant backfire
2. Perform compression test, make a note of results, determine if top end work needed
3. Disassemble motorcycle, catalog parts, take notes on needs and lots of pictures
4. Grind and fabricate parts for frame, electronics pan, and powder coat
5. Seat pan, custom seat tbd
6. Do up the suspension according to design plan, refurbish wheels, tires, drag bar
ROLLER Complete
Hi everyone- I've been a member of the site for 3 months now, looking for a motorcycle and hemming and hawing about what to buy - and what's available. Thanks to the expert advice of many of you, I finally pulled the trigger on a homely 1982 Heritage Special.
My last motorcycle was a 1979 Suzuki RM250. It was fairly new at the time and I bought it with my paper route money. Well, I sold the paper route to Jimmy Flanagan and eventually the RM too and now I have 3 active boys, a wifey who just said did you buy, and a great dog I rescued from the pound who loves the sound of my new Yammy. He knows who's boss.
The bike was cheap, came with a clean title, 18,000 miles, the serial numbers on frame and engine match 5V4-005X57, and the build tag on the frame says it was manufactured September 1981. Alright alright!
That is not the original tank as many of you know the 1982 HS was black only (thanks again for the album Skull650). The PO bought it from a PO who disassembled it and then lost interest. The guy I bought it from slapped it back together, including the pod filters, mixed up some parts, and flipped it.
OK by me. It's a good platform to start from for what I have in mind, without paying for great condition parts that I won't use in the final product anyway. Because of that I am not going to bother with the electrical (new harness) or brakes before I tear it down, but I do want to get the carbs halfway decent first so I can do a proper compression test and determine if engine work is needed. Right now it only starts with the choke on full. Sounds strong though. I read an article in the carb tech section that I need to go back to.
Here is my plan, what do you think?
PHASE ONE - Goal is to get to a ROLLER
1. Clean and rejet (?) carbs so she runs without choke or significant backfire
2. Perform compression test, make a note of results, determine if top end work needed
3. Disassemble motorcycle, catalog parts, take notes on needs and lots of pictures
4. Grind and fabricate parts for frame, electronics pan, and powder coat
5. Seat pan, custom seat tbd
6. Do up the suspension according to design plan, refurbish wheels, tires, drag bar
ROLLER Complete
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