Saving another XS2

[Mailman]

Tank came out great Rob…good save!

 

[gggGary]

Fun fact; Japanese fork oil smells like that cuz it's at least partially made of whale blubber and that's true up until the last few years. A 2004 FJR still had whale oil in the forks. Not certain if it STILL is used. Honda had to change their automatic car transmissions when the US prevented them from using whale oil in their ATF. No mineral oil or additive had the properties of the whale oil.

 

[willis]

Today I changed the oil and checked the side screen. All looked good and clean. No metal or plastic bits. Pulled the alternator cover to replace the clutch cable, but can’t seem to find the new cable that I thought I bought. I’ll have to check my receipts to be sure I actually bought one. Had a hell of a time getting the cover off. Block of wood and lots of hammering before she finally let loose. Put the battery from my 75 in and check for spark. I had previously put new condensers in and I’m happy with the big blue sparks. I did not touch the points though. Still in my list. Plugs out, decompression lever pulled to spin some fresh oil throughout. A little squirt in the carbs and VROOM VROOM! IT LIVES. Still lots to do but feels good knowing it runs.

 

[Mailman]

A little squirt in the carbs and VROOM VROOM! IT LIVES. Still lots to do but feels good knowing it runs.

I’d call that a very good day!

 

[willis]

Today i installed a new clutch cable and did a sympathetic polish on the engine cover. The worm gear gave me some struggle as the adjuster screw was froze in the adjuster nut. In the end I had to clamp the worm gear in vice grips and got the adjuster lock nut to break free. Ironically the worm gear mount screws were loose when I took the cover off. Everything lubed up and put back as it should be. Will need to do the same to the clutch cover next.

Before


After

 

[Larrydplummer]

It cleaned up pretty good.

My Xs2 looked like the first photos top of thread. Its amazing how these things clean up with some love and elbow grease! Nice find

 

[NMuzzone]

Here we go again. I don’t need another project right now as I still have two others I haven’t finished yet. But as we all do, I constantly monitor Craigslist and Marketplace for good deals when I came across this xs2. It was only about 40 minutes from my house so I reached out to go have a look. There was only one picture and little description other than it’s been sitting for 10 years.
View attachment 326395

The guy told me it is his father’s bike and the son was in town to help clean out his packrat garage. When I got there, I met his 74yr old father and he told me a little back story. He is not a mechanical guy, but he parked the bike many years ago when his wife got ill. The bike was exactly how he bought it, with extended fork tubes and high bars. The tank was already painted when he got it too. The son told me he probably smashed up the turn signals and headlight when he was riding it in the yard 10 years ago. With those forks I’m not surprised.
View attachment 326396

The bike was wedged in the corner against the shelves. It was tough to roll it out as the front wheel was locked up. The motor turned over with the kicker, but I didn’t press it to do a compression test. It was pretty crusty! I looked it over pretty well and the only thing missing was the left side cover. And it has a clean title! I tried to throw a lower offer, but he was firm on his price. We struck a deal and they signed the title over and we agreed I’d come back on a few days with a trailer. My truck is lifted a little, so with the locked front wheel on the bike it would have been very hard to load. The only thing left was to break the news to my wife !!!!

Hello there,
Pleaded to hear you are considering bring this one back to life. I can assist with good used parts if needed. My contact number is 321-720-6949.

 

[Luxurysalestn]

Excellent find, amazing what some deep cleaning will do.

 

[willis]

Time to close this thread. Our family is moving out of the country and back to the city and downsizing a bit. So it’s time to thin the herd a little. Somehow I ended up with 5 bikes and a shitload of parts. Ive had the bike listed on FB for a while now and not had much traction. We are in the process of packing up the house to move in a few weeks and finally got a legitimate buyer. He drove almost 7 hrs from TN. Bittersweet to see it go. I got my investment out of it and maybe a few dollars more. Also sent the new owner with a handful of spares since he was such a nice guy. One less I have to move and store.