parts bike

[DeanR]

Would like to know if $300 sounds about right for a bike that appears to be in excellent shape, likely to be used for parts for mine.
Main problem appears to be that the motor will not turn over, even by hand. Quit when last started. Otherwise, I'm told everything is good.
Thanks

[Pat Kelly]

The good/bad thing about complete parts bike is that they can be made to run. Sometimes a simple little thing keeps the bike from starting/running and it gets sold as a parts bike. On the other hand you buy a cheap parts bike and find the simple thing and now have two good bikes.

[81xsproject]

lol!!! I love the "good/bad." I could totally see myself ending up with two working bikes after convincing SWMBO it was "just for parts."

[JWSanders]

I would LOVE to find another for $300. I keep looking around, but they seem to be pretty rare here. Even if the engine is locked up, the remaining parts would be well worth it to me.

Then of course, there's always Ebay to get rid of any surplus. The sidecovers alone (if in good shape) would recover at least a third of that.

[pathfinder]

Food for thought, when I bought mine it was locked up tight. I put about and ounce of Marvel Mystery Oil in each cylinder and used the kick by hand, just bumping. I worked about 5 min per day adding an ounce each day. Had 6000 miles it now has over 50,000.

[xs650mike]

I got an XS650H for free. Has a 750 kit. Been parked for 10 years, motor frozen. Added a little MMO to cylinders then filled them with diesel fuel. Waited 2 days. Removed the diesel with Melissa Ethridge's (ahem) member. Put bike in top gear. Rocked back and forth a couple of times and broke it loose. Reinstalled plugs. Put on a set of carbs off another bike and a fresh battery. Started right up. Compression 145 lbs. left cylinder, 120 lbs. right cylinder. Rode it 50 miles. Compression is now 147 left and 146 right. Strong runner!

Frozen motors can often be saved!

[DeanR]

Well the crankshaft is definitely not turning by hand, either by wrench or by trying to turn the rear wheel. The history of this bike is not known. The guy I got it from had it running briefly a couple months ago around his property and up and down the road a few times. He said everything appeared to be working well, tranny included. He had it warming up in the garage and it just quit, making no noises or anything, and would do nothing after that.
Oil level is ok. No gas in oil. Middle and final drive oil ok. Plugs look good (as does most of this 81 special).
I've never done any engine work and am wondering what kind of things could be wrong.
Regarding the Mystery Oil, do you just pour little into the plug holes and what does that do?
Maybe this will turn into my winter project!
Thanks for any help and suggestions.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Dean,

My question is after it quit, did he try to restart it?! Did it still turn over but not catch?? IF it still turned, then that's a good sign. If it wouldn't turn....frozen...then that's a bad sign.

Warming it up in garage? For how long. It could have just gotten overheated and the increased friction caused it to temporarily seize. Once it cooled down, it could have turned more easily?

The MMO eats away at gunk, varnish, etc. It will seep in around the piston rings inbetween the pistons and cylinder walls. A little rust goes a long way in locking up a motor! Then after it has sat a few days soaking, do like XS650Mike did and put it in a higher gear and rock it to try to get the engine to break loose vs. trying to do it with a wrench. The higher gear gives the rear wheel more leverage to turn the engine with less effort on your part!

Good luck and keep us posted!
T.C.

[DeanR]

Hi TC. Just talked to him again. He said it would do absolutely nothing on his restart attempt. Did not turn.

I had the same thought about the warming up in garage comment and he now tells me "had it running for about 15 or 20 minutes" !!!!!! I guess that might narrow the problem down a bit!

Still don't know what happens inside there though, and what I can or should do now. At what point does a locked motor become history and should I be optimistic at this point?
Does the MMO act much the same as PB Blaster (which thankfully I dicovered last fall)
Again, thanks for any insights everyone!

[Pat Kelly]

Sometimes you never know until you look.
The motor in my truck (Grandpa's 68 F100) locked-up solid 100 miles after I replaced the clutch. No amount of cheaterbar/guys jumping on it could get that motor to budge.
When I finally pulled the motor I found that one of one of the pressure-plate bolts had either broken or come loose and wedged between the flywheel and bell housing.
Classic case of the 10 cent part stopping me dead in my tracks.

Possibly the same with the bike? Something simple but not obvious?

[DeanR]

Have a question about the paint on this 81 SH. The following are NOT the same as my 80SG:
- engine cylinder is black (the head is aluminum color, maybe painted)
- valve cover is black (kind of a rough flat finish with the raised lines left aluminum on top)
- final drive is a glossy black (raised lines left aluminum also)
- round center part of horns is the rough black finish also
Everthing else matches my SG. Does this sound stock or would this be someones personal paint job?

[andreashweiss]

Stock 81 as you describe.

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Dean,

Sounds stock 81 to me, too! That black paint seemed to loose it's gloss over time and heat exposure! I repainted my valve cover, and jugs when I did my top end, also my final drive, but left the fins covered on the final drive. I used my dremel to sand off the overspray from the fins on my valve covers!
The head is probably not painted, just probably oxidation. I don't recall if they(Yamaha) put clear coat on the cylinder heads? They can look quite dull looking over time!!
T.C.

[prometheus578]

$300? HHmmm.... spare gas tank, instrument cluster, seat, carbs, forks, brake and signal lens, fenders, sounds like a deal to me.
Every other week or so, swap his tank and side covers to your bike...
"Man, that Laxdad is one cool dude... has TWO XS1100s!!!"
Anyway... a few odd things to check.
I can imagine that you've already tried to rotate the engine backwards. (Had a customer do his own tune-up... dropped a screw down the plughole. Would rotate backwards a bit, but not forward, as screws don't compress well)
And I can also imagine that you've tried to crank it with the clutch pulled in, which would usually eliminate a seized tranny, (but not all clutch stuff).
Get a clean pan, drain the oil and see what settles to the bottom of the pan. (metal flakes? Nuts and bolts?)
Pull both engine covers... anything bound up in the gears? Can you see anything with a flashlight... looking through the holes that drain into the case itself?
Pull the valve cover gasket. Cam chain snap, fall in and wrap around the crank? (Not likely, but at this point...?)
Yeah, I seized in a construction zone once. Got tired of sittin' in traffic watching my pipes change color, so I pulled to the side and shut it down. Took off my helmet and had a smoke. Traffic started moving... turned the key and hit the button; nothing but a growl from the starter. Fifteen minutes later after we BOTH cooled down, she fired right up. That was 25,000 miles ago.
I'd say that he may have had it running a little longer than 15 or twenty minutes in the garage. Might have seized.... obviously tried to restart it when it was hot, and then gave up. Pistons might just now be rusted in place.
I just reread your post.

The guy I got it from

Congratulations on your new bike!!!! Well done! Now you get to tinker.

When you drain the oil... note if it looks clean and new. The first thing that people do after they run an engine dry and seize it, is to fill it with fresh oil and then tell the mechanic,"I don't know what happened... it just stopped."
Follow the advice in the other posts. A little marvel oil or WD40 down the plugholes and let it sit a few days to loosen up usually works if it's nothing mechanical. Don't fill the cylinders, though, for when it cranks you'll cause damage as fluids don't compress.

[DiverRay]

The other think that works great on rusty parts is Automatic transmission fluid. A little down each spark plug (about 4 oz.) and it should loosen things up within a day. I agree with putting the bike in high gear, and then try to rock it. The rocking back and forth is the key, as you turn the crank both directions.
Ray