Critique this bike I am looking @ please

[PsRumors]

'82 XJ 86k miles, original owner

new Bridgestones & wheel bearings

has a vibration coming from the drive line that I think could be the ujoint it is most noticable at low 40 to 50 with low RPMs and hitting the gas there is a clunk going on and off the gas

Will need carb manifolds as they are cracking and the valve cover gasket is seeping.

The tank started seeping at one of the petcocks so he found a new old stock tank and replaced it

The bike runs and rides well.

All the chrome is good with the exception of the pipes

He is asking $2000 I offered $1500 and he is stuck on $1800. Says he will keep the bike for anything less.

[NYPD]

Dont Buy It

Walk,better yet Run away from this one. Its way overpriced even at $1500. You can find better examples with much less mileage and less potential headaches. Why I would not offer more than $600. Just MHO

[PsRumors]

Thanks for the info. That is the kind of input I am looking for.

This is the nicest I have seen far around here.

[Bullet]

yep 86,000 miles is a lot of miles .. rings, something else gonna need attention soon .. plus it is a maxim and some parts are not available anymore, or real expensive if you can find them ..

those downpipes look to shiny for a bike with that many miles ..

What happened to the 80SG you were looking at ?

[PsRumors]

yep 86,000 miles is a lot of miles .. rings, something else gonna need attention soon .. plus it is a maxim and some parts are not available anymore, or real expensive if you can find them ..

those downpipes look to shiny for a bike with that many miles ..

What happened to the 80SG you were looking at ?

The 80SG needed to much work.

[PsRumors]

Correction. 68k miles and we gave gotten to $1500

[DGXSER]

'82 XJ 86k miles, original owner

new Bridgestones & wheel bearings

has a vibration coming from the drive line that I think could be the ujoint it is most noticable at low 40 to 50 with low RPMs and hitting the gas there is a clunk going on and off the gas

Will need carb manifolds as they are cracking and the valve cover gasket is seeping.

The tank started seeping at one of the petcocks so he found a new old stock tank and replaced it

The bike runs and rides well.

All the chrome is good with the exception of the pipes

He is asking $2000 I offered $1500 and he is stuck on $1800. Says he will keep the bike for anything less.

The vibration could be any number of things. From a misaligned swing arm, to the u-joint or drive shaft issues. Honestly, all the parts except maybe the swing arm, are the same as the XS models. So for that area, you should be able to find what you need for $50 or less.

The exhaust is another story. That factory exhaust will cost you ALOT of money to replace if you can find it. Believe it or not, the exhaust is the most expensive part of the bike including the engine!!! From the looks of things, someone pulled off the chrome heat shields where that rust is, and los them or the bolts broke off in the threaded weldolets they therad into, so they were not put back on. If that rust is only surface, you could clean it up, paint it, and put on heat shields and be in decent shape for a while perhaps.

As to what it is worth, well, There are several recent build threads on here including one I went through. It is not hard to go from $600 to $1500 with parts to get one from decent to nice. Not including alot of work. So if you do not want to do that, what is it worth to you? 68 is no spring chicken, but then there are some well taken care fo with 200k and nothing but cam chains and oil changes with some scheduled maintenance.

So, if it is otherwise as nice as it looks, $1500 may not be a bad deal. Depending on how much you value your time.

[slow mo]

hi PS

unlike most of the rest here i,m not a mechanic when it comes to xs11s but i think that with the advice given ,,,your 1500 can buy you another xs11 easily ,so keep looking they are out there ,,ride safe ,,slow mo!

[prometheus578]

...has a vibration coming from the drive line that I think could be the ujoint it is most noticable at low 40 to 50 with low RPMs and hitting the gas there is a clunk going on and off the gas

That is the unknown. Could be nothing, then again...
Yeah, bike might look nice... but people pay $1,500 for nice looking bikes with fairings, complete tour packages, etc.
Actually, most people pay around $1000, (or less) for their xs/xj.
And for a high mileage bike? Now, wouldn't be bad if you were the one to put the miles on it...
No... Lots of miles, unknown vibration trouble... walk away.

[cywelchjr]

yep 86,000 miles is a lot of miles .. rings, something else gonna need attention soon .. plus it is a maxim and some parts are not available anymore, or real expensive if you can find them ..

those downpipes look to shiny for a bike with that many miles ..

What happened to the 80SG you were looking at ?

86k is not high mileage for these machines. They will go 200k with decent care, and the rings are not likely to be worn that much at only 86k unless it's been pretty badly abused. That bike looks in pretty good shape, and I've seen worse bikes go for more. Then again I paid $800 for my 80G and drove it home almost 2 years ago, and while I've had to put a few hundred into it, it just keeps on going.

[PsRumors]

Thanks for the input guys. I have looked at several XS/J over the past couple weeks and by far this has been the nicest one even with the vibration. It also had the quietest engine, even compared to the 13k mile one.

I didn't see any cracked insualtion on the wiring harness, everything worked and it shifted very nicely.

The mileage does scare me, all of my previous bikes have had less than 15k miles. I was surprised at just how well it did run.

I'll continue to look and see what is out there.

[crazy steve]

... It also had the quietest engine, even compared to the 13k mile one..

That's not neccesarily a good thing; on these motors, as the valves go out of adjustment and the clearances close up, they get quieter. Too quiet, and you get burned valves...

[ManagerMike]

nice calves!

[motoman]

Actually not a bad looking scoot for $1500. Who knows, maybe for whatever reason the u-joint flange bolts may be loose which are under the shaft boot. I would maybe have someone that may be close to you off the sight here come take a ride and peek. Like Prom says, may be something very simple, but whos to say at this point.

[bikerphil]

If the three 6MM allen head bolts in front of the U joint under the boot are loose, it can mimic a bad u joint type of vibration. AMHIK