My first project

[petejw]

great work,
thats coming along very nicely.

[cywelchjr]

I would not recommend trying to use those fork tubes. With that level of pitting they will probably spring a leak within the first few times they compress, and you really don't want fork oil on your front brakes, and that's where it's almost guaranteed to go. These brakes are marginal when working right, when oil soaked they are almost useless. Forks aren't that bad if you shop around. I picked up a working set for a little over $100 when my seal blew and I couldn't get the caps off or get them apart to replace the seals.

[stevestrom]

Here are the rest of the tank pics. And some patches of pinholes. I turned the light out in the garage and put a flashlight in the tank so that I could see all the holes. Tapped around all the holes to make sure that the surrounding metal was solid and then filled them in. I lined the inside of the tank with POR15 after I patched all the holes and there was no leaking of anything. I am confident they are solid.





Then came my first experience with Bondo.







Now to add paint.

[MaximPhil]

Hi Steve,
Great job on the tank. That filler sure is going to thow off some experts in the future
Phil

[stevestrom]

I would not recommend trying to use those fork tubes. With that level of pitting they will probably spring a leak within the first few times they compress, and you really don't want fork oil on your front brakes, and that's where it's almost guaranteed to go. These brakes are marginal when working right, when oil soaked they are almost useless. Forks aren't that bad if you shop around. I picked up a working set for a little over $100 when my seal blew and I couldn't get the caps off or get them apart to replace the seals.

I didn't really want to use them but as I've said before I am doing this on the cheap for now and I can always pick some up later. As it sits I am just $600 into it at this point. Just buying the new things that I absolutly cannot reuse or that are safety issues like tires and brake lines.

Thanks for the input though!

[petejw]

that tank came up sweet.
have u picked a colour for it yet?

[Mathh]

great job! looking awesome already... the xs on yr desktop is from "rossifumi46", from the French club who is on the UK site as well, at least once in a while. Some pics there as well.

[stevestrom]

that tank came up sweet.
have u picked a colour for it yet?

Yep, Red and white.



Looks kind of orange in this one. I think its the lighting.

[subike]

very loud, that tank conversion looks so much better painted, I like

[bikerphil]

That looks sweet. What bike are the clip-ons and switches from?

[stevestrom]

That looks sweet. What bike are the clip-ons and switches from?

The clip ons are aftermarket Tommaselli brand. I was worried about tank clearance with the clipons and these are pretty sweet; very adjustable. I do not hit the tank at all from lock to lock. The switches are factory XJ1100 switches. I just cleaned them up with the glass beader and through some clear coat on them.

The clip ons were a little pricy at $120, (Most expensive part of the bike so far) but I figured that it was worth it since the XJ triple tree can't take standard bars and and these ones are adjustable to account for clearance issues

[petejw]

that looks amazing,
the whole bike is coming
along very nicely,
mate ur a fast worker as well.

[stevestrom]

that looks amazing,
the whole bike is coming
along very nicely,
mate ur a fast worker as well.

THanks.

I don't work that fast though. This progress has been made over the past 4 months. The last pictures are pretty much how the bike sits now with the exception of a crank case breather and the key relocated to under the tank. Just got new tires for it today so I should have a pic of those mounted up soon!

[stevestrom]

Well I got the tires and wheels put on today. Anyone know what the length of the stock rear shock on the XJ is? I think that I am going to go with an 11.5" shock, that is what it is sitting at in these pictures.

[DGXSER]

Coming along very nicely!! I think the XJ had the same rear shock length as the XS which I believe are 11.5" stock.