Well, today was day 1 of the project bike saga. Most of the day was looking at the bike from different angles, the amount of rust, figuring out what accessories I want to keep vs. what I might want to trade for.
My first step was removing the saddlebags and carrier so I could move around the bike easier. I don't think I will be keeping those, bags are not bad, one has a hole in the bottom that can be easily fixed. They also need stripping and painting. The carrier is pretty rusty also, going to see how it comes out with some wire wheel contact.
The PO was a man after my own heart I'm assuming it was a man because no 2 nuts and bolts were the same. Its almost as if whatever he found along the side of the road was good enough. The wiring to the bags was cut but there were no lights on the bags so I guess he had some aftermarkets on the carrier. Have to pull all that wiring out also.
Lots of rust everywhere, shocks, frame from the seat back to the tire, all the aluminum is oxidized. Forks not too bad but will probably replace them with a Forks by Frank set. All 3 rotors are really rusty. Not sure if they can be salvaged or not. I've never delt with rusty rotors so don't know how to clean 'em up, don't want to put that much money into this girl.
Fuse box is shot, going to replace that tomorrow, see if I can turn it over. Supposedly it was running 6 or so months ago. Have to pull the plugs and check inside with a light, few squirts of MMO might help.
So, will update and ask lots of questions as I go along. Probably not going to do a complete restore, just de-rusting, pulling/cleaning carbs, replace shocks and forks and MAYBE and new tank, not sure if the old one is OK. Seems to hold fuel but there is some rust on the upper part of the tank, not much though so might just want to try and clean it up as best I can.
So, tomorrow will be fuse box and trying to start her.
XXX (those are fingers crossed, not kisses)
Jack
My first step was removing the saddlebags and carrier so I could move around the bike easier. I don't think I will be keeping those, bags are not bad, one has a hole in the bottom that can be easily fixed. They also need stripping and painting. The carrier is pretty rusty also, going to see how it comes out with some wire wheel contact.
The PO was a man after my own heart I'm assuming it was a man because no 2 nuts and bolts were the same. Its almost as if whatever he found along the side of the road was good enough. The wiring to the bags was cut but there were no lights on the bags so I guess he had some aftermarkets on the carrier. Have to pull all that wiring out also.
Lots of rust everywhere, shocks, frame from the seat back to the tire, all the aluminum is oxidized. Forks not too bad but will probably replace them with a Forks by Frank set. All 3 rotors are really rusty. Not sure if they can be salvaged or not. I've never delt with rusty rotors so don't know how to clean 'em up, don't want to put that much money into this girl.
Fuse box is shot, going to replace that tomorrow, see if I can turn it over. Supposedly it was running 6 or so months ago. Have to pull the plugs and check inside with a light, few squirts of MMO might help.
So, will update and ask lots of questions as I go along. Probably not going to do a complete restore, just de-rusting, pulling/cleaning carbs, replace shocks and forks and MAYBE and new tank, not sure if the old one is OK. Seems to hold fuel but there is some rust on the upper part of the tank, not much though so might just want to try and clean it up as best I can.
So, tomorrow will be fuse box and trying to start her.
XXX (those are fingers crossed, not kisses)
Jack
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