Blog Update

Bit too many projects on the go at the minute, so haven't had time to update my blogs....

The bike is more or less sorted now. Picked up an XJ1300 cockpit fairing up that I have added a 7" clear headlight and a HID 6k xenon conversion. The crappy eBay twin headlight thing has gone in the skip after I took it out in the dark one night and realised you couldn't see jack-shit!

Swapped/binned the 'universal' plastic mirrors too. Anything over 20mph and it looked like an old Top-of-the-Pops video from the 80's in both mirrors......

Took off the crappy little arrow-head indicators and put on some decent sized factory-copies that suit the bikes lines better. The wiring was a nightmare from previous bodges, but after trialling a few flasher units got there in the end.

Managed to source a Neta 4-1 pipe that looks miles better than the old dated chrome one that was on it. I've also ditched the digital clocks idea as they looked far too small for a big bike, and sourced/fitted a proper set of Diversion clocks. They fill the new fairing just nicely and now finish it off perfectly. I even fixed the fuel sender that was goosed in my tank, so it's got a working fuel gauge.

I designed my own XJ900F logo and had a pair printed off a guy on eBay just to finish off the side panels.

MOT run out last week, so it is booked in for Saturday 24th August. Can't see there being much of an issue though....

Taking shape........

Been doing a fair bit of stuff on the bike of an evening, after work. Still got a few things to do (digital speedo/clocks, belly-pan etc) but it's taking shape quite nicely.

Found a leak in the petrol tank when sanding down, under some filler (right hand side lower corner) which I ended up soldering, covering with araldite and then finishing with filler to smooth back in.
The carbs have settled down now after I treated them with Red-X....
Bought some new exhaust gaskets but had a nightmare trying to fit them. Most of the studs had been replaced with bolts that had seized-in. Some had been snapped off during previous attempts at repairing....I managed to get most of them out; those that I couldn't were sawn-off, drilled out and re-tapped. All the flanges are now held on with proper studs and the new gaskets. The motor sounds sweet as a nut now with a deep throaty rumble coming out of the Motad pipe, as opposed to the leaky-front down-pipes....

The tank repair ended up looking ok after it was coated with filler and blended in

 

Striping was a bit fiddly around the contours, but detergent and heat-gun sorted it

 

Bit of over-spray leaked through my masking onto the cylinder head, but I'm going

to re-do it in the matt/satin finish that I have used on the lower casings anyway.

 

 

Going to try and fit the digital-speedo at the weekend, but judging from the wiring I found

inside the cockpit fairing this is going to be a bit of a nightmare

 

 

Mud-guard and forks painted black and disks in a gold Hammerite

 

I also bought a proper passenger grab-rail, which I painted-up in black.

The lines are a lot nicer without the rack/carrier.

 

 

 

I've more or less finished the ambulance-to-campervan conversion, so have decided to start with a new project and dive back into the motorbike world (after a few years break)

Picked myself up a Yammy XJ900F, 1993 on a 'K' plate, from ebay.

It's a classic Superbike from the 80's for those who might remember that far back (made from 1983 right through till 1994, when they were replaced by the 'Diversion').

It's a bit rough around the edges, but starts/stops and rides as it was designed to do....

 

11months MOT and about 4mths TAX, it's more-or-less ready to go.

Previous owner bought it as a non-runner, and got it to the state it is at now. Overall not a bad job, but carbs are a bit lumpy and exausts are blowing/leaking at the cylinder-head/engine joints, which makes it sound rougher than it actually is. (clocks show only 14,000 miles; not sure how acurate this is as there's no history with it). The electrics are a bit hit & miss, having been chopped and jointed all over the show. Had a massive problem starting the day after I bought it, which I wrongly guessed was due to the dodgy carbs. Eventually discovered an iffy connection with the NEUTRAL light that was causing the sidestand engine-cutout to kick-in thinking it was being put in gear!
The paint job is also not my cup of tea, and I've got plans to repaint it in the classic Kenny Roberts Replica colours of yellow, white & black after the minor mechanicals have been sorted......

Ebay photographs:-
                                     

 

 

 

 

 

Got a bit of  a ding on the bottom of the tank (covered by gaffa tape in photo below) and the panels are all a bit loose-fitting and tired.

Other than that its a solid bike and a good start for my next project......