Good Day All. New to riding in general, and to the XJ600 in particular.
Posted: Thu Jan 16, 2020 12:46 am
Hi,
I hope all is well. I am new to riding and new to my "new to me" 1992 XJ600S, that I just picked up in November. I've got two heaters (1500 watts each) going in the garage to keep the bike comfortable, and am picking up tools as they go on sale at Canadian Tire, in order to get this bike in action for the spring. It started fine when I went to buy it, and was ridden last year with no issues, I am told. There was a loud backfire coming from the right side exhaust, on the brake side; so either cylinder 2 or 3 is causing it...and how did I find out that? XJRider of course. I found this site before making the purchase, and it gave me confidence that I was buying the right bike for me.
I had always wanted a "bike in a box", not the prefab brand new kind of thing I have noticed when I searched for a 'bike in a box' online lately; but, a real bike that has had a good life, which is now in need of some TLC. I was told you can sometimes find them at cycle shops, and they simply want to save some space by selling a bike in bits and pieces; something that would take a good deal of time to get prepared for its second life. This XJ I picked up is in one piece, at least before I took the carbs off, and am currently soaking some jets in Seafoam (I know, I need to visit a Harbour Freight), while I wait for new carb boots to arrive in the mail.
Again, without this site I never would have thought I could tackle the job of cleaning a carb. When I first read the "things to do" to a new XJ, on this site, I thought, "Okay, I could do maybe four or five of those things, and then just hope that's all the bike needs...", though now I am looking forward to completing the entire list, except the valve clearance/shim changing seems as daunting to me today as looking up cleaning carbs did back in December.
Anyhow. I would try to add a picture or two, though it seems the uploading is being glitchy.
Thanks for keeping this site going. It is truly a treasure trove of pearly wisdom. The kind of quality one finds in the text of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". Now, to apply that Zen to the tasks at hand.
Have a great one,
Curtis
Post Script:
Things I have done to my XJ so far:
- Cleaned and oiled the chain, and checked the sprockets. They look good. The little bit of rust on the chain disappeared.
- Cleaned the tank. (will do again soon, filling the entire tank with apple cider vinegar, not just one half at a time)
- added a fuel filter, as it did not have one, as well as no internal filters on the petcock.
- new fuel lines, as the old ones were a larger line and leaky.
- New spark plugs
- One new spark plug boot connector #3, as it was the odd one out of the bunch, which was not changed previously, and was not giving a good spark. Cleaned the electrical connections, but figure a new boot can't hurt.
- Found out I have a K&N air filter, so picked up the cleaning kit for it.
- Added some Seafoam to the engine, and fuel. Was still backfiring....
- Onto cleaning the carbs. Canadian carbs, so finding a little less info on them; still plenty of posts that help.
Things to do: ...
- Put on new manifold boots, once they arrive in the mail. That may have been the issue of backfiring, as the old ones were heavily cracked.
- Buy 16 new bolt top screws for the carb bowl covers, as I never want anyone to deal with that issue again. Canadian Tire had 4 in stock, so need to find some more, then put the carb back together again.
- Bench calibration, of the carbs, and wet float check? That's where I am unsure of the process with a Canadian/UK/Cali carb. Also to note, is that the fuel mixture screws were all set to 1 and a 1/4 turns out, except for carb #1, set at 2 1/2 turns out... So I will shoot for spec on the assembly, though I am missing the small metal washer on carb 4, for the mixture screw...
- I need to find a link pipe that will work for me to slip on the two mufflers I picked up. The funny thing is, the mufflers were $12 each, and the cheapest link pipes I can find are more than that.
- Oil change, once I get it running and warmed up after the carbs are on it again.
- Figure out which tire I should buy. The current ones were made in 1996. After searching the site and many reviews, I think the Michelin Pilot Activ are the way to go, and not when they are on sale, in hopes they haven't been sitting in a warehouse for a few years. I hope Fortnine.ca is a good place to get them?
- Instal new tires, and perhaps new bearings if they look bad.
- New brake pads. Flush with new fluid.
- The return part of the throttle cable is broken, yet the throttle returns to idle quickly, so I am not sure if I need to worry about that. The second cable end is just a metal end, with no actual cable sticking out of it.
- Clean the fork seals using a smart water bottle piece of plastic, then change the fork oil, hoping that will tighten up the fork feel a bit, before thinking about doing the fork seals entirely. I think I can just drain the fork oil with them attached, yes?
- Fix some faring cracks. Have already got some ABS cement in a can ready to go. Need to find some hardware, as the left firing attachment to the left side of the tank, was broken right off. Thinking of using a hose clamp with a nut attached to it?
- Spray some new paint on the fairings.
- Buy a Helmut.
- Get my motorcycle licence.
- Ride on into the sunset.
To be continued...
I hope all is well. I am new to riding and new to my "new to me" 1992 XJ600S, that I just picked up in November. I've got two heaters (1500 watts each) going in the garage to keep the bike comfortable, and am picking up tools as they go on sale at Canadian Tire, in order to get this bike in action for the spring. It started fine when I went to buy it, and was ridden last year with no issues, I am told. There was a loud backfire coming from the right side exhaust, on the brake side; so either cylinder 2 or 3 is causing it...and how did I find out that? XJRider of course. I found this site before making the purchase, and it gave me confidence that I was buying the right bike for me.
I had always wanted a "bike in a box", not the prefab brand new kind of thing I have noticed when I searched for a 'bike in a box' online lately; but, a real bike that has had a good life, which is now in need of some TLC. I was told you can sometimes find them at cycle shops, and they simply want to save some space by selling a bike in bits and pieces; something that would take a good deal of time to get prepared for its second life. This XJ I picked up is in one piece, at least before I took the carbs off, and am currently soaking some jets in Seafoam (I know, I need to visit a Harbour Freight), while I wait for new carb boots to arrive in the mail.
Again, without this site I never would have thought I could tackle the job of cleaning a carb. When I first read the "things to do" to a new XJ, on this site, I thought, "Okay, I could do maybe four or five of those things, and then just hope that's all the bike needs...", though now I am looking forward to completing the entire list, except the valve clearance/shim changing seems as daunting to me today as looking up cleaning carbs did back in December.
Anyhow. I would try to add a picture or two, though it seems the uploading is being glitchy.
Thanks for keeping this site going. It is truly a treasure trove of pearly wisdom. The kind of quality one finds in the text of "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance". Now, to apply that Zen to the tasks at hand.
Have a great one,
Curtis
Post Script:
Things I have done to my XJ so far:
- Cleaned and oiled the chain, and checked the sprockets. They look good. The little bit of rust on the chain disappeared.
- Cleaned the tank. (will do again soon, filling the entire tank with apple cider vinegar, not just one half at a time)
- added a fuel filter, as it did not have one, as well as no internal filters on the petcock.
- new fuel lines, as the old ones were a larger line and leaky.
- New spark plugs
- One new spark plug boot connector #3, as it was the odd one out of the bunch, which was not changed previously, and was not giving a good spark. Cleaned the electrical connections, but figure a new boot can't hurt.
- Found out I have a K&N air filter, so picked up the cleaning kit for it.
- Added some Seafoam to the engine, and fuel. Was still backfiring....
- Onto cleaning the carbs. Canadian carbs, so finding a little less info on them; still plenty of posts that help.
Things to do: ...
- Put on new manifold boots, once they arrive in the mail. That may have been the issue of backfiring, as the old ones were heavily cracked.
- Buy 16 new bolt top screws for the carb bowl covers, as I never want anyone to deal with that issue again. Canadian Tire had 4 in stock, so need to find some more, then put the carb back together again.
- Bench calibration, of the carbs, and wet float check? That's where I am unsure of the process with a Canadian/UK/Cali carb. Also to note, is that the fuel mixture screws were all set to 1 and a 1/4 turns out, except for carb #1, set at 2 1/2 turns out... So I will shoot for spec on the assembly, though I am missing the small metal washer on carb 4, for the mixture screw...
- I need to find a link pipe that will work for me to slip on the two mufflers I picked up. The funny thing is, the mufflers were $12 each, and the cheapest link pipes I can find are more than that.
- Oil change, once I get it running and warmed up after the carbs are on it again.
- Figure out which tire I should buy. The current ones were made in 1996. After searching the site and many reviews, I think the Michelin Pilot Activ are the way to go, and not when they are on sale, in hopes they haven't been sitting in a warehouse for a few years. I hope Fortnine.ca is a good place to get them?
- Instal new tires, and perhaps new bearings if they look bad.
- New brake pads. Flush with new fluid.
- The return part of the throttle cable is broken, yet the throttle returns to idle quickly, so I am not sure if I need to worry about that. The second cable end is just a metal end, with no actual cable sticking out of it.
- Clean the fork seals using a smart water bottle piece of plastic, then change the fork oil, hoping that will tighten up the fork feel a bit, before thinking about doing the fork seals entirely. I think I can just drain the fork oil with them attached, yes?
- Fix some faring cracks. Have already got some ABS cement in a can ready to go. Need to find some hardware, as the left firing attachment to the left side of the tank, was broken right off. Thinking of using a hose clamp with a nut attached to it?
- Spray some new paint on the fairings.
- Buy a Helmut.
- Get my motorcycle licence.
- Ride on into the sunset.
To be continued...