2bikes' project thread
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2bikes' project thread
For the ones that read my first post you know I recently entered the sportbike world with an 89 600F that is in pretty good shape mechanically but beat up on the plastics. Anyway, I wanted to start a thread to keep up with my progress as this bike becomes streetable. So, here we go...........
I took all the plastics off just hours after unloading the bike from the truck to find an oil leak down low on the engine and to check out the rest of the mechanics with a good visual inspection.
Well the oil leak I went looking for turned out to be the oil pan. So I pulled the exhaust and the oil lines and the pan, broke out the carb cleaner and washed off the crud. Some previous owner/mechanic/thief at some point has really screwed up the oil pan. On both sides of the little oval that the oil screen sets in and in front of the towers that go to the cooler, the pan was busted and halfass repaired. They tried to weld it but it looks like they used aluminum bubble gum. Some of the ugliest welds I've ever seen. Anyway, the leak is on the right side and it's just dripping through a slaghole in the bead. Not fast, but leaking none the less.
Step 1: Fix oil pan, possibly have radiator shop reweld it?
Well I also discovered the fork seals are leaking. The left more than the right but they both leak. Guess that's step 2.
step 2: Fix fork seals.
So far that's all I have found to be wrong mechanically. I checked the frame for the cracks that were found to be common on abused bikes, mine is good.
I am seriously considering a streetfighter look with maybe a custom one-off tail section but we'll just have to wait and see. I'll keep it up to date as I progress. Thanks for listening, Paul
I took all the plastics off just hours after unloading the bike from the truck to find an oil leak down low on the engine and to check out the rest of the mechanics with a good visual inspection.
Well the oil leak I went looking for turned out to be the oil pan. So I pulled the exhaust and the oil lines and the pan, broke out the carb cleaner and washed off the crud. Some previous owner/mechanic/thief at some point has really screwed up the oil pan. On both sides of the little oval that the oil screen sets in and in front of the towers that go to the cooler, the pan was busted and halfass repaired. They tried to weld it but it looks like they used aluminum bubble gum. Some of the ugliest welds I've ever seen. Anyway, the leak is on the right side and it's just dripping through a slaghole in the bead. Not fast, but leaking none the less.
Step 1: Fix oil pan, possibly have radiator shop reweld it?
Well I also discovered the fork seals are leaking. The left more than the right but they both leak. Guess that's step 2.
step 2: Fix fork seals.
So far that's all I have found to be wrong mechanically. I checked the frame for the cracks that were found to be common on abused bikes, mine is good.
I am seriously considering a streetfighter look with maybe a custom one-off tail section but we'll just have to wait and see. I'll keep it up to date as I progress. Thanks for listening, Paul
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RE: 2bikes' project thread
No paint ideas as of yet. At the moment it has a marbleized purple/blackpaint but it won't stay that way. I really hated the factory paint for this year. Something about that white with the red and blue stripes just really gets under my skin.I'm a fan of brighter colors, whites, yellows, oranges and heaven forbid Kawa team Green with black as a secondary. Then again a 2-tone gloss/flat black combo w/whiteoutlines anddecals wouldn't be bad either. Good thing I'm a long way from paint, I need time to think it through. Here's how it lookedin the beginning, and a better picture of it minus the front fender and rear pegs.
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This is what the inside of the oil pan looked like when I got it clean and dry.
And this is the outside. Do you see that big black dot on the upper repair? That's the void that was leaking.
Well I thought maybe I would try to fix the oil pan myself. So, since I don't have a welder, how do I go about it? After looking around the building, I thought, "Hmmm, maybe I can solder it. I solder aluminum radiators all the time. What the hell I'll try it." Well that was a joke. For fear of melting through or warping the pan, I couldn't put enough heat to it to melt my solder. Ok, I'll say it. I was scared to f*ck it up. Well I tried it a few times and decided to try something else. Time to break out the grinder!! Anyway, I grind away the lumps and bumps and dug out all of the low places so that I had good clean material to work with.Here's the finished product.
Yes, that's JB Weld, sort of. It's the JB Stick weld, a two part putty epoxy. The grinder did a great job of roughing up the area for a good bond and the putty is easier to work with than the liquid type. I mashed it down into the voids that were left after the grinding and smoothed it down. While it was hardening, I pulled the tank to check on the air filter and to see how clean the carbs were. The tank comes off and the airbox is full of holes.
I pulled the box top and the filter is clean, but not a K&N like I thought when I saw the red through the holes in the box. Oh well, better luck next time. The carbs were good and clean as well. It's nice to know that the major problems seem to be nonexistent. "knock on wood" After 30-45min. I put the oil pan back on, filled it with oil, bolted up the exhaust and hit the switch. It fired up and ran, no leaks. An hour later still no leaks, so I ran the bike for a few minuets and shut it down, let it cool completely and then did it again 2 more times in hopes that the heat cycling would help to show any leaks thatdidn't show upwith it cold. Only time will tell if this is a permanent fix, if not there's always the welder, and at the worst, I can buy a new oil pan for $105 and some change.
Oh and I almost forgot. I took the rear pegs, signalsand brackets off as well and sanded and painted the exhaust to make it look a little better. I hope to eventually have it ceramic coated white to match the rims. Well that's all for now I guess. More to come........
And this is the outside. Do you see that big black dot on the upper repair? That's the void that was leaking.
Well I thought maybe I would try to fix the oil pan myself. So, since I don't have a welder, how do I go about it? After looking around the building, I thought, "Hmmm, maybe I can solder it. I solder aluminum radiators all the time. What the hell I'll try it." Well that was a joke. For fear of melting through or warping the pan, I couldn't put enough heat to it to melt my solder. Ok, I'll say it. I was scared to f*ck it up. Well I tried it a few times and decided to try something else. Time to break out the grinder!! Anyway, I grind away the lumps and bumps and dug out all of the low places so that I had good clean material to work with.Here's the finished product.
Yes, that's JB Weld, sort of. It's the JB Stick weld, a two part putty epoxy. The grinder did a great job of roughing up the area for a good bond and the putty is easier to work with than the liquid type. I mashed it down into the voids that were left after the grinding and smoothed it down. While it was hardening, I pulled the tank to check on the air filter and to see how clean the carbs were. The tank comes off and the airbox is full of holes.
I pulled the box top and the filter is clean, but not a K&N like I thought when I saw the red through the holes in the box. Oh well, better luck next time. The carbs were good and clean as well. It's nice to know that the major problems seem to be nonexistent. "knock on wood" After 30-45min. I put the oil pan back on, filled it with oil, bolted up the exhaust and hit the switch. It fired up and ran, no leaks. An hour later still no leaks, so I ran the bike for a few minuets and shut it down, let it cool completely and then did it again 2 more times in hopes that the heat cycling would help to show any leaks thatdidn't show upwith it cold. Only time will tell if this is a permanent fix, if not there's always the welder, and at the worst, I can buy a new oil pan for $105 and some change.
Oh and I almost forgot. I took the rear pegs, signalsand brackets off as well and sanded and painted the exhaust to make it look a little better. I hope to eventually have it ceramic coated white to match the rims. Well that's all for now I guess. More to come........
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RE: 2bikes' project thread
Well today the bike was running like crap. I took it up the road and back and it barely would run. I got it back to the house and pulled the plastics off and, lo and behold, the freakin carbs were about to fall off! The #1 carb was the only one still in the intake boots. 2,3,and 4 were completely out, it's amazing the thing would even crank. Well, it's fixed now so it's on to something else! Ye ha......
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Well I finally got the fork seals replaced (thanks to my CBRForum approvedseal driver 
) and I have started on the plastics. (repairing and prepping for paint) Yea I know, I'm lazy and didn't take the camera into the building with me for fear of covering it indust and oil. The fork seals were really easy to replace but I do need a better way of measuring out the oil that goes back in. That was a pain in the *** trying to get it right with a tape measure and a 2 fl.oz. 2-stroke oil syringe.
) and I have started on the plastics. (repairing and prepping for paint) Yea I know, I'm lazy and didn't take the camera into the building with me for fear of covering it indust and oil. The fork seals were really easy to replace but I do need a better way of measuring out the oil that goes back in. That was a pain in the *** trying to get it right with a tape measure and a 2 fl.oz. 2-stroke oil syringe.
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Yea the welds on the oil pan were ****-for-sure. I don't know who did it but they sure as hell ain't no welder.
I assume the airbox is full of holes to let the carbs breathe better. I have seen thatdoneto a few bikes in the past. (I didn't do this one though) The reasoning behind it is that it lets more air to the carbs to improve performance.Without a rejet to match it however, it leans out the mix and causes theengine to run hotter.A lean running engine is way worse than one that runs rich.
More air + More fuel = More Horsepower
I assume the airbox is full of holes to let the carbs breathe better. I have seen thatdoneto a few bikes in the past. (I didn't do this one though) The reasoning behind it is that it lets more air to the carbs to improve performance.Without a rejet to match it however, it leans out the mix and causes theengine to run hotter.A lean running engine is way worse than one that runs rich.
More air + More fuel = More Horsepower
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