The More I Take Apart, The More I Find to Fix...(Complete Rebuild or No?)

[MotorPsycho]

For a 32-year-old motorcycle, I think my '81 XS400SH is solid. However, having said that, the more I take apart to fix from abuse and neglect, the more I find I need to fix. Now that I have a large amount of parts off the bike and I can see the frame in what used to be hidden areas, I'm finding some rust at several of the joint welds. Not rusted through, but where the paint has been rubbed off for whatever reason, there is surface rust. At first I thought I'd just tape up this and that and spot paint it, but that looks completely like crap because now it has spots on it of nice, new paint, and the rest is, well, 32-years-old. Hence, my dilemma...put it back together and ride the poop out of it as is? Or, take the last few parts off - engine, wheels, wiring harness, forks, and handlebars - and total restoration/customization.

I'm in no huge hurry to ride it, because I still have a lot to do either way, but damn, this is the only bike I have, and I haven't been able to get my knees in the breeze in a long time. I was hoping to be able to ride it after I got it and fixed a few things, but that's just a dream now.

So, piece it back together? Or total rebuild?

(Side note: I have fairly decent wrenching skills, but I'm no master mechanic. I think I can, however, finish taking off the rest of the parts and have the frame repainted and put it back together. The only bad thing is, I have no garage to put it in, and I'd have to get it back together within the next couple months before winter on a somewhat limited budget.)

 

[Specdog]

I would finish or redo the entire frame as it sits by brushing on the paint. just loosen the harness where it contacts the frame. With a brush you can get a thick coat or two and it goes on fast. The best tip I can give is buy a quality brush about the thickness of your frame tubes. I've brushed frames before and it can be done without leaving brush marks.

 

[arfstrom]

I dont know about Virgina, but in MN we have a winter season, If you have a winter season, its coming tooo sooon. Ride the poop out of it, and do fancier time consuming things during the Winter months. Just my opinion

 

[Scorpio1963]

I agree with Arfstrom,if theres nothing from keeping the engine from running and everything works ride it and wait till winter.Here winter can come early as October or late as December.
I also have been seeing that part of the country has been getting alot of rain so just touch up the bad spots and enjoy the nice days to ride when you have them.

 

[Lou Ranger]

If the spots where you discovered rust were hidden before, they will be hidden when you put everything back, so put on some black Rustoleum so you can rest easy that the rust is not advancing.
Then enjoy the riding until Smith's freezes over (last year I rode 75 miles on Dec 19th way up here, so don't be a wuss. )

 

[MotorPsycho]

Well I went ahead and took the plunge. In the course of trying to get the wiring right and removing several things here and there, I figured I might as well go for the gusto. I broke it down nearly completely today. Only thing left to take off is the last few brake parts and center stand and that's all she wrote. I'll be taking it to get it sandblasted sometime soon, hopefully this week.

A quick question: when taking out the engine by myself, I noticed two circular-looking pieces had fallen out from under the engine somewhere. Both about the size of a silver dollar with holes in them, and one with about a two inch long metal tab protruding out. I think they were attached to the motor mounts, but I didn't see where they came exactly. Any ideas? If need be, I'll take a picture of them tomorrow.

By the way, I did find a LOT more rust on other parts that I didn't see before, especially on bolts and nuts. One bolt even broke off because it was so rusty, but it was a minor deal and can be easily replaced.

 

[FarmBoy72]

If you want a reliable ride its always best to tear these old bikes down to the bare bones and go through everything. On my bike changing the fork oil and lubricating the swingarm bushings had been overlooked and it was starting to wear out the parts prematurely. Other things to do while waiting on paint to dry or for sandblasting is to remove the seals from the wheel bearings and re-grease them, it saves getting new bearings down the road and prevents a wheel locking up, but of course if they are rough do replace them. Other things to check/lubricate are speedo & tach cables/clutch cable and the inputs on the gauges to prevent them from locking up, also grease the speedo drive on the front wheel.

All this probably sounds a little nit-picky but you will have peace of mind knowing you won't have any troubles down the road.

 

[MotorPsycho]

If you want a reliable ride its always best to tear these old bikes down to the bare bones and go through everything. On my bike changing the fork oil and lubricating the swingarm bushings had been overlooked and it was starting to wear out the parts prematurely. Other things to do while waiting on paint to dry or for sandblasting is to remove the seals from the wheel bearings and re-grease them, it saves getting new bearings down the road and prevents a wheel locking up, but of course if they are rough do replace them. Other things to check/lubricate are speedo & tach cables/clutch cable and the inputs on the gauges to prevent them from locking up, also grease the speedo drive on the front wheel.

All this probably sounds a little nit-picky but you will have peace of mind knowing you won't have any troubles down the road.

Thanks for the tips. Yeah, I'm definitely gonna do a LOT of cleaning, de-greasing, and re-greasing.

 

[Battlax]

Just sharing your dilema MotorPsycho.
Got my machine as a project destined for a complete rebuild, but stripping it down soon revealed all the hidden faults, such as collapsed swing arm bearings, missing carb jet and snapped inlet mount bolt among numerous other larger issues. Under 30 years of road grease it displayed poor general maintainance among all moving parts, except for being heavily plastered together with liquid gasket.
But it's already proving rewarding by cleaning everything up, and sourcing future parts.

 

[MotorPsycho]

Just sharing your dilema MotorPsycho.
Got my machine as a project destined for a complete rebuild, but stripping it down soon revealed all the hidden faults, such as collapsed swing arm bearings, missing carb jet and snapped inlet mount bolt among numerous other larger issues. Under 30 years of road grease it displayed poor general maintainance among all moving parts, except for being heavily plastered together with liquid gasket.
But it's already proving rewarding by cleaning everything up, and sourcing future parts.

Yeah, I have everything torn apart and will be taking several things to get sandblasted soon for painting. It's pretty funny, too - I have my front porch FULL of parts now, because I don't have a garage or workplace, and the engine is sitting right in front of our front window. Every time I open the blinds, it's RIGHT THERE! LOL! Luckily my wife's a good sport, and we laugh about it. It's just a reminder that I need to get it cleaned up.

Fortunately, most things in this small podunk town are pretty cheap, and I have found several people to do the work needed really cheap. Unfortunately, in this small podunk town, there's not much money, and even "cheap" things can be expensive if you don't have the available funds. Might be a long trip anyways, not because of the time needed, but because of the money needed.

Oh well, I will do most of the work myself anyway, so we'll see how it turns out.

 

[Scorpio1963]

What exactly do you mean by a podunk town,Just curious.
My town has a nic name also I call it Port Moron

 

[MotorPsycho]

What exactly do you mean by a podunk town,Just curious.
My town has a nic name also I call it Port Moron

"Podunk" is a little run-down, economically-depressed black hole of despair and woe...like this town is right now. Former textile and furniture town, and is now the town with the highest unemployment rate in the Commonwealth of Virginia. If it doesn't turn around here in a few of years, me and mine and packing up and heading somewhere different.

 

[Scorpio1963]

IC now that makes alot of sense,kinda seems alot of what this place has gone through over the last 12 years.Now its being taken over by crack and heroin dealers.The economy here is so so now from hitting its bottomed out low of 22% unemployment.