New to the forum with an intro and the start of a 81 Special project-ish

[willem]

Thanks for the story, was happy to read it all man what a great trip, and congrats on the GF, she looks good

You mention there's more on the XJ forum, can you post a link?

 

[mtnbikecrazy55]

Thanks All!!

Glad you guys enjoyed the read, sometimes people like reading, sometimes people do not, but hell when I'm in a writing mood and there's people interested in what i have to say, I'm always willing to share

Willem, here's the link to the thread on XJ Bikes:
http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=42772/postdays=0/postorder=asc/start=0.html

And here's the thread from the D.C trip:
http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=44558.html

They both kinda suck because I'm pretty bad at journaling in the moment(or at all really), as when I find myself on such an adventure, i would rather be making more memories rather than just recording ones already had. I'm going to try improving upon that in the future, but the last two times, i definitely slacked on it.

I'm eventually going to write down the whole cali trip down as a story, there's so many amazing people I met and experiences i had that I surely will be grateful of myself writing them down when I'm old and my 1000 miles in under 24 hour days are over.

Here's a thread that i did put up just a few of the thousands of pictures i have from traveling on my bike in various locations over the U.S, pretty much all pictures and no words, for anyone interested in that as well:
http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=44832.html

Chris

 

[mtnbikecrazy55]

And willem, are you newly on the XJ forum too?

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=44901.html

Otherwise, wild coincidence!

 

[mtnbikecrazy55]

But updates on the bike progress -

So just when I thought life was somewhat settling down, once again my world tooka huge flip upside down.

Last weekend I went down to the lady's folks place to meet her extended family for a thanksgiving type of thing which was nice, but my phone died on sunday. so then sunday night i get back into town about 1am and when i plugged in my phone i found out that one of my close friends died just hours earlier that night. Which just kills me because he was such an incredible person, so so so smart, literally one of the smartest people i knew, a semester away from graduating pre-med/bio chem, was doing cancer research with a huge grant that he helped write, was accepted into med school, following his goal to become a doctor and find a cure for his brothers severe case of lyme disease, and was just one of the most driven people i've ever met. Its just so sad and I miss him so so much. So yeah, that was sunday, i bombed my ex phys exam wednesday, and all my classes are just taking a huge shit this semester. But anyway, sorry for that long negative rant, if i can get my shit together and pass all my classes this semester, i only have 9 credits between me and graduation, and then an internship this summer, so that's pretty cool, but i just havent been able to really get excited or even think about it with all that's been going on, let alone none of it will matter if i don't pass my classes this semester. Its been a rough semester, but hopefully the light at the end of the tunnel will get brighter in the weeks to follow.

So the bike is on hold and will pretty much be until the end of the semester, so later december. Over winter break I will absolutely have some time and next semester my course load should be much more manageable. I'm going to at least try tracking down and ordering everything that I'll need for the bike in the meantime, so that when I do indeed have the time to work on it, It should take all but a long weekend or two in the garage to finish the bike.

Already have a good chunk of the parts that I need, I'll throw up some pictures later just because everyone loves pictures

Keepin on, carryin on, one step at a time

 

[mtnbikecrazy55]

Thanks LR! I didn't make them though. I bought them from a local shop, A Vicious Cycle. They are aftermarket replacements intended for a Kawasaki KLR650. They were inexpensive and fit well, though they are a bit long so the lower pleats bunch up. I am more interested in function than form, and they have done what I wanted them to do - keep the bugs and stones off the forks while hiding shiny metal.

Thanks Dave! I'll keep those bookmarked for the future If i do decide to put on gators, I'm on the fence about it, but figure that If I do want them on, it would make sense to just slip them on when the forks are off for the steering bearing replacement.

 

[Sesty]

sorry about your friend! that sucks sounds like a good guy.

def focus on school, im sure you will pass, that is what finals are for. ive been out a few years now and every loan payment i make i wish i took college more seriously and got a better job. i would slack off pretty much the entire semester and then study like crazy for the final to get my grade up and tell myself next semester ill work harder....i blame xbox

good luck!

 

[Lou Ranger]

Very sorry to hear about your friend - I'm sure we all offer you our condolences.

As to school, any chance you could simply drop your worst course this semester and take an extra next? Might be better for you grade average - not to mention your mental state this semester. Could be important if you need the average for grad school or anything in the future.

When I was in school (ancient history) there was a magic date before which you could withdraw from a course without it showing on your record that you had ever enrolled. Of course you lost your tuition for that one course, however, as long as you made up the course later, it did not affect your transcript.

 

[Spad]

I have to add my condolences for your lose....Tough, but you have made it thru years, so keep your goal in mind. There is light at the end of the tunnel and it will get brighter, and some times dim, but always will come back brighter..We will wait for the pictures with patience...Spad

 

[willem]

My condolences Chris.. it's always the best that leave our lives earlier than they should. I hope you can manage to keep your head up and get the last few credits, but I agree with the guys here that I wouldn't think it's a sin to take some extra time.

Unfortunately I'm not the new guy on the XJ forum. I wouldn't mind another bike though, but I'm having plenty fun with this one as it is But yea kind of a coincidence, although Willem is a common name here in Holland. Hell, even the king is called Willem.

Thanks for posting the links, will read/look at pics as soon as I get a little more time

 

[mtnbikecrazy55]

sorry about your friend! that sucks sounds like a good guy.

def focus on school, im sure you will pass, that is what finals are for. ive been out a few years now and every loan payment i make i wish i took college more seriously and got a better job. i would slack off pretty much the entire semester and then study like crazy for the final to get my grade up and tell myself next semester ill work harder....i blame xbox

good luck!

Yeah, loans are no fun, thats for sure. I've busted tail pretty hard to get through school without taking out any loans, and although sucked at times, It will be so nice to not have those over my head after i graduate. Only two more weeks before finals after this monday, its crazy!

Very sorry to hear about your friend - I'm sure we all offer you our condolences.

As to school, any chance you could simply drop your worst course this semester and take an extra next? Might be better for you grade average - not to mention your mental state this semester. Could be important if you need the average for grad school or anything in the future.

When I was in school (ancient history) there was a magic date before which you could withdraw from a course without it showing on your record that you had ever enrolled. Of course you lost your tuition for that one course, however, as long as you made up the course later, it did not affect your transcript.

Thanks Lou, and yeah there is but it's already past. But the way they do it anyway is that if i were to retake the class, then it replaces the previous grade, or i think that's how it works anyway. If i can pull through and get an A in just two classes (easier ones) and get c's in the other three it shouldn't affect my cumulative gpa by much, I think by .01 if i calculated right, because its only 15 credits averaged into the 90 or 100 or however many i have already. I was pretty concerned, but now am worried a bit less now that i have calculated everything out.

I have to add my condolences for your lose....Tough, but you have made it thru years, so keep your goal in mind. There is light at the end of the tunnel and it will get brighter, and some times dim, but always will come back brighter..We will wait for the pictures with patience...Spad

Thanks Spad, pics should follow

My condolences Chris.. it's always the best that leave our lives earlier than they should. I hope you can manage to keep your head up and get the last few credits, but I agree with the guys here that I wouldn't think it's a sin to take some extra time.

Unfortunately I'm not the new guy on the XJ forum. I wouldn't mind another bike though, but I'm having plenty fun with this one as it is But yea kind of a coincidence, although Willem is a common name here in Holland. Hell, even the king is called Willem.

Thanks for posting the links, will read/look at pics as soon as I get a little more time

Thanks Willem, and coincidence for sure, but then again i had no idea it was such a common name, lol. And no problem, enjoy!

 

[mtnbikecrazy55]

Pictures of parts cause pictures are fun

Some legit Granturismo grips I've been holding on waiting for just the right bike, and now i have one!



D.I.D Standard chain, 530x102


New EBC brake pads and shoes (FA41 pads and 516 shoes)


All Balls tapered steering bearing and seal kit 41-4154


Fram CH6003 Oil Filter


NGK BP7ES plugs and NGK LB05F plug caps


New JT Sprockets - JTR854.37 rear and JTF424.17 front - This was decided after much deliberation about whether to go with the stock 16 in front or bump up to a 17. I decided that my dad isn't one to be concerned about torque and acceleration as much as he's all about cruising at lower rpm's and better fuel economy, so 17 it is.


New Parts unlimited throttle cable.


New parts unlimited clutch cable - I put one on my maxim and have been very pleased with it's quality.


And this clock I've had for a while after winning it in a contest that formotion had on facebook. I way recommend their products, i have one on my maxim and love it, cant say enough about the company.



Heres a pic of the one on my maxim:

Tires are at the shop, now the main things that i still need to pick up are just the battery, mc rebuild kit, caliper rebuild kit, SS line for the front, some exhaust gaskets, and oil.

A guy hit me up with a stock exhaust that actually is on the way back to where my folks live so this weekend when i'm heading back for thanksgiving we'll be meeting up to trade, so that's legit.

Happy thanksgiving everyone!

 

[mtnbikecrazy55]

Hey everybody!!

Been a while! Life got crazy and I had to do what I needed to do to take care of it, car died, took an adventure across the country to buy another, finished up last semester and now on my last, hard to believe that graduation is less than two months away!!!

But my Dad's birthday is April 15th, and now with the weather finallllly coming around, I've been on a mission to finish the bike in time to give it to him on his birthday

So the other day it was finally above 40 and it was a sunny spring day so I opened up the door and spent the day in the garage with my cat Jim



Eager to wrench!


One of the rear shocks was missing the reflector, as well as I wanted to swap over the set from the parts bike as there is only 12k miles on it so they will be at least a bit better than the others until I can put some nice Progressive's on it.

The old:


In progress:




Replacements fitted - snazzy:


Onto the next line of attack - Swap bars, replace steering bearings, replace missing dust seal with one from the parts bike, fix ignition switch hack job, fix gauge lights.







Now this is the coolest thing ever. I pulled the headlight, and on a wire key ring around one of the wires, look what I found........



An original NOS condition key!!! Makes me wish i pulled the headlight before I had the replacement cut! Oh well, never would have thought and I still think it's way cool!

Hack job:


Nice table, haha


Was originally planning on just soldering the wires back together -


But then thought of another idea...




Snagged the unmolested one from the parts bike and hit the contacts with scotchbrite real quick:


And looking proper again!


Off comes the front end to replace the dust seal and to upgrade the steering bearings to tapered rollers. Hardly noticeable notch that I couldn't really even feel until I pulled the forks off and just the triple tree remained.









Triple tree removed -



Old upper race:


Jim fell asleep at this point:


The old:


Lower race removed from the triple tree:


The new:


Ready to go:


My home-brew bearing press:


Coming back together:


Note it has two dust seals now






After that, I swapped tachs as the one originally on the bike had something rattling around inside the unit which I am assuming is a sealed unit. I also swapped the indicator light panel cover with the parts bike one as the writing was still visible unlike the one that came on it. I also replaced the illumination bulbs as they were all burnt out. I missed the pics throughout all of that though, my bad.

But I couldnt resist throwing the seat and tank on though just for a quick sec to see what it looked like with the new bars though


More coming soon!

 

[mtnbikecrazy55]

Yanked the chain off, already have a shiny new DID ready to put on when the time comes:


Time for new rubber! Took some time at work to clean up the wheels and mount up the new tires.



New rear tire, went with the kenda challengers, pretty affordable and people seemed to like them. 100/90-18 front and 120/90-16 rear.


Old:


New (new JT sprocket installed as well):




This is how it sits now, hopefully going to make some more big progress tomorrow!

 

[DARKMIDKNIGHTWARRIOR]

Nice stories and Kitty!

 

[mtnbikecrazy55]

Nice stories and Kitty!

Thanks man!

 

[xschris]

Good work Funny thing about that key

 

[willem]

awesome stuff looking forward to seeing the rest of the process

 

[16VGTIDave]

Cool find with the key. Keep a Swiss Army knife or multi-tool with a Phillips screwdriver in your pocket and you will never have to worry about loosing your key again. Might also be a good place to keep a photocopy of bike ownership and insurance papers in a waterproof baggie.

 

[iamunique127]

I've been wondering where to keep a spare key on the bike. Headlight is a good place. Thanks for the idea.

Looks like you are doing the bike up right.

 

[mtnbikecrazy55]

Thanks for the comments guys!

Question -

There seems to be a decent oil leak coming from under the left side of the bike somewhere. Is there a common seal/gasket/o-ring/ that is a common failure point?

The parts bike leaks oil from the left side as well.

Thanks!