I picked up my 1992 XJ600 late November 2019. My first bike ever.
Here it is in the picture from the ad.
Then the first night in her new home.
Fast forward to today, Feb 9th.
First off, I needed a battery. Then started it up. Was running, with a backfire out of the throttle side exhaust. Only ran it for a few minutes to hear how it was acting. All 4 headers were hot. No oil leaks to be found.
Then further inspection: The spark plugs looked the same, with even black deposits. Looks like a rich condition according to the manual.
Changed all 4 plugs. Noticed that the boot on number three was odd, witha different connection needing a thread adapter. Tested the boot, and it was reading about 1k, not close to 5k. So I changed the boot. Also to note, is the original plug in three disintegrated when I tried to adjust the gap. The number three header was also running cold before I changed the boot. Currently all 4 headers are running hot to the touch.
I cleaned up all the electrical connections I could find.
Onto the tank. It had a lot of rust in it. So I did the apple cider vinegar method, with only 8 liters. The bottom turned out great, nice looking silver look. When I tilted the tank to do the top half, it turned out nice, but the top half was now looking worse than before.. so I redid the tank using 17 litres to the brim. Turned out perfectly.
There was no fuel filter, so I installed one with new lines.
I cleaned the petcock using apple cider vinegar. The o-rings looked good. It didn't have the filter tubes, but I luckily found two from a different model, at a parts salvage shop. The one I used needed a bit of filing to fit, and I cut the small tabs on the side, then used a bit of gasket sealer.
One might expect the carb bowls to be nasty without running any fuel filtering, especially with rust in the tank, but they didn't look too bad. The JIS screws on the bowls were a bit mangled, so someone cleaned these in the past I figure. Took some vise grips to get a few out. I changed all the bowl screws to socket head bolts. Next time will be a breeze. These are Canadian carbs, and use M5 size bolts for the bowls.
I cleaned the carbs using apple cider vinegar. Worked well I think. I put the jets in a container of Seafoam. Then used guitar strings on them.
The manifold carb boots were cracked. So found news ones on Amazon for around ten bucks, free shipping.
Added new screws to the boots. Standard Phillips.
The bottom boots fit easily. The top boots took a bit of work with a hair dryer. Carbs installed.
The PO had a K&N air filter, so picked up the cleaning kit for it.
I put too much oil on the air filter, as once installed it leaked a bunch from the air box vent tube. Put a tube on that to drain away from the engine.
The PO cut the original mufflers... So I got two from Amazon, super cheap. The issue was trying to find a link pipe without needing to get welding done. So I cut the original down, and found the inside had a 2" connection that I could literally slip the new mufflers on. The angles are a bit wonky, but it works. No leaks that I can see from starting it today.
So, onto starting the bike after the cleanings. It took a bit of turning over to get fuel in the carbs. Started and ran it for a few minutes. The idle settled to 1500rpms. Still had a backfire out of the throttle side exhaust. At least it doesn't sound like a gunshot as it previously did running straight open pipes.
Drained the oil. It took a rag over the oil filter and a universal clamp wrench to loosen it.
Stood the bike upright to drain extra oil. I am using two axle stands. Works alright for now. Back tire up and it is sturdy. The winter camping sleep mat comes in handy during these Alberta days.
New oil in it last night. Started it up just now to get the oil distributed throughout the engine. Filled up with a bit more oil. At first the backfire was totally gone, though after about three minutes of running, there it was again. Also, the idle it close to 2k now, with no choke on.
Still need to adjust the main idle screw I guess. The fuel mixture screws are set at 2 turns out. Will look into getting a temp reader to check the headers and adjust that way.
Letting the bike sit a bit while I figure out what to do next, and see why I am still backfiring.
I know I need to check the valve clearances, but wanted fresh oil in this ASAP.
I notice the oil is already darkened a bit, looking through the window. I imagine there was still about a 1/4 litre of old black oil throughout the engine that has mixed with the fresh oil.
To be continued....
Cheers!