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Post by m1kenufc on Apr 25, 2019 21:25:58 GMT
Hi All,
New Member.
A few Years ago I bought a 1995 XJ600 Diversion from a friend of the family. 34,000 miles on the clock and in perfect running order. The fact he had the bright idea of Hand painting it in a copper coloured industrial metal paint and it had the ignition removed and changed to a hidden push button start worked in my favour in terms of price. Visually it was hideous, mechanically it was perfect.....
Before I go on Its important to mention I was a complete novice, I had never restored a bike, I had never taken one apart and had no idea where to start. But, knowing that I am mechanically minded and not a complete idiot I figured the worst that can happen is I loose £100.
After a lot of basic tinkering, the worst and most difficult paint stripping I have ever faced to this day I was speaking to a friend of mine who was starting some café racer projects so I figured I would do the same with mine. Off came the fairing, dials, lights etc. out came the angle grinder and off came the rear end. My learning curve had begun, starting easy with the electrics (headlight and instrument replacements) obstacle cleared, feeling good. I then striped the paint off the tank and purchased a café racer seat unit from Ebay, cut up the original seat and re-covered it for the new unit. At this point, the bike was looking like "progress" and I was feeling pretty pleased with myself. Unfortunately, I could never quite settle on colour scheme and to this day, I have stripped and repainted it no less the 24 times. The bike then spent 2 years or so sitting in my shed feeling a bit sorry for itself. Lest year, I started to feel a bit sorry for it and realised that the reason I had ignored it for the past 2 years is because I need the rear end of the frame welded in place for the new seat and I knew that the engine and frame re-spray I had done was half arsed and I felt like a fraud. So I went in a huff, wondering how the hell I was going to get it welded.
So, Towards the end of the summer last year I re-grouped and decided to completely strip it down, off came the wheels, the forks, the electrics, the engine, you name it. I then began to size and cut new steal tube to rebuild the rear end, borrow my mates MIG welder and tried my hand at welding. *after removing the old seat unit it made the ride height lower and uncomfortable so I had to make the new rear end 2 inches higher.
As far as my welding went, I actually did a pretty good job after a few hours practicing on spare steel. But I only got about 80% finished before the winter came and the welder went back home. This year I have started early, 1 week ago I had the frame into my local garage to check over my welds and finish them off. I got the frame back the same day. I have re-sprayed it, the wheels are on and the rear shock is on. My next step is to re-install the engine, I swear I will finish the build this year.....I will post my progress, I will no doubt encounter some problems along the way which I will share.
Wish me luck.......
Mike
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Post by spike240 on Apr 26, 2019 8:26:20 GMT
Thanks for posting - oh and welcome to the forum btw. Blimey ur right about the different colour schemes the bike has had. I am sure you will get there in the end. Keep posting progress reports please. ATB
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Post by m40man on Apr 26, 2019 17:48:55 GMT
Welcome, Mike. This could be an interesting thread 🙂.
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Post by m1kenufc on May 1, 2019 12:29:10 GMT
Tanks Guys, Heres an update, Engine in Tank and seat in place. Some work needed on the seat to get it secured but it may need to be replaced as its a touch too narrow. Im certainly not on the home stretch but im happy it now resembles a motorbike.
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Post by cam7777 on May 2, 2019 6:59:03 GMT
Good work! I will look forward to seeing your progress
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Post by spike240 on May 3, 2019 5:56:02 GMT
I'm trying to picture that with clip ons, chrome headlight etc.... Don't think I'd like to ride it far - but it will look brilliant! Get back in the shed Mike
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Post by m1kenufc on May 12, 2019 18:09:14 GMT
I don't know how I feel about clipons either to be honest, I have a flat bar too so I will see how it looks and feels with both.
I have spent some time on it this afternoon, putting the starter solenoid and carbs back on the engine. I have started connecting all the breather pipes and made some sort of start with the wiring harness, silly me didn't do a very good job of marking where things go but most if the connector blocks are different which means there is only one place they can really go.
I do have some pics but as it's all just messy wiring and nothing exciting I'll wait the get a bit more of the cosmetic things done.
Once the wiring is done I will replace clutch plates and thrust bearing as they are likely stuck with it not being run for a couple of years.
More updates soon.....
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Post by m1kenufc on May 24, 2019 17:54:51 GMT
Hi All, Ok So some goos progress today, Tank colour scheme finalised and finished, I like it enough to stick with it, plus as mentioned in my first post I have stripped and resprayed it far too many times so I simply don't want to do it again as long as its not hideous wiring is all done with exception of the lights and instruments so im pleased about that. I think my next job will be to complete the front end. I will then look at why I have a sticky throttle, no return on it at all. any advice on this matter will be greatly accepted. going forward I think I need a new rear shock, rear calliper, braided break hoses and a new hose that goes from the air box to the engine as I have noticed a split (this is the hose that comes from the clutch area of the engine into the front of the air box) If anyone has any of these items for sale feel free to let me know. opinions on the current state of the bike are of course welcome i.e. do you like the colour scheme, should I stick with clip-ons or can you picture it with a straight bar instead. Mike
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Post by m1kenufc on May 24, 2019 18:16:19 GMT
Tips for uploading photos please. Having trouble uploading the latest ones!!!
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Post by spike240 on May 26, 2019 7:15:19 GMT
Well done on the work so far. Not an expert - but if the file size of the image is large - say over 2mb - this is probably the culprit. If you have photo editing software, you can use this to reduce the file size. To display images on webpages the file size can be really small- say 80 - 200 kb. Hope this helps.
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Post by Beehill on May 27, 2019 10:27:48 GMT
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