Fixing rust on my XJ900s Diversion 2002

[Howard900s]

G'day all,

I have just bought my first bike (XJ900s Diversion 2002) over here in Australia and I am wanting to do her up.

Can anyone tell me the best way to get rid/fix the rust that I have on my bike please. Any advice (apart from scrap it would be welcome.

Here are the photos of the main problem areas.


i.imgur.com/zllu2JP.jpg

i.imgur.com/CssDZvb.jpg

i.imgur.com/zpac3x7.jpg

i.imgur.com/HnHWsRx.jpg

i.imgur.com/VXNvOhM.jpg  ,  i.imgur.com/XKeCeDr.jpg  (these ones are the exhaust cans , sorry for the bad pic! this is the best I could get)

And also, Is it ok to have a build up of what seems like grease or oil at the beginning of the shaft drive  
i.imgur.com/cFXBqSU.jpg 

i.imgur.com/MOWjlIr.jpg

Thanks in advance

[m40man]

I'd use a metal polish, like Autoglm, on the forks & exhausts. A light wax coat afterwards will help ward off repetition.

For the painted areas, I think I'd just give all a light rub down & treat with a rust killer to stop further damage. Then repaint if you want to improve appearance. The swing-arm is notorious on these for rusting & a good rub down, primer & respray is my answer. (I'd remove the swing-arm to do this.) But you could repaint with Hammerite smooth silver by brush instead if you wanted too. The finish likely won't be as good - I've always got brush strokes when I've tried it.

[spike240]

Hello again Howard. Its a bit hard to say going off the photos, but it depends what you want at the end of the day. I would say if you want the bike for riding, do as M40man says and try to keep the rust at bay.
If you want the bike to be mint, you will have to start thinking of stripping it down and removing things to paint or treat them, and of course while this is going on you can't ride it. You also have to bear in mind that you probably won't add much to the value by doing the work. Might as well paid more fore a mint one in the first place. (they do exist)
The damp bit around the swing arm pivot area is not normal and if it was mine I would be investigating where the oil has come from. It's a bit hard to tell on the photo. The rear shocker looks like the original and that may have leaked its oil. There is no oil in the swing arm tube (if that makes sense).
In summary - I keep mine in good mechanical condition, but a bit lacking cosmetically. Riding it is one of the best ways of looking after it.
Keep in touch & ATB

[Howard900s]

Thank you both for the great information.

m40man sorry for my ignorance (This is completely new to me if you haven't guessed already but when you say "give it a light rub down" do you mean with a fine scourer or with sandpaper? and if you mean sandpaper what grit would you recommend? And also with the wax. would I apply that to the exhaust also?

Hello again Spike. Thank you for helping me again. I had a look at the rear shocker and it didn't look as if it had leaked (although I could be wrong) Would you please be able to have a look at these pictures to see if it shed some light on the damp issue.

The gunk (damp bit) is below the arrow in this picture if it helps at all. (is the rubber bit called a boot?)
i.imgur.com/dpSdYVp.jpg

Just a pic from further away
i.imgur.com/8qv4CDJ.jpg

This one is from below (the cable you can see is the kickstand cable if that helps)
i.imgur.com/ZT1uct8.jpg

Any more info you could give me would be very much appreciated and thank you both again for the info