Haha pictures are coming in good time, I just can't find a god damn memory card.
ANYWAY, I have the bike, and it's in amazing nick for a 500 dollar bike... although it's fairly obvious it's spent the last few years in Central Queensland. It's certainly neglected, but all the parts appear to be in a very decent, resurrect-able condition. Having said that, the bits of the motor I've pulled apart so far are full of cobwebs and bulldust and wasps' nests.
I haven't had much time to look at it properly, but here's a brief rundown of everything I can think of off the top of my head.
- The air filter turned out to be a lump of wool... the remnants of the real air filter are dusted over the base of the airbox... and, presumably, the carbs too. :-S
- Naturally the tank is full of stale fuel which is lovely, and I think it's going to need some serious reconditioning, inside and out. The paint, originally silver, is ugly and deteriorated.
- Steering head bearings are fucked.
- Sidestand is non-existant, centrestand works but is pretty well fucked as well. The guy said there was no stand at all... guess that shows how much he knew about it.
- The seat has been cut in two and reupholstered in a brown vinyl which surprisingly doesn't look too bad. In between the two seat sections he's welded an iron bar to the subframe... go figure (eventually I'll grind that off, or buy a new subframe).
- The exhaust equalizer pipe (I suppose that's what it is... pipe linking the two exhausts) turned out to be a rolled up bit of roofing iron fastened with hose clamps.
- The silencers are in very good condition all over... EXCEPT where they join the header pipes, they have rusted through. :-(
- The front wheel's been sprayed over with crappy silver paint.
- Front fork seals are shot.
- Rear shocks are seized I think, but am not sure.
- Batteries gone, of course, but the electrics work pretty well. Three indicators are blown, but oil light, neutral light, headlight all work perfectly.
SO anyway, here's the first problem we've struck. I tried to compression test it, but the starter refuses to kick the motor over. The solenoid engages but the starter motor won't turn. After running a series of diagnostics, we concluded that the starter motor is faulty. Should I start shopping for a new one, or might there be something we're overlooking?) The engine isn't seized (thank Christ) because we were able to turn the pistons by turning the back wheel while it was in gear.
SO yeah, that's pretty much it in a nutshell. When I find a freakin' memory card I'll post a comprehensive series of pictures for your amusement. It really does look very beautiful, even in its current sorry state. Wonderful bike, I love it.
