One tube of Solvol Autosol; couple of rattle cans; bit of old sandpaper; half a tin of turtle wax....... ....Job Done (as Ed would say) If you want to see more old bikes restored watch the next episode of Quick Turnarounds for a small profit..... ......'cos I'm a Wheelie Dealer.....Tad--Da!
Tear it down completely to the frame and start again with refreshing the engine and then repaint all the fairings including dipping the fastners.
It will not be a mega buck refurb, as i ain't got the funds, but plenty o elbow grease. Snicked an hour on it just now, after another day of shit sifting back into the sewer, bloody near a rubble sack full of wet wipes and the like removed. Stinking. I removed the front and side fairings, headlight assy, instrument cluster. I have to fit front brake lines everything missing between master cyl and calipers. ( i have purchased a second hand complete set ). No battery with it, plus front tank holder busted so that needs replacing, on the plus side the tank at first glance seems in excellent condition, and in general the frame and cycle parts paintwork are bloody good. Its just the engine that's minging. Anyway got to dash and pick my wife up from her carehome duties, fucking magic innit she is 64 and still working poor bitch. Will post some photos tomorrow folks.
I’ve had two 900ss with about 25 years between ownership both have had rusted tanks, the first one was a ‘93 model which has the dodgy rectifier and snapped head bolts, something of a standard with that age. From what I can gather these problems were solved with later models. After initial problem solving with tank, battery and re-chroming the fork legs I intend to keep it as standard as I can, although saying that I might be in pursuit of a little more horse power with gentle tweaking! Either way they are a joy to ride and real pleasure to own. Good look with project, we look forward to your progress.
My first job would be to get those wheels off to be crack tested if they are 20+ years old Magnesium Dymags. And then get everything white re-painted a sensible colour. Maybe I'm just lazy, but white wheels look like a whole lot of riding time wasted on cleaning to me.
I don't know how old they are , but i have certification paper work on both of them from Dymag but with no dates on them. I will try and contact them and see if they can trace manufacture date.
Dymag are checking my wheels serial nos and are getting back to me . I got the bike up on to stand, and paid attention to the front brakes. I fitted a second hand brake line set Fren (Black) it came complete with a splitter inc a brake switch for which i can't find any wiring other than the the front brake lever switch, which btw has a busted terminal so will have to source one of them. Not sure if they look right. Plus i got one stubborn cross head own brake reservoir. Tried gentle tapping no go at the moment. The tank is in fine fettle apart from a couple of tiny dings from handle bars ? Can anybody confirm the correct battery is it a YB16-B ?
Not seen that splitter on the brake lines before, however there were differences on the earlier models, mines a 93 and my mate has a 92 and there's several differences. Can't confirm battery as I have an Odessey 680 in mine.
the splitter is ok for the year, early 851 had the same/same location also complete with hydraulic stop light switch. Maybe a later master cylinder has been fitted with provision for mechanical switch or maybe provision was there as std but just redundant. There are other features like this certainly on the engines of around that era. Battery as above stated by c.n.f.
The wiring for the front lever switch has tiny spade connectors, i think i will snip them and fit the bigger ones for the splitter switch. Yes the battery numbers are ones to watch the vary in size of battery according to the lettering it seems. YB16-B is wider than YB16-AL, cheers lads.
After much tapping away at the one stubborn cross head on the brake reservoir it broke free, and was able to bleed the system through. The lever is a tad spongy but all the air is out. The inline brake switch on the splitter proved faulty ( thanks Chris) so i will replace the microswitch on the brake lever as it's busted. Cheapest on listed on Fleabay £20, rip off. After a bit of research i located these £7.20 for ten. Can be used for 2 or 3 pin. Waiting for the right battery to turn up .
Portboy, Had the same problem, have a look at post below. Front Brake Microswitch Must be 6 or 7 years in to my reno, but I think I have turned a corner - casings cleaned and we are starting to put back together rather than taking apart. Cheers Gaz
