Engine removal

Finally got the engine removed today, although the task was made a little harder by the cylinders not wanting to play the game. Before the block was lugged out of frame, I removed the cylinders, and the pistons, for making the weight a little more manageable. Not sure if I'll be re-using the pistons, that can wait for a little while until I sort out the bottom end stuff.
Haven't split the crank-case yet, will probably do that next weekend, or during the week if I manage to wake up during the day before work.
It's a good thing I got my hands on some plastic small containers for bolts and nuts, otherwise there would be stuff everywhere, which makes the reassembly a pain.
Also took off the front calipers, rear brake cylinder, the oil cooler and the front indicators. Everything seems to be in good condition so far, apart from plating and paintwork containing more rust than coating. It'll all clean up alright though.
If I work at it, the swingarm and front forks should be off the frame next weekend, so it'll be ready to cart back to Inverell for sandblasting and painting, along with the rest of the things that will need it.
See you next update.

Cheers,
-Hobbsy

Small hiatus

Well, after a week of having not posted anything, the fact that I can get lazy has shown. But I won't use the fact I've been sleeping during the day and working nightshifts as an excuse. Nope, not me. But anyway, a long weekend is a good opportunity, I figure.
Did a bit of stuff during the week, which mainly consisted of making a makeshift centre stand, since mine is about as helpful as a black snake at a barbecue. See photo. Actually works quite well, as long as you don't lean on the bike too much.
Started the removal of the engine from the frame today, got as far as the cylinder head being off, will finish up tomorrow. Everything as far as top end wise seems to be in pretty good nick, no worn down camshafts or metal flying around. Piston crowns and chambers are a little carbonised, but what 27 year old engine doesn't have a bit of character?
Will have to look into getting the head cleaned up, sort that out after disassembly is finished. Posted a few photos too.
See you next update. (Should be tomorrow)

Cheers.
-Hobbsy

Surface Finishing

Thought I'd get a bit of the painting of little stuff started today, so I started by dismantling the instrument cluster, including the instrument covers. Sanded those down, and got rid of the rust from them, and painted the metal bits with black gloss paint. Came up pretty good actually.

On an unrelated note, I remembered how expensive motorbike batteries are today. $145 for a battery to go into my Yamaha FJ1200, after the one in it decided to collapse. Expensive...

I found that the speedo on the instrument cluster has the odometer reset knob broken off. I have both pieces, but I'm not sure how well a good glue is going to hold it. Don't really want to dismantle the speedo to get the knob out completely, I think it'll be more trouble than it's worth. I'll see how it goes.
A little weekend work done today. I'll have to make a habit of it.
See you next update.

Cheers.
-Hobbsy

Electrical removal

Just a quick one today (believe me, there'll be a lot of quick ones during this), pulled out the wiring loom and electricals from the frame, only electrical thing left is the front indicators. Also pulled the rear guard, exhausts and centre stand (before it decided to fall off itself).
Told ya it'd be quick. See you next update.

Cheers,
-Hobbsy

Blood, sweat and tears

Damn, it's been hot today.

I got around to removing a fair amount of components from the bike. Since one of the first orders of business here is to get the frame fixed up and re-painted, everything else has to come off. Makes sense, really.
You might notice I said the frame needs 'fixing up'. Well, this is because the metal where the centre stand welds to the frame has ripped away, which explains why the centre stand doesnt really work the way it should. I'm pretty sure a good welding up will fix the problem. I'll cross that bridge when I get to it. I've put a photo of the nice crack/gaping hole below.

I think I found the most roundabout way of removing the battery from a bike, too. Since the bike came with no keys, the left side-cover which the battery is supposed to slide out from is kind of locked in place. The screws to take the lock from the frame were sitting under the battery holder. So, in order to get the battery holder off, the battery had to come out. Of course, the right hand side has a bunch of other stuff in the way, so I ended up having to remove the carburettors and the air-box in order to get the battery to come away. Admittedly, all this stuff had to come off anyway, but it would have been nice to take it off later on. I also managed to jam a nice sharp bracket into the start of my thumb-nail while getting to the battery, so the blood and swearing were a good addition to the day.

Still havent found any broken pieces either (except for the whole centre stand thing), which is a plus. The more bits I can keep and use now, the less time and money I'm gonna have to spend later trying to track down things which were busted.
Must find a locksmith this week, try and get some keys made up for this thing. Might just make life easier.

Back to work this week, progress may be a little slow... don't judge me just because I'm a lazy bugger. See you next update.

Cheers,
-Hobbsy

Dismantling starts

A little bit of work has been done this afternoon, just around dismantling the instruments, handlebars and headlight assembly. At this stage I can't find a great deal of actual broken things which will need replacing, although I can see a lot of sanding and painting coming up.

One thing I'll need to check out is the tacho, since it's displaying 1000RPM all the time. Probably the hairspring tension inside the instrument itself, but I'm really not too sure at the moment.
Wiring all seems to be in good order, even if a lot of terminals were corroded. But then just about everything on it is rusted. I've never loved my can of WD-40 so much.
Catch you next update.

Cheers.
-Hobbsy

First photos posted

Just a quick update. Pinched some batteries for the camera (housemate is having trouble with the TV at the moment...) and uploaded some shots for you to be amused at. Hopefully in a few months these pictures won't look so depressing.

A few things:
Yes, that is a large hole in the bottom of the exhaust. Yes, that is a fair amount of rust. But where's the fun in a bike without problems?
I've actually had the bike a week or so, I only just brought it back to Brisbane the other day. Pulled the carburettors down in Inverell, which was an experience, should have taken some photos. Nothing moved inside them, they were completely siezed up. Nothing a day of stripping them down and cleaning didn't fix.
On the plus side, when a battery is put in, the bike starts, and has a wonderful idle. Not sure if I'll re-build the engine or not, see how things pan out.
First things first, time to start pulling the bike down so everything can be painted/plated. See you next update.

Cheers,
-Hobbsy

It begins...

Well, I finally took some advice from someone, and decided I'd better actually make a record of the project I decided to take on this time, so everyone can see just how disorganised I can be at times.
This is a blog of the restoration of a 1981 Yamaha XS1100 motorcycle, which I picked up on Ebay for $1700. (Please, after you've seen the photos, don't laugh too hard. It's bad enough thinking how much more I'm gonna have spent by the end of this...)

The idea of this project is to completely dismantle the bike, and rebuild it bringing it back to relatively close to original condition, or as close as my budget will allow me to do.
It's really only going to be worked on during weekends or in my time off, so if this blog isn't updated in a while, it's not that I'm being lazy with the blog (but it could be), I probably just haven't gotten anything done. I'll try to keep this updated as much as I can, even if only just to remind me of what I've gotten done and have to do.

I unloaded the bike a couple of days ago, and it's now sitting in my garage. Unfortunately my camera has flat batteries, so I'll have to post some photos in a little while.
I suppose this first post is more of a formality than anything. See you in the next update.

Cheers.
-Hobbsy