Looking into Tracer 900 GT as Sport Touring Bike

[Stew]

31 minutes ago, Wintersdark said:

I hear that!   My last two bike purchases have been brand new bikes, and it's been so nice not having to play the "What bullshit did the previous owner do?" game.  The PO horror stories I've got after 25 years of old, used bikes...  

I recognize I've paid a lot more for my last two bikes than I strictly "needed" to - buying lightly used would have saved me thousands - but... Yeah.  It's nice to just not worry about what surprises are hidden within.

The last used bike I bought - a Yamaha XJ750 - seemed ok.  Lots of wear, but it was an 82 and that was expected and part and parcel to the whole "buying an 80's bike" schtick.  Until I look off the valve cover to check the valves. 

Valve cover bolts where glued in place, not screwed into anything.  This was because the aluminum cam caps (to which the inside bolts thread in) where literally broken.  They'd had someone try to weld on bulk metal, drill new holes, and put helicoils into them... But that really didn't work out.  This was one of the caps:

I mean, really.  

Oooft, someone did a real good job of messing that up.

[MrFritz86]

1 hour ago, Wintersdark said:

I hear that!   My last two bike purchases have been brand new bikes, and it's been so nice not having to play the "What bullshit did the previous owner do?" game.  The PO horror stories I've got after 25 years of old, used bikes...  

I recognize I've paid a lot more for my last two bikes than I strictly "needed" to - buying lightly used would have saved me thousands - but... Yeah.  It's nice to just not worry about what surprises are hidden within.

The last used bike I bought - a Yamaha XJ750 - seemed ok.  Lots of wear, but it was an 82 and that was expected and part and parcel to the whole "buying an 80's bike" schtick.  Until I look off the valve cover to check the valves. 

Valve cover bolts where glued in place, not screwed into anything.  This was because the aluminum cam caps (to which the inside bolts thread in) where literally broken.  They'd had someone try to weld on bulk metal, drill new holes, and put helicoils into them... But that really didn't work out.  This was one of the caps:

I mean, really.  

I really I hope I don’t have to deal with anything else

Today I put 150 miles after I fixed that issue, checked it was still tight, and luckily was fine

Anyway, that mess is really bad, why would you do something like that 😳

Mine turned out great Ahahahahah, next time let me know 🤣

[TTR Ignition]

I still remember the nifty sound my RZ350 made as it spat the left-outboard YPVS segment out the side; the PO had installed them *upside-down*, and riding it around was pounding the halves apart.

Fortunately,  the left side has the drive cable, so it was sitting there dangling as I pulled off to the side of the road ...

[MrFritz86]

33 minutes ago, TTR Ignition said:

I still remember the nifty sound my RZ350 made as it spat the left-outboard YPVS segment out the side; the PO had installed them *upside-down*, and riding it around was pounding the halves apart.

Fortunately,  the left side has the drive cable, so it was sitting there dangling as I pulled off to the side of the road ...

That's an interesting story 😰

Hey, nice to see you on both this and the CB650 forum.

 

[TTR Ignition]

Interesting is one word for it ...

Yeah - I'm everywhere! 😀

[texscottyd]

On 8/24/2020 at 6:31 PM, Wintersdark said:

 

I mean, really.  

Ok, I’m a bit mortified to see that.   But... I’m also maybe a little bit impressed with the improvisational ingenuity.  I patched together enough rolling shitboxes in my day to appreciate the plight of being dead broke but extremely creative.   It may not be an approved repair, but it kept a bike on the road that might otherwise have ended up as salvage.  Gotta respect that; at least a little.    

[Wintersdark]

On 8/27/2020 at 7:25 PM, texscottyd said:

Ok, I’m a bit mortified to see that.   But... I’m also maybe a little bit impressed with the improvisational ingenuity.  I patched together enough rolling shitboxes in my day to appreciate the plight of being dead broke but extremely creative.   It may not be an approved repair, but it kept a bike on the road that might otherwise have ended up as salvage.  Gotta respect that; at least a little.    

My solution was to rip open another head and take it's cam cap.  Yeah, yeah, the caps are machined from a single piece with the heads and are technically not replaceable as theoretically you replace the whole top end but along those lines - it's an old 80's machine you want to get running.  Any replacement is going to be very used anyways.  

Worked out great though, got a good seal on the top end and no issues with the replacement cap.  

I'd have respected the ingenuity of the original repair more if it worked; but threading a helicoil into a mangled blob of badly welded aluminum like that... Nah.  I mean, PO could have kept the bike on the road without that.  The cam cap still functioned as a cam cap just fine, just that the valve cover leaked (surprisingly badly) which of course it continued to do.  

[texscottyd]

1 hour ago, Wintersdark said:

I'd have respected the ingenuity of the original repair more if it worked

100% legit statement.  It has to have actually worked to earn any creativity respect.  

I’ve bought/traded/sold a ton of random project bikes through the Greensheet, Craigslist, Facebook Marketplace, etc.   And let me tell you, I’ve seen some shit that would make your head spin.   Far and away the worst category are the late-80s 600 sport bikes (CBR600 Hurricane, Ninja 600, FZR600).    They’ve almost universally had a very hard life, and the survivors have been cobbled together by kids without the funds or skills to keep them going.

We should start a thread on ‘Incorrect uses for JB Weld and safety wire’