In our last piece, we explored the interesting economics of FB Marketplace and left our heroes with sh*t-eating grins, ecstatic about their newly acquired steeds in a 2-for-1 deal. As a recap, picked up two 1989 Yamaha XT600s, with papers and in running condition at pretty great price. Tomorrow is the big trip to the DMV to get plates and transport them up to the Catskills from their temporary stashing place on Long Island so we can legal-ishly ride them on the road.
Once the bikes hit the freshly sealed blacktop in the Long Island suburbia, it was time to dive into them deeper and make a list of essential things, nice-to-haves and far-fetched Dakar replica builds. We picked up a Clymer manual, browsed some parts catalogs and got on with step 1, the essentials:
- Oil and filter change: turned out to be tricky as you have to drain the oil from 3 different places to fully empty the dry sump engine;
- Air filter: this really wasn’t a change given one of the bikes ran a mouse nest as an air filter and the other a half a pair of reebok socks;
- Valve adjustment: quite easy to do, took me longer to get off the TDC mark plug than actually adjusting the valves;
- Spark plugs: was going to be straight forward until of course it happened to be the size of plug I didn’t have a wrench for;
- Brake levers: they were bent and sketchy, grabbed some replacement for both bikes, what I deduced from the all-around lever state was that these bikes like to crash on their right side, will be sure to keep in mind while riding. Left the clutch levers for now, since if it ain’t broke…;
- Brake fluid: had an unopened bottle of RBF700 at home, massive overkill but hey, any means to get back a slight resemblance of negative G’s slowing us down;
- Front brake pads: same went for the front pads, can’t hurt to slap a new set of sintered pads in there, who knows how long the old ones have been there;
- Lube and adjust clutch and throttle cables: I’ve had a set of motion pro cable lubing doodads that came handy;
- Replace seized petcocks: this was a pain… my dumbass filled up both bikes so here I was dropping fuel…;
- Fuel line (with actual clamps): actual lines that were manufactured for gas vs clear surgical tubing and a clamp to actually keep the tube on the petcock and carb barbs were a nice upgrade; and,
- Some missing rubber grommets for the body work: not much to report here, probably the easiest of all jobs and by some miracle I ordered the right number.
As you read through the list, it really doesn’t sound bad. What did make the work a bit of a pain is almost 40 years’ worth miscellaneous bolts and backwoods mechanics to be unwound. Any engineer who insisted on putting flathead and Philips head screws and bolts on a machine that was sold as a rugged go-everywhere low-maintenance power sport equipment should come and extract said fasteners 40 years later. I had to revert back to Hungarian to ensure I can dig deep enough in my curse vocabulary to appropriately address the situation.
Given I couldn’t just “leave it to the next guy” because it’s either going to be me or someone else in CMC core, I did multiple trips and spent a pretty sum at the hardware store on stainless metric internal and external hex head screws and bolts so we don’t go crazy rotating between 8/10/12 mill sockets just to take the seat off.
We made good progress but there are more things that will require some attention once we’re back from our Euro adventure before we dare trying to pass inspection, namely:
- Tubes and tires: One of the bikes have a slow leak (about 2 weeks to flat) but we’re rolling with the cracked old rubber for now, I think Jake actually prefers the sketch factor as he has some dear memories from his youth beating on clapped out dirt bikes with cracked rubber on. After all, the goal here is good times infused with nostalgia, so the tires are here to stay for now;
- Suspension: the front I think just needs air pressure. Yes, this is a sophisticated racing machine, you can adjust the suspension via two valves using air pressure! The rear, to be honest is still covered in mud, I was too excited to tear the bikes apart and did not have the mental fortitude to try and revive my father’s gas-powered power washer so the bikes just got a low-pressure hose-down and degrease;
- Chain and sprockets: they look “dirt bike appropriate” at the moment, we shall submit a funding request at home and see what happens; and,
- Carbs: definitely will require attention, the tricky dual carb setup will need a nice full day and maybe an ultrasonic cleaner, we already have the rebuild kit on hand.
I think if these are completed, the bike will be passable in a NY state inspection and we can start daydreaming about nice-to-haves and far-fetched build ideas. That’s not to say we won’t just ride them as they are and just keep fixing the things we break…
I look forward to report back and maybe pop out for 15 minute this weekend in the Catskills because those 45 minutes may end up being the best 3 hours of riding…
