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Welp, now I own five bikes   The story on this bike: I spotted it on craigslist for way cheaper than a sprint usually goes for. I've been looking for a touring bike that'll be good for two-up adventures without succumbing to the world of cruisers and goldwings, so when this popped up I got excited and e-mailed. The seller's story was that this bike was stolen pretty easily because the seller left the keys in the ignition, but locked in his garage. Dickbag thief steals it, rattlecans it black, then gets rid of the fairings and does some poo poo hackjob fender bob on the tail, continues riding the loving thing around for however many months, then gets arrested while riding it. Owner treats the bike like a cheating wife and wants rid of it pretty badly. It runs nicely and came with some extras like bags and crash sliders, but the cosmetics are rough thanks to the retarded thief.    Mirror also got broken at some point, I think the whole thing needs replacing. I'm gonna try hitting the old paint with graffiti remover and see if it'll come off clean and leave the clearcoat. If it polishes out nice, I'll buy red fenders again. If not, I'll go for either black or blue. A factory fender kit is a little north of $400, which is better than I thought. Also needs a real tail tidy and the usual stuff (chain, tires, fluids) attended to before I ride it around much. This also bumps up the urgency to sell the M750 and TS400. There's not enough room in my garage for 5 bikes, so the sprint lives in a buddy's garage for now.
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Feb 11, 2016 06:21
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| # ? May 7, 2024 07:26 |
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The good news: The spray paint was easily removable!  The bad news: The chucklefuck that decided to steal and paint this bike also did some heavyhanded prep work with what appears to be a chunk of cinderblock or 80-grit sand paper.   After the seat cowl I realized the plastics would need a repaint, so I decided to experiment with other paint removal techniques.  On the left is gasoline(on the fuel tank), and on the right is Krud Kutter by gunk. The gas worked faster but was obviously harsher on the clear coat, and the krud cutter was much gentler but required the most elbow grease. The front fairing and front fender still need paint removed, so I'll try paint thinner and straight acetone on those unless there's some better requests.  So now my bike looks like a pair of New Religion jeans! Just need a bedazzler and some twine to stitch into the seat.
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Feb 20, 2016 10:31
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Also, funny enough, this bike checks a lot of firsts for me: -First bike with more than 80 hp (sprint has ~118 hp) -First bike with fuel injection -first faired bike, as well as first touring bike -First bike with more than two cylinders
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Feb 20, 2016 10:50
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Starting to look pretty fresh under that rattlecan. You thinking of keeping it red?
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Feb 20, 2016 10:56
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Yeah, I like the 'tornado red' paint so I'm just gonna restore it to that. It also means I don't have to alter the title, so less work that way as well  The Monster 750 is fully functioning! The electrical short turned out to be caused by the LED tail light, which was some $80 thing. I replaced it with a $25 light, because gently caress spending more than I gotta on this thing. The turn signal switch is a little iffy, but the lights all operate correctly now that the tail light isn't constantly blowing fuses. The engine is pretty nice and feels like it has as much grunt as my 900, but then again I haven't tried winding it out yet. The jetting might be a tad lean, but I'll look at the plugs tomorrow to see.   So, is $2200 an absurd amount to ask for this bike? I'd like to get at least $1800 for it and the belts, brakes, oil etc are all fresh, but the cosmetic ugliness might not allow that. Also, 50,000 miles is high no matter how the bike feels.
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Feb 21, 2016 03:20
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The current market seems to dictate that a sixteen year old bike is worth five grand, so I'll see what 3k will get me for the time being.
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Feb 21, 2016 10:22
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You could get $3k for that, but it all else fails I'd take it for $1800
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Feb 21, 2016 13:34
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I might've been drunk when I thought that was a good idea. Oh well, we'll see if anyone bites.
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Feb 21, 2016 18:41
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Had the bike up for less than 24 hours, and some chick on Bainbridge is gonna come pick it up this week for $2800  I think I put a grand into it and basically got an ohlins shock for 70% off (after including the rebuild cost), so not too bad a flip!
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Feb 22, 2016 07:02
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Slim Pickens posted:Had the bike up for less than 24 hours, and some chick on Bainbridge is gonna come pick it up this week for $2800 Does that include your time? 
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Feb 22, 2016 13:57
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As long as you consider your time worthless, its nothing but profit! I didn't track my hours, but I probably broke even on the whole deal
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Feb 22, 2016 16:48
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Break even doing something like that is very solid. Good bike, good choices.
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Feb 23, 2016 07:41
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The deal for $2800 fell though, I figured that was too good. She saw the bike and got concerned about repainting costs and stuff, then offered 2k. Another dude offered 2k as well(in a suitcase in 1's, huh huh yeah bro!). I'll put it at $2500 and see how it goes. Girlfriend's been out of town for a week, so I'm getting a bit of work done. Sprint: Gave it a new mirror, fender and shifter. I'd prefer a tail tidy, but that'll have to wait until I get rid of the ducati. And yes, that's an airhose fitting on the old shifter.    Took it for a spin and it ran great. So I took my ugly girl out for a date. I had the Low Rider with cheddar.  Discovered a new problem or two as well. Looks like I need fork seals, and the front brakes kind of 'tick' when you apply them. It sounded like a label rubbing the spokes or something. TS400: Put new coils on it, soldered them up and got the bike running again. I checked timing and it looked on, so hopefully it runs a bit better now.   Took it for a grocery run, then on the short ride home I started to hear a whirring sound.  I'll have to pull the cover off again and see what the deal is.
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Mar 6, 2016 19:33
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Also, apparently the body shop on Ft. Lewis will let me bring stuff in for them to paint, you just bring the paint you want them to use. I think this spring I'll primer and sand a bunch of stuff, then bring it in to them. I've got a pretty long list of things I want painted for at least two bikes and a car.
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Mar 6, 2016 23:43
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How do you paint a mid size car for $85 
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Mar 7, 2016 06:21
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Single stage and overspray for days, seems reasonable.
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Mar 7, 2016 06:32
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You have to buy the paint and that's just to cover the tech's work, I think? Services like this are all pretty cheap on Lewis, no idea how high quality the work is, but if it's like the mechanical shop across the parking lot, the same guys have been working there for decades. Edit: getting tires changed out is $5 each for car tires, not sure about bikes, though.
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Mar 7, 2016 19:38
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So, uh, I found out what was making that noise   The screw actually comes through the plate on the other side of the magnet. Am I supposed to solder that in place? Use lock tite? Just tighten it back down and pray it doesn't do it again?
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Mar 13, 2016 23:15
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There's this really weak Loctite meant for metals like brass. It comes in a purple-coded bottle. If you can find some, that should keep it from backing out, while also giving some leeway on "loctiting something that should not be loctited" (if that screw truly shouldn't be loctited).
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Mar 14, 2016 00:36
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It was probably staked at one time.
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Mar 14, 2016 01:00
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None of the other screws looked staked, so I dunno. I'll try purple lock tite though. In good news, finally sold the $700 ducati for $2200. That's only $400 more than what I put into it minus labor, or $800 if you include the shock I swapped out. I'm glad to see it gone, though. 
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Mar 14, 2016 06:05
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Ordered fairings and purple locktite. I'll get that flywheel fixed and hopefully this thing is running flawlessly now that the timing is dialed. The thing that worries me is the Clymer manual says the torque on the flywheel nut is only 7 ft lbs, even though it's 25 ft lbs for all the smaller bikes. Finding a scan of an actual shop manual is pretty tough. Does 7 ft lbs with a lock washer sound right?
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Mar 15, 2016 16:55
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It might be... On the Ninja 250, the engine sprocket is held in with a toothed retaining washer, itself held in place by two little 8 mm bolts torqued to 7 ft-lbs.
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Mar 15, 2016 22:32
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How big is the threading on it? 7 foot pounds is m6 spec-ish.
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Mar 16, 2016 06:39
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I wanna say at least a half inch, the nut itself needs a 22mm socket.
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Mar 16, 2016 14:38
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Assuming steel threads that it is going into, I'd crank that to 25 foot pounds, no question.
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Mar 16, 2016 15:27
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Slim Pickens posted:None of the other screws looked staked, so I dunno. I'll try purple lock tite though. Sounds like he got a pretty great deal, I may have been interested if I had only checked this thread a week sooner  Ever since moving to Seattle I've been looking at Ducatis... like I'm... compelled. ADINSX fucked around with this message at 08:07 on Mar 19, 2016 |
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Mar 19, 2016 08:05
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If my Sprint turns out to be solid, I'll probably sell the Monster 900 I've had for 7 years. That Ohlins look so trick,  Also: Yeah, turned out to be a decent deal for him. He likes to ride, though, apparently that dude was commuting on some dumpy 500cc Honda the entire year, so it's good to see it go to a dude that likes to ride instead of 'living the motorcycle lifestyle'. Slim Pickens fucked around with this message at 18:14 on Mar 19, 2016 |
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Mar 19, 2016 18:10
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Trying to do timing on the ts400 again. When I get the coil plate turned so the timing lines up on the flywheel, it runs lovely and surge-y. I also noticed the timing light didn't seem to line up every time maybe once every five or six flashes. Double checked the angle from tdc, the timing marks might be off a bit? I guess I gotta check more accurately. Got the sprint home, though, so work can begin on that.
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Mar 20, 2016 06:40
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Are the points/condensers old on the ts? Also, does the TDC mark line up correctly?
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Mar 20, 2016 13:38
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It's a pointless electronic ignition, so I guess I gotta check that unit. There's also no TDC mark on the flywheel that I can see(because 2-stroke?), just three marks where 22* BTDC is supposed to be. I had to rotate that coil plate way more than I thought to make timing line up properly, but maybe timing itself isn't the issue. Also, the service manual I have says the pulser coil should read at 75 ohms, but I've tested three of them and they all read around 200 ohms. Then there's poo poo like the clymer manual and some pocket service guide that put the resistance at between 100 and 300 ohms. I decided it wasn't worth loving around with yet. I'll try to get better pictures, all I managed was a blurry video last time.
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Mar 20, 2016 20:25
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Ah, it's the vintage of ts with basically the worlds first cdi system. I have no idea how to troubleshoot those 
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Mar 21, 2016 09:31
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Slim Pickens posted:It's a pointless electronic ignition, so I guess I gotta check that unit. There's also no TDC mark on the flywheel that I can see(because 2-stroke?), just three marks where 22* BTDC is supposed to be. I had to rotate that coil plate way more than I thought to make timing line up properly, but maybe timing itself isn't the issue. Also, the service manual I have says the pulser coil should read at 75 ohms, but I've tested three of them and they all read around 200 ohms. Then there's poo poo like the clymer manual and some pocket service guide that put the resistance at between 100 and 300 ohms. I decided it wasn't worth loving around with yet. Megasquirt.
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Mar 22, 2016 06:56
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Fairings for the Sprint arrived. They come in kit form, so assembly is required. That looks about right.  I also stripped the rest of the rattlecan off. I could probably do an effortpost about the effectiveness of the four different chemicals I used, but to sum it up: Gasoline: worked the quickest, but the clearcoat fogged up quickest. I didn't test it on any clear plastic, just the paint. Acetone: Worked about as good as the gasoline, but it evaporates too quickly. It also removed overspray on the headlight without damaging the plastic, and works great for getting paint off of bolts. I tested it on the taillight, and it seemed to fog the plastic a little bit, so make sure to test it before you use it. Gunk Graffitti Remover: Worked pretty well, though it took a bit of time, elbow grease and multiple coats. The clearcoat wasn't effected at all. Dawn Dish Power Dissolver: Probably my favorite of the four. It goes on like a gel, then you just let it sit for fifteen minutes. I wiped it off with a damp dish towel, and the first application took off probably 90% of the spray paint. It took a couple more applications to remove the more stubborn spots, but I was pretty happy with how effective it was. The parts that weren't roughed up by the thief look as good as new. It's starting to look like a real bike now! The right side is definitely it's good side for now, though.   Also, wear gloves when you play with acetone. 
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Apr 4, 2016 17:26
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drat that looks really good!
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Apr 5, 2016 00:49
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It's good from far, but far from good. Hopefully I can find a good source for matched paint.
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Apr 5, 2016 05:58
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Nice, I don't normally like that red gloss, but it looks pretty nice there with the matched luggage. Good work.
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Apr 24, 2016 23:17
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A summary of the past month or so: Been getting the duc ready do sell and trying to repaint things is a giant pain in the rear end. The sprint got new tires, a set of pr4s and I put around 600 miles on it over memorial day weekend. I guess I'm warming up to it now that the little issues are solved. Still not a fan of the riding position though The sm610 is a pain in the rear end, though. I think I misdiagnosed the coil being faulty and it's actually the ecu. I ran it at a track day all day with the BATT MAX warning on and ignored it, but I've verified power is coming from the alternator but not getting to the coil through the ecu, so pretty sure that fried it. Is there any way to test it? I guess my work will get to the ts400 finally, i haven't had a chance to work on it, but I did finally get a full title for it!
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Jun 5, 2016 02:07
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