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Alright so some of you may have noticed my introduction post and this is basically a continuation/separation of that. I bought an 89 Katana 600 with 21,000 miles on the clock for 450 bucks. It ran like crap, didn't look too great, and was basically just sitting there doing nothing for years. So, my build process.
Here is what the bike looked like.
Here you can see the stay bracket misalignment
[Analysis-Cosmetic]
The bike wasn't in great condition, rust on the chain guard, chain, and some other various locations and screws. The fairings had two cracks/chips and the frame was a little scratched up. The frame seemed to be in alignment, however the upper fairing stay bracket (the thing that holds your instrument cluster, headlight, etc.) was bent out of shape causing the front end of the bike, along with the fairings, to look weird. Other than that there wasn't really much to complain about...just rust, scratches in the fairings, a couple chips/cracks in the fairings, and a tear in the seat.
Extra crap I forgot about
Forks are in great shape. Front headlight is cracked. Paint on gas tank under seat is peeling. Front fender scratched up. Tach doesn't work. Gas tank cap is cracked open because the original owner lost all the keys and replaced the ignition but not the cap and then decided it would be a good idea to just crack the lock.
[Analysis-Mechanical]
The battery was deader than dead so I bought a new battery and installed it. Couldn't find the appropriate battery so I found one that fit and used it. Didn't really want to start but I finally got it running with some careful manipulation of the throttle/choke. It wouldn't idle without choke for long and was running very difficultly unless I opened the throttle. The rpms would dance up and down at idle. I rode the bike to ensure the transmission was in good order and it was smooth as silk. After adjusting the clutch a little the bike rode amazingly...and had quite a bit of power. The engine bogs down when you first get on the throttle as if it is being flooded but then spikes up with plenty of power. It backfires ones or twice on the way down but that's more of the vance & hines exhaust making cool noises than anything wrong.
Extra crap I forgot about
Brakes are amazing, rear tire is crap (learned the hard way...but fairings weren't on the bike so the bike is fine.
[Work Log]
-Thursday 5/21 to Friday 5/22
I removed the carbs and cleaned them biotches out. Pilot jets were clogged but finished that up and put everything back together. When I started the bike up the throttle cable had stuck on something so the engine scared the **** out of me with a rev at startup. Bike now idles properly but is still weak and dies with no choke after 10-20 seconds.
This night I finally got the idea to check the exhaust manifold...I found out that cylinder number 2 is not firing. Hoping it's the spark plugs or fouled plugs. Pretty sure it is not a major problem as the exhaust smells fine (a little rich) and there are no strange noises coming from the engine.
-Monday 5/25-
Raining hard, can't work on the bike.
-Tuesday 5/26 to Wednesday 5/27-
So on Tuesday I got a proper 18mm socket (still not a spark plug socket, but long enough to reach) and swapped out the spark plugs. Fired up the motor and now cylinders 2 AND 4 were not firing...perhaps they were not firing Sunday either and I just didn't realize it. Started messing with things and heard a pop when the throttle was above a certain point. Kept the throttle there and went back to check the manifold and tada...warm pipes. Really happy at this point as the other cylinders are now firing. I verified this by spraying a tiny bit of starter fluid in carbs 2 and 4 one at a time. The rpms raised both times so I'm pretty sure it's simply the carbs that simply need synchronized. Very slight though of spark plug wires being bad and not providing enough juice.
Anyway, decided to take off all of the plastics and take them into the workshop to paint them. I've never done any major paint work and I'm just using spray paint but I've heard you can get some pretty good results. These are junk fairings (beyond repairing) but I figure I can make them look nice till I get new ones (no money atm...just quit my job). I decided on a simply black/red color scheme. My basic painting procedure:
--Sand the f out of the fairing
--First primer coat
--Wet sand to smooth out the coat
--Second primer coat
--Wet sand to smooth out the coat
--First & Second color coat
--Wet sand to smooth it out
--Touch-up on any areas that need it
--Wait overnight than clearcoat
I don't really care if the stickers aren't all the way off...if they don't come off with 160 grit they won't come off easily enough for me to care so I'm just painting over them. On the rear fairings I'm making the silver/white part red and the rest black so that needs some masking. So, pictures of the paintwork...
Nifty attachment to make spray painting a lot easier. Was only five bucks, figured why not.
Sandpaper
Left Fairing
Rear Fairings - They look orange because my cell phone camera took these...but they are bright red. Also, the half without the holes will be black tomorrow.
Right Fairing
So that's where I am now.
-Duo Maxwell
Here is what the bike looked like.
Here you can see the stay bracket misalignment
[Analysis-Cosmetic]
The bike wasn't in great condition, rust on the chain guard, chain, and some other various locations and screws. The fairings had two cracks/chips and the frame was a little scratched up. The frame seemed to be in alignment, however the upper fairing stay bracket (the thing that holds your instrument cluster, headlight, etc.) was bent out of shape causing the front end of the bike, along with the fairings, to look weird. Other than that there wasn't really much to complain about...just rust, scratches in the fairings, a couple chips/cracks in the fairings, and a tear in the seat.
Extra crap I forgot about
Forks are in great shape. Front headlight is cracked. Paint on gas tank under seat is peeling. Front fender scratched up. Tach doesn't work. Gas tank cap is cracked open because the original owner lost all the keys and replaced the ignition but not the cap and then decided it would be a good idea to just crack the lock.
[Analysis-Mechanical]
The battery was deader than dead so I bought a new battery and installed it. Couldn't find the appropriate battery so I found one that fit and used it. Didn't really want to start but I finally got it running with some careful manipulation of the throttle/choke. It wouldn't idle without choke for long and was running very difficultly unless I opened the throttle. The rpms would dance up and down at idle. I rode the bike to ensure the transmission was in good order and it was smooth as silk. After adjusting the clutch a little the bike rode amazingly...and had quite a bit of power. The engine bogs down when you first get on the throttle as if it is being flooded but then spikes up with plenty of power. It backfires ones or twice on the way down but that's more of the vance & hines exhaust making cool noises than anything wrong.
Extra crap I forgot about
Brakes are amazing, rear tire is crap (learned the hard way...but fairings weren't on the bike so the bike is fine.
[Work Log]
-Thursday 5/21 to Friday 5/22
I removed the carbs and cleaned them biotches out. Pilot jets were clogged but finished that up and put everything back together. When I started the bike up the throttle cable had stuck on something so the engine scared the **** out of me with a rev at startup. Bike now idles properly but is still weak and dies with no choke after 10-20 seconds.
This night I finally got the idea to check the exhaust manifold...I found out that cylinder number 2 is not firing. Hoping it's the spark plugs or fouled plugs. Pretty sure it is not a major problem as the exhaust smells fine (a little rich) and there are no strange noises coming from the engine.
-Monday 5/25-
Raining hard, can't work on the bike.
-Tuesday 5/26 to Wednesday 5/27-
So on Tuesday I got a proper 18mm socket (still not a spark plug socket, but long enough to reach) and swapped out the spark plugs. Fired up the motor and now cylinders 2 AND 4 were not firing...perhaps they were not firing Sunday either and I just didn't realize it. Started messing with things and heard a pop when the throttle was above a certain point. Kept the throttle there and went back to check the manifold and tada...warm pipes. Really happy at this point as the other cylinders are now firing. I verified this by spraying a tiny bit of starter fluid in carbs 2 and 4 one at a time. The rpms raised both times so I'm pretty sure it's simply the carbs that simply need synchronized. Very slight though of spark plug wires being bad and not providing enough juice.
Anyway, decided to take off all of the plastics and take them into the workshop to paint them. I've never done any major paint work and I'm just using spray paint but I've heard you can get some pretty good results. These are junk fairings (beyond repairing) but I figure I can make them look nice till I get new ones (no money atm...just quit my job). I decided on a simply black/red color scheme. My basic painting procedure:
--Sand the f out of the fairing
--First primer coat
--Wet sand to smooth out the coat
--Second primer coat
--Wet sand to smooth out the coat
--First & Second color coat
--Wet sand to smooth it out
--Touch-up on any areas that need it
--Wait overnight than clearcoat
I don't really care if the stickers aren't all the way off...if they don't come off with 160 grit they won't come off easily enough for me to care so I'm just painting over them. On the rear fairings I'm making the silver/white part red and the rest black so that needs some masking. So, pictures of the paintwork...
Nifty attachment to make spray painting a lot easier. Was only five bucks, figured why not.
Sandpaper
Left Fairing
Rear Fairings - They look orange because my cell phone camera took these...but they are bright red. Also, the half without the holes will be black tomorrow.
Right Fairing
So that's where I am now.
-Duo Maxwell
.....
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