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So, I've posted a couple of other places on here, but thought it would be good to have a centralized location to put my ramblings and lame questions. There will be a lot of them, as this is the first bike I've worked on.
Here is my CJ360T. It had been tuned up in '08, but not really ridden since. It was running, but running rough. I picked it up for a couple reasons. First, I love vintage bikes. Second, I wanted something cheap that I could use to learn how to work on them. Third, the price tag was acceptable to my wife.
Known when I got the bike:
Compression is good
Turn signals don't work
Runs, but runs rough at idle and worse in midrange and above
Doesn't smoke.
No obvious leaks
Oil "looked" clean
I have:
-Changed the oil (exhaust gaskets on order to clean the filter, but haven't done that yet)
-Replaced the fuel in the tank
-Replaced the in-line fuel filter
-Replaced the air filters
-Replaced the battery
-Replaced the plugs
-Rebuilt the carbs, replaced internal parts as needed.
-Synced and adjusted carbs as best I could without a carb sync tool
-Checked the cam chain for tension
-Adjusted the valves
-Replaced the points
-Adjusted the timing
-Adjusted the clutch cable
-Removed the engine guard and luggage rack
-Steel wooled the crap out of the exhaust collector for added shinyness
-Rewired the turn signals
-Replaced the flasher relay
On order:
-Motion Pro tappet clearance tool
-Clutch cable (Also Motion Pro)
-NOS Exhaust gaskets
-NOS Gas tank mounting rubber (just in case)
-NOS Fork seals
-NOS tool kit and bag
-NOS grips and levers
-European superbike handlebars
Things I've learned so far:
-NOS parts are expensive
-CMS rules, but see above NOS statement
-I'm going to spend as much on tools as parts
-The motion pro tool for checking valve clearance on these things is a must
-Swapping out the handlebars is going to suck
-There is a slight tweak in the forks/tree somewhere. The bars are ever so slightly turned right when going straight. It annoys me, but doesn't seem to effect the handling of the bike. I found a couple of scrapes on the exhaust collector when cleaning it, so I think it may have had a low speed lowside or something. No other evidence of crash. I'm wondering if anyone here has ever tried upgrading the front forks/brakes on something like this.
Current condition:
Running and riding. Acceleration is great. Engine is a bit clicky/noisy, but I feel confident that's due to the feeler gauge I used when I did the valves. Turn signals are working again. The clutch acts a bit strange. I can adjust it, and it will work great immediately, but slowly it gets worse. Eventually, the clutch is engaging right up until your hand comes off the lever. I feel like it's the cable.
I'm kind of up in the air on what I want to do with the bike. I know that immediately, I just want to get things dialed in so I can ride it comfortably for the remainder of the season. To that end, I think I'm fairly close.
This winter, though, I'm going back and forth. Part of me says that I should keep it more or less stock, because the CJs are hard to find and it's in pretty good shape. The other part of me says I should cafe it out because I love cafe bikes. I like the idea of having a longer gas tank with more capacity, but if I do that I've got to go the full cafe route. If I go the cafe route, then it loses some of what makes it a CJ. Either way, I'd like to take it down to the frame and restore it in some fashion.
This site has been tremendously helpful so far, and I'm thankful to everyone for their help. I'll be posting more soon.
Here is my CJ360T. It had been tuned up in '08, but not really ridden since. It was running, but running rough. I picked it up for a couple reasons. First, I love vintage bikes. Second, I wanted something cheap that I could use to learn how to work on them. Third, the price tag was acceptable to my wife.
Known when I got the bike:
Compression is good
Turn signals don't work
Runs, but runs rough at idle and worse in midrange and above
Doesn't smoke.
No obvious leaks
Oil "looked" clean
I have:
-Changed the oil (exhaust gaskets on order to clean the filter, but haven't done that yet)
-Replaced the fuel in the tank
-Replaced the in-line fuel filter
-Replaced the air filters
-Replaced the battery
-Replaced the plugs
-Rebuilt the carbs, replaced internal parts as needed.
-Synced and adjusted carbs as best I could without a carb sync tool
-Checked the cam chain for tension
-Adjusted the valves
-Replaced the points
-Adjusted the timing
-Adjusted the clutch cable
-Removed the engine guard and luggage rack
-Steel wooled the crap out of the exhaust collector for added shinyness
-Rewired the turn signals
-Replaced the flasher relay
On order:
-Motion Pro tappet clearance tool
-Clutch cable (Also Motion Pro)
-NOS Exhaust gaskets
-NOS Gas tank mounting rubber (just in case)
-NOS Fork seals
-NOS tool kit and bag
-NOS grips and levers
-European superbike handlebars
Things I've learned so far:
-NOS parts are expensive
-CMS rules, but see above NOS statement
-I'm going to spend as much on tools as parts
-The motion pro tool for checking valve clearance on these things is a must
-Swapping out the handlebars is going to suck
-There is a slight tweak in the forks/tree somewhere. The bars are ever so slightly turned right when going straight. It annoys me, but doesn't seem to effect the handling of the bike. I found a couple of scrapes on the exhaust collector when cleaning it, so I think it may have had a low speed lowside or something. No other evidence of crash. I'm wondering if anyone here has ever tried upgrading the front forks/brakes on something like this.
Current condition:
Running and riding. Acceleration is great. Engine is a bit clicky/noisy, but I feel confident that's due to the feeler gauge I used when I did the valves. Turn signals are working again. The clutch acts a bit strange. I can adjust it, and it will work great immediately, but slowly it gets worse. Eventually, the clutch is engaging right up until your hand comes off the lever. I feel like it's the cable.
I'm kind of up in the air on what I want to do with the bike. I know that immediately, I just want to get things dialed in so I can ride it comfortably for the remainder of the season. To that end, I think I'm fairly close.
This winter, though, I'm going back and forth. Part of me says that I should keep it more or less stock, because the CJs are hard to find and it's in pretty good shape. The other part of me says I should cafe it out because I love cafe bikes. I like the idea of having a longer gas tank with more capacity, but if I do that I've got to go the full cafe route. If I go the cafe route, then it loses some of what makes it a CJ. Either way, I'd like to take it down to the frame and restore it in some fashion.
This site has been tremendously helpful so far, and I'm thankful to everyone for their help. I'll be posting more soon.
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