Garage Sale Bike

4. Next, we pulled the air filter; this must have been one of the last things put on the bike before it was garaged. It looked like new.
New air filter cost about $30.

5. Moving onto the carb, we knew that the gas in the tank was very old, so we checked the float bowl and cleaned it out. Also we checked the carb's gaskets, seals, and fuel passages, to see if it needed a rebuild kit.

6. Once the float bowl was off, the carburetor pieces were sent to the solvent tank to soak for a bit. After a few hours they were brushed clean to remove all the gummed up chunks, and washed once more with carb cleaner.

7. Then the float, the needle and the seat were removed and cleaned. Then all the clean parts were reinstalled into the bowl and the float was adjusted.
If needed, a rebuild kit would be about $40, with around one hour of labor costs.

8. The next thing was to drain any and all the old gas from the tank. As we pulled the fuel line from the petcock we found it was clogged, we used some compressed air and blew out the line. After all the old gas (if you can call it that) was gone, the tanks were pulled from the bike and it was given a good washing. Everyone has a way of doing this, but one thing that you can do is let the tanks dry completely by letting them sit in the sun for a day or two. Then add a little gas to the tank, splash it around a bit, and drain that out and let it sit. This will help pull any leftover water from the tank.

9. With further inspection and the carb off the bike, we noticed oil along the rocker boxes and head gasket area. The rocker boxes were removed and the o-rings were replaced. The head gaskets seemed okay at this time; the oil was coming from atop the rocker box.
Cost of O-rings and rocker box base gaskets $45. and about two hours of labor.

10. We also saw exhaust carbon around the head ports, so after pulling the exhaust pipes we cleaned the ports and replaced the exhaust gaskets. It is important to have a good seal, exhaust leaks can make the bike run lean and damage your pistons.

11. Working our way to the driveline, we inspected the primary chain for wear and proper tension. we also checked the clutch plates. Everything looked good so we just had to replace the primary fluid.

12. After pulling the dipstick for the transmission we noticed that the fluid was not the right color. We drained the old fluid and inspected the seal and bearings, it seems that water found it's way into the transmission and contaminated the fluid (was supposed to be a red-ish color, was now pink). This needed to be completely cleaned out.
About one hour labor $85.

13. Next, we inspected the final drive belt; here you want to look for cracks or wear, look to see that there are no missing teeth. Then we checked the pulley as well, sometimes if you find a worn out belt you will find that it's the pulley causing the damage.
Cost of a new belt if needed $180 and about four hours of labor.

14. We moved on to the brakes, starting with the front. Once we pulled the calipers off we inspected the pucks and the seals for leaks along with the line fittings.

15. Then the pads were removed, after inspection we found that the pads were not bad but more then half of the pad was worn and should be replaced. The good thing was that the rotors looked like new.
Cost of new pads$50 a set, and about an hour of labor.

16. The next thing was to check the brake fluid in the master cylinders. It was low, old and lumpy, so we needed to get rid of all of the old fluid. After that we replaced it with all new DOT-5 fluid and bled out all the air from the lines. We did this for both the front and the rear brake lines.
Cost about $15 and an hour of labor.

17. It was easy to see that we needed new tires (they were well beyond their five year life span).
Cost of two new tires Front $175.00, rear $185.00 and about two hours of labor.

18. Lastly, we needed to go over the electrical and the charging system. The battery was dead needed replacing. After swapping out the battery, the blinkers, headlight and taillight, the horn, the starter, the switches, and all things electrical were tested. Fuses were replaced along with a few bulbs, but everything worked fine.
A new battery cost about $140. Cost of bulbs and fuses $10.