Should I buy it or not...

[magicmonkey]

I found this a while ago:

http://www.dirtygirlmotorracing.com/...race-prep.html

and this on the carbs:

http://www.dirtygirlmotorracing.com/...rburetors.html

Really well written tear down on the bike as a whole and a page focusing on the carbs, good photo's too, though thtey might be useful for you...

[sefer]

the money spent on good tools and getting mechanical experienceis never wasted.
Theres another way of viewing this.
Spend the $1000. Pull the forks out yourself and get the seals/oil replaced by a mechanic. so investment so far $1200

Or just do them yourself for the cost of the seals and oil. Not hard at all. However, the main reason these bikes need new seals is because of stone chips on the fork, which will rip the new seal straight away unless you get the chrome done as well.

[Scotty595]

I dont know if it would be worth it to be honest. You dont know what else could be wrong. Although if you get it for cheaper may be good.

[magicmonkey]

Or just do them yourself for the cost of the seals and oil. Not hard at all. However, the main reason these bikes need new seals is because of stone chips on the fork, which will rip the new seal straight away unless you get the chrome done as well.

The oil was a uniform thickness around both the forks which has made me assume that the seals are perished rather than ripped although I'm less familiar with forks than I am any other part of the bike so I wouldn't be surprised if that's just completely wrong!

[magicmonkey]

I dont know if it would be worth it to be honest. You dont know what else could be wrong. Although if you get it for cheaper may be good.

well, the idea was always to spend some time in the garage as I'd like to learn about bike mechanics so taking up my time isn't really an issue. It's the additional cost that I'm more worried about as I'm far from rich! So long as I can afford to get the thing back on the road and do most of the work myself I'm kiling two bords with one stone, so to speak, it's just a matter of working out what I can afford and what it'll cost.

I'm also starting to think that it might be a good idea to just buy the bike and then part it out if it gets too expensive as I might be able to cover the cost of new tools that way.

[magicmonkey]

After much umming and ahing I decided to just buy the damned thing, I know I'll regret it if it dissapears. Fired thed money over this morning and I'll be taking delivery in a few weeks when I move into a new plave with a garage

[neels]

Good on ya, the best way to learn is by doing it.

Reregistration is easy if you have the old plates and papers, just fill out a form show them a reciept from the previous owner and you're away.

It doesn't sound like there's too much wrong with the bike, if it's just been parked up you might find that with a fuel tank and carb clean it's a runner, especially if it's still turning over OK.

I had a bike that had been sitting for about 10 years. Cleaned everything out and filled it up with fresh gas, smoked a bit when first started but came right after getting hot and cold a couple of times probably rings stuck in their grooves, Checked compression after that and it was all good.

[magicmonkey]

Good on ya, the best way to learn is by doing it.

Reregistration is easy if you have the old plates and papers, just fill out a form show them a reciept from the previous owner and you're away.

It doesn't sound like there's too much wrong with the bike, if it's just been parked up you might find that with a fuel tank and carb clean it's a runner, especially if it's still turning over OK.

I had a bike that had been sitting for about 10 years. Cleaned everything out and filled it up with fresh gas, smoked a bit when first started but came right after getting hot and cold a couple of times probably rings stuck in their grooves, Checked compression after that and it was all good.

yup, I get the feeling that a lot of learning is going to happen!

As for the fixing up, I think I'm going to have to decide how far to go with it before I start. At the moment I'm not sure if I want to just get it roadworthy and passing WOF's or if I want to do a proper rebuild and wind up with a mint bike at the end of it. for getting it roadworthy I'm pretty sure that I just need to clean the carbs and have a mechanic sort out the front forks, there's a whole heap of extra work if I want to get it mint though!