[AUS]: '82 XZ550 Rebuild Thread.

[chrisw]

Hi everyone, howdy from the scenic ocean roads of aussie! Thought I would sign up and share my long time project with a long time love, my old XZ550. Very uncommon bikes here, so im glad theres so many entheusiasts around the globe. This is my baby, owned her 3 years ago then sold her due to lack of space and a breakup, however 3 years later I tracked her down again to be restored as she deserves!

bit of a muddle bike I think, 82 with some 83 parts, though the most important thing is that the engine and frame numbers match, 0000629! nice staintune pipes, everything in need of a GOOD freshen up. 42 000km on the clock, ran strong when I had her a while ago.

ideas are to strip the bike, freshen the engine up a little bit, lots of polished metal, painted everywhere and in great condition hopefully, still unsure on the paint scheme but im thinking retro with a metallic white with red accents.

The only major issue I need to sort out, is there is a wiring issue, it keeps blowing the fuse to the indicators.





and my daily rider!

[chrisw]

just a heads up on the paintscheme:

frame - fresh gloss black
ancillary parts like the shaft, forks, etc - highly metallic gunmetal
engine, forks etc - sent away for cleaning and chroming or polishing :D
wheels: gunmetal with a polished lip
engine: to be stripped and inspected, new gaskets seals and any repairs needed (more than likely just get a new primary chain and timing kit for safety)
if need be, ill rebuild it with 20 thou pistons at most

carbies: rebuilt and jetted (by a shop!) to try to get it running smooth)

exhaust: need a shop to replace the headers that were damaged when someone decided to remove the exhaust collet with force

also in the mix:
- new headstem bearing and wheel bearings
- new screen
- rebuild the forks
- rebuild the brakes and replace the discs / pads / lines
- clutch!
- rebuild the starter since im pulling the motor
- recover the seat
- enjoy riding it!

[funkamongus]

nice Chris!!! Lots o pics!!

[The Prophet of Doom]

Hi Chris & welcome
Just so you know, the XZs that were sold in NZ and Australia were the same spec as those sold in europe, so what the yanks call 82 & 83 versions doesn't apply.  The gearing is different, and all had the short handlebar risers and progressive fork springs. but no air caps.  They have the same carb as the US 82, but with the vacuum flapper installed, no fuel gauge.  Check out the different model streams on Wikipedia which I think is fairly accurate.

I know of at least 10 550s and a bunch of 400s in New Zealand, so you are not entirely on your own in Oceania, looks like you are in need of some side covers.  Let me know what you need.

White will look great.  Mine is a Spies-Hecker Xirallic White Pearl with House of Kolor Brandy Wine Kandy for the stripes in the XZ550S style (slightly modified).  It loooks FAB.  There's a really good gallery on xz550.de that may give you some painting ideas.  My current favourite is the black one with a red tank top

Bearings are easily obtained, make sure you get the taper steering bearings though
Screens are available from godiva.co.nz
Brakes are ideally done with braided stainless

[chrisw]

Thanks alot :) yeah ive got some taper head stem bearings being watched on ebay at the moment as well as some other nice little bits. and thats good to hear about the year models here. those screens on godiva are a great price, so i will definately be ordering in from there (was quoted 260 for one locally).

Cant wait to start rebuilding it, just gotta get my car project out of the way first (at least mostly done for rego) Ill check out that site as well for paint ideas, id love a white pearl but ive never sprayed it before, i tend to stick with basic acrylics since thats the only experience ive had.

[Walt_M.]

Nice looking bike. I'll bet there are quite a few who will be interested in those staintune pipes. Any chance they are still in production?

[Tiger]

 :) Hi Chris, welcome to the ROV mate...its always good to see and hear from new blood.

Any help, advice, part(s), etc, etc that you need don't be afraid to ask. We are ALL in the same boat here ;)

                        8).......TIGER....... 8)

[chrisw]

I'm not sure if they are still in production, but they are going to look absolutely schmick after I give them a polish up with Autosol.

Just bought some supplies  :angel:
All duplicolor because I love how their paint applies and have used it on many race bikes and all my previous bikes with amazing results for being rattle can paint.

1 x Paint stripper (K+H)
1 x Rust converter (K+H)
2 x Primer
2 x "Wild Violet" dark metallic purple
2 x Gunmetal metallic
4 x Clear
2 x Gloss Black
HUUGE amount of sandpaper, tack cloth, cleaners etc
plenty of autosol and autosol for plastic (owned about 10 tubes all up already)
3 x wirebrushes
RAGS RAGS RAGS

So far, looking at the bike being dark metallic purple with gunmetal or black frame, and gunmetal or black ancillary parts. Tinted screen, and attempting to strip back as much off the engine as possible so it can be polished up along with the shaft drive possibly (otherwise that will be gunmetal too)

Stay tuned! I've finally got some days off soon so I'm planning on having the bike stripped in 1 day. prepped in the other and work to commence on the third, weather permitting.

[Glyn]

Nice one Chris. I'm across the ditch in Auckland with an 82 550. Done a few mods to mine, great handling bikes for their age. I'm at pickteam@xnet.co.nz if you ever want a natter. 

[Rick G]

Chris , I can't speak on Duplicolor paint , down under, but here in AZ. it is not the least gas resistant,  as it used to be! A spill while fueling will pucker and bubble the paint and pretty much destroy the paint job. if this is a concern to you , you might paint a tin can and after a few days sprinkle a bit of gas on it and see what you have.

[chrisw]

hey Glyn! cheers, nice to see some guys around this region :)

and RickG, I'll keep that in mind, however most of mine have faired fairly well with fuel spills, the two road going bikes I resprayed with duplicolor lasted a fair few months of commuting with no signs of damage, im fairly careful when I fuel however so it may have been the reason.

[chrisw]

Progress started here, cleaned up the plastics so I could inspect them, disassembled the front fairing, however I need to remove rivets to get the "air conditioning" flaps out of the lower pieces, and started sanding up the front fairing.

LOTS of more body work to go on this beast, will require a fair amount of fill primer too.

[kwells]

looking good...keep the photo blog going.

[funkamongus]

Yes!!! Im gonna have to be doing this too,,, I dont have the pieces in hand yet.. Thank you for the preview!! 

[chrisw]

Yes!!! Im gonna have to be doing this too,,, I dont have the pieces in hand yet.. Thank you for the preview!! 

Can't wait to see your project! what are you thinking of doing?

[chrisw]

Just a quick update, I finish my work block this nightshift, so I now have 6 days off as of tomorrow, so work will go full swing into the XZ550, expect to see some paintwork being completed :)

Also I got a new purchase. XZ550 wiring harness/loom in "ok/decent" condition for $19, so i might keep that one handy, and strip my old one and rewire it. have it as a backup. This might be the quickest way for me to hunt down these wiring gremlins.

[chrisw]

12:14pm Progress report:

Tank has been removed and drained, for 3 years sitting outside it isnt as bad as I thought, the fuel tap is perfectly operational, there was no grit at all on the petcock or filter. The fuel is a dark dark colour but still smells like petrol and isnt a different viscosity or full of chunks. I processed about half a gallon through the petcock filter before removing it and inspecting it. the tank has been flushed since, no real signs of rust within the tank.

I'm preparing to strip all the paint off the tank to inspect for any rust spots but its looking promising at the moment. Thankfully before I sold the bike the tank was completely flushed with new fuel put in.

EDIT: oh and my second hand wiring harness came via express post just then too!

[chrisw]

Todays progress is finished. The tank took 2 hours to strip as much as I did, plus some sanding and bogging. alot of other bits of paint that I could remove but I havent.
The underside of the tank was roughed up and coated with some rust converter and will be sprayed with some of the gunmetal paint just to coat it.

the fairings were all sanded and washed ready for paint.

I flushed out the tank a bit more. I will be giving it a rust treatment for safety and a POR15 coating. ALOT more preparation on these panels especially the tank to go before I lay some primer. I want it to be as perfect as possible.

Purchased: some more etch primer and fill primer.

Pictures:

[vadasz1]

That is some fine looking apple juice you have there.  Looks as potent as CIDER!.....LOL

[chrisw]

Progress report 22nd August.

Layed a coat of etch primer on most parts, needs resanding and recoating on most of the fairings tomorrow though. Layed a very thick coat of spray putty on the tank and a light coat on the top fairing. the tank is coming up schmick! however the top fairing will need a few touches here and there. the spray putty is a wonder, though the spray pattern is horrible.