Oh, you’ve met my neighbor?! I told him he’s going to wear the paint off rubbing so much wax on it. He almost fell for it.
I’m sure all that shiny is worth it to some folks, and I like a clean bike but man, I can only stand washing the things for as long as “good enough” takes.
Update:
The new (literally) tank and a right-rear fairing arrived. They look stunning. It’s going to be six or eight months before I can paint the rest of the plastic though, as I need to wait for warm, dry weather.
Yesterday I got my new gas cap from China. Since the knuckleheads broke the old cap, I thought it would be an easy replacement. Nope. The cap is held on by an Allen-head bolt under the lid, and three more around the outside. I got one of the outside bolts out, and the inside one. The bonebags apparently couldn’t get the other two outside bolts off so they tried to drill them. I tried to use one of those bolt-extractor bits, but of course it didn’t work. (I’ve never had luck with those. Not even once.) So I decided I’d try to drill the heads off completely. I couldn’t get them off completely, but I thought I could pry the mount off of them. I did manage to break the lid mount into several pieces, but could not get them off of the bolts. I ended up using a Dremel tool and cutting wheel to cut slots into the remnants of the bolts and was able to get them out with a screwdriver. I put the new cap assembly on, but I could not get the interior bolt threaded. It’s good enough, and the vent hole is probably clogged anyway so the missing bolt will solve that problem. (I’m guessing about the vent hole; I didn’t actually look since I’m supposed to be working.)
I started the bike and let it run a little. I’m taking Friday off, so I’ll see about getting a key made for the replacement ignition lock. Eventually I’ll get the bike into a shop and have it tuned up. I’ll also have the grab handles and luggage rack put on, and have any other missing bolts replaced. Then it will be ridable, if not pretty (yet).
I tried to order paint from Amazon. It’s a tri-coat process: base coat, top coat, and clear coat. On checkout, I was told they could not ship to me. I called ColorRite in Pennsylvania, and they said they ship all over. But Amazon’s page said ‘Ships from ColorRite’. Weird.
Anyway I ordered four cans of each, which should cover the four pieces of plastic and the frame. I called ColorRite a second time and they assured me they ship to Washington all the time and I should receive the paint in the next few business days. Interestingly, it will be shipped from Palmdale, CA. I lived in Lancaster.
Question: How long did Fuck-nugget have the bike in his rotten, filthy hands?
Ah, nevermind. I went back to the OP.
I went to a locksmith yesterday. He said something to the effect of ‘Long keys don’t take impressions very well.’ He may have to take the lock apart to make a new key – and it’s held together by headless bolts (some sort of security measure). He doesn’t have the ‘wafers’, so he would not be able to make the lock fit my existing key. He said it would cost about $125. Another locksmith I talked to on the phone a week or so ago said, without seeing the lock, that it would cost about $90 to make a key. Yamaha (Corporate) said that there’s someone in Florida who might be able to help me, but she said she thought it might cost $100. Who knew just getting a key would be so expensive?
My alternatives are to get an original lock with a key (expensive, hard to find, and the ones I’ve found look a little chewed), get an ‘OEM’ replacement from England (brand new, about $100 with shipping, and they don’t quite look the same), or get one from China (brand new, but don’t look the same) for about $30. I see that they are offered in ‘4-wire’ and ‘6-wire’ versions. I have no idea which I’d need – or if it matters. I assume no one would know the difference in appearance, since you only see the top of the cylinder when it’s installed. (Of course I’d notice it’s missing the ‘YM-8’ stamp.)
Oh – I got the tank brackets from England yesterday. Finally. The tracking number showed it was out for delivery Thursday. It didn’t come. Yesterday morning tracking said ‘hold at post office’. So I called, and the postmaster couldn’t find it. He called the driver, who said he had it in is truck. Thursday it appears to have been put on a truck for a different route. As soon as the mail truck pulled away from the mailbox, I went out to get the package. It wasn’t there. I got in my car and chased the mail carrier down. He didn’t have it. He had a different package from England, going to someone else. I got home and checked tracking again. It said ‘delivered to individual’. So on the phone again. The postmaster said it’s been delivered. I’m like, ‘Yes, but where?’ He looked up the latitude and longitude and said it had been delivered to an address with my number – but with a different street name. It was about a mile and a half away. I drove over, found the house after a couple of tries, and the guy who lived there gave me the box. Normally when a package is mis-delivered, it goes to a place with our house number and a very similar-sounding street name. Anyway, now I can secure the tank and provide an attachment point for the front of the seat – as soon as I procure the bolts.
I’ll try to dig around and see if I can turn up a Yamaha switch with key. I’ve had butt-loads of RZ’s and may have one buried somewhere. I’ll get back to ya if I find something.
I kinda did. Those keys are very intricate.
I got a new cap for the YZF-R1, and it came with the ignition and the seat lock. I thought I might use the ignition from the R1 on the Seca. Alas, different design.
Is the RZ ignition switch the same as the XJ600 Seca II? I think the part number I need is 4DU-82501-02-00 (#22 on the diagram).
Different part #, but pretty darn similar. I’d bet a smart guy like you could retrofit.
So, I went to the garage, was able to get to a small stash of parts. Found a seat lock, with original key, and the punched out ignition from one of the stolen ones. I checked the keys on the two runners I have, and first thing I notice, is the keys are dups cut from the original. I was pretty sure I had a bunch of the original keys lurking around, but the ‘main’ stash of parts are somewhat inaccessible right now (code for I’m too lazy to move stuff around on a Saturday).
Does your switch have a code on the bottom? Who knows? You might hit the lottery and one of my keys (if I can find them) would match. I know I’ve got a C2xxx key (from the seat lock) and somewhere if I can find it, a F54xxx (My original from the stolen bike). Too bad I don’t have the codes on the two runners I got. I have plenty of extras, or could have one cut. But I ain’t taking them apart to get to the code! Maybe visible with a mirror and flashlight. But I doubt it. I’ll keep looking for the stash of keys I have.
Maybe I’ll dig a little deeper later.
I know I’ve got a box in the ‘attic’ of my shop with a bunch of electrical stuff, instrument clusters and wiring harnesses. That is probably where the switch that I think I have is located. I’ll try to get to it later.
No code on the lock. 
I may have a line on a NOS switch with keys. It’s only about a million dollars.
After a risky climb to the storage area over my shop, I struck out. Found that million dollars in parts however. I’d forgotten how much crap I had up there. But no keyed switches. Still can’t find the originals either, but with no code, wouldn’t help. That was grasping at straws, anyway.
What I would do (I’m a Half-assed Hack), is cut the harness off the buggered switch, rig up a toggle for ignition and starter, mount the keyless switch on the triple-clamp to fool thieves. Meanwhile, flip the switches hidden somewhere on the bike and ride like the wind!
The steering colum on my Jeep is all busted up, and I’m having to do the same kind of Junk repair on it soon. Right now, its somewhat problematic to get the thing running sometime. The thing ain’t worth spending any more money or time on it however.
Jeez, I suck.
I appreciate your looking. The thieves put a toggle switch on. Why they felt the need to remove the ignition switch is beyond me.
I’ll probably bite the bullet and get the NOS part.
In for a Penny, In for a Pound!
I’m late to the party – been doing that a lot this Autumn…
I absolutely love that Faraway Blue, but then again my SV650 is metallic navy blue that’s very similar. However, from your lead-in to the question, it definitely sounds like you should do the yellow. Very honestly, it looks like the yellow scheme would look better without the extra stickers and pin-stripes; you’d just be a blazing yellow fireball screaming down the highway. The blue seems to need the detail.
You might look up some after-market paint specialists. I was asking a local company down here in Simi Valley if they could repaint my Ghost Undertail and they were quite willing at some pretty good prices. I ended up getting an unpainted black undertail, though, and it gave a spiffy contrast to the electric navy blue of everything else so I just left it that way.
For all the bikes I’ve had since the mid-1980’s, the ignition key on the triple-tree also acted as a deadbolt, locking the tree so the handlebars were stuck pointing left. One couldn’t shut everything down and take the key out without turning the key to the steering-locked position. Thieves would have to remove that ignition/lock cluster to be able to steer the bike anywhere. It’s weird that it’s so tough to get a key for that cluster; you might consider having the helmet/seat locks rekeyed to match it, rather than the other way around. Most of the helmet/seat locks I’ve seen used only part of the key (it didn’t go in as deep as with the ignition) so that might make it easier to change.
Your accessory circuits will affect whether you need a six-wire versus four-wire ignition cluster. The extra wires would feed an emergency blinker circuit or something like that (usually not aftermarket parts, either). Ccheck out BikeBandit.com for on-line diagrams for your bike to find out which you need.
Kryptonite U-locks are awesome – not the disk brake lock, but the one that goes through your wheel and straddles the forks (or swing-arm, or twin shocks, depending on your whim). I still have mine from 1985, though here in Steamy Valley I could practically leave the bike running in the grocery store parking lot and fully expect it to be there when I got done with an hour of shopping. Maybe I won’t test that theory…
–G!
I have a Kryptonite U-lock, which I got with the bike 26 years ago, but it’s currently protecting our Honda 3,000 watt generator. I had a mount for it on the bike, but I found it encroached upon the space I needed for my right heel.
Locking forks have been a feature for as long as I can remember, but there is a position where you can remove the key but not lock the forks. The thieves had no discernible reason to remove the lock. I ordered a new one, at at least twice the cost of having a key made for the one I got off of eBay, and I’m hoping they don’t come back and say, ‘Sorry, it’s no longer available.’ Re-keying the helmet lock isn’t an option. Locksmiths here don’t have the wafers to do it. So it looks like I’ll have three keys.
PS: I used to fly helicopters over the Simi Valley, heading out to the Santa Clara River wash.
Unfortuneatly those are easily defeated.
How hard is it for spell check to figure out that first word? Really?
Completely agree. I’ve never been a big fan of yellow, but I like this yellow.
People leave their bikes painted the original color?
To be fair, Lambo had some significant issues with busted and scratched up (aftermarket) fairings, so I bought her knowing she was getting new clothes.
Now she’s green and gold and ever so lovely. Definitely stands out to traffic around me more, as well.