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The American Motorcyclist Association • www.AMADirectlink.com Posted January 10, 2006 |
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From flat to phat… custom paint for the XTWhen American Motorcyclist magazine’s James Holter, and my then-next-door neighbor, showed up at my doorstep with this bucket of an old fuel tank, I figured he wanted me to chuck it in the dumpster at work, not paint the thing. But, no, he informed me that it was my job to make him look good. “Come on, Joe,” he begged. “The rest of the bike’s flat black. This pile needs some style, and you’re the only guy I know who has the skills to make it happen.” Ahhh. The power of knowledge—even if it’s just enough to fool a real novice like James here—is a cool thing. I’ve actually never painted a tank before, nor much of anything else, either. I really saw this as an opportunity to screw up a pile of junk as I practiced and learned. So, giving him the level of timely service that he paid for (ha!), I took my sweet time over the next six months to make his rusty, dented, poor excuse of a fuel tank look pretty. In all honesty, I didn’t really even look at it until month five or so. (Plus, it was supposed to have been a joint project and then James up and moved to Ohio, so I was making him pay for bailing.) One note before we get into it, though. Unlike James, who probably used the cheapest junk paint he found in the automotive section of the local discount store, I used real paint for the tank. After consulting with a more experienced detail man, my co-worker Risto Kivela, who actually does know what he’s doing, we decided to use the paint from his own personal supply. The tank was shot with PPC Acrylic Enamel paint and clear. In hindsight, after talking with a relative, who is a professional auto painter, I learned it would have been a lot easier to have gone with base paints instead of the enamels. Oh well, it’s James’ problem now. But before painting, I had to get rid of the old stuff. Yamaha must have invested some coin in its painting facilities back in the day. That grey stuff was tough to get off! I used a grinder with a wire brush and lots of 300-grit sandpaper, paint strippers and anything else I could find. (And, no, I wasn’t going to pay for it to be sandblasted.) Next, I had to deal with the dents. OK, so maybe pulling or blowing them out would have been better, but body filler is faster. The rider of this bike will probably appreciate the shortened fuel range created by the dents, anyhow.
With the dents swept under the proverbial rug, it was time to prime this baby. The primer brought out a few more imperfections in the metal, but James won’t notice.
Now, I can really get cooking. The base coat — 1990 Ford Thunderbird “Twilight Blue Metallic” — looks slick, but I’m not done yet. With more advice from my buddy Risto, I decided to go with scallops for the paint scheme. Not trusting my own steady hand, I enlisted Risto to actually lay out the scallops and then I finished off the masking before shooting the white. We used 1957 Chrysler “Cloud White.” I covered it all with two coats of clear for a spit-shine finish. Here you go…
Unfortunately, I then had to hand this work of art over to James to bolt onto that heap of — er, fine example of vintage motorcycle machinery, instead of setting it on my workbench to impress the ladies. Oh well, I could always dress up my V-Max — but that’s another article. Joe Carnes is an AMA member in Aurora, Illinois. |
Look, I never claimed to be a perfectionist here.
Otherwise, reassembly of the XT is a straightforward process. The rear wheel fits easily into the swingarm, the triple clamps look good and turn smoothly in the steering head, the cable routing is intuitive and nothing binds, the forks slide right into place, and the brakes actually stop the bike when everything is said and done.
There is one more modification that I make as the process wraps up. Anyone who has ridden a dirtbike pre-dating the late 1980s has experienced the thin footpegs of that era. It’s surprising, but by doubling the width of the footpegs, you can add a considerable amount of comfort and grip to your ride.
Fortunately, most footpegs have the same 45-degree slope to their mounting plate and I've found I can borrow pegs off more modern dirtbikes to upgrade older machines. If anything, in some cases I have to grind or drill away some metal, but the extra work is worth it.
I use some old pegs off my kid’s 2003 RM65. They are much bigger than the stock XT pegs and bolt right up using the XT’s pins and springs — no grinding, bending, cutting or drilling needed.
Then I go over the bike one more time, making sure every nut and bolt is snug.
The final piece of the XT puzzle is the new tank, which was painted by my riding buddy Hollywood Joe. I only asked Hollywood to throw a layer of flat black on the thing and be done with it, but as you can see in his sidebar “From Flat to Phat…,” (right) he took it to another level.
The moment of truth
Muted anticipation is the best way to describe how I feel when I go to start a bike after countless hours rebuilding.
On the one hand, I can’t wait to ride the thing. On the other hand, I refuse to let myself get so high on excitement that in the chance the thing won’t fire, I come off my cloud so hard that the XT rusts away its final days as a diving prop in the pond behind the house.
Thankfully, the pond and the XT will never have to become one because the little Yamaha lights up after several determined kicks and a bit of throttle.
I can tell right away that it’s running rather lean, particularly at low throttle settings, an attribute that I blame on the pod filter that provides considerably more airflow than the stock airbox. I will try to adjust some of this out by raising the needle in the throttle slide, but a permanent solution will have to wait until I can order at least a larger pilot jet from Yamaha.
With the bike running, I can check my earlier adjustment of the cam chain tensioner and make sure the oil pump is pumping. To check the oil pump, we just remove the bleed screw and look for oil flow. I barely miss getting a face full of Mobil One, but all’s good. I then click the XT into first gear and ride off slowly, making sure the controls do what they should. I survive the trip around the yard so, yep, it looks like I have myself another dirtbike.
After rolling back into the garage, I set the XT up on a bike stand and double check the nuts and bolts. I let the bike cool a bit and check the oil level. Everything looks pretty good, but it seems like it might be running a little hot. I write that off as a symptom of my slow-moving test ride. Still, I make a mental note to keep an eye on that during the XT’s first big trip out.
Are we there yet?
It’s a heck of a lot of work re-building old dirtbikes, but it’s cheaper than other activities that are nowhere near as fun. And that’s the way to think of it: a hobby, not a business venture. Unless you are very lucky or very good, you will spend far more in time and money than you can ever hope to recoup by selling your refurbished dirtbike.
But I’m not looking for money.
My compensation comes on several levels. First, well, I have another motorcycle to ride. That’s always nice. Second, I can look at the before and after photos and, even though I know better than most people that this is nowhere near a full-on restoration, I believe the improvement is quite pronounced, even if it’s more than a little goofy. But the third benefit is the best.
I now have a new tool for enabling closet dirtbikers, those riders who suspect deep down that they would find joy in the off-road world, but for some strange reason — whether lack of confidence or simple good sense — they have never made the leap from street tread to knobbies.
The next time I find such a victim… err, a non-dirtbiking buddy, I'll be ready with a bike that can to introduce him to the off-road world.
One thing is certain: I’m satisfied with the outcome of Project F. There’s one more dirt bike out there ready to provide a weekend ride. And, call me crazy, romantic, melodramatic, whatever, but I think that makes the world a cooler place.
Finally done, the trails are waiting.
Project
F, Part 1: Bringing a "free" 24-year-old XT250 back to life
Project
F, Part 2: Stripping and field-testing the XT250
Project F, Part 3:
Decision time — replace it, repair it, or live with it
Project
F, Part 4: Making old, grimy things shiny again
Project
F, Part 5: Sticking with the plan for the payoff at the end
Project F, Part 6: Work in Progress
© 2005, American Motorcyclist Association