Maggot motorcycle stoke thread

[Djongo Unchained]

I might just have to ride over to Sun Valley one of these days. Been a little while since I checked out Arco, Redfish Lake, and points further. Used to camp near Stanley...

- so you say you acquired a 500 sport bike? What did you get?

[Name Redacted]

Spent last week exploring around the SRS in UT on my 450. Great times, some really cool shit to check out and no one around. Decent amount of single track, and lots of doubletrack which meant the ladies could follow us on the RZR with a cooler of beers. Would be cool if we could post pics on this site...

[Hopeless Sinner]

I might just have to ride over to Sun Valley one of these days. Been a little while since I checked out Arco, Redfish Lake, and points further. Used to camp near Stanley... - so you say you acquired a 500 sport bike? What did you get?

Got a Ninja 500(non-ABS), unfortunately just as I was entering Arco a few weeks ago my motor oil reservoir plug decided to come undone at 65mph and left me stranded in Arco. 396 miles on the clock, its being repaired under warranty. I met the nicest people in Arco though! Come on by SV, I should be ready to ride on a bigger bike than the XT250 Ive been focused on in a month or so.

[Hopeless Sinner]

Headed down to DEN tomorrow to participate in a 2 day Yamaha Champ School over the weekend at High Plains Raceway. To say this novice rider w less than a year of experience is anxious and nervous is a vast understatement. The kickstand leans the bike further than I do at this point! I'm all prepped, packed, and ready to ride. Holy fuk what did I get myself into?

[Viva]

Git Some!

[Cruiser]

Can we post pics yet

[Viva]

Stopping for.a snow cone. Dulce, NM.

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[Viva]

Oooops

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[Cruiser]

One of my kids bought a nearly new R7 recently. Holy shit. It is magnificent to drive. Barely 400# wet. It's like the steering is communicating directly with my brain. I think about going left and what do you know I'm going left. Riding position is a little agro for a guy my age but it's a hoot in the twisties.

[garyfromterrace]

Random question for you mag bikers. Caveat - I am a mechanical idiot who breaks things when he tries to fix them and then has to pay much more money to have repairs done to my fixing attempt. Please do not hate me. Also I am lazy. Again, no hate please. With that in mind, here is my dilemma: I have a 2001 triumph trophy that was running when I parked it 4 years ago. I should have sold it then but my son had a romantic notion that he wanted the bike (because he had great memories riding on the back as a sprog), so it sat for 3 years until I tried to start it last year and it would not start. I siphoned the gas out and put fresh gas in the tank. Still no startie though it was turning over fine. I had a friend who suggested he could take a look. We took the gas tank off, wrecked one of the gas lines, got it turning over, still no startie. He gave up. So did I.

It sat another year. Now it is another year sitting there and I have basically got a hunk of metal in the backyard under a tarp. What should I do with this thing? Anybody want a project? Do people pay anything for project bikes? Is a 2001 trophy 900 something people are into? The service manager from the shop that works on my Thunderbird said he might be interested but has not got back to me after he asked how much I wanted for it and I said $1,000. Should I just tell him $500 and get rid of it? Sorry to bug you guys but any advice will be gratefully accepted and I realize I suck for letting it sit and for being a lazy mechanical idiot. I know I will rot in hell.

[Percy Rideout]

Gary,I can't quote you, but I'd start by cleaning and rebuilding the carb. The bike will command double the price if it runs. Depends how much work you want to put into it.

[evdog]

Agreed on the carb clean. When gas sits for a long time it gets stale and gunks up the carb, so no fuel can get through. Draining the old gas from the tank and filling with new gas won't help. Getting a carb cleaned was costing me $150. Be grateful if you can find a moto shop to work on it. None of the dealers down here in Socal will touch a bike that is older than 10 years.

Like Percy said it would be worth it to get it running even if it's just to sell. Check Craigslist and other listings for comps. You can search all of FB, CL and eBay with one query on searchtempest.com.

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[Cruiser]

It's unfortunate that you're not closer, Gary. One of my kids loves rebuilding carbs. It's really not terribly complex once you get into it. But hopefully you can find a mechanic who will replace the fuel lines, fuel filter, clean the carb, and maybe give the interior of the tank a quick check to make sure it's not chunky in there. Then you can sell it while the riding season is in full swing for a little more than it cost you to fix.

[garyfromterrace]

So Cruiser, asking for a "friend"... um, what if the tank was a little chunky, like had some rust happening in it...I gotta be honest, I'm very leery of sinking money into it (carb kit, plugs, lines, potentially new gas tank) and a bunch of hours (like 40 probably for me to attack it), with no guarantee that I can get it going. I think I may have a hard time finding a mech to work on it. I have done carb kits before but that was honestly 40 years ago and I can't remember what I had for lunch.

[Cruiser]

I'm no expert but I know that a really old gas tank with really old gas in it is often a primary contributor to fouling fuel lines, filters, plugs, and carbs. Tanks can be cleaned and the interior coated to make them useable of their in especially poor condition but, like everything, it'll cost ya if you can even find someone to do the work. I find it difficult to believe that someone wouldn't pay you $500 for it if everything is in good condition besides the fuel system (seat, tires, front forks,etc).

But the juice may not be worth the squeeze in which case you could be better off calling a local not for profit who accepts vehicle donations to have them arrange to send their tow truck to haul it away for ya. I've known multiple people who said that donating vehicles was super easy and completely free for them even if they weren't running at the time.