RoadRacer 831
12-21-2005, 08:22 PM
Well, I went and looked at this 85 SX last weekend. It looked to be in decent shape for 20 years old. No dents in the tank, no cracks in the plastic, new brake cables, forks have new seals and look straight, no tears in the seat. It wouldn't crank with the starter (even though he said he crunk it earlier that day) but he also said it had been sitting up for 2 years. It did crank after a few kicks though. Now for the test drive.
I shift into first and notice that my brakes are pulling all the way in to the handle. He says they need to be adjusted. No crap. Anyway, I pull it out onto the road and take it through all the gears. It shifts great, no problems. I don't hear any crunching in the rear end. Reverse works fine too, even though when it shifts from neutral to 1st or R it lurches and creeps in that direction because the brakes don't seem to be holding it due to the adjustment issue. It also seems to be idling high in neutral and then when I shift it from neutral it keeps that high idle for a few seconds which seems to contribute to the problem of not being able to hold it still. The left tire is pretty much flat, but again, he says it has sat up for a while. I have since aired the tire up but it is flat again in a day or two. The inside edge of the tire does not look like it is beaded against the rim... is this dryrot? The rims are a little bent in places on the edges, but they don't seem to be big enough to cause a tire problem. The only light that works is the neutral light. No headlight, taillight or reverse light.
It doesn't seem to need too much work (drain the gas, new tires, possibly new rims, new spark plug, maybe clean the carbs, see if the lights are blown or chase down the electrical problem), so I buy it.
Well, tonight I finally got a chance to get to work on it, and the first thing I decide to check is the rear end oil. The bolt is a little rounded off, so I pull the left tire and use an impact gun to get the plug out. As soon as it's off, water begins pouring onto the ground :cry: . I tilted it to the left and dumped as much of the water out as I could. It looks like 3 pieces to the bolt - the bolt itself, the O Ring and a washer device that holds the O ring and fits pretty much around the bolt. This washer is cracked, could that have let the water in? Should the washer be part of the bolt and has broken off?
I'm angry at myself for not checking that before I bought it, because the guy honestly may not have known about the problem.
Sorry this was so long but I don't even know where to start to try to fix this thing. Anybody else have this happen?
I shift into first and notice that my brakes are pulling all the way in to the handle. He says they need to be adjusted. No crap. Anyway, I pull it out onto the road and take it through all the gears. It shifts great, no problems. I don't hear any crunching in the rear end. Reverse works fine too, even though when it shifts from neutral to 1st or R it lurches and creeps in that direction because the brakes don't seem to be holding it due to the adjustment issue. It also seems to be idling high in neutral and then when I shift it from neutral it keeps that high idle for a few seconds which seems to contribute to the problem of not being able to hold it still. The left tire is pretty much flat, but again, he says it has sat up for a while. I have since aired the tire up but it is flat again in a day or two. The inside edge of the tire does not look like it is beaded against the rim... is this dryrot? The rims are a little bent in places on the edges, but they don't seem to be big enough to cause a tire problem. The only light that works is the neutral light. No headlight, taillight or reverse light.
It doesn't seem to need too much work (drain the gas, new tires, possibly new rims, new spark plug, maybe clean the carbs, see if the lights are blown or chase down the electrical problem), so I buy it.
Well, tonight I finally got a chance to get to work on it, and the first thing I decide to check is the rear end oil. The bolt is a little rounded off, so I pull the left tire and use an impact gun to get the plug out. As soon as it's off, water begins pouring onto the ground :cry: . I tilted it to the left and dumped as much of the water out as I could. It looks like 3 pieces to the bolt - the bolt itself, the O Ring and a washer device that holds the O ring and fits pretty much around the bolt. This washer is cracked, could that have let the water in? Should the washer be part of the bolt and has broken off?
I'm angry at myself for not checking that before I bought it, because the guy honestly may not have known about the problem.
Sorry this was so long but I don't even know where to start to try to fix this thing. Anybody else have this happen?