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PICS! Coyote's new 550
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 9:25 am
by Coyote
Re: PICS! Coyote's new 550
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 9:34 am
by oldjapanesebikes
Congrats on the find Chris - looks like the makings of a good project !

Re: PICS! Coyote's new 550
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 5:50 pm
by Coyote
This is a new one on me Never seen any side cover badges that weren't sparkle orange. This one is gold and appears to be OEM?

Re: PICS! Coyote's new 550
Posted: Fri Jul 11, 2014 11:28 pm
by yeadon_m
I would guess that one has seen paint stripper in its past
On your clocks, it should be possible to install nice new glass lenses and give the faces a bit of a clean, replace the face screws and re-paint the needle tips. Thats a great (low) mileage. If there's been enough oil in the bottom end, it may even have protected the crank seals.
Cheers,
Mike
Re: PICS! Coyote's new 550
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 8:31 am
by Coyote
Re: PICS! Coyote's new 550
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 8:50 am
by Craig380
That looks like a great find, enjoy her!
At the risk of being flamed ... I like the black jugs, they look pretty good to me ...
Re: PICS! Coyote's new 550
Posted: Sat Jul 12, 2014 1:19 pm
by yeadon_m
That front guard is correct I believe for 1976A and 1977B models. Or, only the 77B. Your headlamp brackets, being chrome, say its not a B model I believe.
Those single-stay front guards are worth a packet in UK if in good nick. Made of unobtainium

Cheers,
Mike
Re: PICS! Coyote's new 550
Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 10:40 am
by Coyote
Had a pleasant surprise this morning. I pulled off the points cover expecting all kinds of horrors, but it looks nearly brand new! I can only see evidence on a couple of screws of ever being turned. The cam is perfect.Lightly lubed, no pitting and no signs of wear. Just some burnish marks from the phenolic followers on the points. Points look great with no pitting or arcing marks. I am beginning to believe the 3,240 on the clock is accurate. Another thing I noticed while looking everything over is all the original S bolts are still on it. WOW! Finding a 38 year old unmolested bike is like a pipe dream coming true.
My only wish is that some PO hadn't painted the motor black. Still don't know how I'm going to deal with that. I'm almost sure it was done with a rattle can as most everything below horizontal is unpainted. I believe it was painted in he frame because I can detect over spray on the down tubes on the front.
Underside of the bike is very dirty, but it is dry so that's good.
What puzzles me is why the master cylinder decomposed so badly. The condition is horrible and the piston seems to be frozen. The cup is dryer than a popcorn fart (sorry, that's how Okies describe dry beyond belief). I took the brake hose off at the MC and opened the bleeder on the caliper. I used very low air pressure in the hose at the top. Clean brake fluid came out of the bleeder so hopefully the caliper is OK They are easy to rebuild if not.
Check out this MC. It's for sale if anyone is interested

Re: PICS! Coyote's new 550
Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 4:53 pm
by Suzukidave
A can or two of aircraft spray paint stripper and the black paint will be gone from your engine

Re: PICS! Coyote's new 550
Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 5:08 pm
by pjmcburney
I'll have that M/C if you're selling it.
No, really I will!
Re: PICS! Coyote's new 550
Posted: Sun Jul 13, 2014 11:17 pm
by joolstacho
Cooo, we could have that M/C looking good as new with a few hours work with wet 'n dry.

Re: PICS! Coyote's new 550
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 2:14 pm
by Coyote
Got some bad news and some good news. The bad. I just got back from the DMV.. Because the bike has not been tagged since 2006. They are going to nail me big time. $250 for tags and another $30 to transfer the title. They refuse to just transfer the title until all penalties are paid up. $280 is nearly half the price of the bike! So as far as I'm concerned, DMV stands for Done Molesting and Violating.
The good news is, with moderate effort the paint rubs right off with acetone.

Re: PICS! Coyote's new 550
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 2:39 pm
by Suzukidave
Coyote , if you havent tried the spray aircraft paint stripper its good stuff and you can find it at Auto Zone . Being a spray it gets into the small spots and you let it set a bit and then hose it off .. it doesnt hurt aluminum at all

Re: PICS! Coyote's new 550
Posted: Wed Jul 16, 2014 4:31 pm
by Coyote
Ill look for that. There is an Auto Zone just 2 miles away.