Bringing an old voyager back to life

[spidersounds]

Hello all,

So last November I lost my father to cancer. He was an avid motorcyclist (as am I) and he and my mother even rode across Canada on his voyager, as well as through most of the western US. So anyway, I have basically inherited his bike, which has been sitting in the garage for 8 years as he was not well enough to ride. So now I have decided to take on the daunting task of breathing new life into this once proud machine, not only to honor his memory but also because I think it would be really fun to take a few trips on it. Ive never had a touring bike before, but this seems like a natural way to get into it.

I havent been able to get the bike home yet, but I should have it home and cleaned up in a work space in about 3 weeks. I plan to document the process and post photos as I go and what I'm really hoping is that some of the experienced members here can help me out as I run into problems, and that maybe this post may serve to help others with a similar project in the future.

So all that being said, I'll tell you what I know about the bike so far.

-2001 voyager xii
-mileage unknown (I will update this when I have got it home and the electronics up and running)
-meticulously maintained prior to about 8 years ago. Garage stored, never seen winter.
-fuel tank is VERY rusty. I did only a cursory examination but it appears to have been stored empty and there are a lot of large flakes visible inside.
-stored after a fresh oil change (not that it matters after 8 years I suppose)

So my plan is to remove the gas tank, get the rust out of it and change the fuel filters.
At the same time I will be draining and taking the carbs off, shouldnt be any rust in them but maybe varnish and bad gas?
Try to lubricate the cylinders and crank the engine (without spark) to make sure its not ceased.
Change the oil,coolant, any other fluids. possibly flushing different systems depending how bad it looks.
New battery, grease everything, check bearings. Possibly new tires but that will be after its running.

What do you guys think? Anything else I should think about before I try to turn her over?

Ill have more info hear after I get started.

Cheers,
Dan

[cushman eagle]

I would probably blow out the sparkplug cavities,remove the plugs,shoot WD40 etc into the plug holes then,with the bike on the center stand,gently try turning the engine over with rear wheel with the trans in 5th gear.If there is anything in a cylinder,that may be more gentle than using the starter.

[Me Again]

I know you will get some excellent info from others ,but I thought I could share a story first .
I picked up a 1300 that had been stored outside under a tarp for 10 years
I cleaned the rusty tank (metal on a 1300) and blew out the gas lines ,put a little oil in each cylinder ,changed oil ,filter , air filter (mouse house )and gas filter .
Put in some new plugs and hit the starter . fired right up .Actually I wasn't trying to start it ,I bumped the starter to see if it would turn over.
This bike had 90K miles and I rode it for 3 summers before it did not want to start anymore (valves)
Yes it did rattle some. I don't believe the plastic chain guides did not survive the years

[spidersounds]

I would probably blow out the sparkplug cavities,remove the plugs,shoot WD40 etc into the plug holes then,with the bike on the center stand,gently try turning the engine over with rear wheel with the trans in 5th gear.If there is anything in a cylinder,that may be more gentle than using the starter.

That's great advice! I haven't worked on one of these before so I was hoping there would be a way to turn the crank maybe by removing a cover and turning with a wrench, but turning the wheel in 5th is a great idea!

I know you will get some excellent info from others ,but I thought I could share a story first .
I picked up a 1300 that had been stored outside under a tarp for 10 years
I cleaned the rusty tank (metal on a 1300) and blew out the gas lines ,put a little oil in each cylinder ,changed oil ,filter , air filter (mouse house )and gas filter .
Put in some new plugs and hit the starter . fired right up .Actually I wasn't trying to start it ,I bumped the starter to see if it would turn over.
This bike had 90K miles and I rode it for 3 summers before it did not want to start anymore (valves)
Yes it did rattle some. I don't believe the plastic chain guides did not survive the years

thanks for the story, thats very encouraging. My plan is to get it running and if it runs ok maybe ride it around town for a month or two and see, then over the winter I can look at doing some more serious service if required. I know theres always a point at which you are spending way too much time in the shop just dumping money down a black hole, but I have my fingers crossed it wont come to that. If I could get a few years out of it without serious problems I think I would be pretty happy.

thanks for the replies guys!

[voyager55]

https://onedrive.live.com/?authkey=%21A ... B608D0CA8D

You'll need the service manual

[Thadbaker86voyager]

I think with the positive neutral finder on the voyager you can't shift to second gear without bike moving so won't be able to get it in 5 gear. I would second the recommendation to clean the spark plug wells and the WD 40 in the cylinders. I bet it will be fine and start right up with fresh gas and a clean tank and carburetors. Might try a gravity feed alternate fuel source to be sure all is working. DEFINITELY put a good fuel filter on! Best of luck, your in the right place for the answers to any problems you will encounter. This site is awesome, and the members know there bikes! Lol!

[Mr Jensee]

You can get it in 5th gear by rocking it back and forth as you snick the lever up with your foot. I know I have done it. Before you do anything with the motor, remove the plugs and be careful not to get trash in the spark plug wells. squirt a little oil in each cylinder before you attempt to crank it. This will keep the cylinder walls from scoring if it is totally dry. Get a fresh battery before you attempt to crank. If you take apart the carbs and the bike was running great before it was garaged, make note of the settings of all adjustments so you can duplicate it when you reassemble. Change out the fuel filter and if necessary have someone soda blast the inside of the tank and recoat it with something to prevent rusting again. If the bike still has air suspension do not use a compressor tank to fill them. You can easily blow the seals. I used a bicycle pump when I had them but you still have to be careful. Not much more than 3 lbs in the forks. Pardon my redundancy but also change out the tires. 8 years sitting they will be dry rot. Don't ride on dry rotted tires.

[cranky]

... all this gas tank and rust talk... isn't the gas tank plastic?

[ihc1470]

The tank is metal. Comes out the back of the bike after removing saddle bags, trunk and sub frame. Not a bad job but much easier if you have the manual. Also you can turn the motor with a wrench if you pull the small chrome crankcase covers . Do not have the manual in front of me and been long time. Pickup coils if I recall are on the right side so flywheel would be on the left and that is also where the timing marks are. The other thing I would suggest before actually firing it up for the first time is to crank it with the starter while the spark plugs are still out to build oil pressure and get some fresh oil back up stairs and to fill the lifters again. Leave the CDI box unplugged and you will not have to worry about spark. The Good luck.

[spidersounds]

Well, got the old girl home today and began by removing and storing the bodywork. If I have to remove the sub frame and put new tires on I'm thinking I better come up with something better than the center stand to work off of.

Took some pics but can't figure out how to get them here. As soon as I do I'll post them.

[spidersounds]

Heres some pics:

https://image.ibb.co/c2vuB5/20170920_194108.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/dmpAjQ/20170920_194131.jpg

https://image.ibb.co/jyuAjQ/20170920_213235.jpg

[spidersounds]

Bodywork removed

https://image.ibb.co/jKUXyk/20170920_204344.jpg

A look inside the tank...

https://image.ibb.co/dU6O4Q/20170920_204233.jpg

[triton28]

Here is where one can go using only the centerstand. Not shown is that I have the stand "wired to the frame" to prevent an accidental forward falling motion. Also the rear sub frame is only sitting in position temporarily.
A good idea would be to also chock the front wheel.
You inherited one mint bike there.
Dave

[GlockPointer]

Spider,, that looks like a total basket case, you'd better just sell it to me

[forestfarm]

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1996-Kawasaki-V ... J~&vxp=mtr