So I have a friend, Army war vet, with a 2002 Zuki Bandit 600S with 15K miles on her that has been sitting in his dry garage in SoCal for 3 yrs. Last it ran, 3 yrs ago would only run on the choke and die on the jets. And it has sat with the old gas in it since then. And even before that he did 2 combat engineer tours in Afghanistan, so the bike really has sat for like 6 yrs. He's lived near the beach for a while and the bike was not always in a garage. Amazing how much corrosion living a mile or two from the ocean produces. Chrome is pretty shot and many of the bolted joints show some rust. But over all the bike seems like it may be OK with the basic clean out the gas tank, replace fuel filter and a few lines, rebuild the carbs and hope for the best.

Tires are old/shot, battery is dead, chain is pretty stiff. I'm thinking if I'm lucky maybe $500 in parts to get is on the road as long as break aren't frozen. Plastics show 14 yrs of age and has been dropped at the light and garage a time or two but no sliding across 3 lanes of ACH damage. Oh yeah , its the blue one.

We're talking like $400-500 and he has a clean title but not current reg for a few yrs so there's that issue.

Rat rod, hooligan street whatever fighter, IDK. So for price plus parts I maybe able to get her to a used state of sale worth maybe $1200 to $1500 with $1K in cost if I go the cheap diy route.

Sage advise and opinions greatly appreciated.

I'm leaning toward the $400 cash and bring a trailer strategy and hope for the best and I winter project

* Last updated by: cruderudy on 10/13/2016 @ 9:45 PM *

1. Soak the carbs in vinegar: Rubber will swell so it's remove the float needles with the rubber tip type float needle. Fill the bowls with vinny. Do not remove the bowl seal if possible. Call the dealer and ask if parts are still available for the float bowl gasket, float needles, and orings that are dry and cracked.

2. I'll try this next, but at another website, a jet mechanic said to dip the carb in premium gas. Here is where I'd take the whole carb assembly, drop it in the gas and do not disassemble the carbs. Let the gas soften the stale gas inside the bowls and passages. If say the throttle slides are CV type, then remove the top covers, extract the slides with their rubber diaphragm in place. Drop one float bowl and check condition inside. If clean, then wash the carbs with water. Do not use compressed air to clean the carb. If the floats are brass, they implode by the forced air in the bowl. Or, since water is heavier than oil/gas, reinstall the carbs, fill the carbs with gas, open the drain bowl screws, let the water empty first, then the gas comes out, she is clean and [theoretically] ready to start.

3. Check compression first thing. Rings may have seized and there is now zip for compression. So before a dime is put into the bike, first see where the bike's health is? 100 psi or under you have a rebuild. Anything over 130 psi start cleaning the carbs.

4. Lube shit out of the chain if not pack it with grease. It should free up. Less money poured in it, the better.

5. 15k on the valves and when were they last adjusted is get it running and then reset the valves. Better to set the valves first to see if any valve is stuck in the guide, is held open and this may make you think the rings are bad. So by removing all doubt, set the valves first, then check compression.

6. None-op is it's not a problem having the reg laps. Once that first $10 of none-op was paid, then they dropped that gouge. So in theory, that one payment says it's a clean title, no penalty fees.

7. Have fun with the project.

I don't see a problem with not having the bike registered. The license plate normally goes in trash after you sell the vehicle.

Great advise, I didn't think about the stuck rings issue. Pretty sure He will let me take the bike and check it first, he wants it gone and a new one he can take his hot GF for a ride on.

Hub,

Any need to fog the cylinders before cranking to check the compression? Gonna pick it up tomorrow.

Thanks ....

Went to look at the bike Sat and pick it up. In the end I ended up passing, again. Just to much of the rubber was in total deterioration. Just moving hoses around looking at the engine and they were crumbling. Pulled off a plug wire and it was just falling apart. tried to pump up a tire and the valve came apart in my fingers. To bad, another decent bike dead from years of neglect. The outer surface of the lower engine was just starting to flake off from years of galvanic and salt air corrosion.