Grtechguy does a cheap update on a cheap xt350

Here is my quick and fast? update on an 89 XT350 Enduro.

Remember, Impulse buys from FB Marketplace are always a fun adventure.

This all started with a listing that had been live for a whopping 10 minutes.   I figured for the price it was already gone or was a serious basket case of junk.   But I message the seller with my phone number and was shocked to get a phone call back almost immediatly.

I told the guy I had the cash in my hand and pickup truck ready to go.     If he would sell it to me, it would be gone from his driveway in less than an hour.

Sure enough, a couple of minutes later I was heading northwest out of the Grand Rapids suburbs towards the lakeshore.   

Pulling up to the address, there it was and in better-looking shape in person than the picture on FB had shown.

Aside from a couple of flat tires, it was complete and I moved the 6 cases of Costco water bottles into the truck's back seat and we loaded it up.

Seller remembered he even had the missing side cover and provided it with the magical green Michigan title.

Once home,  a quick wash and a few attempts to start it.

not much luck at this point,  but the engine has enough compression to make kicking it over a limited desire.

Still leaking a little gas and oil from being laid on its side in my truck bed, it was time to start disassembly to clean and inspect.

After the initial cleaning,   my son pulled the carburators (yes, it has 2 on a thumper), sprayed them out and then a shot of compressed air.

With the compressed air,  a good clump of sludge came out of the fuel inlet.      A gentle cleaning of the fuel system we put it back together.

I dumped the fuel tank and rinsed it out well, removing years of old stale gas and sludge.      This also open a small pinhole leak in the tank.

Break out the soldering iron and flux.  With plenty of ventilation, I clean and soldered the pinhole leak back shut.    

Here is where I wish I had taken pictures.

It was also time to recover the seat as the existing vinyl was dry, crack and torn.   Some leftover white marine vinyl left over from a boat project was decent fit.     a quick staple job and I feel it is looking better.

I'm not a fan of old halogen bulbs on motorcycles that ride in traffic.

So,  a modern LED headlight & high intensity blinkers were ordered (Have to love the amazon warehouse area) and I'm working on fitting those.    The trunk and mounting plate from my old GSF1200 have also been mounted.

This brings us to today.     Still need more cleaning and rejuvenating the plastics, but it's getting there.

With fresh fuel it starts considerably easier and runs down the road just fine.

Side covers either need to be sanded quite far down or wrapped.    

Sweet!

Started sanding the front fender tonight. Looks promising so far.

this was about 30 minutes of 80-120-180 grit.      Soap and pressure washer wasn't pulling the black spots out like the sanding is.

NICE SCORE!  I searched high and low here in FL for about 3 months before I punted and picked up something new for playing the dirt that was street legal. I love a air cooled dead simple dirt scoot!

Man, that's a steal! And with a title no less!
 

How tough is it to get the dual carb setup properly sorted on these things? I've always kind of overlooked the XT (and the dual carb Hondas) for that reason. 
 

Keep thinking about 100-150cc more than what my KLR250 has would be a lot more entertaining, maybe the Yamaha should be on my radar...

The carbs weren't too bad of shape.    Most of the issue was a clog of crap right in the fuel inlet. This is resolved with a dip in the HF ultrasonic cleaner and a blast of compressed air.

I've since sanded down and repainted the tank and side plastics.  New mirrors as well.   

At this point, I just need to put insurance on it and get plates on it.    Worst part? insurance will cost more than my total investment into this bike.

I think it looks a ton better.   

Tank has some pretty good dents that are hidden well by the white paint.

Debating on putting decals back on.  We have a Cricut machine that can cut anything out.

Furious_E (Forum Supporter) said:

Man, that's a steal! And with a title no less!
 

How tough is it to get the dual carb setup properly sorted on these things? I've always kind of overlooked the XT (and the dual carb Hondas) for that reason. 
 

Keep thinking about 100-150cc more than what my KLR250 has would be a lot more entertaining, maybe the Yamaha should be on my radar...

 The Hondas are a mechanical linkage between the two. As in its a steel bar with no adjustment. I've got a XR500 motor a friend of a friend was going to toss as it had been sitting in his shop for 25 years.  Complete minus the kick starter. I was dreading the dual carbs till I saw the adjustment on them. Now I need to find a frame to drop it in. 

Furious_E (Forum Supporter) said:

Man, that's a steal! And with a title no less!
 

How tough is it to get the dual carb setup properly sorted on these things? I've always kind of overlooked the XT (and the dual carb Hondas) for that reason. 
 

Keep thinking about 100-150cc more than what my KLR250 has would be a lot more entertaining, maybe the Yamaha should be on my radar...

On these the carbs are weirder than most. One is a slide carb and the other is CV, which internet lore will tell you was supposed to improve swirl at smaller throttle openings since the CV side didn't open until you really got into the throttle. Functionally mine always worked fine with a stock engine and a slip on exhaust with a spark arrestor. I think tuning would get tricky if you went too far away from stock though.

I love it. I had a xt350 growing up that took me all over the east coast. 

Doubled my cash into this today,  It's now officially road legal.    Plated & Insured.

Looking forward to using this as my errands vehicle and letting the F150 sit in the driveway unless it's hooked up and towing.