'99 Intruder 1400 Basket Case Bobber

luke000

Been Around the Block
What do you do when you have no room and three other big projects going on? Well like an idiot, I picked up this 1999 Suzuki Intruder 1400 today. The bike is in rough condition, looks like it was laid down at one point. Mechanically it looks OK, and at some point someone started to put a lot of money into it, including new foot controls, engine side covers, rebuilt fork, new stator, some gaudy grips and handlebars. But the wiring is a complete mess, and most of the systems need to be hooked up like carbs and decompression. I got the bike home and hooked up a battery to it and got nothing....at all....this should be fun.... :(. Also the bike has no title, but for me it should not be that big of a deal to get taken care of. I hope to get the bike running and driving and do a simple little bobber project with her. I have a long road ahead of me, starting with getting it titled and the nightmarish wiring- getting some life into the bike (any ideas where I should start???) , then I can go through the motor and get the rest done. Why would I take on such a turd/lemon/doomed project you ask? I traded the bike for a lawnmower I had $200 into, I figure that's a deal i did not want to pass up and have the possibility for a cool bike this summer 8)

PS according to the NICB VIN check the bike has not been reported stolen or totaled ;D

And now for some pictures!












LOOK! I even got a free basket full of parts with my basket case:

 
hillsy said:
Those bars are as cool as fuck.


Lane splitter extraordinaire 8)

Thanks!! I still haven't decided if I am.keeping the bars or replacing it with a flat drag bar. Decisions decisions....

Well on my way to the secretary of state to hopefully get this baby titled!
 
Shit! I mean that looks like it will buff right out ;D ps:dragbars!
 
andycafe said:
Shit! I mean that looks like it will buff right out ;D ps:dragbars!

You're right, that should buff out ;) especially this butchered tank, im not sure what someone did to it(half-assed patch?) but it leaks rust water through the metal lol. I did make a small accomplishment this week though! I got the new (to projects) garage cleaned and bought something I have been pining after for a long time! A nice new HF motorcycle lift table ;D No more bending over and sitting on cold cement for ol' Luke now, NO SIR! I bought the nicer wheel chock for the lift and I also have a center jack on the way from fleabay that I will mount up on the lift, should be here Tuesday. Then I will finally start the real work, but for now I can just sit back and enjoy looking at my pretty new toy (lift).








 
You know you can fit a car tyre on the back of these bikes and they handle fine...... 8)


I've got one on my 1500....


IMG_0857_zps6403dbc9.jpg
 
hillsy said:
You know you can fit a car tyre on the back of these bikes and they handle fine...... 8)


I've got one on my 1500....


IMG_0857_zps6403dbc9.jpg

Looks great! Beautiful bike ;) I might consider going that route if I need to change the rear tire on this bike, My Kawasaki Nomad came darkside equipped but the tire was very well worn so I ended up replacing it with some metzlers that I got a sweet deal on.
 
Today was an unusually warm February day so when I got home from work I decided to do a little bit of work and start the electrical nightmare by getting the generator wiring straightened out, the previous owner had 1/2 the wires connected using speaker wire, twisted connections and electrical tape. I took that all out and soldered all the connections, used proper 16ga primary wire and used marine-grade heat shrinks over all the connections and the group of wires as a whole. The result- There is some life to the bike for the first time!! Its a faint heartbeat, but a sign of life none the less! The headlight turns on with the key, and there is also voltage at the connectors for the tail light and rear turn signal running lights. Now the weird one, when I hit the starter switch (with kickstand up) the only thing that happens is the fuel pump turns on (pumping air) nothing else. I have the whole day off tomorrow and the weather is going to be perfect for some bike work and that is what I plan to do.

But if anyone has any ideas about only the fuel pump turning on with the starter switch, please let me know!





 
andycafe said:
Is the neutral switch working?


This ^^^ and there is a side stand switch and a clutch switch that need to be working or else the motor will not crank.


If in doubt, you can just pull the wires on these and connect them together (IE: bypass them).
 
andycafe said:
Is the neutral switch working?

DING DING DING! We have a winner! One of the PO's took the neutral switch apart at one point and forgot to put the contact and spring back in before sealing it up ::)

hillsy said:
This ^^^ and there is a side stand switch and a clutch switch that need to be working or else the motor will not crank.


If in doubt, you can just pull the wires on these and connect them together (IE: bypass them).

The clutch switch was also cut up and mangled by the PO, and this too had to be bypassed, but after I got these two things bypassed THE BIKE ran the starter!! Although it didn't engage.
 
Excellent :) Should be easy enough to pull the starter and give it a service to check the slide :eek: ;D
 
What do you mean by "didn't engage"? Does the starter spin but not the motor? Or does the starter bog down and not turn the motor over? 2 very different scenarios and very different fixes.
 
hillsy said:
What do you mean by "didn't engage"? Does the starter spin but not the motor? Or does the starter bog down and not turn the motor over? 2 very different scenarios and very different fixes.

The starter would spin free without turning the motor, I took the side cover off and quickly fount that the same PO who forgot to put in the neutral switch contact also left out a spacer on the first reduction gear that allowed the gear to become disengaged as soon as the engine fired. I made up a spacer just now on my lathe out of some leftover 17-4, it is 21.5mm long and has an 11mm bore. I am going to try it out before I head to work this morning.

I also ordered up a small parts order with a good amount of random hardware, like a new neutral switch contact. I placed the proper OEM spacer on there that I will use for the final assembly just to be safe.



 
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