Initial Purchase and Plan

Feb. 23, 2011.  In my quest to buy a reasonable project motorcycle, I picked up a 1986 Yamaha YX600 Radian that looks to be in pretty decent condition.  The bike seems to have been kept mainly indoors, and was running when I viewed it.  Bought the bike for $500, with title, and brought it back to my apartment to start hacking away (much thanks to Russ K. for helping transport it via a flatbed trailer).  Below are a few pictures of the motorcycle the day after purchase.

In terms of overall condition, most of the original components are there, albeit some in rough condition, and are more or less functional.  As I said, the bike was running at the time of purchase, but there was possibly a gas leak near the petcock, as well as a good amount of smoke coming from near the crankcase.  The engine ran reasonably well, but the carburetors are still coming off for a good cleaning.  Aesthetically, one of the previous owners had sprayed what seems to be black engine spray paint all over many of the previously chrome and aluminum parts, so that looks borderline hideous.  The aim is to bead blast or chemically strip all of that paint off, and bring as many of the parts to original condition as possible.  I plan on keeping as many of the stock components as possible, through cleaning/reworking, and will replace whatever needs to be as work progresses.

So, the end goal of all is this to get the Radian in good running condition as a reliable daily driver, as well as have it look reasonably presentable in as close to stock form as possible.  I have found an excellent website created by Radian owners that contains a vast amount of information on the YX600, including past articles about the bike, service/owners manuals, and much more.  I plan on referring to the information from this site quite often, give it a look.

Bad Rad 600