1999 busa. Been sitting for 17yrs

[Slayer0fM0ms]

Hey everyone, new here and wanted to introduce myself. I just picked up a 1999 hayabusa with 20k miles that has been sitting 17yrs. Just curious what everyone's go to first things to check, replace, or upgrade before trying to fire it up would be.
Short version of a long story, this was my uncle's bike. He bought it brand new and it was his baby, first bike I ever rode, and really sparked my passion for bikes growing up around it. Unfortunately he lost his battle with his inner-demons last year and his wife sold the bike without any of us knowing. I was able to track it down and buy it back! My goal is to revive it, paint and plastics are in amazing condition, but there is a lot of severely corroded aluminum.
Main issues so far
1: The foot pegs are basically dust.
2: the starter covers are corroded and brittle, the smaller cover has a hole rotted through it.
3: It looks like fuel or some other corrosive fluid has been slowly leaking down the left side of the bike and has severally corroded shift linkage and kickstand.
4: clutch and brake lines (rubber ones) have rotted and leaked fluid out.
5: its sat for 17yrs so obviously everything needs gone through with a fine tooth comb.

 

[HayaWakened]

Sounds like a fun adventure with a rare bike. Good luck on the project and welcome to the forum!

 

[sixpack577]

Cool
Do you have any pictures?

That's going to be Alot of work.
With at least new, brake lines, master cylinders rebuilt, calipers rebuilt, and brake pads.
www.brakecrafters.com
new brake lines(get stainless steel aftermarket)
Inspect the rotor buttons, and rotor run-out for warpage.
New tires and valve stems.
Inspect wheel bearings, steering neck bearings, and swingarm bearings.
Fork seals.
Probably a chain, and maybe sprockets.
Air filter and oil change.
Clutch line, clutch cylinder rebuild and clutch master cylinder rebuild.
Throttle bodies, fuel rail, and fuel injectors cleaned, and throttle body o-rings under their boots isn't a bad idea either, as well as check the boots for dry-rot cracks.
The 99 fuel pump can be upgraded a couple of ways.
The gas tank was hopefully stored empty too, but the fuel system will need gone through.
I would remove the spark plugs and spray penatrating oil in the cylinders...alot, and let it sit overnight, then manually turn the engine.
Piston rings can stick to cylinder walls over time, and if you try to start the engine normally, the torque from the starter can break a piston ring.
Chances are that the valve cover gasket is weeping too, just enough to make things scuzzy, use a Small amount of silicone on it when replacing it.
Lube the throttle cables.
Flush the radiator, white vinegar and distilled water, 2-3 times until it flows out clear, and Engjne Ice is a good replacement.
Waterpump seal and gasket, as well as thermostat, oil-cooler o-rings, and exhaust gaskets are all inexpensive and worth doing while you're doing the rest.
Use a torque wrench, and anti-sieze or thread locker on most fasteners.
That should get you started...
Once they sit a while, they go downhill, and brake fluid becomes caustic and eats seals.
I've brought a few back from the dead over the years, so always be prepared for suprises.

Welcome to the org

 

[Slayer0fM0ms]

Sounds like a fun adventure with a rare bike. Good luck on the project and welcome to the forum!

Thank you! I'm excited and figured starting here would help me do this bike the right way!

 

[Slayer0fM0ms]

Cool
Do you have any pictures?

That's going to be Alot of work.
With at least new, brake lines, master cylinders rebuilt, calipers rebuilt, and brake pads.
www.brakecrafters.com
new brake lines(get stainless steel aftermarket)
Inspect the rotor buttons, and rotor run-out for warpage.
New tires and valve stems.
Inspect wheel bearings, steering neck bearings, and swingarm bearings.
Fork seals.
Probably a chain, and maybe sprockets.
Air filter and oil change.
Clutch line, clutch cylinder rebuild and clutch master cylinder rebuild.
Throttle bodies, fuel rail, and fuel injectors cleaned, and throttle body o-rings under their boots isn't a bad idea either, as well as check the boots for dry-rot cracks.
The 99 fuel pump can be upgraded a couple of ways.
The gas tank was hopefully stored empty too, but the fuel system will need gone through.
I would remove the spark plugs and spray penatrating oil in the cylinders...alot, and let it sit overnight, then manually turn the engine.
Piston rings can stick to cylinder walls over time, and if you try to start the engine normally, the torque from the starter can break a piston ring.
Chances are that the valve cover gasket is weeping too, just enough to make things scuzzy, use a Small amount of silicone on it when replacing it.
Lube the throttle cables.
Flush the radiator, white vinegar and distilled water, 2-3 times until it flows out clear, and Engjne Ice is a good replacement.
Waterpump seal and gasket, as well as thermostat, oil-cooler o-rings, and exhaust gaskets are all inexpensive and worth doing while you're doing the rest.
Use a torque wrench, and anti-sieze or thread locker on most fasteners.
That should get you started...
Once they sit a while, they go downhill, and brake fluid becomes caustic and eats seals.
I've brought a few back from the dead over the years, so always be prepared for suprises.

Welcome to the org

This is the only one I have atm. I will get some more this evening.
The shop that bought it from my "aunt" replaced the rotting starter covers and gears with the 03+ so one of the first things I want to do is the 03+starter and case saver. Figure when it comes time to start the bike after replacing hoses etc, it's going to be a hard start and don't want to risk damaging the case.
Thanks for the input, before I ever ride it I plan to reseal/rebuild the forks, master cylinders, calipers, etc. Basically anything hydraulic. Just wanted to make sure I knew of any "common" issues to checkout before trying to fire it or even turn it over!

 

[sixpack577]

The 1999 and 2000 ecu are the same, the 2001 is it's own, and they cannot be flashed.
The 02-07 ecu's can, and the 99-01 can be upgraded to it with a few small changes.

 

[Bumblebee]

Welcome,

You have big and daunting task ahead of you...17yrs of sitting is very hard on anything let alone an Fi bike where fuel sits in the system and gums it up.

Good job in finding it and plans to resurrecting it...

 

[Hayabusa4life]

aboard.
Very nice story, good luck on rebuilding, keep us posted

 

[Slayer0fM0ms]

Thanks everyone for the responses! I'm thrilled to have gotten the bike back, just in time too as the shop that bought was beginning to order parts for a drag bike build. I definitely plan to remain active and post progress updates, and or ask way too many questions.
I'm a design engineer, grew up wrenching, and my early career was a welder. My dad and I also build show cars as a hobby, hemi swapped 73 amc javelin, 2.3l ecoboost swapped 47 dodge truck, and a few others. I've owned many bikes, but never FI, and never one this "far gone".
I've spent most of the day so far researching in the forum and building a list of things to check and essentially mods. i.e. the 03+ starter, gears, billet pins, covers, and case saver. Although sourcing parts seems to be a bit of a struggle. So if anyone has any insight on starter parts to upgrade from the 99 to 03+ I'd appreciate it!

 

[LC4CARL]

Is there a way to "pre-lube" these prior to start-up? Like putting the oil pump drive on a drill motor with a Chevy?

I've read that long-term storage cars make better museum pieces than driver's. But for the right person, it's quite a find.

 

[TallTom]

Is there a way to "pre-lube" these prior to start-up? Like putting the oil pump drive on a drill motor with a Chevy?

I've read that long-term storage cars make better museum pieces than driver's. But for the right person, it's quite a find.

You can pull the fuel injection fuse and crank it over until the oil pressure light goes out.

 

[Slayer0fM0ms]

You can pull the fuel injection fuse and crank it over until the oil pressure light goes out.

I'm planning to pull the plugs and spray penetrating lube in the cylinders, after it sits for awhile, I'll be cranking it no fuel and plugs out.

 

[TallTom]

Thanks everyone for the responses! I'm thrilled to have gotten the bike back, just in time too as the shop that bought was beginning to order parts for a drag bike build. I definitely plan to remain active and post progress updates, and or ask way too many questions.
I'm a design engineer, grew up wrenching, and my early career was a welder. My dad and I also build show cars as a hobby, hemi swapped 73 amc javelin, 2.3l ecoboost swapped 47 dodge truck, and a few others. I've owned many bikes, but never FI, and never one this "far gone".
I've spent most of the day so far researching in the forum and building a list of things to check and essentially mods. i.e. the 03+ starter, gears, billet pins, covers, and case saver. Although sourcing parts seems to be a bit of a struggle. So if anyone has any insight on starter parts to upgrade from the 99 to 03+ I'd appreciate it!

Keep us updated here with pics and progress reports. We can advise, cheer and learn with you. I've never heard of any bike that ate through rubber etc and ate out metal. I'll want to learn from that.

 

[TallTom]

I'm planning to pull the plugs and spray penetrating lube in the cylinders, after it sits for awhile, I'll be cranking it no fuel and plugs out.

Buy a cheap endoscope and inspect cylinders and fuel tanks with it. If you don't have a rust issue in the cylinders you can mist them with ATF and or MMO.

 

[Berteric.]

Been there, done that. Here's my 99er which I managed to purchase last year with only 4000 miles. This one had also stood still for a very long time. And indeed, as Sixpack already indicated, double check everything. especially the main fuel lines, mine were rotten, they snapped and emptied an entire tank of gas.
Good luck and keep us informed.

 

[Slayer0fM0ms]

Been there, done that. Here's my 99er which I managed to purchase last year with only 4000 miles. This one had also stood still for a very long time. And indeed, as Sixpack already indicated, double check everything. especially the main fuel lines, mine were rotten, they snapped and emptied an entire tank of gas.
Good luck and keep us informed.

Wow!!! What a gorgeous bike! We will see how well this old girl shines after a good wash.

 

[Slayer0fM0ms]

Keep us updated here with pics and progress reports. We can advise, cheer and learn with you. I've never heard of any bike that ate through rubber etc and ate out metal. I'll want to learn from that.

I haven't either, I'll post pics of the corrosion tonight. Closest thing I've ever seen was Gallium contamination..... Could be something my uncle used for cleaning contributing to the decay. He was an old school set in his ways type of guy and if he had learned some "old school" method i.e. (kerosene for removing bugs and tar) then he'd never change his ways.....

 

[LC4CARL]

When I was 15 I pulled grandma's '65 Galaxy from the barn, put a "bit" of kerosene in each hole, waited a day, then turned it over. The eight individual jets of solvent going over the fenders was impressive...

 

[michael parris heuberger]

I haven't either, I'll post pics of the corrosion tonight. Closest thing I've ever seen was Gallium contamination..... Could be something my uncle used for cleaning contributing to the decay. He was an old school set in his ways type of guy and if he had learned some "old school" method i.e. (kerosene for removing bugs and tar) then he'd never change his ways.....

Hi. Do a leak down test. I have had piston rings that sat in one sport damage the cylinders walla. One that I had was so bad that honeing did not clean it up and I had to junk the block.

 

[Slayer0fM0ms]

Here are a few pics of the corrosion I had mentioned.
Confirmed that both front and rear brakes function and are holding fluid (very old and brown though)
Clutch master is empty.
Fuel tank is currently empty and looks relatively clean inside, however it appears there was fuel in it that had leaked out as the foam packed around the fuel pump has been reduced to some sort of gummy residue.....