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Bringing back flooded Blackbird


MrBadExxample

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I have a chance to purchase a 2002 Blackbird with around 3K miles really cheap. Probable less than $2500. The catch? It's from Pensacola Florida and was flooded during Hurricane Katrina. I don't know much about what happened to it - salt water? fesh water? completely submerged? I need to find out more.

In general terms, what would be needed to make a flooded bird road worthy again. Here's what I've thought of so far.

1. Flush all fluids - gas, oil, brake fluid, clutch fluid, coolant, fork oil (at least a couple of times)

2. Replace the chain and sprockets

3. Remove/Clean all of the fuel injection components

4. Wash and rinse all the exterior parts - wheels, seat, plastics, etc.

5. clean/replace electronics - fuel injection computer, instrument cluster.

6. What else?

Am I high? Is it possible to bring back a flooded bird?

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If it's salt water, then look for corrosion in the fuel tank, as well.

With the likelihood of damaged electronics due to water, I'd steer clear of it. You may end up replacing wiring harnesses, gauges, multiple sensors as well as the ECU, itself before it's all over.

Not to mention if the engine was filled with water, all of it's steel parts will have rusted (crankshaft, rods, gears, valves, cams, springs, etc.).

Could only be a boat anchor depending on the level of "flooding" it received. If the insurance washed their hands clean of it, you can bet on the possibility of major damage, IMO.

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Guest rockmeupto125

Its a roll of the dice. Insurance may have blanketed an area and pretty much paid out all the claims. Or this machine may have been in 2 feet of water...in which case it might be alright. Submerged is a completely different ballgame. Flood vehicles up here have that marked on their title...its similar to salvage, but worse.

Your sealed systems should be safe. Hydraulic systems are well sealed and shouldn't take water. Forks are pretty safe as well. Frankly, your electrics, and water in the engine are the biggest worries. Change your oil first....it will tell you whether or not to continue your mission, or stop right there. Plan to replace the chain, the wheel bearings, and pull the swingarm to clean and regrease.

The biggest problem is corrosion. The sooner you get to it, the better chance you have of salvaging it. But unless I saw it first, and felt very sure that it hadn't been submerged, I wouldn't put more than $1200 into it.

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Agree with Northman,

Look at the problems the 99,00 birds had with a service plug in the harness getting wet. If it was a salt water bath, or fresh for any time at all, you would be best to steer clear.

My view would be that forks, brake lines, clutch lines, should be ok. The calipers are probably corroded. Don't forget the wheel bearings and head bearings. Have these fail while riding, and it will be a big O-Shit.

If water was high enough to get into the engine, forget it.

The plastic may be scratched, from other things floating around a submerged bike. All of this means less return if you have to part it out.

Find out how high the water was, how long it sat, and what was done to the bike after the water went down.

This is one good deal that may cost a fortune. :cry:

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Find out how high the water was, how long it sat, and what was done to the bike after the water went down.

This is one good deal that may cost a fortune. :cry:

Don't count on getting the true story about how deep the water got or any other details. Mine was supposed to have not gotten wet more than 1 foot deep but that was bull crap. Had to replace the ECM and the rear section of the harness.

My advice is to start running now and don't look back. It would be better to buy a newer used bike at a higher cost.

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My opinion is that with all flood vehicles, there's no good news, and that's just the beginning...things go downhill from there. An irreplaceable WWII F4U Corsair had to make a water ditch landing just offshore from Ponce Inlet a few years back. It is now once again an award winning warbird, but at extraordinary cost. It had to be recovered immediately, and was taken to a hangar and COMPLETELY stripped-down to the very last bolt and rivet-thoroughly flushed and cleaned, and reassembled.

Pennsacola is on the gulf coast, so there's a high likelyhood of salt water or brackish water intrusion. I personally wouldn't bother with trying to restore that particular bike, and would look for a better deal.

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Agree with Northman,

Look at the problems the 99,00 birds had with a service plug in the harness getting wet. If it was a salt water bath, or fresh for any time at all, you would be best to steer clear.

My view would be that forks, brake lines, clutch lines, should be ok. The calipers are probably corroded. Don't forget the wheel bearings and head bearings. Have these fail while riding, and it will be a big O-Shit.

If water was high enough to get into the engine, forget it.

The plastic may be scratched, from other things floating around a submerged bike. All of this means less return if you have to part it out.

Find out how high the water was, how long it sat, and what was done to the bike after the water went down.

This is one good deal that may cost a fortune. :cry:

Agree with both. Mine was under fresh for 3 days, but it's carb'd. I'm not selling mine, so the title thing didn't matter. Insurance wrote it, but it got cleaned up, replaced all the fluids and battery, and turned over to see what would happen. It fired right up, but then it got totally stripped and rebuilt. Lots of labor, little on parts, it was done professionally, and cost about a thousand less than what the bike was worth. Wouldn't even go there with FI though.

My $0.02

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Pensacola didn't get a lot of water from Katrina. I live in Pascagoula, MS and we got about 4 ft in my house that's about 3 ft off the ground. Pensacola is about 90 miles east of us. My bike was in my house so it was under 4 ft of saltwater for about 5 hours. The only thing I saved was the Erion exhaust system and the Throttlemeister. There was no water in the gas tank. I let the insurance company have it. No way would I have tried to repair it, just asking for trouble down the road.

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I lived in P-cola for 14 years and depending on where in Pensacola the Bike was during the storm will make a big difference. The downtown area and Historic area are very low and were pretty much completely under water. Also Warrington, were the Naval Air Station is, was under water for the most part also.

There is someone on this board that lives in Pensacola if you can locate them they will probably check out the Bike for you as long as it is not the Bike in question to begin with.

I still have a good friend that lives there that I might be able to get him to stop by and take a look at the Bike for you if needed.

Let me know if I can help.

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water will only damage electrical components if they are on at the time, you may well laugh at what i'm about to tell you but here goes......my laptop got a spill of coke a while back on the keyboard it wasn't a lot but enough to shut it down, i tried switch cleaners solvents and all sorts of things to no avail, I then experimented with a contaminated area on the plastic cover and realised that the cleaners and solvents didn't work on the coke, they just turned it into a gooy mess but what did work was soap and water, so out came the dish washing gear and i washed the motherboard with fairy liquid and water in the sink then rinsed with the running tap, then i used high pressure air to blow all the water off and dried it with a hair dryer, reassembled and it worked first time, no problems at all, like new...........I'm typing on it now, so the moral of the story is that water only does damage it the eqipment is on due to shorting. The ECU on the bike is probably sealed so water can't get in there, the rest of the electrics should be ok, some plugs relays and connectors may need to be cleaned, you may have to replace the relays etc, every thing else should be well sealed including inside the engine and the braking system, they are designed to keep fluids in so they will keep fluids out, the air filter and inlet side may need some cleaning but injectors and fuel system should be sealed enough to avoid contamination, you may have problems with bearings etc if it was salt water and wasn't washed off immediately due to corrosion.

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In the case of the electronics if the battery was disconnected you'd have little or no problems. I'm betting most people wouldn't think to do this when leaving.

I once got a brand new computer when I was in collage for free. It had "water damage" it had some sprayed on it I let it dry for days before I tried it and it worked find but couldn't get rid of the soot or the burnt smell. I accually washed them all with liquid hand soap and water in the tub. I cases I cleaned with oven cleaner(I was too lazy to scrub) the computer worked fine but still retained a weird burnt smell...

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Also do not forget that if there was water inside the cylinders and somebody tried to fire it up, the con-rods might ne bent due to hydraulic pressure.

If the bike was submerged for days, I doubt that the ECU and the clocks are ok.

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I've been following this thread not knowing what I would do.

If I positively knew the water stayed below the height of the airbox and I got the bike for say $1500 I'd do it.

If the water had a week to flow into the engine through the airbox and especially if it was salt water, forget it.

What's just the insturment pod cost? Headlight shell is $300.

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If there was salt water or contaminated fresh water (which I would venture assuming), the wiring harnesses will be toast. Marine harnesses, intended for exposure to generally more harsh elements than automotive harnesses, are replaced upon submersion. In attempts to save a customer some money, I have tried to clean and re-use... and the resulting t/s time and downstream failures, and eventually electrical failure of a harness makes it a false economy. Perhaps some would risk an electrical fire on their motorcycle, but the reality is not the least bit amusing on a boat. Consider that much of your high-amperage electricals reside directly under the seat and just below the fuel tank/fuel lines/aft of the fuel delivery system.

If salt water, much of the metal that was wet and then dried will have significant instances of corrosion. This is not a significant issue if surface corrosion on a frame or connecting rod, but for a bearing surface, cylinder wall, or fork tube, it will create problems. Unfortunately, water is equally invasive to all parts unless sealed or pressurized. Not knowing the dynamics of an XX motor, I can't venture to comment - but I've seen flood engines that kept water out by intentional or unintentional design. As the water level rose, air inlets prevented water intrusion. In other cases, I've seen water get into an engine, float the oil to the top of the crankcase, and only corrode the oil pan and external areas of the crank below the bearing line. But I wouldn't gamble on this being the case.

Places where dissimilar metals were connected - steel screws in aluminum, steel bearing races set into aluminum, etc - these may be fused to each other . Bearings tend to become a fused mess if they sat for any time. Wrist pins can "become one" with the piston and rod. Light bulbs will likely be fused into the sockets. Imagine this scenario - anywhere that metal meets metal is welded together via corrosion or electrolytic process - throughout the entire engine, transmission, and frame. I'm not saying this WILL be the case, but it is possible.

Sealed electronics units should be fine unless they were energized while externally shorted. Keep in mind that the previous mention of "water will only damage electrical components if they are on at the time" only holds true with clean water, and if the situation is properly attended to immediately. Introduce contaminated or salt water, water that is in an electrical/chemical field (remember the battery, both the electricity and the acid), then let the corrosive forces work on the metals of a pc board, wiring, microchip connections, relay and switch contacts... so if submerged, the gauge cluster is likely gone.

Dependent on the level of submersion, it is doable. Not knowing that, and not being able to determine the circumstances and duration of the exposure, it's a project I wouldn't take on if it was on my own dime - and I have recovered and repaired dozens of sunken boats, from small outboards to 50 foot yachts.

If you bought it and found that it was worst-case, you MAY be able to part it - the good and salvageable parts - and recover your investment. A best-case scenario would be low water level in fresh water, rinsed and dried soon after; maybe a couple of oil changes and ride it. A large disparity between possible results.

The tires should be good.

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Thanks everyone for the advice so far. The flooded bike is owned by a salvage dealer who doesn't know much about it or the conditions of its flooding. As you might imagine the salvage yards in the South are pretty full of Katrina losses. Anyway I think the max I would bid on it is $1300 or so. Even if I can't get it running again, I figure I could dismantle it, sell the good parts and get most of my money back.

If I do get it the bike, I'll partially dismantle it and meticiuosly inspect it. Then I can estimate how much money and effort would be needed to get it running again. If the total bill (bike + parts) comes in under $3200 or so I think I'll try to restore it. I suppose the biggest risk is getting halfway through the project before realizing how screwed I am.

If any of y'all are near Pensacola and are willing to check out the bike, send me a PM. I'd try and make it worth your while.

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