What your bike can look like if you do it right....

Hi Everybody,
I wanted to express thanks to everyone that has helped me restore my bike. It has taken a lot of time and money but man was it worth it.
If you take the time to do it right you can have an awesome bike. My bike probably runs better than when it left the showroom 31 years ago. Below the photo's is a list of everything I did to this bike after I got it. Here are some photos of my bike for those that may be interested....






What has been done to my 1982 XJ550 Maxim:

Rebuilt front forks
Replaced front brake pads
Replaced rear brake shoes
Replaced cut off switch assembly
Adjusted chain tension
Cleaned and lubed chain
Installed in line fuel filter
Replaced stock oil filter with conversion kit for screw on type filter
Changed oil
Replaced headlight bracket with new OEM part
Replaced blinker switch assembly
Added Battery Tender
Installed new glass mat battery
Added Tool Pouch
Adjusted Valves
Replaced valve cover gasket
Repaired stripped bolts on valve covers
Added windshield
Repaired Tach. cable leak
Replaced grips
Replaced throttle tube
Replaced both tires (new)
Shimmed front brake caliper
Had carbs professionally rebuilt buffed and polished
Synced carbs
Color tuned carbs
Changed plugs
Replaced brake reservoir gasket and screws
Added new rubber for all footrests and shifter
Installed new rear shocks
Replaced Lic. Plate light fixture and bulb
Replaced front wheel bearings and axle parts
Replaced rear wheel bearings and axle parts
Added sissy bar (new reupholstered backrest pad)
Replaced rear tail light lens and gaskets
Replaced rear blinkers (new)
Changed air filter
Changed gas and vac. Lines
Replaced both side covers
Added new petcock on tank
Rebuilt gas cap
Adjusted Cam chain tension
Had both side covers and tank professionally painted
Replaced both rubber seat retainers
Replaced both sets of side cover grommets
Added chrome tank edge trim
Replaced Fuse box with modern type fuse box
Went through and replaced some of the wiring harness
Replaced and repaired all stripped or missing screws and bolts found on bike that I could find.
Replaced whole front brake system with steel line, master cylinder, all new bolts, rotor, electric to MC, brake lever, rebuilt caliper, etc.
Replaced both mufflers with NOS originals. (not easy to find, took me months but I got both of them along with new muffler gaskets).
Replaced clutch lever, with new wiring harness to clutch electrical.
Replaced brake and clutch lever boots.
Reupholstered the seat with an original NOS seat cover.
Replaced Starter Motor
Replaced Horn with a new one.
Replaced Tach with NOS.
Lubed all cables.

 

Bike looks great, dude, shame you wimped out on the carbs & painting. Wiz.

 

Looks great!! Hope my 550 runs that good someday!

 

Looks great!

I really have to track down a backrest... One just like that... did you fab that?

 

Thanks I think...
I sure wouldn't call it wimped out. I wanted the best and I know my limitations so I would call it being smart. I am very happy with my decision of letting a couple others do what they do best.

 

You will get there too. It takes a while and some bucks but when you do.... Wow! It is awesome!

 

I got lucky but here is how....
I watched for a sissy bar for my bike for about 3 months on eBay. I checked every evening. One day there it was, a sissy bar for a 1982 XJ550 maxim. Talk about happy.... I got it for $15 plus shipping. It was completely painted black but under the paint was the gorgeous chrome so I removed all the black paint using aluminum foil. I then had to have a local guy reupholster the back rest. Also had to have some stainless steel spacers made up. It was a bit of work but worth it. My wife loves it! Just keep an eye on eBay daily and you will come across one eventually.

 

* denotes everything I've done as well with the addition of the following:
SS brake lines
Valve cover gasket
Carb to cylinder boots
seat cover
fuse box upgrade

This sounds like the appropriate amount of repairs/upkeep needed to keep 30 year old bikes on the road. Glad to see that you've spent the time and money to properly maintain your ride.

 

Cool RangerG,
Yes the Valve cover gasket was also replaced I just did list it because it was replaced when I did the Valve adjustment. The carb boots, Seat and fuses were already done by the previous owner. I haven't done the brake lines because they are in perfect working order but I do plan on changing them out along with a new exhaust also.
I felt the same way. It seamed like the appropriate amount of repairs needed. Once I started restoring this bike, I just couldn't stop. It felt right.

 

Awesome job...I think you should rescue another XJ...Try to beat Big Fitz for detailed restoration on your next bike. I gotta warn you though, Fitz has some attention to detail!!!

 

Ya no, I am not going to try and beat Fitz. His bikes are awesome.
I will however continue to try and get this bike up to Fitz's standards over the next couple of years.

 

Harder to do for others, but here you go!

 

Thanks Metal Bob for putting those pictures of my bike up but now how the heck did you do that?

 

You can put photos on here by using the tags.

You type ["img"] (don't put the quotes!) then put the image URL (from photobucket or whatnot. Can't do it with pics from your computer harddrive) like you did, then type ["/img"] again without the quotes, but with the square brackets.

[img]your_pic_url

 

Okay this is a test....

 

Nope didn't work. Crap!
I give up. I will stick to just using the links.

 

I checked your code and the problem was that your urls were wrong. They got the "..." in them. Paste the whole url from photobucket between the tags and you've got it!

 

Here we go, I used the wrong code all together. Thanks guys!

 

mine looks nothing like that, I must have done something wrong.
did you keep track of what all that cost ?

 

Yes, but I would rather not think about it. I look at it this way... A brand new bike around this cc would start in the $6000 range these days and I didn't spend near that. Plus, when these bikes first came out I can remember them being a big deal. I really wanted one but it wasn't in the cards back then, so now I have a bike that I wanted for a long time, spent half of what a new one would run me, I got to learn a lot about these bikes maintenance, it now runs and looks like new and I got the gratification of doing most of the restore myself, so for me, it was worth every penny.

 

Plus it's really cool having a "Brand New" 30-year old bike to ride around on; not to mention that it should now be nearly as reliable as stock, if not moreso.

Good work. You missed ONE thing; but I won't delve into it here (plus I haven't finished the article yet.)

 

front brake line?

 

It's a 550-specific thing; that's not it and guessing will do no good, honest.

 

Thanks Fitz. I may or may not have missed it. When putting the list together I went by memory so I may have forgotten to write it down. I know of a couple things that are not finished yet but that I will get to in the near future. Hope you share the miss with me on a PM.

 

No worries; and there is an article on it in the works.

(I just couldn't resist.)

 

i was just curious that's all, i never kept track of what i spent on mine

 

30 year old brake lines didn't make the list? LOL

 

Niiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiice.

Dave

 

Brake line and master cylinder are on the to do list but haven't done them yet. The front brake is in perfect working order and this bike only has 12,000 miles on it. I plan on doing the line, master cylinder even the rotor eventually. I also plan on changing out the entire exhaust. I did all this work in 2 1/2 months. This is enough for this year. The weather is getting better and it is time to have fun!

 

Thanks Dave!

 

wow, that is awesome! They are timeless classic bikes aren't they?? Still look good today and I think a great ride. Nice windshield too, is that the Hellfire?

Mike

 

The Windshield is a S-06 SPITFIRE.....
http://www.slipstreamer.com/Product/Sport/sport.html

 

That's awesome. I'd love to get my bike to look like that. I'll settle with half as good. Good work!

 

Old thread but still worth the kudos that is great job and money well spent.

 

Beautiful machine these ... absolute credit to you, looks amazing ... nice touch spray painting your dog a matching shade of black

 

I bought an 82 XJ550 little more than a month ago. 7800 miles. The problem is that it was sitting in a garage for 9 years.

Your list of changes is daunting. My bike is in decent running shape. I took it to a mechanic who specializes in older bikes. He gave it a 15 minute look over and didn't find anything that needed urgent attention.

I plan to get it back to him for front brake work ASAP.

After that, I'm going to begin to get many of the changes you list done on my bike. It won't happen all at once or maybe even in the same year. But, I love this bike and want it to be safe and reliable.

I also have a honda 599 which is a great street bike. I've only ridden it a couple of times since getting the XJ.

 

You need to be very careful. These bikes are 30 years old and you can't go by just mileage. It wouldn't matter if it had only 2 miles on it; things are going to be worn out or dirty, etc.... For example..... My bike only had 11,000 miles on it but when I went in to check the rear and front bearings I found them to be rusty pebbles. I got real lucky that I didn't have an accident because those bearings were gone.
Anyway, take your time but note that you need to visually check everything yourself. You can't always trust a mechanic today to check out a 30 year old bike. A lot of changes have been made over the years.
Best of luck....
Old Biker Dude!

My bike needed more work than I thought. Glad I did everything.

 

Cosmetically, my bike is in like-new condition. But I understand that things need to get checked, replaced, etc.

What is the priority of things to check or get replaced?

Front brake is 1st on my list because it's soft. Gonna have a braided line installed.

It has new tires, new battery. New plugs, plug wires. I just changed the oil/filter today.

Would these items be next in priority?
Front pads while braided line is installed
Rear brake shoes
Replaced front wheel bearings and axle parts
Replaced rear wheel bearings and axle parts
Check front forks, change oil

What next or what should be done before the items above?

Carbs were supposedly cleaned and tuned before I bought it. But, I still think they need to at least be re-sync'd maybe even re-cleaned, sync'd. Don't know when the valves were last adjusted.

Anyway, thanks for the words of caution. I'm have a hoot riding the thing, but I do need to get some of this work done soon.

 

What you listed is pretty much it.
You need to do all of the things you listed and also do the valves before any sync or colortune work.
Once you get these things taken care of you are probably safe from any really bad things happening. Do make sure your tires are still good tread wise.

 

Hey OBD,

I think I have the exact backrest as you, just need it re-upholstered lol, could you send me a pic of how you have it mounted on the rear of the grabrail? any problems with the helmet/seat lock access? Thanks!

Marcel

 

Mine is on a 550 yours is a 650. Different machine. Mine was made for a 550 so it doesn't interfere with anything. Not sure on your 650. Just need to use a longer grab rail bolt with a spacer to mount it.

 

I know they're different,

But the fact that your backrest is adjustable and has multiple holes in the rear of the mount leads me to believe that it's a universal like mine. I was just wondering how you had did the spacers, thats all.

 

Just did a reupholster on my seat. (Not shown in the pictures.)
Man I was lucky to get an NOS OEM Seat for my XJ550.
It is a tacky material which is really nice because you don't slide around at all and boy does it look sharp. Put a little extra padding in there also. Made it even nicer to ride. Still looking for an NOS OEM Muffler for the left side. If anyone knows of one somewhere please let me know.

 

Good luck on that one (the muffler.) PN 5K5-14710-00-00; have fun.

Hey, I found another finishing touch and reliability improvement I'll bet you don't have (yet.) I'm gonna do a photo-thing on it (them) real soon.

Stay tuned.

 

Hey, I got the right side one. I know they are rare but sooner or later the left one will turn up. Looking forward to seeing what you are talking about.

 

holy batman, old thread, but nice job none the less. how's it holding up three years later?

 

Thanks! It is great!.... I used mostly NOS parts and my bike is as good as new or better. I ride it even during the winter months. I ride as much as I can. It fires right up and runs like a brand new bike. I put a lot of time and money into it but it was well worth it.

 

No doubt, Dude. What a beauty!

Mine's the same bike (minus all the work!) and I must say you've given me profound inspiration. Many thanks!