I am currently building a trike and have used the Yamaha xj650 turbo engine for the power plant. I live in England and over here this bike was not such a common machine. What I need to know is can any of you identify the model of the engine i have and help me to locate a manual in order that i can rebuild the engine. I think the engine is 1982. I really need some help with this one as I intend to replace the turbo with a garrut turbo and need to determine a number of things such as what is the best place to take the oil feed for the turbo bearing, and where to return it to the engine.
Hope someone out there can help,
All the best
Rick. :rolleyes:

If you have a 650 turbo engine, you already have the oil feed and return lines. The one on the left side of the engine running from the front- left of the crankcase is the feed line, and the one on the bottom of the turbo leading back to the crankcase is the return line. 1992 and 83 engines are identical, I believe, as the only thing I am aware of that they changed from one year to the next is the diameter of the forks. The 82 went out the door with only 7psi of boost. The 83 had an upgraded turbo system which went up to 12psi (I think). Anyway, you can take off the wastegate line and plug it, as there is a 15psi blowoff valve in the surge tank which will prevent overboosting

The more info you put out here, the better we can help. Any numbers that we can use would be helpful. Motorcycle vin, engine ID, etc...

Hello Gents, thanks for taking the time to reply to my original question.
I think the first step is to identify what moter I have the engine number is 11T001436. I hope this helps.
The problem I face is the engine didnt come with the original turbo and this is the reason I am using a Garrut unit. I think the spec of the unit is almost the same as the yamaha turbo perhaps the fixed dump valve setting on the garrut unit is a couple of psi higher. This is the main reson I need to find a manual so I can understand the plumbing and configuration of the original unit. Trying to find information in England about a turbo charged motorcycle engine is almost impossible, were not to adventurious over here.
I will look closley at the engine and try to establish the feed line you sugest under the engine but i have to date only seen the ports on the front of the engine which sends and returns feed to the oil cooler at the front of the machine. The nature of what I am constructing has meant that I have spent many hours at the auto jumble sales and so everything is still a little fragmented although coming together.
When I saw this little Yamaha unit I knew this was the engine for me, despite its age, and with a little discussion from your side of the great pond we might just get there.
If you guys know where I can get a HAYNES or CLYMER manual to strip the engine I will happly send a cheque to cover costs. Or can you get me a Manual Identification number I can order one this side.


Once again thanks,
Rick

I have the Haynes manual - not sure if it covers the turbo model or not - they show up on ebay for a few dollars relatively often.

If I remember ( feel free to remind me ) I will look in my collection to see what I have that might help you find it.

Cheers,
woot

What part of England - all my family is Suffolk area - was over for a ride in the Peak District with some fellow XJ riders in 2002... great crew. We ended up stopping at an uncountable number of pubs near bath. One was the Cat and the Fiddle I seem to remember... Tissington, Nottingham, around the lakes they did the dam busting training...

XJ650LJ 16G-000101 100000 16G 1982 TURBO
XJ650LJ 17Y-000101 010000 17Y 1982 TURBO
XJ650LJ 16H-000101 050000 16H 1982 TURBO
XJ650LK 16H-050101 060000 16H 1983 TURBO
XJ650LK 16G-100101 110000 16G 1983 TURBO

Looks like you need a motor with a number starting 16G, 16H or 17Y

Thanks for the help,
well the engine numbers are turning out to be a bit of a mystry, I will have to look further into that.

MacMcMacmac - you said that the turbo feed lines run on the underside of the engine, are these actual pipes or are they a part of the casting. Is it possile you could mail me a digital photo.
Sorry to be such a pain but after many years of building streetfighter specials I think I may have found an engine thats got me beat, however I hope this is not the case.

Woot - I live neer Lincoln within the heart of Lincolnshire about 10K from where the 617 squadron dambusters took off.
As for the cat and fiddle run I know it very well and ride it often on my 1200cc Suzuki Bandit. I glad you enjoyed the ride over here as the english bike scene is very friendly and I am yet to find any english twisting roads I dont enjoy riding on.

once again thanks for the help, Im sure I will have a thousand more questions before I am finished.
Rick

I have a copy of the 1982 Yamaha Maxim/Seca 650, MAXIM 750 manual. It covers the Turbo 650 with diagrams and maintance help.

It is LIT-16010-10 (didn't see an IBSN) from Yamaha Canada.

I have the Haynes manual XJ650 & 750 fours from1980 to 1984. It does not cover the turbo models. There maybe a claymor book but I don't have it it seems.

Cheers,
woot.

A picture would be useless, since it is a black pipe against a black engine, and would not show up very well. But here is ther general shape of the pipes. Notice the fitting on the front of the lower one in the picture. This is what screws into the crankcase.

Oil Lines for Turbo

I am wondering if you weren't sold a regular XJ engine with a turbo thrown in.

Gents,
Thanks again for the time you have spent with me trying to sort this problem. Woot- thanks for your information and MacMcMacmac you have been a star, the diagram you sent has enabled me to establish the oil lines and was a great help. I have a turbo engine and I still have to research the numbers on the top case but that is the least of the problems. Is the disc advertised on the site worth buying?. I am now confident that I can breath new life into the old girl. This is quite a unique project where I live and if your interested I will mail some pictures of the machine as she grows. I hope you both dont mind if I bombard you with questions as I go along, as turbo engines are quite new to me, I normally work with RB211 jet engines and Avon Jet engines onboard a gas compression platform in the middle of the southern north sea. Guys its been a pleasure talking to you both and I never thought I would have to communicate with Canada for my information on these engines, but hey aint the internet a wonderful thing. Should you ever build a bike with an Avon or RB211 bolted into the frame I am your man to talk to, however you may need some serious brakes all round. I think our next conversations will be around fuel pumps, scavange systems, and carburation.

Take care,
Rick :D

I don't own a copy of the disc, however, a fella I know does and he assures me I should have brought it years ago. It is a cheap way to get a huge wealth of information... seriously buy it.

I've been meaning to buy it but I just did the math and have spent more than $2000 on gas so far this year... time for me to stay home a bit more ;)

Cheers,
woot.

As I suspected, the number code provided says that you have a normally aspirated 82 XJ650 engine, built for the European market (cd has all model and engine codes on it). XJ Codes

Thanks,
I can see where your coming from,
I think the top case is off a standard xj and has been put onto a turbo engine. The cooling fins on this unit are deeper and it has a longer oil cooler as well as all of the ports on the bottom crankcase for the oil feeds. I have 2 other standard xj lumps and their cooling fins are smaller and the cooler is a couple of rows shorter. Also the turbo engine has the YICS identification on the covers and also appears to hold about 0.5 litre more oil than the other lumps. I guess i wont know until I get the engine into bits, but I am praying that someone has used a turbo engine with the standard top case in order to save them updating the documentation. I have the registration documents for the machine but they dont go into that much detail it will be interesting to see what I find.

Rick

Well, that's certainly possible. The turbo head had deeper cooling fins, as you say, and also those two bolt-on wind deflectors on the outer edges to grab more cooling air. I find British motorcyclists are head and shoulders above most riders over here for their willingness to tinker, as well as put miles on their machines, so what you say is not an unlikely scenario. I admire the spirit of British bikers, and their never-say-die atitude to riding in all weather and keeping their bikes on the road. Too bad for us though, all the good bikes from the 80's were shipped over to you by the container load. I wouldn't be surprised if my XJ900 is over there! You have it a lot better in terms of dealers too. Some over here won't even work on anything over 10 years old. I love looking through the back pages of Motorcycle Mechanics and reading all the ads for places like Halco who specialize in older stuff. If the turbo route turns into a money pit, remember, a 900 crank drops right in, and 900 barrels will fit with some mild relieveing with a die grinder.
Apparently, the 650 turbo cases are the strongest of the lot.

Your right there were a number of outlets selling imported machines for the road, but a good number of them are bought by specialised breakers and resold as parts all over the world. The problem with most riders over here is they all want to to buy the high power Jap stuff I must admit to falling victm to the rat race myself and own a 1200 Suzuki Bandit. However the ability to lose your licence over here is so easy with police forces generating masive amounts of money out of speed cameras, hence the reson I have started to build this trike. I also agree that we like to tinker and get the machines into good condition and fast, where I live there is a road racing circuit within 20K and all of us lads have spent many a happy few years of our life thinking we were the next Barry Sheene, racing production bikes from 250cc up to the 1200cc. For my own sins I purchesed a new 1000cc Suzuki Katana in 1982 and rode it into the ground at that circuit in the open class racing, how I survived I will never know but they were some of the best years of my life. I have had the privledge of being a passanger in an F2 sidecar outfit at the Isle of Man TT 10 years ago. (an experience not to be missed or repeated) Yes god dam it, your right we bloody love our motorcycles and long will it remain that way.
I can tell from this forum that you guys are all the same as us and total enjoy the bike scene, It becomes a part of your life and not just something we do. Try selling your machines and go without one, see how long you last! not long.
Its a pleasure to talk to people like yourselves we all have a little something to contribute to the fabric of life, perhaps this is our contribution. As for the 650 I am far from beaten yet and if all turns out well I should be able to put it right. I still cannot find a manual for the 650 Turbo, so if anyone out there can help with an ISBN of a manual they will sell me it would be great.
I am back at sea after today for a couple of weeks but my email is rick@millenniumsound.co.uk if anyone has a manual they will sell. :)

Rick