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BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650J Maxim Bobber

Discussion in 'XJ Modifications' started by BaldWonder, Oct 28, 2013.

  1. BaldWonder

    BaldWonder Innocent Bystander

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    I've been reading these forums for quite some time, but this is the first post I'm making. It is long overdue.

    A little background info: I have a knack for biting off more than I can chew, but chewing regardless and swallowing it down (yeah yeah, that's what she said, and you're hilarious), cause I'm stubborn like that.

    For at least a year now I've been working on rebuilding my first and only motorcycle with no prior knowledge, no prior experience, and without a garage of my own for that matter (big thanks to my father-in-law). All this to say that all of you have been a tremendous help. I sincerely think that I would not be where I am with the bike today without this website.

    So as a humble and meager thank you to all of you, here are pictures of my build so far. It's not completely done, but it's back to running and being street legal. Please ask any and all questions; answering them is the second least I can do to pay back to this community!

    Here's what I started with, and what I want to end up with.
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    And so begins the tear down.
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    Fender c/o my local TSC.
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    Took a sawzall to the stock seat.
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    Made my own battery box.
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    Started fabbing my own leather seat cover.
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    I also threw myself into the world of leatherworking. Fellow nerds will recognize this modified wolf design from Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children.
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    Took the stock seat panel, added some quick-release pegs to it, and made it snap into the frame.
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    Chopped the exhaust to bits so I could weld in these shorties.
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    Frame is back from the blasters and ready to powder coat.
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    Frame is back from powder coat and ready to assemble.
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    Starting to put it back together. (Never mind the man behind the bike.)
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    Note the bicycle inner tubes used to reinforce the old-but-still-good intake boots.
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    Tank paint.
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    Almost back together... still a mess of wires. This is where you guys helped the most.
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    Custom design on the back, by yours truly.
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    Finally got wiring figured out.
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    Custom made LED brake lights and bracket.
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    And here she is, 90% complete and 100% ridable!
    [​IMG]
     
    Last edited: Mar 9, 2015
    Bosen and Door dude like this.
  2. Groundhangers

    Groundhangers Member

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    Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

    Well done!
    Comparing to what you were after, id say youve got what you wanted. I like the whole seat conversion too!

    Greg
     
  3. Polock

    Polock Well-Known Member

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    Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

    looking back, do you think it would have been easier to do the minimum wiring harness from scratch? a little shorty fender gives you a fork brace and a place to hide the pickup for the speedometer. i moved the headlight up as high as i could get it to try to hide the cables and wires.
    liking the fender paint, little something on the tank to match ?
     
  4. BaldWonder

    BaldWonder Innocent Bystander

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    Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

    I had very, very strongly considered it, and pulled a lot of diagrams for it from here as a last resort. But once I had all the relays in the right spots and the right connections together, it worked. I much prefer being able to keep the failsafes (kickstand safety, neutral safety, etc.) in place.

    I put mine so low because I really like having the headlight streamlined with the tank. I've also drawn inspirations from this model bike, called the Hardy Daytona, based on a Yamaha VMax:
    [​IMG]
    So, I've been thinking of adding a leather bag on top of the headlight to emulate the cowl on that bike, and use up the remaining leather from the seat.

    Thanks. :D Yes, I'll be getting the tank to match. I picked up a scrap XJ750 tank for the fuel sender and extra capacity. So I'm good and set up with winter projects.
     
  5. khellandros

    khellandros New Member

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    Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

    Huh, The Hardy Daytona looks like the motorcycle from 'Final Fantasy 7' - which was awesome.

    Nice bike man, grats on the clean work.
     
  6. BaldWonder

    BaldWonder Innocent Bystander

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    Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

    Yup, sure is. That's the "realistic" rendering of it, which they turned into a collectable model.
     
  7. FtUp

    FtUp Well-Known Member

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    Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

    great looking mod. more details on the tach/speedo please. that is way cool!

    CN
     
  8. BaldWonder

    BaldWonder Innocent Bystander

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    Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

    Speedo/tach is an Acewell ACE-2853AB. Hunted around forever, but I eventually found it for about $170 USD... I think. I'll post back if I find the receipt or a link or something.
     
  9. BaldWonder

    BaldWonder Innocent Bystander

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  10. Polock

    Polock Well-Known Member

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    Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

    any trouble with the tach jumping around ? did you wrap the sparkplug wire or use the old tach wire? mine gave me fits for awhile on the old tach wire
     
  11. FtUp

    FtUp Well-Known Member

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    Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

    thanks

    CN
     
  12. BaldWonder

    BaldWonder Innocent Bystander

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    Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

    There was a lot of dancing around, but it wasn't much trouble once I started to address it.

    I went with the wrap method. Not really sure why - I guess I felt it was an easy, non-invasive first try. The instructions said to wrap about 5 times. I went with 20 because I didn't want to risk having a weak signal, and the unit came with a lot of extra wire in the box, so I figured why not. Firing it up, the tach reading would jump around a lot, but seemed to flash a reasonable looking reading half of the time. It was like trying to watch a video of something being shot with a shaky camera.

    Further down the wire, near the headlight housing that I hid most of it in, I soldered the Acewell-supplied resistor inline (100ohm, if I remember right), and sealed it all up with heat shrink. Started it back up, and it was night and day difference: perfectly steady. The only jumping now was when the rpms were just on the border between one pixel and the next.
     
  13. Hamster

    Hamster Member

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    Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

    Wow! That is a very cool lookin ride. Great job.
     
  14. BaldWonder

    BaldWonder Innocent Bystander

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    Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

    Thanks!
     
  15. jmilliken

    jmilliken Well-Known Member

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    Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

    nice job!
     
  16. XJPilot

    XJPilot Member

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    Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

    Awesome work! Can you give us a rundown of the leatherwork process you used on the seat?
     
  17. BaldWonder

    BaldWonder Innocent Bystander

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    Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

    Thank you, both. (Sorry for the late thanks, Greg.)

    That may need to be its own thread, but I think that'd be a worthwhile write-up. I certainly learned a lot, and made some mistakes here and there that would be good mistakes for others to learn from.
     
    22Tsask likes this.
  18. Proximal

    Proximal Member

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    Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

    What detent pins (quick release pegs) did you use? I'm thinking of doing something similar when I switch to a solo seat.
     
  19. z32800

    z32800 Member

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    Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

    Nice, love the seat; well done.
     
  20. BaldWonder

    BaldWonder Innocent Bystander

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    Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

    They were quick release footpeg pins from DK Custom Products that I found on Amazon.


    Thanks. :)
     

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