1982 XJ550 project

Ok, first post on the XJBikes forum, so I thought I might as well make it count.

A couple of weeks ago, I talked to someone who had an XJ550 that was in his way. After some emailing, we reached a pleasurable agreement and went out to pick up the bike. After I had just sold an 89 XJ600 to fund the purchase of my 89 Honda Transalp, I had not expected to be back into XJ's that quickly, but here was the best offer I had had in ages. So I couldn't resist.

The XJ550 had had a service and a new rear tire, but the previous owner switched to pod filters which meant that he couldn't really get it to run properly. That is a challenge I will need to look at when the time is there. The fork seals are shot and the bike was meant to be a winter bike, so it is not that much of a looker. My first thought was to turn it into a cafe racer or a tracker. And I am guessing I will be going the tracker route as I have already purchased Husqvarna dirt bike handlebars on a whim. But first things first, a picture from the previous owner.



In the three weeks I have had it, I have not had much time to do anything with it. But then: Progress! I had some time on a Friday afternoon to try and get the bike to work. Not an easy task as a lot of stuff turned out to be disconnected. The PO told me that the battery would probably be bad as it had been sitting for a while, but a week of charging took care of that. I then had to find out what wiring went where and how to hook up the tank. It took a while as it turned out that there were no screws to connect the battery to the wiring, the battery doesn't really fit the box when the box is mounted on the bike etc. I am still doubtful the battery will fit the box when I remove the box, but hey, there has to be a challenge in there somewhere, right? After a lot of starting (I feel I could have run a round around town just on the length of time I ran the starter motor) it finally fired up. And it sounded quite nice. Obviously I had to shoot a bit of video to show it off. It sounds nicer than I thought as well. Quite mean and purposeful.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SVd06WwQOsE

Obviously I couldn't leave it sitting there. So, I mounted up the saddle and ran it up and down the street. Twice. Without front brakes and a rear drum brake that is squealing more than braking. But I had to do it.

P.S. The hanging indicator on the bike is my own doing and it was done with a purpose, otherwise the bike can not sit behind the Alfa Romeo project that is also in my garage.

A couple of weeks later, it took be about 2.5 hours, but with the help of a motorcycle mechanic, I finally got the brake calipers apart. Those pistons felt like they were welded in there. It turned out one of the seals had been leaking for a while and neither of the pistons had seen much maintenance in the past decades. Oh well, after lots of persuasion with compressed air and the destruction of an inner tube, they are now well apart.

Before:


After:
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Obvious things on the to-do list:
- New fuel and vacuum lines
- Take a look at the carb boots that connect the carbs to the engine as these have been smeared with silicone
- I need to revise both front calipers (rebuild kits will arrive by the post this week)
- New fork seals and oil (seals have arrived)
- Check the drum brake
- Check the wiring (the indicators do not work, there are open wires running from the handlebars to the engine etc.)
- Repair a seal on one of the filter boots (as it has a tear in it)
- Get a new bolt and plate to fix the fuel tank in place
- Replace the steering stem bearings as it was really heavy to turn the steering (parts have arrived)
- Replace the starter thing (round, goldish looking?) (it doesn't start consistently and it beeps while starting)
- Try to get the main fuse back in the box (mounted outside the fuse box now)

And that is just the start. After that, we get to the aesthetics. And there is a lot to do in that department.
- Get rid of any unnecessary electrics
- Remove indicators or replace by LED items
- Remove seat, remove rear bodywork, remove rear lights, remove dashboard
- Replace the handlebars with the new Husqvarna handlebars and change length of cables where necessary
- Shorten the rear frame and build a tracker style seat
- Shorten the front fender and see if I can combine the fork brace and a short fender
- Make a custom rear fender with rear LED light
- Respray tank or fit a custom tank

So, that is the plan.

Anyway, I have lots of questions that I will need to have answered in this process and I hope you guys can help me answer some of them.

What kind of speedos can I mount as a replacement?
Is there an easy fork I can swap? One that is more modern and has better adjustability?

Other questions will follow undoubtably.

 

Check the valve clearances; adjust as needed. Then run a compression test. No sense doing a ton of work only to discover a sick motor.

 

True. So far it sounds and feels strong. Runs a lot better than it did with the previous owner as well. I will check more out, just want to get it ridable first. Parts are coming in at the moment, so I will be putting them on first. I do not have the means to do a compression test, unfortunately. Valve clearances I can check. And that is on my list of to do's for the near future.

 

Back to the project soon. I will be picking up another XJ550 in parts (but without the frame) in the near future.

I have been thinking about modifying the bike. Amongst other things, I would like to lift it a bit and give it longer suspension travel. So, how do I find a fork that fits the XJ550?

 

I thought I would just update this thread with a number of things that have happened through the past months and months of doing very little...

 

May 10th 2013:

Progress! Had some time this afternoon to try and get the bike to work. Not an easy task as a lot of stuff turned out to be disconnected. The PO told me that the battery would probably be bad as it had been sitting for a while, but a week of charging took care of that. I then had to find out what wiring went where and how to hook up the tank. It took a while as it turned out that there were no screws to connect the battery to the wiring, the battery doesn't really fit the box when the box is mounted on the bike etc. I am still doubtful the battery will fit the box when I remove the box, but hey, there has to be a challenge in there somewhere, right? After a lot of starting (I feel I could have run a round around town just on the length of time I ran the starter motor) it finally fired up. And it sounded quite nice. Obviously I had to shoot a bit of video to show it off. It sounds nicer than I thought as well. Quite mean and purposeful.



Obviously I couldn't leave it sitting there. So, I mounted up the saddle and ran it up and down the street. Twice. Without front brakes and a rear drum brake that is squealing more than braking. But I had to do it.

Obvious things on the to-do list:
- New fuel and vacuum lines
- New carb boots that connect the carbs to the engine as these have been smeared with silicone
- Revise both front calipers (the stuff I found inside one could only be described as black sludge)
- New fork seals and oil
- Check the drum brake
- Check the wiring (the indicators don't work, there are open wires running from the handlebars to the engine etc.)
- Replace a seal on one of the filter boots (as it has a tear in it)
- Get a new bolt and plate to fix the fuel tank in place
- Check the steering (as it was really heavy to turn the steering, perhaps just greasing it will help)
- Replace the starter thing (round, goldish looking?) (it doesn't start consistently and it beeps while starting)
- Try to get the main fuse back in the box (mounted outside the fuse box now)

And that is just the start. After that, we get to the aesthetics. And there is a lot to do in that department.

P.S. The hanging indicator on the bike is my own doing and it was done with a purpose, otherwise the bike can not sit behind the Alfa Romeo project that is also in my garage.

 

August 20, 2014

Ok, I have made quite a lot of progress since this last update... It has also been sitting for a while again, but I did make progress. So I better post that. Right?

First off, I did get the forks off.


I then opened them and got them cleaned. I replaced the stripped bolts for new ones and gave it new seals. When I opened them, it smelled as if they had run regular engine oil in them. Man, that was foul stuff. Took me days to get that smell out of the garage. Anyway, they are looking pretty nice now.



Then my attention turned to the steering bearings. More fun to be had...


I got them both out, but damaged a fitting ring in the bottom one. Very annoying. But I smoothed it down and a new bearing should fit now.

So, I started to remove the bearing from the triple:


Which turned out to be easier than I thought.


September 08 2014:
YES! What an ordeal. Honestly. If I would have known what trouble this XJ would cause me... I still would have done it, but would have bought the right parts the first way around.

Anyway, the forks are back in, the dash, light and front wheel are mounted and I put the 'new' handlebars in. They fit nicely.



So, ready to mount the brakes and bleed them and then get the thing started and rolling.

I am feeling close now...

(And obviously I will then start thinking about the visual mods.)

 

October 2, 2014
After a year, the XJ550 runs again. Still quite some work to do, but I was able to do two rounds around the block.



Now on the list is a new starter relay, a new battery and checking all the connections for the lights.

But hey, I had a screaming XJ550 under me for two rounds with little light and a t-shirt. Awesome.


(That is not me btw)

 

Then my first ride on November 11th 2014...



However, it didn't run quite right and I found out that the brake master cilinder didn't return the oil at all, so once you really braked, you were really stuck. Fortunately not on this run, but when I got home and backed the bike up a bit, the whole thing just froze solid.

 

Now:

I cut new seals for the inlet rubbers and mounted them. That solved the vacuum leaks and then I started riding it around. However, after a while, it turned out that the master brake cilinder wasn't working as it was supposed to. It braked fine, but did not completely release. So, when I got home, the bike was almost impossible to push into the garage. Bleeded the brakes again, fiddled with it endlessly, then just pulled the master cilinder and had it sonically cleaned and the return hole opened up. That has made quite a difference.

Because the engine never really ran very well, I decided to pull the carbs off to clean them. This has been quite the hurdle for me to take as I don't really feel comfortable pulling a bank of such important parts off the bike to disassemble them. I always worry that I am left with more parts on the bench than there were in the carbs. However, it was time to bite the bullet and I did.


Everything actually pulled apart nicely. I was happy with the state of everything, except for he fact that one of the main jets was just rolling around in the carb instead of being in its hole. That might explain at least part of the problem.
The dirt was alright for most of the carbs. The outside were really grimy, the insides were reasonably good. But just to make sure it was completely clean inside and out, it was hot tanked, then sonically cleaned and we blew out all the holes and little corners for the carbs to end up like this:

Time for re-assembly (I love the trick a friend showed me with the cardboard to hold all the screws and draw out the little bits that come off) and hey presto, we've got a very nice and clean set of carbs ready to go on.


In the meantime I have also scored an original airbox for the XJ550. I am happy about that, because it runs like *%^$ on the pod filters. So, that needs to go on. However, it seems as if there is no chance of doing that without pulling the starter motor.

Does anyone have any pics of pulling out the starter motor?

 

Hmmm, not very much activity on this thread except for mine...

Anyway, decided not to go with the airbox, but keep te pods. Really didn't want to take half the bike apart just to mount the airbox. I did give the pods some extra length to breathe, and that has helped a lot. I have had it at 90Mph on the highway, so it isn't performing half bad.





Now the point has come where I am considering modifying the bike. I have a 5" yellow headlight and a new small round speedo to clean up the front.

However, I don't have a new tacho, so I don't need that cable anymore. However, that leaves me with a big hole on the front of the engine that oil will run out of if I leave it like that. Any thoughts on how to close the tach gear housing so it doesn't leak?

 

Chacal has a tach drive block off kit. Start a conversation and he'll give you a price.

 

Ok. Then I will try that.

 

Neat thread, you are doing fine work!