'82 XJ750 Maxim Build Summary + Links to Tech threads

But then I would lose the satisfaction of doing everything myself! I have the patience to do a good job (I think) and my thoughts are that as long as I have enough body filler (In actuality the only think that should need filled is those mounts), primer, and sandpaper, I'll be able be able to use that patience to prep for a great paint job.

I'll be using a compressor/gun and will "build" a vented paintbooth.

I'm also going to go heavy with some spraymax 2k clearcoat which I understand is the ticket to a fuel resistant paint job.

 

i'am sure you have a auto paint supply place up there. walk in and tell the man you want to paint your bike and you don't know squat about paint, fix me up.
that's what i did and i learned more in 45 minutes than i could have in days on the net. everything will be compatible and it will be just like the paint on your car

 

great advice!

FU

 

Yep, people loooove to share their knowledge with those who have less.

 

Polock, great idea and I'll probably be doing that in the spring. Paint is literally the last thing on the agenda for this bike.

Holidays were slow. I practiced a little polishing on the engine covers. Not perfect, but I don't need it to be. Anyone have suggestions for filling in the "Yamaha" with something black? I'll be buying the YICS emblem from Chacal in the spring.

Finally, I'm working on fabbing the rear tank mount, which also requires some lift. I just started welding so I'm just practicing and seeing what kind of mounts I could do that I'm confident will be functional and strong. Light would be good too, but it is not required.

In the next week or so I'll be practicing welds and waiting on my hoop to come in. The rear of the XJ Frame is 9" OD to OD (According to my calculations), and it looks like my best option is going to be from SpeedMotoCo, as theirs is 8 & 7/8ths from OD to OD. I can't find anything bigger, and am kind of in a rut, because I don't know if I can stretch the SpeedMotoco hoop to fit. Suggestions are welcome, as I'm really stuck here, and the tank mount and the hoop are the only thing holding me back from making my seat and re-wiring the bike.






Now, here is the ROUGH start of the tank mount. Some things to note: THESE ARE MY FIRST WELDS. EVER. I will have my technique down pat before I actually make the final mount. The mounts are three pieces of thinner steel square tubing mounted together. Once again, this is my first weld ever, and there are tons of mistakes. I am having a buddy help me with my technique and my final mount. He will also be mounting the Hoop and slugs for me.




I think that I will have to grind half moon cutouts into the bottom of the mount so that the tubing fits on to the frame for a proper weld. Criticisms, comments, suggestions welcome and encouraged. Thanks for looking.

 

Heeeeeeeeey, nicely done! Tough to say, but you *might* be running a tad cool--maybe juuuust a bit more heat. I could be wrong. Looks like it'll definitely hold in any case.

 

Appreciate it. You may notice (I certainly did messing around tonight) that those welds you see there have a nice big valley in the middle without any "Flux Pool" for lack of better words. I was definitely moving the gun too fast. Those are also ground down completely, which I won't do on the final product, for structure's sake. It's fun, and frustrating, but if it weren't for this bike I would have never attempted welding.

I'm at that funny point in the build where I feel like I'm at a standstill because I don't SEE a lot of changes since nothing new has been added to the bike in a while. Its been lots of tedious work; Cleaning crevices, degreasing, sanding, polishing, staring at wires and diagrams. Oh well, the build goes on!

 

I know what you mean, only too well. Keep going, yer doing wonderful work.

 

Still polishing...now I'm currently working on the generator cover.

Does the generator (or the stator I guess you'd call it, the outer, larger cylinder with the wires, part 3 on the diagram) need to be positioned any certain way when I screw the cover back on? Or do I just push It back into place?

 

It snugs up back in place, but..........you'll notice that there are 3 "scallops" or recessed areas in the stator outer frame, and these recessed areas provide clearance for the generator cover mounting bolts to pass thru the stator. You can see one of these recessed areas in your picture at about the 11 o'clock position.....the stator needs to be rotated counterclockwise about "1 hour" so that the recesses line up with the holes in the engine case that the cover bolts screw into.

 

Thank you my good man!

 

Finished the stator cover. The process has been the same with all of the covers. They were in extremely poor shape and so I needed to clean them up. Wasn't looking for perfect (IE complete mirror with no scratches) , just some shine. I strip the stock clearcoat with aircraft remover, then wetsand using 220 grit, followed by 500, followed by 1000. Then I use a buffing wheel to use red tripoli compound, and finally I use mothers mag on a buffing wheel. again, not perfect, but worlds better than they were.



Also, I was surprised when I took the smaller right side cover off (The one that says "Yamaha YICS). There was nothing behind it! Cosmetic only I suppose. Anyway, it had no gasket, and there was some kind of fine poweder inside of the cover. Almost looked like sawdust. Is that just mold I wonder?




I have two more covers to go: The clutch/gearbox and sump covers. Screw placement will be important im sure which is why I have cardboard templates to keep the screws in order. I'll go ahead and drain the oil before I do this as well. I'll also need to order gaskets from Len when I get a new parts list together.

Is there anything I need to know about taking these things off? Are parts going to come flying out? Do I need to perfactly rotate certain parts to get everything to fit back together? Please advise if you've done this before, I could use the reassurance.

 

here's a good read on aluminum polishing
http://www.finishing.com/0800-0999/800.shtml
bolt length, take a bolt out that you know is the right length, then slide it back in, notice that distance it needs to be screwed in, it's going to be the same on all the cover screws. so if you get them mixed up, that's how you tell. a 6mm bolt needs that much engagement to be torqued to 7.2 ft/lbs. into aluminum
there's a seal where the shifter shaft goes through the cover, their cheap, get one.

 

Solid advice, thanks Polock. In an attempt to clean up my wiring, I purchased the one and only switch that will be on my handlebars, which is this three position (blinker) switch with two momentary buttons. It was around 20 dollars which is very cheap, but it's just a switch and the internals look ok. It only has four wires coming from it, which doesn't seen like enough, but who knows! Maybe it is.

 

Currently installing the legendary cycles universal cafe seat mount. I am using this to make a straight line from the new tank back to the tail. The dip in the frame is something that really makes achieving that line difficult, and I believe it to be necessary for the look I'm going for. This was the solution I had in my mind.

I'm going for a "brat" seat and so my plan is to get the hoop welded on, then use blue painters tape to make a platform onto which I can lay fiberglass for a pan. The very bottom edge of the fiberglass will cover the back part of the frame where it dips back up, but will run along the very top edge of the recessed frame piece. Therefore, the "recessed" part of the frame will be slightly visible, but the raised part in the back will not.

Also, do you guys think that aircraft remover will remove the rubber ring around the clutch cover? I already had some on for 20 minutes to get the oxidation/clearcoat off for polishing, but for some reason it didn't eat the rubber ring like it did on the other three covers. Suggestions? (I'd just leave it but I got a little carried away trying to carve it with an exacto knife)


Happy Friday!

 

STOP that ring comes out !
flip it over, there's 2 screws with big washers, take them out and it comes apart, that's a gasket

 

after a closer look.......Len will have them

 

Oops. That's embarrassing. You see, I've been using aircraft remover on all of the covers before I polish them. They've taken off all of the rubber "surrounds" on the covers. I figured the same for this one (though I DID wonder what the two screws/washers were inside of the cover). I blocked off the sight glass just in case, and I also made sure not to get any aircraft remover on the rubber gasket where the rod enters the cover. Figured the remover would eat it right up.

No wonder that thing was so tough. Add it to the list of things...

 

Some high tech renditions of what I'm going for. Pan will be made from fiberglass, and I can't figure out if I want to cover the entire pan in fabric (leather) as seen here:



Or if I'd like to paint part of the fiberglass to match the tank. Obviously this is going to be more time consuming, but I can't ride yet so I'm not opposed to it:

 

what goes behind the seat? a cafe bump or just a loop, you need something to take the yellow stripe to. i like the stripe but it can't just end, the yellow needs balanced, f/r.
maybe make the seat black and paint that frame rail under it yellow
on the other hand, i just painted everything blue so what do i know