Steber's 81 XJ550 Bobber

Two years ago, I purchased a newer Yamaha as my daily rider. I wanted longer, out of state rides with my wife and the XJ just wasn't the best for that situation. I was fortunate enough to be able to keep my XJ as it will always be a love of mine. Now that I've paid off my other bike, I'm looking to start my XJ project.

I've been tinkering with the idea for many years, but I never wanted to cut into my beauty. I now realize that the bike only gets rode once or twice a year, and that a proper build would at least get me out a few times a month to bike shows or two. So, it leads me to this, my build thread.

I hope to document my project as best as possible, Starting today. I pulled out the bike from my storage shed and have begun the tear down. I'm hoping to move it to a garage I can work in within a few weeks, but wanted to get the bulk of 'extra' parts off before I move it.

Here is one last picture as she was.. You've been a good ride and I'll do you right, my little XJ!



When she was my daily driver, I had done a lot of work. As to speak to whats staying - The engine - Have gone through compression, kept up with oil changes, fresh gas, rebuilt the carbs, replaced the boots, tires, and brake pads, shims were adjusted before putting into storage, and my valve cover gasket was also replaced. Every thing else seems in working order, the clutch is responsive albeit probably needs a overhaul.

I hope to make steady progress and will update this thread often, so keep tuned for more to come!

 

Todays progress(or rather yesterdays):

Started tear down. Removed front fender, tank badges, crash bar, and rear passenger pegs along with the slip ons.

Will work towards getting the front end where I want and move back from there. I went ahead and ordered some 36mm clip on bars for the project. Being the XJ550 maxim, the upper triple tree has the higher risers. After most of the day racking my brain, I'm fairly confident that a early model FZ600 upper will work with some minor modifaction. So that's also ordered as of now.


Tentative ideas:
-Hardtail, and yes I've heard all the negative, if i wanted a cruiser I'd buy a proper one, as I already have.
-Jokey/suicide shift, While we're throwing comfort out the window we mine as well get rid of practicality.

New grips/controls and headlights are also something I need to start looking into as these are a sure thing to be replaced.

Next few days I hope to further into tear down, as for now, well, you got to start somewhere.

 

Stock bikes get more attention at shows since everyone and their cross eyed brother decided to become custom bike builders.

 

I'll be sure to park it next to some stock bikes and test out your theory when done.

 

Not everyone is a Puritan . Uncut bikes can be botched as easily as modded ones. Ask saftie or baldwonder. How many Arlen Ness bikes sell for less than 10 grand, cuz I see a lot of stock bikes going for less than that. It angers me that xj enthusiasts have been chased off this site by people who push their views as the only way to go. Everyone is entitled to an opinion, but it's just that- their opinion, not their bike. Follow your dream. That's my opinion. Thanks for reading and humoring me.

 

I agree Matti, and if not stated before, which I have, this is my secondary bike. If modding it out, putting some time in it gets me on the bike more than a few times a year than I have met my goal. I was a certified welder for a stint and also a bodyman for many years. I've painted cars and bikes before. I'm capable of most things, my eyes are far from crossed or I wouldn't be able to keep my main bike straight down the line.



I guess you can say my Raider is heavily modded, hope I didn't ruin it. It surely wins more shows than the stock Raiders I park next to.


Back to topic, I appreciate any and all kinds of feedback. Negative pushes me to follow through, and positive is always rewarding. So thanks to everyone, now and in the future who stops by. I'll be out for a few days but will keep updating the thread as advance on with my project.

 

All that being said, Hogfiddles' showcase bikes are bone stick(ish) and they own a showcase full of trophies. And k-moe's Seca is exactly the utilitarian workhorse that I want mine to be someday. All I'm preaching is to each their own. I'm here for the community, and it should include ALL mobike enthusiasts, especially the xj variety. Ride on, my brothers.

Don't ride on my brothers, though !
I put the punk in punctuation.

 

Good luck on the project! I usually stay out of these stock vs. modded conversations but I'll throw my .02 in. I have no problem with bikes getting chopped modded etc. if the owner follows through and gets something out of it that they like and ride. The irritating part is seeing so many get pulled apart and chopped but never completed. I've seen some good bobs etc. but it seems for every one completed there's ten that aren't. I guess everyone that dies makes mine that much more valuable

 

Trust me, the same can happen to stockers. Mine is proof - all I've gotten up to is taking things apart. It seems getting them back together again is the tricky part...

 

I've had my xj apart so many times that I know everything is in working order. But when you become bored with that bike what to do? Pass my hard work and investment down the line at a loss? No thanks, more than happy to make it mine.

As for the speed of that project, I plan to work on it when I can. As of now it will be built on the stock platform, when I'm happy with it I'll do a complete tear down, refinish the engine case, paint the frame and tins and put it back together.

So if my progress pics include a small rust stain on the tank or frame just be aware I'm mocking up that bike before I finish the bike.

 

Fair enough. Plan it out. Be thorough. Have fun building it.
Here's where you stand out; you have the skills needed to follow through and build something that won't look like the typical Craigslist hack job

 

Good point. Would still rather pickup a stock bike in boxes overy something that has a cut frame, hacked wiring, and pieces tossed.

 

While I'm stepping on toes.. Been looking to stumble through the misery of pod filters to get a first hand slap in the face with them. Not afraid to jet the carbs are shim anything needed if i have to go down that road, and I'm not to vain to admit defeat and slap the airbox back on if I have to.

Being a 550, the carbs are spaced close together.. Been eying up these for now to do some testing.



Seeing as they're more oblong, this should keep them spaced equally without being squished. I'm not setting my expectations high for pod filters, but it's something i want for the overall look of the bike. If I can make them work, great. If not, I'll throw the box back in and cut my losses. At the price, it's worth a shot to see how they'll react. I've been reading up on my black magic voodoo so we shall see.

 

That's interesting. Never seen those before. Here's the first thing that jumps to my eye: what's gonna happen with the 2 in the middle?
Rumor has it that the pods will work better if you attach them to the stock carb boots a opposed to directly to the carb. Acts as a velocity stack or something...

 

Not sure what you're referring to on what's going to happen in the middle two. The rotation in the picture is not that rotation they'll be mounted. I believe these are the style that chacal recommends for the 550 to do spacing of carb rack.

As for concerns about them sucking a warmer, not as dense air, that is a concern. I'm keeping my fingers crossed, but I wouldn't hold my breath.

 

I figured the offsets would be 180° opposite, and the middle cylinders could interfere.

 

The offset would point down (or up).

 

Kmoe is correct, not sure the orientation up or down. Depends what type of room it gives me underneath when they point up, for a battery box possibly underneath. Haven't decide it if I'm going to go lifepo to save some room.

Looks like pods are the first to arrive at the door, and before i tear off bars and fenders I'm going to work at tuning in carbs. Theirs a big parking lot down the road where i can easily tune up to mid range, which seems like it will be my main problem, around 6k. Possible stutter off the front, might look into shimming the needle.

At anyrate, Looks like I'll be droping the engine forward to preserve the airbox, thats the plan for the week. It'll give me time for the rest of my parts to start to trickle in anyways.

 

Pull the starter and battery box too. Makes for lots of room to get the air box out.

 

Well looks like its been a few days since I've updated here.. Life's been busy with some other projects but I had time today to wrench on the bike. I was able to get the airbox out in about 45 mins, went smoothly, everything in tact. Got everything zippered back up. Noticed a lot of grime under the airbox.. luckily 30 year old grime holds in the shine on the engine for when i come back to detail everything.

At anyrate.... Pod filters went on today. Well, I'll give you guys credit.. Black voodoo magic is surly needed to run pods. Luckily I'm half warlock or something because they ran just fine! Okay, maybe not fine, but Idle is spot on, top end seems just fine, a bit of a hiccup in the middle, but not much at all. The mid range feels like a slipping clutch, the engine sounds fine, it doesnt cough or sputter just a half second of lag and then its gone.. The slip ons aren't on the bike, and i plan to do some more testing, plug chops, test with the exhaust intact, and a bit of tuning. I can say with heavy shifting the wheel still came off the ground in second while i was on it, so I call that a good day with all the horror stories i've heard about pod tuning.

Being its my project bike, not my main ride, I will most likely be keeping the pods. If it was my daily ride - Maybe not so much. I can't make that call until i further tune and test things. But, it seems like some people have good luck and some people don't. Me, personally, don't think it's luck. I'm sure the carbs are screaming and working well because I know they're cleaned right when i did them the other year, the compression is good, and all my shims are well within spec these days. My carb boots were replaced 2 years ago, and after all that was done I synced my carbs to make sure everything was on point. But that's just my two cents.

So all in all happy with todays progress.. Really need to get some plug chops done to see where my mid range color is to insure i'm not running to lean. I expected to be a lot worse off than i am after todays progress, so I'm well ahead of where I want to be with the project, even if I'm only getting work done at a snails pace.

 

Today I decided to switch the boots from the stock air box to the pods. While the two outers are a tight fit, the performance gain seems to make it worth it. The angle on the stock boots seems to stack the air in some sort of manner that allows a more constant velocity.

The Dead spot that felt like a slipping clutch yesterday is 99.9% gone, and as stated yesterday, no issues with high end, or low end.

Plug chop is still in the list, but I'm on the right track and As long As my color looks good I'm not interested in tunning any further.

If I do end up needing to richen my midrange, my first idea will be to shim the needle so I can pull from etube faster. If the colors are completely off I will reject after I shim the needles and test again.

 

Here's a quick shot of the pods with original boots. Aesthetically it's not as pleasing as the boots that came with the carbs, as the clearance on two of them are a slight issue (touches frame), but the performance gain might be worth it to leave this look. Any feedback is appreciated.

 

Looks good! Where did you buy the pods?

 

Ebay for the win. Wanted the more 'oval' style pods, like the ones K&N offered, without having to fork up the money for the K&N. Just in case things didn't work out, i didn't want to be stuck with $100+ set of pods.

 

Since the bike was running 'well enough', It's time to move on to the build. No point in tuning now to pull the engine and go back through the process after the engine goes back in. Going to tackle the front end first, considering a small cowl over the headlight, with a stainless steel bezel. Not sure if I should retrofit stock gauges, or go aftermarket. My clipons shipped so once those are here I can work on the bars.

 

While I'm waiting for parts, I was thinking what direction i want to go with the build. Thinking I'll end up with some Avon AM26 tires.. This will allow me to use a 5 1/2 inch wrap steel fender for a close fit.

 

Today I was able to get out and work on the bike again! Made some decent progress, got the old bars off, did some prep work for new bars, along with getting wiring sorted and labeled. Popped off the upper triple and started the mocking of the newer triple. Decent day of progress even if it was only for an 45 mins or so.



Much better profile to the top tree now. Happy with the result. New bars should be in this week and I'm eager to feel the new riding position to see which direction I'm going to go next. This won't be your conventional bobber that's for sure.

 

Looks like you are going with clipons?

 

Correct.. They should be in this week and I'll have them on. Not sure If I'll lower it another inch or so to mount on to or mount within the tree. Will be dependent on feel and clearance.

Will shave off ignition mount, and build a cowl for guages.. Keeping stock tank, might change how it mounts to be more appealing but that's down that road.

Cats soon out of the bag soon and will publicly release my build concept as soon as I'm sure of the direction of build, but everything is panning out this far for my r&d into my build concept.

 

Worked on the upper triple today. Shaved off the ignition mount but retained the two lower mounting screws. Hoping to be able to use them somehow to mount a cowl or gauges or headlight. all 3, who knows. Got a little over zealous with the grinder, but planed to use some filler on the whole thing anyway, so no worries.




Clip ons also came in today. Hopefully will mount everything by weeks end.

 

Any pics or no time yet to install?

 

Been working on it today.. Needed to fab a bracket to hold the headlight. So far so good. Trying to pull the slack out of all the cables from lowering is a bear. Cutting some spacers for the guage pins, took plenty of pics. Will upload some tonight.

 

I'm currently decided on having the clipons ontop of the tree.. I like the lines of the bars above the tank, not in the middle, it allows for a better riding position for me. Plus, as of now, i plan to use the stock gauges and this helps break up the 'line' of the oversized gauges sticking up over. (More plans for streamlining stock gauges to come...) but here are a few pictures thus far of the bars..

Bars installed..



with the levers all back on..



A slight view into the mock up brackets to attach the headlight..


Lots more to come, pulling the electrical down to take out the slack is fine, but the brakelines look horrible bunched up with all the slack, will have to look into getting shortened brake lines maybe? When i get some more free time I'll dig into it.

In the next few weeks i'll move it down to my garage for the winter and start working on a few more items.

 

Looking good.

Looks like you need to upgrade to stainless steel braided brake lines anyway? I once ordered a custom length line for my bike. I dont recall the website name though.

 

Took it out for a ride today.. seems to be riding well. Did a bit of a plug chop and this is the color i got.


Its a very light tan/pink color. borderline white(lean) but how lean is it? the heat range on the strip looks about right. not sure why the porcelain is two tone.. put maybe 10 miles on the bike since i pulled it out of storage the other week to start the project. 3/4 of that has been with the pods on, beating it like a scalded dog from time to time.

opinions on color, anyone?

 

Well.. I dug through my parts bin and dug out some old (well 30 years newer) turn singals for the front. The stock lolipops are way to long, and I'm not a fan of the orange cases and flat backs. I found some bullet lolipops that are a lot shorter.



The appeared as if they'd bolt right in with a quick wire swap so I went ahead and gave it a whirl.



Huge difference in my opinion. They're nice and tight to the bucket and theirs no contrast of orange in the front which gives it a cleaner look. Wiring was a quick flip and wire in the old connectors.



Now the front is starting to clean up a bit. I'm not 100% sure I'll keep the turns, or even the headlight, but for 10mins and free parts I'm happy with them for now. They function just fine with the stock relay, which is always a good day.

I have the 'same' set that have 43mm fork clamps on them, but thats just the rubber bases, and they're 3wire for running lights. I'm contemplating transferring them to the bolt on rubber and using installing them as running lights. Not 100% sold on the idea yet, but i have them at my disposal if I feel like ruining more perfectly good equipment.

In all honesty, I have no idea what direction I'm going with the bike but I'm enjoying the process. I have bigger plans than to just a do a simple hard tail now for the rear end, will keep chiseling away at the bike until I'm happy with it.

 

Looking good. The triple clamp modification came out nice. Plug color looks darned near perfect.
I like th new turn signals. Plenty of surface areaa to be seen, but still reducing how much they stand out when not flashing.

 

That's what I thought, too. My concern is, I haven't rejeted yet, but according to the plugs I'm around perfect. In high RPM I still get a good pull.. along the whole line i get a good pull, color is confirming this.

I'm honestly dumbfounded -- I should be running lean. Im not sure if its the orientation of the pods I'm using, or if its the fact im using the stock airbox boots with the pods but things are acting way to normal. I will gladly upload a quick video of cruising and a hard pull to back up my claims.

I want to upjet, shim the needle and compare, yet i also want to leave well enough alone(for now). The bike will be completely torn down for paint, and I think I'll hold off rejeting until I have her built back up.

 

Well, I was hoping to be able to embed this video, but I don't think they support google drive videos.. So, here's a link.

WARNING: Volume is pretty loud.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/0B-Y_jWMkNxJcalExOHdjVElQbEE/preview

It features a few heavy acceleration pulls. The plugs pictured above were checked after these heavy pull runs in high RPMs.

Again, I'm blown away that the color is showing that well yet I haven't rejet (yet). I'm not saying its perfect, nor claiming any sort of gain what so ever -- If i had to peg it, its 90-95% of what the stock airbox gives me. I'm humbly looking for opinions for a constructive conversation. It's been well known that exhaust and pods lean out a system, yet I'm not seeing signs of a lean condition.

 

Are the plugs new, or are they the same ones from before the intake changes?

I'm not hearing any sign of midrange lean-bog either.

I am genuinely curious to find out if you may have stumbled upon a setup that doesn't require any rejetting or fiddling with the slide springs and air jets.

And that shade of pinkness....it reminds me of an additiv that was popular a few years ago. Are you using any fuel additives? If not, what fuel are you using?

 

They're newer plugs. yes, from before the intake changes.. but less than 25 miles, i would say on them. Not enough time for them to burn a discoloration into them IMO.

My theory is the orientation of the opening on the pods im using. Its offcenter and not round, so air must be doing something the way its being drawn in, kinda like an airplane wing.. pulling faster from one side than the other, allowing the air to arrange itself. Followed quickly by the boots from the stock airbox. I dont have any video, but their was a flat spot in mid range before the boots from the intake were added. VERY VERY small flat spot i would like to point out. Was a roll to 2.5k then less than half second stutter and it launched after that.



once I put the boots from the airbox on, the flatspot magically went away. What you see in the video is what I have constantly been running after the boots were switched.





I don't believe in additives, no winterizers either, Its fresh 91 octane. Never used seafoam or any of that sorts. Plugs were all gapped within spec when i put them in, not 100% sure of spec off hand, I'm not using any washers to keep the spark towards the intake or exhaust side, so they're in their which ever way to fire. Carbs were CoC clean and properly synced with YICS blocked off, af backed out about 2.75 turns.

I consider myself very fortunate I suppose, I think even if my plugs were lean slightly at WOT that main jet adjustment +2 would solve that. But I dont want to affect midrange as its very well tuned at the moment. Honestly, i barely want to it at all unless I risk blowing a hole in my piston! I dont ever plan long range runs on this bike.. maybe 50 to 60 miles at a time. Its not my cruiser, but I wouldn't mind bar hoping around town on the XJ, or getting out on a nice ride around the lakes or something.

If i missed anything or you want more info, let me know. I do plan to run some more plug chops, hopefully throw in some new plugs and check.

 

Awesome!!

 

You're not nearly lean enough to worry about holing a piston.

Go ride

 

well.. got bored today. Decided I didnt want the rear fender on the bike. Not really digging the stock seat but for a half hour with fiberglass this should help delete the rear fender and add a spare taillight i had in my spare parts bin. Here's the start of it so far.

Decided to remove the trunk, and french in a taillight. Here's the molding process



Was able to get it pulled off and trimmed up a bit. The further back bracket will be removed.


Hopefully tomorrow I'll trim out for the tail light and start finishing with some bondo. Pretty happy with it thus far. got a few minor details to work out, but I'll take them on as they come.

 

worked a little late last night, was able to get the rough cut out and some of the mounting done. Here's a sneak peak.. it's back out for another coat of glass on the inside to help brace the light and the overall tail. Will try and update as things progress.

 

Well I might have the taillight finished in time to go in the garbage. Ordered a few parts I been going back and forth over, finally pulled the trigger. I been busy riding but some more changes coming, hoping that my stroke of good luck follows through when the cutting starts.

 

I'ts time for this build thread to finally get slightly interesting. Today I finally pulled the trigger, i apologize in advance to the purests in the group, but I started chopping the frame.



Oh, I guess I should mention I threw a monoshock on there too?



I so intended to take way better pictures and document this better but when you're in the middle of things it just doesn't come to mind. I still have a LOT of work ahead of me. But after many years, and months of research i finally went after it. This is why it was so imperative for me to get a functioning pod set up, which i already did. Now its slowly approaching the full disassemble for further welding and paint, then this thing should really take shape.

Wiring will end up being a nightmare that i'm not looking forward. I'm planning on getting an antigravity battery. Has anyone heard of a better lithuim ion battery? this should surely help cut down all the wiring i have to end up jamming in every nook and corner. I need to look into more about them. I'm guessing you still need a recitifer to work with the system, just wondering if any thought has to go into the electrical system. I know they require a special trickle charger for lithium ion. The price tag is the biggest eye sore of the battery deal, i suppose.

Please remember guys, this isn't a daily driver and I'm trying to have fun. so i dont need a huge battery if i can get one with enough cranking amps. Size is key on this bike and i need to shrink everything i can. Further more, a lot of time was put into measuring and calculating the suspension it wasn't just a slap it together type of deal. I think i was able to get it lower to match the 3 inch drop in the front. I really think I nailed the stance. Just need to keep moving forward from here.

 

changing the battery type doesn't change the wiring at all. going to a minimum harness will

 

I for sure need to read up on going with a minimal harness. This wiring is way too bulky as it sits. I don't know i want to go completely minimal, I'd like to keep some things such as blinkers, maybe an indicator light or two. I'm guessing starting minimal and adding as I go would be the best route. My tank is actually raised up about two inches and leaves a bit of room under there for some modules to go and such. A lot to think about and mock up yet.

 

Yesterday I addressed some issues with hardware. Hindsight I should have cut the bracket off and made my own that fit..



Decided to use an old bushing out of the stock shocks, found what size I needed and went ahead and cut my own spacers.






Happy with the progress, so I pulled the swing arm off to clean up around the welds. Found a bit of surface rust on the stock swimarm which I knocked out quickly. Will fill the 35 years of rock chips and such with some filler and start to get it ready for primer.


I need to start looking forward to the seat. I'm leaning towards a cantilever/spring-less bobber style seat. I left some frame arms above for possibly putting in a very small hidden tray to add some wiring under the seat, with an integrated tail light underneath? I'll have to think on how I wanna go about it, I might cut down the stock seat pan and see if I can make use of that.