82 Maxim XJ1100 Dark Knight Build

Nothing crazy to report right now. Bike has been home for almost a week and in prepping to paint the engine I have spent countless hours removing 30+ years of grime and dirt. I found a wicked site for all the weird and wonderful connectors one might need, http://cycleterminal.com/
They have everything and have been awesome with shipping to the great white north. I am working on re-assembling my newly powder coated headlight assembly with the Daymaker headlight I picked up a while back. I realize now I will have to repaint the rear shocks as I'm not happy enough with the paint job.

I plan to get the engine painted later this week, my tins are in the shop getting the undercoat of silver for the blue metallic have chosen.

Here are a couple quick shots of the under belly before and after


Not the best quality but i spent serious time and elbow grease on this thing. I can't wait to ride it now that its getting so close.
I am working on the wiring post paint and replacing the ancient fusebox.

Slow but steady but I am determined to get this thing on the road this season !!!!

 

Quikc Update, the painting of the fenders has begun. Stage 1 anyway

This is the undercoat for my outrageous blue. Back to scrubbing the rest of it down !

 

And keeping in the spirit of painting here is the engine. Yes it would have been ideal to drop it out but I do not have tools to do so. Instead a creative tape job and a sunny day were all I needed. I can't wait to ride this thing !

 

At first I thought tape was paint... Kawasaki green!

 

Have you decided on your gauge cluster? I'm a fan of the single one. Just picked that up for my build as well

 

I'm sticking with the single and I ordered the connectors to match so I can redo my wiring at the front end on the factory harness.

I agree the single gage just looks clean and will work perfectly.

 

Question about how you painted your motor. Did you use rattle can or a sprayer? And how did you clean the surface for paint? I think im going to paint paint the case and heads on mine. And polish all the side covers and other bits. Thanks

 

For the paint I used a rattlecan. I've been painting with them for years, nice long even strokes and multiple light coats give a great finish. Plus it's not a show bike just something fun to ride and tinker with.

As for prep I started with a citrus based degreaser and scrubbed everywhere, this takes time and patience and many rags. This thing had tons of gunk and dirt to clean off. Nearly the entire engine was gone over twice. The really hard spots I used a small wire brush to lightly scrub.

I should note I always wear gloves as most chemicals are not kind to the hands. The next step I wear a painting respirator with filters just to be safe.

Before paint after all the degreasing I use acetone on a clean rag to go over every surface I can get too. This removes all the left over remnants and dirt left on the surface and ensures a good bond with the paint.

Also as I am in Canada the weather is just getting nice again so I made sure to leave the bike in full sun as the warm metal bonds even better with the paint. Likely not an issue if you're down south.

Hope that helps !!

 

Awesome, thanks

 

Well I'm about due for an update. My fenders are waiting for a colour carrier to go over the silver.

In the meantime I've got tha bike looking exactly how I want to to now. Frame is completely painted and engine too. I also received my new connectors for the new central gage I will mount.

A few pictures of prime and then paint.

 

And a few more for good measure

 

Little more progress yesterday but I don't have pics yet.
Got my engine guards mounted back on.
Shocks mounted post paint.
Right side bar controls mounted.
Left side mirror/ lever mount/ clamp, this gave me issues. It appears it is stripped internally and wont clamp to the bar. I'm thinking or tapping it a size larger or drilling through and using a nut to force it to clamp ??
I mounted my new carb boots as the old ones were wickedly cracked and I figured I've come this far so why not.
For this season and ease of maintenance I have opted to keep that god awful airbox tucked into the frame.
Exhaust I am going to try and test hang to see where it will sit and if I like it enough to start making mounts.
My tins should be near final paint and then I will hurry up to get it running again !!!

 

Now it's really starting to look mean and I'm loving it.

 

Little more fender progress.

 

That's a really big fender.

 

Haha by fender I mean gas tank.

 

nope... nevermind...

 

Tonight my buddy who is a painter did me a solid. He stayed late and we played in the booth for a couple hours. And by play I mean he put some serious work into the fenders and tank for me. I probably took 50 photos between the air brushing, colour and clear. Here is a quick sample of the finished product. I can't believe how gorgeous it all came out. They've sat through the bake cycle and now will sit for a week before final polish. The light doesn't even do the crazy flake justice.

Once this thing is complete and see the sun it will be blinding and I will hopefully be posting those pics in the next month or so.

 

Forget putting those on the bike, they'll only sit in the garage. So pretty they belong on a shelf in the living room!

 

Very nice build! Looking at repainting my 83 xj750maxim and changing some features probably not a full chop and Bob currently all stock. But I'm curious as to what you used to prep the fenders and any other trim and covers prior to the primer. I've seen many methods on youtube but want it to turn out right

 

Haha I agree. I would happily put them on display. However I need to ride !!

 

Thanks ! I'm super happy with how its all coming together right now.

Prep is easily the most important part, however I loathe it, I just want to paint. I did all the prep and everything but tins in my garage. Tins you can see above were done in a professional booth.

My first step is always to remove the part if I can and let it soak in some dish soap and water. This will loosen up and chunks of crap on there. If you can't remove the piece I wear gloves and use rags and a soft wire/plastic brush to scrub with a spray on engine degreaser.

Secondly I will likely repeat the scrubbing and cleaning until I'm happy with the result.

Next is the a clean rag and acetone. The acetone cleans any of the small debris or chemical residue up really well. (This is when you require gloves)

If I'm not painting the parts right away I will wait on the acetone until I have time to wipe, let sit for a couple minutes to dry, then paint right away while the surface is free of dust and such.

Hope that helps. Not super in depth but that's the gist and it hasn't let me down yet.

 

Just a quick add about the paint. When we untaped the flames from air brushing they were on wet sanded silver flake which makes this thing pop.
I almost asked my buddy to stop here and forget the blue. It looked so clean and awesome. Maybe my next bike Already looking for a second Xj1100. Soon I will be able to ride the current one and I won't worry if the second takes a couple years longer.

I just ordered Titanium colored exhaust wrap for the headers to the cans. All new brake pads all around, New black stainless brake lines are awaiting install.

I do have a question though if anyone has found any good aftermarket driving lights. My front blinker bars have lights now but they are junk.

Also in my mind I tastefully altered the look of the classic big blinkers. I thought I was going to junk the front bulky blinkers but I came up with a work around that I like.
I painted the side if the lens so from the side the blinker looks less bulky but still full visibility from the front.

 

How do you know what to tape off and what not? What should I look out for if I wanted to paint my engine myself?

 

IamWayno I looked at the motor for a while, browsed online and looked at what could be taken off and what I thought would really make the bike pop.
After that process I thought that the top valve cover and side covers done in black powdercoat would really make the bike pop. I knew I wanted to black out nearly everything on the bike.
I also know that sloppy paint paint work shows. So I taped up all of the wires/connectors I did not wish to remove and took off or covered any, such as the plastic engine starter cover that I did not want to be gloss black. (personal preference)

This was how I got the bike back form the shop and I really liked it but I knew I wanted to go blackout. In saying that, I also taped off the frame as I wanted the engine to stand apart form the frame and look all bland together as one black blob. So the engine enamel gloss black really pops while I used a standard enamel on the frame. The frame is slightly duller than the engine which is the look I was going for. You can read all my prep steps above.

I also plan to paint in white the Yamaha on the side covers and potentially the top machined valve cover in white to really make the black pop against my blue and black paint scheme. My suggestion would be to have an idea in mind and tape the bike up, you might notice a piece that you think should be included or excluded before you start the painting process. Example I was going to include the front engine mounts with the frame however when I looked at it I thought they'd look better with a little more shine and looking as one with the engine.


It comes down to personal choice. As you probably saw above I had what looked like kawi green all over with my tape job. I wanted it to look clean and covered well. Cover wires and fully cover anything else you don't want to see paint. If you have any other questions feel free to ask.

 

Progress has been slow as my wedding is on May 13th and the wife to be wants me doing other things than working on my bike. However lastnight I got more of the front end back together and its starting to take shape. Should have my tins back this week and hopefully find some late hours to slip into the garage.

 

Awesome.

 

So lastnight I sketched out my exhaust so I could keep the centre stand because it serves a good purpose as annoying as it may be.
Today I took my sketch down to Minit muffler and for $38 they made my new mid pipes happen. Mocked them up with some wood for now as my real brackets will step out 2.5" to avoid rubbing the shocks where they will hang.
This step out will also also straighten them and lose the wideness/ opening look they have now.
I may also play with the angle a bit yet too as it is a bit steep, but I like it.

 

Not sure about Alberta but a friend here in Ontario was pulled over and told to mount his plate horizontal.
Bike's looking good, love those exhaust cans.

 

That's a good looking bike so far. Cant wait to see the finished product.

 

looking good!

 

Yeah I've been checking every bike I see on the road here and there are tons with side plates. Not saying its right or legal however I am going to run with it until I'm told not to by the man haha

 

So I finally got my fenders back and mounted the tank to see the look and I love it. I just went to a friends this morning and got my exhaust all welded up and I should have it mounted with new gaskets tmrw. I am also wrapping from the headers to the end pipe for heat and look.

 

I hope that the pipes are stainless, or you'll have heat, looks, and rust.

 

Pipes are all stainless

 

Today I started wrapping the exhaust. What a royal pain in the a$$. However I love colour and it looks great. I only got one roll to see if I would love the look, and I do. I've got the rest in order. A couple notes: gloves are a must, wetting the wrap makes it so much nicer to work with.

The wife's flies out this week so I'm hoping to get a bunch more hours in the garage and keep going !

Next I'm going to work on the wiring for the new gage and mount.

 

Just noticed your local; hope to see this bike out on the road!

As to side plates, I've run them myself, and I've never heard of anyone getting grief for them. Alberta in particular is really lax on that stuff.

Where did you get the wrap? I've been considering ordering some and doing that - my pipes are, well, 35 years old and have eaten a lot of road grit. Looks really great!

 

Woah, wait, Minit Muffler will make you custom pipes? I had no idea. I mean, it seems pretty obvious, but... And just $38 for the two?

Well. Now I'm chock full of ideas. What mufflers are those?

 

What are you riding ? I live way in the South in Auburn Bay if you want to come check out my build! I'd love to see someone else's bike runnig
The wrap I researched online and eventually managed to get it off Amazon, this stuff apparently will not fade like the super cheap stuff.

As for the the exhaust I know mine is outlandish but I built this thing to my own taste as I will be keeping it as my toy. I scored the mufflers on Kijiji from a guy for $300 for both. I think page 2 of this build I put them up. I can get you a model number if you want, they are Yoshimura exhaust for an R1. I knew I would nee custom bent mid pipes and I thought why not call a muffler shop and they said absolutely ! 30 minutes of their time and my drawing to go by and they made them up.
It got even sweeter when I removed the factory cones and the seals that join them my newly bent pipes fit into the factory headers and my buddy welded them in solid. I will post some more pics of the exhaust here soon.

 

I'm in Mackenzie Lake, just around the corner so to speak.

That's the same stuff I was eyeballing myself, I'd heard the titanium wrap doesn't fade and look terrible after a bit of weather - I put the cheap black stuff on my old kawi, and ripped it back off after a month.

 

So I finally managed to find time to finish the exhaust wrap as the rolls I needed arrived today. Somehow QC in the plant must be off as there were spots where it was a little narrow. Also I ordered th 50' roll and I had an inch left so it definitely was not 50 feet. But I made it to the end.

I realized after my first attempt the only way to wrap around where the 2 go to 1 easily is from back to front the way it slants. So start from the back !!

I also received my black SS brake lines. However I am waiting on my rebuild kits for all calipers and masters so I cannot mount them yet.

Tomorrow I hope to tackle figuring out some wiring. I'm in heavy debate of keeping the factory "computer" LCD and mounting it under my gage.

 

As to the LCD, depends a lot on what you're doing for lighting... The head and tail indicators require a certain load to work, and thus will always show a fault if you run LED's unless you add load resistors. Then there's that silly BATT indicator too =/

I find the whole thing frustrating and annoying personally, so once I can get another gauge set I'm just going to add LED indicators for oil/turn/neutral and dump the rest of it. That's just me, though.


The wrap looks great!

 

Thanks !
I read about leds throwing it out of whack. I also don't want to do a lot of electrical now if I can avoid it.
This I reused the factory front signals and found nonled rear indicators I like.
The headlight could be an issue but for now I just want it running so I can ride. There's always next winter to fix the final little bits.

 

Today I finally got the rear fender fabbed up and should have the front done tomorrow.

 

Out of curiosity do you know what kind of load/ resistor for load I would need to not throw the warnings ?

 

Well, it would depend on what you're running, but you'd need to draw the same amount of power.... you'd just be burning that power off as heat instead of light.

I'm sure someone's done the calculations here already; it's not complicated at all. Ohm's law and whatnot. But I'd need to look up the draw of the stock bulbs. I'd be shocked if it wasn't already done here though.

 

I really like this thread. Good to see some fabrication skills. I was thinking about to fab rear fender on my swing arm, too. But I kinda went "the lazy way" on it. Glad to see someone doing it. I know it's gonna look awesome.
First time I was wrapping headers I used 1" wide wrap too. Never again! PITA. Second time I wrapped it with 2" - 50'. Still kinda pita, but way easier, faster. Used a spray bottle to wet it out. I think I sprayed it with VHT clear coat on the end. make everything stuck there.
I would really like to hear it when it's done.

 

I had to escape to the garage to fit the front fender and I am loving the way everything I imagined is finally coming together.

Just waiting now on my brake rebuild kit and then I'll be off to the races.

 

Where's the rear fender from? Damn, that looks amazing. So nice.

 

Thanks man ! this bike has a little bit of all my previous bikes melted into it.

The rear fender was actually the best deal I could find that I liked for my build. I started with a front Harley fairing I got from my local shop which had full side coverage so the it covered most of the tire. Sadly once I got fitting it it was just to narrow and I did not want to be beating a fender to fit. So I turned to online as everything local was expensive and even with shipping and duties this fender was around $110 CAD to my door. I had a friend help me with the and shaping of it. After measuring what was required the 6" fender was perfect. I read through a lot of people using trailer fenders but I never really ventured into that realm.