What did you do to your Yamaha today?

Braided steel brake line installed last night..... now to get rid of this hangover so I can take it for a ride and see what all the fuss is about.
Happy Canada Day!!

 

Fête du Canada

 

I'm trying to figure out bad idle. Put in new pilots and cleaned the main.

 

Finally got the Power House caliper piston rebuild kit in from UK. Happy so far with it. Will see how good a job I did on the seals when I juice it up. Got electrical harness run and headlight back on. Unfortunately, every terminal in the OE fuse box has decided to break off. I was trying to save the original fuse box setup but I'm done with it now. Replacing it soon with an ATM-LP setup.

 

Now that bike is quiet [ new muffs] added cheap mp3 player, portable headphone amp, and helmet speakers.[not shown].

and yes "my" bike goes to 160 mph.

 

Took the bike out with the new stainless brake likes for a try. Wow now I know what "feel" is like. I have to adjust the brake lever but I didn't think there would be that big of a difference. It could be that the 1983 rubber was screwed up internally and new rubber ones would have made a difference too... but dang the stainless feel great.

 

The huge upside with the braided lines is that the internal line is essentially a lifetime brake line. It won't break down like the rubber lines will.


As for me, I rolled her out of the garage last night.....and that's it.
At least I can look at her while I load junk from the garage into the trailer.

 

My kids know the dump as "The Happiest Place On Earth" always good getting room in the garage.

 

Well in my case it's because the moving truck arrives in 10 days.

 

Oh that is different moving sucks good luck.

 

Today I worked in garage , I'm bummed I bought the factory fairing last year , little did I know was missing the brackets . Joe Elif came to my rescue , and now I cannot find the bracket ... so I gave up for now , so I pulled the plugs and regapped ,they looked real good color, decided to give my carbs a "HOT SHOT" 50/50 mix of Berrymans B12 and MEK straight into the fuel line let it soak , installed new fuel filter let it soak for 20 minutes , fired up runs great , I do this usually 2 times a year keep jets clear. ...

 

While sorting through things while packing I found the promissory note from when I bought her (I paid a deposit and came back with my pickup and the rest of the cash the next day). All this time I though I had paid $950, but the paper says it was $800.

 

I fell in love with my XJ more today. How you ask? I took a XSR700 out for a test ride made me love my Maxim all the more. The XSR has great power and great brakes but the riding position and the choppy throttle didn't make me feel comfortable, I couldn't be smooth at all.
The only thing that the XSR had that I wish the XJ had was a 6th gear but you can't have it all.

 

This morning I cleaned the carbs on my 82 550 maxim, two of the bowls looked like there was almost a saw dust kinda of build up in them. Pretty dirty. But now I'm having issues with the starter still engaged after the bike is running. This is a brand new starter I installed a month ago. Any ideas why this is happening? Thanks.

 

starter-issues.124387

 

Went for a REAL ride today ,filled up reset odometer rode back roads , went 140 miles still showing 2 bars on fuel gauge, I was pushing it hard several times , bike ran great . The only reason I did not go further the clouds started to look mean , and just as I was a few miles from home the wind really picked up , and of course the sun came out and it cleared up.

 

adjusted chain then because bike was running funny I decided to clean/change the air filter. inside stuck to the filter was one of my nitrile gloves. I keep a pair in the tool tray one got sucked into the air box opening. guess I will have to keep them in a zip lock bag from now on.

 

Put the first ~75 miles on my 750 midnight maxim since I've owned it. All went well, but I am making a list of things yet to be done.

 

Tool tubes are cool. Ugly, but cool.

 

So yesterday I rode 140 miles ,bike ran good ,but I've noticed an occasional low speed buck , today was cooler but very windy. So I recently rebuilt a spare set of carbs , I swapped the number 1 slide because I did not like how it moved in the bore. So I swapped diapram and slide and this solved the bucking at low speed . The slides were all seized on the spare carbs so I guess this slide was dragging slightly .

 

Finally did a bench synchronize on my carbs, solved the 3000 rpm idle problem.

 

Pulled the carbs off, numbered the bodies. Broke the rack apart pulled out the butterfiles and messed with the diaphragms and jet needles a bit. Looks like PO took a hammer and screwdriver to them as 3 of the 4 needles were very obviously bent and had been dislodged from their plastic retainers. The metal parts of the diaphragms were scarred up and some of the main jet nozzles were in pretty bad shape. What the heck was that guy thinking?? I'm impressed that he even had it running at all. Also he had told me he had cleaned the carbs out on his "carb machine" Said he did it twice even! Lolz, man. It's ok. It ran before, just not very well. Soon I'll have it all straightened out and she'll be running right again.

 

Oh dear, those carbs have a serious case of the PO (previous owner) I just went through a spare set of carbs that the slides were stuck and the throttle plates were seized, but now all tip top shape. Your slides most likely should be replaced and those needles are toast. Good luck

 

Hah, I spoke too soon! Turns out my rebuild kit has those needles in it along with the jets, nozzles and even idle mixture screws. No need to make or salvage any of those hammered parts. I got my stuff mostly cleaned up today but will pick up some pipe cleaners and look for any kind of useful looking cleaning brushes and will go over the carb bodies a second time tomorrow.

 

Let's take this into his thread. Posts most relevant to the history and condition have been moved there.

new-to-bikes-new-82-650-maxim-owner.123926

 

Just a lil bit of clean up today. Been riding her back n forth to work and it’s very dusty and windy there. She needed the clean up

 

Can you recommend a good chiropractor,... I have a kink in my neck

but on the plus side, the bike looks great !

 

Yeah. I know. All the pics are taken correctly but always seem to post sideways on here. Just here. Only here. Did I say it only happens here??!!!

 

I am going back to my camara . I edit and turn photos from my phone and they always revert to the original upside down sideways photo.

 

fixed 4 out of 5 carb bowls with frozen drain screws screwed up the 5th one by over drilling brighter side they are spares.
also turned my xj750j into a 700 I used a spare seca 650 horn bracket holder and mounted a set of 700 horns to the 750 needed to make a 6 inch set of extensions for 1 horn wire set beep beep

now I have need of another bracket

 

Use a hosting site.

 

Got paint and started painting the frame. There was a bit of surface rust on the frame and I wanted to clean it all up and protect the steel from corrosion so I will fix everything that needs done and hopefully have the bike back on the road next summer.

 

So bike has been hard to start cold , runs great once it starts . So I pulled carbs this evening , pulled float bowls were spotless , the jet for the enrichment well in the float bowl ,spraying cleaner was not plugged but could be better , soaking in MEK right now . Going to soak over night will see how this goes.

 

Should have mailed them to me. I could have popped them out with the TIG.

 

Soaked the repaired OE seat cover down with Armor All and stuffed it into a trash bag. Hopefully a few days soaking will soften it all up well. It's pliable but some of the foam and plastic beading needs some re-oiling. If that doesn't work well I'm going to spray it down with fluid film and see if that works better being stickier.

 

First week back on the job after a two week vacation with the family. Weather was good, which cause me to feel guilty about slacking on my bike. So, took half a day off and finally got my engine out of the frame. Did some other stuff, too. Pics and more info in my build thread. Just felt good to get started again.

Got a link for that (both the rebuild kit and the ATM-LP)?

 

Rode home in the rain from work. Now works almost over again, 0% chance of rain! Oil change , gear oil change, new starter relay and testing ignition coils . Carbs need cleaned but honestly, I'm nervous. And measure shim clearance first? What if I lose a bunch of ride time kinda joking

 

Yes shims should be done before you start to fine tune the rest of it.

 

I ended up going with inline ATM for now. Just wanted to get something functional while I do assembly and testing. I'm still looking for suitable low-profile sockets to rebuild one of the spare OE fuse boxes with. Hoping to put kits together for people to rebuild theirs with (and offer rebuild service).

The piston kit is from Power House UK. I ordered mine through eBay here in the US. Received it in about a week via Royal Mail. The pistons are OE quality stainless, great finish and fit and the kit was top quality too. If they had included a pair of XL nitrile gloves I could have done a complete rebuild sitting by the mailbox.

http://www.ebaystores.co.uk/Powerho...6835017&_sid=1008591237&_trksid=p4634.c0.m322

 

So Monday I pulled the carbs ,soaked float bowls , the jets for the fuel enrichment were slightly plugged , bikes has been hard to start from cold. Well put carbs back on , since it has been hot a hades outside only took 2 days to reinstall airbox boots , sweat pouring down my face and some ares I won't mention, I can report success. I was happy bowls were spotless been 3 years since I rebuilt carbs .

 

Pulled off one down pipe and fixed a leak, will have to take the whole thing off soon and fix the collector box again. Anyone have a link to a home built collector box/exhaust system? Saw one once but can't find it in any search I've tried.
Oh yeah had a great ride before it got too hot (32°C plus humidity) love this bike between 4500-8500rpm what a sweet sound.

 

Perhaps we should create a confession thread for our motorcycle addiction. Just added my third Yamaha to the collection: 1986 Yamaha FJ1200. The others: 1977 XS7502D and 1982 XJ750 Seca. At this point the FJ1200 appears to need minor things (new grips, oil change, etc.) I rebuilt the carbs on the triple last year and the Seca a few years ago. I've recently been trouble shooting what seemed like an electrical issue on the Seca, and just confirmed its a fuel circuit issue - time to open the carbs up again and clean them out. Going back to the "church of clean". Need to order throttle shaft seals as I've been battling a lean issue for a little while.

Sometimes these old bikes present challenges - challenge accepted!

 

You have my dream stable of Yamaha's going looking for a Fj1200 when I start work again. Don't tell the wife but that's going to be my happy 501h birthday to me next year.

 

Wonderful how a lot of us tend to do that. As for the FJ1200 make sure you check her for popping out of second gear, hard on the gas in second to test. That will be a great bike, mine went down the rd some time ago.

 

Good call out. Yamaha issued a fix for this problem years ago. The previous owner confirmed having this fix completed at their local dealer. I'll keep an eye/ear on it, that's for sure. Such a strong machine in comparison.

 

If I remember working on that bike was kinda fun. Not too hard getting the carbs in and out. Once the tank is out of the way you can really get in there and work. Those little air scoops are interesting how they bring the air in and dump it right on top of the engine. If I remember right it was very comfortable and mine sure like to corner. I wish you many of fun riding miles.

 

Messed with colortune for a bit ,rode a few miles hot is one thing but this humidity was weird , hop on bike you expect it to be cooler . So down the road stopped to look at a 79 Yamaha RD400 nice clean 2 stroke , I almost bought one years ago . This one was clean he was asking 5500 yes is good knick but not perfect . Some folks love 2 strokes , since the sun set the humidity is gone and now it is nice

 

Pulled the carbs off the Seca today. Pretty sure I have a gummed idle circuit on #2 carb. However, it also needs throttle shaft seals and maybe a different valve cover gasket: I've had some blow-by since replacing with an aftermarket valve cover gasket. I've considered applying RTV sealant to permanently resolve this issue.

 

Well I wanted to go for a ride. Was doing a little pre ride inspection and noticed front tire was 6 psi low. Spun it around and found a tiny screw. No riding for me this weekend as the tire shop isn't open Sunday or Monday. Tire only has about a 1000 miles on it so that blows. Had a Vespa a few years ago that I put a new tire on and got a screw in it less than 25 miles into it. My luck sucks.

 

they should be able to patch from inside of tire.