1982 XJ550 Maxim rebuild

That or put the bike on the ground and put it in gear with the clutch pulled in. Do you have the cable adjusted properly?

 

The cable is fine, there is no chain yet. I still have to do the wheel balance and torque the frame bolts. Fuel tank is still not painted or plumbed and a clutch switch has to be replaced/rewired in an aftermarket lever. I guess I will move forward and ignore that for now. I have to save up for a sync gauge set so I will probably finish up the frame assembly and make sure the headlight works for now.

 

I highly doubt you’d be able to stop the front drive with your shoe in gear with the clutch pulled in. Your plan makes sense to me.

You can make an inexpensive sync gauge with some tubing and a few plastic tees. I used one for years, only bought a gauge later as I found my self working on multiple bikes.

 

The new voltage regulator was the issue with the headlight. Works fine as does the cluster lighting, though it does dim when revs drop to idle. Hopefully I'll have some time during the week to pull the rear wheel and balance it. I really should replace the brake shoes but I can't spend the cash right now. It's not going on the road for a bit anyway.

 

WTH.. This was supposed to be an exact fit for this model.

 

it's not very often you get more than you pay for

 

That's what she said...

 

Little bench grinding and some punch time fixed that. Everything appears functional. Video in a bit.

 

Why would the gauge and headlights turn on with the key but not neutral unless the engine kill switch is off?? I have reviewed the wiring over and over and just can not figure it out. I had to reroute the bundle on the inside of the motor to swing arm space. Only thing I did was unplug the TCI. Broken solder joint inside on a terminal?

 

What are the headlights, as in plural - your not saying the headlight comes on with the key are you?

Not sure if it is possible on the 550, but make sure you actually have the TCI 4 pin connector connected to the TCI and have not reversed the side stand relay and TCI connectors - the 4 pin connectors are the same so check wire color.

 

Yes, the headlight (high and low beams) as well as the gauge lights come on with the key. I will check that. I did one at a time so it's doubtful that's what it is. The odd thing is that the neutral light comes on when the kill switch is off so maybe it is the 4-pin swapped.

 

It was the black and white swapped with a blue wire. Bullet connectors should have been crimped opposite genders to avoid that. Headlight and gauges on with key, which is nice.

 

I'm not sure that would've helped since all those connections are in one "spot" on the bike. Based on your symptoms and the schematic, it looks like you plugged the sky blue wire on the main harness into the black/white wire on the main harness as they are opposite genders. The neutral switch sky blue wire would physically plug into the black white wire on the TCI also. No risk of damaging anything but you'd have a no run situation in neutral and goofy light as you described.

You'll find single multiple bullet connectors typical on bikes of that era, sometimes the colors don't match either. A little patience and a schematic will help identify if there is any doubt. I know on my maxim the speedo and clutch connections in the bucket will interchange if you're not careful and there are two relays that will physically but not electrically swap out on the harness.

 

Yeah, that's what I did. First time I've done that. But hey, the headlight and gauge lights come on with the key which is nice. It cranks now and the safeties work. Finished up the chain guard, rear fender liner and airbox setup with a new filter. Carb boots are on the box now, I just need clamps for them. It was missing them when I got it. Header pipe 3 and 4 will get cleaned up tonight and hopefully I'll have the exhaust mounted and cinched up.

 

Did you do something to make the headlight come on with the key? Normally, the headlight relay that turns on the headlight does not engage until the AC Generator spins fast enough to engage the headlight relay, at which point the relay becomes latched until the key is turned off. The thought process is to have all available battery power to start the bike and not have the headlight presenting a load.

 

Not that I am aware of. Same relay setup as before. It starts fine either way. I have a 130CCA battery but have not checked the float voltage since I put it in this weekend. The size called for in every store lookup is wrong(too tall like the one I already bought) so I found one on the shelf that measured just under box dims and it fit.

 

Glove box is back on, front engine stabilizer and crash bars installed. The header pipes don't look too bad after a brush and polish. I'm not going to touch the mufflers yet, they may get replaced since the collector straps broke off both of them. They work fine for now. The tank has a new petcock and is ready for fuel. Painting will be soon, still looking for the right single-stage to spray on it and the side covers.

 

Diode pack let out the magic smoke after I installed the fuel tank and got everything buttoned up and running. I guess my miswire with the sidestand circuit bit me in the butt. The new petcock is not working properly, go figure. I also had to cut off half of the handle to get it to fit in "on" state. The bike will run without the diode pack so I'm going to retune for the filter. It's bogging horribly at WOT so it needs major mix adjustments now. It idles fine.