Ride my XJ650 Maxim 1982 from Canada to Argentina.... Recomendation ???

Hi guys,
I'm Julien , I got my XJ650 Maxim 1982 since April and already ride throught Canada and USA.
It's my first bike and like it. I'm new ride
I plan to ride from Canada to Argentina on bike next September 2020, I don't plan to ride off road or moutain track. So this winter plan to work on a bike.
I need some advise and recommendation , principaly about my driveshaft. I'm thinking about buy a new one this winter , change all sealing... and take with me a old one , in case.
I don't know if someone on a forum , try it or got some experience to ride on South America ?

Thanks

 

No, I haven't but I'm willing to bet, unless you DO go off-road, a lot, your driveshaft will outlast your engine!!
the one thing I MIGHT consider, if that were me, would be better rear shocks.....air assisted, if you could run to that....probably not really needed, but they will give both you and your driveshaft possibly a ...easier, more comfortable time !!

Reasoning: I had a driveshaft go to 240K.....still running, but yes a bit 'clunky' on first gear takeoff.....as long as you regularly change your final drive oil, I doubt you'll have any problems !!

Reasoning pas deux: When I changed my rear shocks for the very excellent, but also very expensive Fournale air shocks ( French company) my rear tyre mileage went up....IE I mean I got between 3-5K miles MORE from my rear tyres.....similar results on my Kawasaki 900R ( Ninja) with Fournale air mono shock

 

I wouldn't worry about the driveshaft, that seems to be an indestructible component on these.
Your bike will need to be in great operating condition as break downs in scarce areas could be a big problem, with riding the bus your best solution.
Read as much as you can here to prepare your bike. Read on the adventure touring sites as to necessities to take along.
Put new clutch and throttle cables in before you go. Take along spare brake and clutch levers or install bark busters, all it takes is some kids playing on your bike to tip it over.
I've never done any adventure touring alone and last 20 years always on a KLR650, same bike as riding companions and we're able to streamline our spares inventory that way. I'm assuming you already speak Spanish/Portuguese so that's probably your biggest asset. I'm jealous as hell.

 

All great and valid points, I'd hope most of 'old timers' already ride with the time honoured spare clutch cable, cable tied to the original, ditto for the throttle!!

 

Hi guys,
Thanks for your recommendations, I will plan to do a big check up, change fews part too. For a clutch / brake lever, I will , week ago drop a bike and broke clutch lever during my road trip usa, rode 200 kms without lol.
About rear shocks , I thinking to change it. On bigger open everything , change gasket, lube everything. Check my manual and do all maintenance.

,
Not at all , need to start to learn.
But 8 years agos, I don't spoke english, never left Europe before, and on my way , find a job in Thailande, travel throught Kazakhstan... And continue since....
I don't check and read too much about others adventure, only about papers for borders .... Like to get my experience.
4 years agos, I rode 5000kms during 6 weeks around North and South of New Zealand on scooter 50cc Chinese brand lol

Also I thourght about built a small monowheel trailer , some of got experience about it

Thanks

 

the driveshaft U joint is not available any more. a used spare would be a good Idea.
we have a guy here from Argentina who found a replacment u joint from a car that works and fit

 

Francais??

 

Yes, I'm . Nobody is perfect lol

 

Lol!

What region....used to visit Le Mans and Le Castellet, for the 24 Hour races, very often

 

I 'm From Bordeaux, South west, but currently I 'm living at Toronto

 

You should research what will be required for vehicle permits and insurance in each country.
Some may not require insurance at all but that is a big risk if something were ever to happen.
The last time I toured in Mexico I just buzzed past the Mexican border station on the way home without surrendering my vehicle permit.
My brother was with me then. He went back the following winter and they wouldn't issue him another permit because he hadn't surrendered his last one.
He was on the same bike and was able to show them he hadn't sold it in Mexico.
This means I'm probably in their books as an illegal bike importer, LOL.

Log on here and ask about permits & insurance, guaranteed someone will answer.
https://advrider.com/

 

I would definitely make sure you have some kind of health insurance!! ( on a per Country basis!)
You may kave 'free' health care in Canada ( as I did mostly whilst touring Europe) but you want to make sure you are covered for catastrophes....< the gods forbid, in each country you are visiting, especially US, health costs can be........diabolical over here !

 

Yes, since 8 years to travel around a world , I always travel with insurance + funeral cover. But i need to check every country about motorcycle insurance.

Thanks

 

you may also want to send things to yourself via general delivery to post offices along your route. so you do not have to carry it all with you.

 

I recommend you put new brake shoes/pads in it before you leave, if you haven't done so already.

Parts for any motorcycle may be hard to find in some remote areas, much less a 30+ year old bike.

 

Good advice, but on the other side of that coin, the XJ will undoubtedly be easier to 'backyard' mechanic, should you need to, than most 'modern' bikes ( ECM, computer controlled systems, ABS, Ride by wire, Fuel injection, etc, etc !!)

 

We ship worldwide! Typically the same day order is placed. But shipping to Central or South America can get pricey, and a few customers have said to never send things by post office, the local post offices are not quite as, ummm, "reliable" as in USA and Canada, etc. (meaning you won't ever get it, or you'll have to bribe them to get it...…..). We've always been asked to ship to those regions by Fed-Ex or UPS.

 

Head over to advrider.com before your trip. There are more international motorcycles on that site than anywhere else in the world. You'll be able to get great advice, and fresh updates about the state of legal stuff and border crossings.

 

I sould be ok, in general , my stuff is a same from a start to a end of trip. but yes maybe some souvenir for family , or I get in trouble lol

 

Definetly on my list to do, I changed my brake pads and bleed my brake, last August, but plan to change breack shoes and also breack pads ( keep on spare in case).

I agreed, no electronics on a my bike , in case.

 

Good to know , I keep your page on favourite.

Yes , start to read a bit and very interesing information on it. Its perfect to start to plan for cross country

 

It would be worthwhile to either carry, or have available for overnight shipping, a spare TCI. That's the one thing you won't be fixing easily should it fail.

 

Take a camera and send us a lot of pictures.

 

Better yet, take a camera phone, one less thing to carry !

 

Ride my XJ650 Maxim 1982 from Canada to Argentina.... Recomendation ???
Toyota

 

Thanks for this ecommendation, also small and not heavy to carry.

During my trip Canada / USA, I'm more often use my phone as my carema, only things , like my camera for a zoom, it's quiet good on it.

 

Julien,

I don't know if you've already left for your trip, but here are my two cents. In my life, I've owned 4 xj650's and 1 xj750. I still have three of the xj650's to this day. They are great bikes and I wouldn't hesitate to take any one of them to South America. I have made modifications to them, though, which I will now impart unto you:

1. Absolutely replace the fusebox on the bike with inline ATC type fuses . The XJ650's come stock with glass fuses and what happens is that the metal clips where the fuses attach break off after so many miles of bumpy roads and bike vibrations. After you put in the ATC fuses, the bike will run much stronger, the headlight will be brighter and you will notice a totally different bike. bring a handful of extra fuses, their super cheap.

2. Bring a spare side stand kill switch. This kill switch is designed to kill the engine (or prevent it from starting ) while the sidestand is down. The problem is that these go bad, and you won't be able to start the bike. Bring an extra one. I have totally disabled mine.

3, Definitely bring extra clutch and brake levers and cables. When the bike falls over, the weak point for the clutch and break lever is at the pivot point and the lever is now rendered useless. What I did was, right after the ball at the end of the clutch and brake levers, I sawed through the lever about half-way. This creates a weak point of the lever right at the end of the lever, instead of near the pivot point. if the bike does fall over, the lever will break at the end, near the ball, leaving you most of the clutch/brake lever intact and usable.

4. Round trip, you are looking at 25,000 miles. Bring enough oil filters for your trip, this will save you time when you need to get your oil changed so that you won't have to wait for your oil filter to arrive in the mail while you are in some backwoods town. It also gives you the ability to do your own oil changes.

5. AS other people have mentioned, your shaft is the strongest part of your bike. put fresh shaft fluid in before your trip and you will not need to bother with it until you come back. On my bikes, I change the shaft fluid every 30,000 miles.

6. If you can, upgrade your suspension (both front and rear) with progressive fork springs. The stock ones suck and chances are, you'll be carrying a lot of crap with you on your trip and will need the additional support.

7. Bring extra light bulbs for your taillight and headlight. no explanation needed there.

8. Before you go on your trip, make sure you do an engine tune up and valve check.

9. you may want to think about getting some saddlebag guards and luggage racks installed. it will give you extra things to lock your items to your bike with. Bring a motorcycle cable lock. You can lock your helmet and jacket to your bike if you need to.

10. Swap out your paper air filter for a KNN air filter. You will be able to wash your filter while you are on your trip and then put it back in. The roads down there are very dusty.

11. Replace your fork seals and get some rubber boots to protect your seals. What happens is that dust collects on the forks and unless you're good about wiping them down every day, the dust mixes with moisture and cakes on the tubes and slowly, over time, the caked on dirt chips away at your fork seals.

12. The gas down there is very bad! Make sure you have extra gas filters with you and be careful of sketchy gas!

13. If you don't have a tire repair kit, get one! It will help you repair those tubeless tires should something happen.

14. If you put in brand new spark plugs before your trip, you won't need to worry about them during your entire trip.

15. (optional) I carry a small bottle of water and dawn dish detergent with me. if you get a flat, you can put the soapy water on your tire to find the puncture. The soapy water is also good for washing your hands after you work on your bike. It goes without saying, but you should bring a motorcycle toolkit with you on this trip.

I'm sure there are more, but that's all my feeble brain can think about at this moment.

Maverick