My Project - XJ 700 X

She looks to have a hard life, but here is my project. Not many miles on the odo (~6K). While the airbox is off, I do have it. Luckily, I caught the guy before he got too far down the path of trying to do pods.

She will start and run somewhat. I'll know more once I get the airbox back on to see where things really are.

 

Looks pretty good in the pics - maybe not too hard a life? I'm sure it will be a fun project.

 

Agreed! looks like a nice ride!

 

I do like the seats on the '85s. Looks like a fun project.

 

Looks like a nice X you've got there. Take good care of it and it'll take good care of you. I've mentioned this here on the forums before, but I bought a brand spankin' new 1 liter bike, but I still can't get enough of my X. I'll often walk out to the garage on a nice riding day, look at one bike, look at the other, hop on the X and go for a 50 mile cruise

 

Please dont mess with that bike... it loks great and clean, the tank looks kinda messed up though.. idk... but please, dont mess with it, its too nice.
How much did you pay?
and that tank trim looks smokin'

 

Looks like the original Yamaha tank badges were removed. I like the look of the tank trim. I might try adding some to mine.

 

Thanks guys. I am happy with it.

It has been repainted and does need some body work. As I have gone through things, I have determined the original color was the scarlet red. It does need a repaint, so my plan is to take it back to the original at some point.

To give it a touch of the new, I was thinking of getting the tuning fork logo in gold to replicate the original medallions size but look more up to date.

Appearance is secondary at this point. I need to get it road worthy first. After it is rideable, I'll move on to appearance.

How much was it? Two chickens and a goat. Seriously, the price was insignificant, and a great deal. It is worthy of one of the 'great deal' stories in my eyes.

 

Since it's really not running yet, you're gonna be taking the carbs off a couple times.
You should send me the "5valve" carb covers for safe keeping. They're know to get broken and I'd hate for that to happen to such a nice set. I'll keep them nice and clean for you :wink:
And if you got the chrome airbox covers they should be stored in my garage too.

Seiously, great find....once you get it running you'll love it!
They are a bit finicky to get dialed in, but well worth the effort IMO.

Don't mess with the carbs much until you get the airbox in (yeah it makes a big difference)
Unless the airbox boots (from airbox to carb throat) are nice and soft, buy a complete set. They are a bitch to get on when new and almost impossible once they get a little hard. Best $32 I ever spent!

Your PO replaced the seat cover (but I really prefer the stock look)
http://s288.photobucket.com/albums/ll16 ... ction=view¤t=Seat1.jpg

This site is a great place to help get it back on the road.
Did you get the XJCD yet? (absolute requirement)

 

Oddly enough, I have the chrome covers for the airbox too. The airbox itself is in good shape. I was a bit skeptical of the 6K on the odo; however, the headers are in good shape and look pretty new with the exception of some weathering. I wish she could talk so that I knew more about her past. Each time I do something with her, I learn a little more about where she's been.

Best I can tell, she sat outside a bit and PO's gave up too quick when trying to get her on the road. So, it's my turn.

I have new boots coming along with some other various parts. I'm planning on pulling off the carbs to give them the once over and redoing the fuel lines. Even without the airbox, I can coax her to run, but its not too pretty.

 

I was banging my head against a wall trying to figure out why I couldn't get my X to run right and had a few people on here trying to help me through it. I conveniently forgot to mention I didn't have the airbox hooked up...didn't think it would cause such a change in the way it ran, but it certainly did! Just don't try to do any tuning to your unless you've got that box hooked up!

 

nice looking bike I hope all goes well and quick getting her running
Shaun

 

I forgot to ask one question. Based on everything that I have read, the 'X' is pretty rare. Anyone have an idea just how rare they are?

I picked this one up off of CL. It appeared in the morning, and it was heading to my house that afternoon. I don't recall seeing one appear before this one, and I sure haven't seen another yet.

 

If you go to XJ4EVER forum on this site and use the VIN # look up you can determine alot about your bike.
I don't think it will tell you how many made, but it will tell you which number yours rolled of the line and manufacture origin.

 

Only made for two years, if memory serves. There are a number of X owners on here, myself included. If you haven't been there already, there's a site dedicated to the X. Might be worth a visit.

[shameless plug]

Plus, if you haven't seen these yet, I also did a couple of writeups for cleaning the carbs and flushing the coolant.

[/shameless plug]

 

Thanks for sharing the docs schmuckaholic. They are great!

 

Schmuck is correct - the 'X' was only made in 1985 and 1986. I'm sure you may have read somewhere that Harley Davidson pushed to get a law passed that no import motorcycle was to have an engine bigger than 700cc in the mid 80's, which is why the American versions of the 'X' came with 700cc while the Canadians got 750cc's. I think that law was overturned shortly after it was passed, though.

That's about how my 'X' purchase went too. Woke up in the morning, refreshed my 'Maxim' search on Craigshelper.com (a great tool for searching Craigslistings in your area, BTW), saw an ad for a 1985 Maxim 750cc bike (knew right off the bat that the owner didn't know what he had) and immediately clicked it. Got a huge grin on my face when I saw the picture of the bike and it had a big 'ole radiator on the front. Called him up, made sure the advertised price of $500 wasn't a typo and a half hour later I was on my way to pick it up.

 

OK. I'll confess how much I paid since I just sold my old mountain bike for more than I paid for my X. I picked it up for $400, and the PO had just purchased a brand new battery.

Needless to say, I was pretty happy with the deal. What I am really enjoying is going through it to get it back on the road. A little time, and a lot of patience is what she needs.

 

well you have me beat! i just snagged my X for $500, with a brand new battery, the old (still good) battery, brand new factory service manual, and all receipts for the last 3 seasons showing new tires, air filters (k&n foam dealies) recovered seat, and a few other goodies as well.
it was introduced to me as a good starter bike, as well as a beater, and a "$500 bike" i was originally going to do a bobtail fender and mustang style seat, but after learning what i got my hands on, i think i'll just do the body work and keep it looking like an X.

 

Well, I got my airbox boots, so I pulled the carbs to get the airbox back on and did get everything back together. I am able to get it to run OK as is, but the carbs are just crap. The PO's really hacked them up. When I saw multiple different screws on the bowls, I knew when I put them back on, they would be coming off again. But, I wanted to see what it would do.

So, what to do. Really, they need a complete rebuild. So, as I am pondering, I happen to find a complete set on ebay that has been rebuilt. The chrome hats are perfect, so I hope the rest of them are in as good a shape. From the pics, the rebuilder put the overflow joints between 1&2 and 3&4 down low and the straight tubes where the overflow should have been. So, probably someone got a hold of them and didn't know what was wrong and figured they just didn't work.

We'll see when they get here. The bike ran pretty good with the crappy carbs, so when I get a set on there that is right, hopefully that does it. I think I am getting close to being on the road (fingers crossed).

 

Just in they way of updates, she is running now. I really appreciate all of the helpful information from everyone here! And a special thanks to Designer Mike for all of his help.

Now that she is running, here is what's been found so far.
- Short in rectifier harness, rewired today and seems to be OK
- 2nd Gear problem, since I just got her back on the road, I really don't want to do that right now.
- Throttle shaft seals are leaking causing erratic idle, I verified this by spraying starter fluid on the shafts while running, intakes seemed to be fine - Chacal has parts on the way

Hopefully, I get the new throttle shaft seals in this week and get some road time to see if anything else appears.

 

And today was the best. I passed the state inspection, so I can get on the road legally for test rides. Yipee!

 

Everything is back together and she's on the road now. Still more to do, but at least there is ride time involved now.