XJ700 experts ... your experience needed.

I am struggling with the differences between the water cooled and air cooled models, among other things.

Does anyone know of a parts list cross reference for these two bikes? Which parts are compatible, which parts are not compatible?

Also, I saw listings on eBay for valve cover gaskets for the XJ700, displayed as also being compatible with the XJ650 and (as I recall) the XJ750. I am surprised that this would be the case. Is this just someone's creative marketing error or are they actually the same gasket?

 

I'm sure they'd be the same gasket. Arent all our 82-86 YICS Valve Cover Plates the same? I'd imagine so after looking at some pics of various years
-SLKid

 

The v/c gaskets are the same between all those models.

Almost NO engine or carb parts interchange between the air- and water-cooled models......they are really different engine "families" (related, perhaps, but completely different). There are also MINOR variations in the frames. The forks are slightly different (X models use air-assisted forks). Obviously the rear wheels are different, but will interchange. The gauhe clusters and the wiring harnesses are different.

Brakes, swingarms, seats, body parts, and all the other minor doo-dads are otherwise identical.

750-X engines are identical to 700-X engines except for the crankshaft and rods....Yamaha squeezed the extra cubic inches via a longer stroke, rather than a bigger bore. The X-engines also have a whopping 11.2-to-1 compression ratio, far greater than the typical 9 or 9.5-to-1 found on air-cooled engines..........due to that longer stroke.

 

Yuck ... Some of those designers at Yamaha should be beaten senseless. Two radically different bikes with the same bloody name? grrrrrrr.

So, on eBay, if I search for XJ700 parts, how can I tell if it is an X bike or not? Most of the sellers won't know ... and mine, of course, is the rarer X ...

 

You can ask them whether it was a water-cooled or air-cooled bike, or what the serial number of the bike was (or model ID number), or you just gotta learn which parts interchange or don't!

In my product catalog lists, of it doesn't specifically say "700 non-X" or "700-X" or "700 air-cooled" or "700 water-cooled" models.....in other words, if it says "fits all XJ700 models", then the part fits both versions........

 

as far as finding parts, what i have been doing for my own is using the catalog at www.ceyamaha.com to find the part number for what i need, and that using the part number reverse lookup to see what it fits and using that information to look up parts on ebay or what have you.
interesting to see what the dealer considers fair market value for some of this stuff too. $500+ for a starter...$300-$400 ish for a starter armature!

 

I have two XJ700's. One the air-cooled which I ride and the other a water-cooled that I use as a parts bike. Many of the parts are interchangeable between the two. You can go to the Yamaha parts page (Yamaha-motor.com) and compare part number to see if parts are the same.

Hope that helps

 

If you don't have the XJCD, you probably want to grab a copy. The best $10 I have spent.

There are several bits of information as well as a handy dandy x-ref that will allow you to precisely determine interchangeable parts.

As with any x-ref, it's not perfect. However, it's pretty darn good. For the 700's we can use parts from other 'non standard' sources. For example, we have the same turn signals as the Vmax; however, for the rear the wires are too short. No big deal, you can just fabricate extensions. We have the same speedo as the Radian (and Fazr, I believe). So, some you can 'eyeball' others you need to be exact.

 

Thanks, I am about to order the XJCD, just hadn't gotten a round toit.