New to forum, new to bikes

Just wanted to introduce myself as I'm sure I'll have tons of questions. Got my 82 xj750 maxim a few weeks ago after a motorcycle safety class to get my license. Was just looking for a bike that ran decent for the right price. Loving it so far, just minor issues. Idiot lights work sometimes which is expected with a 27 year old bike. Battery light is always on. PO said it's because it's not a yamaha battery. No idea if there's any truth to that. Fuel gauge works sometimes. Don't really care about that though. A more legit concern i have is it takes awhile to warm up. Once it's warm it runs great just takes awhile. Guessing this isn't a simple fix. Looking forward to digging through all the info on the site and seeing what customizations you all have made.

 

Hey Mowree, welcome to the forum. plenty of help floating around here. As far as your battery goes, should not, in any case, matter that the battery isn't a yamaha. I have never had a yamaha brand battery on my bike, and have never had an issue with my battery light.

As far as it taking a while to warm up, I've been having A MAJOR pain in getting my carbs right, but it can be done-and once they are set, then you'll have a nice running dependable bike on your hands. In my opinion, it sounds like your cold start circuit (actually while your at it the whole carbs) needs a good cleaning. trash can get in there and obstruct the flow, letting limited fuel get up the enrichment circuit. as the bikes runs and warms up for a while, the trash sounds like it is freeing up.

I'm not yet a guru at these bikes, lol, but I have spent countless hours working on mine and searching these forums. Hope I may have helped at least somewhat.

 

Welcome Mowree! This sight is a great place to be for you and beginning your adventure with your Maxim, by the way, congratulations! On the battery, there is a battery sensor on these bikes that goes into one of the cells in the battery. Often if the bike is modified, or the battery is changed, the sensor gets taken off, damaged, etc. and never replaced. If you haven't looked to confirm that your battery sensor is there, look behind the side cover at the battery compartment first to see if the sensor is even there. On my first XJ, (a Seca) that battery sensor was just plain missing! The wire was just hanging in the battery compartment. If this is the case, Chacal (he's our parts wizard, you'll get to know him VERY well as you begin to work on your bike, and he's the BEST!) has this part and just about everything else you would ever need parts wise, tools wise, etc. for these bikes. If the sensor is indeed there and in the battery, have the battery tested or replaced. I happen to think though if you haven't checked yet that you'll find the sensor is either malfunctioning from heavy corrosion or damage or missing altogether. As far as your running problem, I hate to say it, but Raven is right on it's your carbs. Same issue with my first Seca, but DON'T make the same mistake I did. It was my first bike, spent hours and hours cleaning and rebuilding the carbs. Reinstalled them and the bike ran great for about a week. Stupid me, not knowing much about bikes at the time didn't know anything about gas tank sealing. So as I said about a week later, it started with a long warm up, long choke time, and got worse and worse until it would barely run, almost no power. So if you do dig into your carbs and the bike had been sitting for a long time, have your gas tank cleaned and sealed first! Raven is also right that it does not matter what brand of battery is in the bike. Good luck and welcome to the forum!

 

INLINE FUEL FILTER right away. Save yourself more headaches.

(chacal has those too, in different configurations depending on how it fits your bike.)

READ THIS (it could save your skin http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=15874/.html

Get a service manual, and welcome aboard!

 

Right on, Fode140. I cleaned my carbs AT LEAST 3 good times only to find tiny particles each time, due to small amounts of trash in the tank. Sealing the tank is a bit of a task, but I used the KREEM system treatment and it worked pretty well. no more rust, and tank is nicely sealed with a thin white coating on the inside- no more rust. Also, after looking into the carbs, cleaning, and checking for a rusty or dirty tank, make sure to add a small inline fuel filter which you can get from the yamaha dealership for about 3 bucks. just a little cone shaped inline filter that will make a big impact on protection of trash from getting into you fuel system.

 

also, don't forget what a lot of people overlook. the petcock needs to be cleaned as well. just take it about, let it sit in carb cleaner, shoot some air through the passages, and put it back together. going ahead and taking it off now to clean will also give you a chance to check it to make sure it is working properly.

 

Another welcome! Glad to have you in the fold!