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Discussion in 'Hangout Lounge' started by tonuptony, Jan 14, 2010.

  1. tonuptony

    tonuptony New Member

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    Hi everybody, tonuptony from over the pond in the U.K here,been lurking round the edges of this forum for about 3 weeks now thought it about time I walked through the door & said Hi.This is the reason I googled X.J 650 forums & found you guy's
    [​IMG]
    I was not looking for another bike but a Christmas visit to an old friend found this old girl (81X.J 650 4K.O)in his back yard open to the weather & under 6 inches of snow, so for the princely sum of £20.00 it was loaded onto the pickup with 2 boxes of spares & home to a nice warm dry shed.She runs but revs @ 6000 on shut down so got some carb work to do (checked all cables are free)& electrics to sort,it's had a new ignition switch at some time & I've a feeling it's wired wrong lights are on as soon as battery connected & ign comes on when lights are switched on.So i've a feeling we will be talking a lot over the coming weeks.
     
  2. schooter

    schooter Active Member

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    good luck with that we'll be here to help.

    that looks like its a mutt of a bike... seca 750 tank, weird side covers... and idk
     
  3. markie

    markie Member

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    Hello and welcome. Sounds a good buy at £20. An air filter is about £18!!!

    There are a few UK bikes on here - most in the shed/garage at the moment. There's certainly a wealth of knowledge here on 650's
     
  4. tonuptony

    tonuptony New Member

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    Hi there shoot feels like i've known you for ages,been reading a lot of your posts before I came through the door. from what I've read I think the tank & side covers are standard for a U.K. market 81 4K.O. it should have a 4 into 2 exhaust instead of 4 into 1 though apart from that I think it's pretty standard,anybody out there know anything about the 4KO's
     
  5. tonuptony

    tonuptony New Member

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  6. markie

    markie Member

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    I actually remember the XJ650 being road tested and comments of the time that they were better handling than other Japanese manufacturers with the only slightly negative comment being most of the power was higher up the rev range. i'm sure 125 mph is quite possible - on private land, of course.

    There are lots of 650 owners here and most of them live in the US/Canada (So -5 hours GMT or more).

    £20 is such a bargain! I have a workmate who just bought a XS750 triple non-runner and he paid £250!!!

    If you see a post by BigFitz - check his gallery. he's got two XJ550s that look like they are brand new.
     
  7. FABFABINC

    FABFABINC Member

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    Welcome!!!!!!!!
     
  8. schooter

    schooter Active Member

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    shafties are the smoothest driving, well, belt drives I would think to be pretty smooth since its so tight.

    but they dont whistle!

    on a side note, that most definitely started life as a seca 650, and maybe th yellow just makes the side covers stand out more.

    but I swear that is a seca 750 tank.

    though, I've never heard of a 650 4ko, so I could be wrong, who knows, maybe you have some rare prototype.
     
  9. seaguy

    seaguy Member

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    Welcome dood. I like that black engine Mate ..you goin rat /fighter with this one or still thinkin? :wink:
     
  10. tonuptony

    tonuptony New Member

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    Hi seaguy,still thinking on that one,1st job to get everything up & running before stripping to paint,that way if it don't work when reassembled it's my doing :roll:
     
  11. robbo

    robbo Member

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    hi my xj750 maxim was my first jap bike i bought 3 years ago.i am in leicestershire.good luck on the rebuild.
     
  12. skillet

    skillet Active Member

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    Wanted to say WELCOME to the site!!!

    skillet
     
  13. tonuptony

    tonuptony New Member

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    Thanks for the welcome guys,robbo I see you have a Ariel Arrow in your stable.I had a Golden Arrow in the 60's what an ace bike on the twistys it would run with the big boys (don't forget we are talking 60's England )when 650's ruled,Bonneville's,Road Rocket's & Norton 650s.In fact if I could get off in front no way could they get past (may have had something to do with me putting more oil in the tank)for anyone not used to the Ariel Arrow they were a 2 stroke 250 twin with a dummy tank upfront & the real tank under the seat,kept the weight low for very good handling & the 2 stroke oil was added direct to the tank.The trade mark of the Arrows & Leaders (a fully dressed model with built in luggage) was 2 swirls of 2 stroke smoke coming from the exhausts.(we didn't Know about global warming then)In the 60's Airfix did a model kit of the Golden Arrow & rider called Ton Up Tony hence my user name.[​IMG]
     
  14. crow

    crow Member

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    Great story about the Arrows and where you got your forum name :) Sounds to me like that 650 is in good hands.
     
  15. wizard

    wizard Active Member

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    Yes I had an Arrow in the sixties, revolutionary, bananna frame & leading link front suspension.(easy to strip the plug threads, ally head)
    Now the XJ, take off the valve cover, make sure all the valves are moving freely, check & adjust the valve lash, then test the compression, don't worry about the carbs yet, make sure the mill is sound. & welcome,Wiz.
     
  16. robbo

    robbo Member

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    hi tonup tony.i like the story of your name but the arrows only did about 75 if you were lucky.i had one in 67 with racing tank seat and fairing and megaphones i loved it.thats why i bought and restored this one in 2003 its a 1960 standard arrow with the golden arrow high comp heads but 375 carb not the 376 fitted to the golden arrow.its got suzuki 250 pistons but it does not go anything like my old one.might have something to do with only being about 9 stone dripping wet then.
     
  17. tonuptony

    tonuptony New Member

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    75 is about right 80 with wind behide you :roll: I could keep up with 650s on the Derbyshire back roads to Matlock Bath from Chesterfield but once we hit the Flying Mile they were away (if they could see through the blue haze to overtake)what a sweet handling bike though.
     
  18. tonuptony

    tonuptony New Member

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    Well its been nearly a year since the 4KO came into my life & a lot has happened in the last 12 months from losing my workshop and home to finding a new lady in my life who is crazy about bikes and can wield spanners result. luckily the xj was already in the shed of an ace spanner man from work by the name of Mark who has done the work on the 4KO for me. apart from indicators & horn what few parts needed are now sourced, just frames and rack to fabricate for saddlebags, I am not aiming for originality in the rebuild but incorporating changes to make it more usable in all weathers hence a lot of stainless fittings, the seat is being recovered with gel pad for long distance comfort, thinking of brown seat to go with the brown bags I've acquired & probably a deep red paint job but the jury's out on that one for the time being.
    Well I hope 2011 is going to be a good riding season for you all I certainly intend getting some miles in on the XJ next year & also to be more active on this forum, Ride Safe & a happy New Year to you all.
    [​IMG][​IMG]
    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  19. bigfitz52

    bigfitz52 Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    Schooter; "4K0" is the model code for the original European 1980 XJ650; had styling and features the same as North American XJ650RJ Seca model, except it came with an oil cooler and started in 1980. No special prototype, just an original Euro XJ650.

    The paint job on the sidecovers is throwing you off, and that's a 650 "Seca" tank.

    Tony; nice job in progress. I've got one too (a grubby 650 in need of work) but it looks like you're quite a ways along now.
     
  20. tonuptony

    tonuptony New Member

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    Thanks fitz, but the work done on the 4KO ain't my doing, I traded my old series 2 Land rover 1959 with the spanner man at work in return for getting the 4KO done, and he is making a top job of it. I like the Norton I had a 650 SS in the 60s cafe racer, also been running 83 Triumph TR 65 Thunderbird ( one of the last Meriden built) also had that from new, that's presently in storage in Scotland.
     
  21. RickCoMatic

    RickCoMatic Well-Known Member

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    To sustain 6,000 rpm's, the bike needs to draw Fuel from the Main Jets.
    Carbs are allowing Fuel to the Engine.

    You're going to need those Carbs Cleaned before she'll run right.
    Since it's been out-of-doors ... the bores for the Diaphragm Pistons will likely need a scrubbing and re-finishing.

    Read the article: "Clunk Test"

    If the Exhaust is a problem; you can get a Motad System, from a breaker, that meets Stock performance specs.
     
  22. tonuptony

    tonuptony New Member

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    Thanks for the reply Rick the carb problem was when I first got the bike last January, they have since stripped and thoroughly cleaned, so hoping when we fire it up apart from some fine tuning she will run sweet.
     
  23. tonuptony

    tonuptony New Member

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    well after just over a year the xj has finally come to life, and the first ride was 2up for 450 miles, straight after the mot. the carbs are very slow to drop down to tickover sometimes, and the speedo drive seems to have packed up, but other than that, no probs, and the new memory foam in the seat is quite comfy - according to the pillion! she did mention that the foot rests were not so comfy tho so will have to sort that out for her :roll:

    [​IMG]

    this is the bike at kinross services. we did the whole trip on 3 tanks - not too bad.
     

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