Restore or part??

I just picked up my second XJ. I have a 83 750 maxim that I have been rebuilding. Redid the exhaust back to factory, the valve shims, valve cover gastket, gas tank, general clean up etc.

The newest one is in rough condition, I am trying to decide if it is a canidate for restoration or just a parts bike... in which case I need a restore bike For haul away (i own a truck) I got a 82 XJ650 maxim. It has been sitting a while, it came with no title or keys but a VIN check at NCIB shows it isn't stolen or salvaged. Other than rekeying and general cleanup I noticed large amount of caked on oil around the exhaust headers and down the side from the valve cover gasket. Some of the oil is fresh (from handlifting into pickup). Also there is some fliud in the gas tank. The front tire appears to be new (the rear is shot but will replace both). The carb covers are newer and shiny.... possibly rebuilt. The wiring to the stator is.... well visible and modified. Well a picture says a thousand words so here goes

 

how many miles on it? could you do the top end yourself? guess it depends on how handy you are but looks do-able to me

 

It has 19k miles on it, according to the odometer. I also just popped off the stator cover and was able to make 3 complete rotations with the wrench so the motor isn't seized. I just finished doing a lot of the top end on my bike the 750, so if it is just shims and replace the cover gasket it's easy.

The next question is wether I can even get a clear title for it. I am in florida , I picked this up at a trailer park rental place the owner (not sure if owner of record) was evicted and it has been sitting there for months. Well florida law allows landlords to junk or auction items that are abandoned. This was classified as junked so I got to remove it from the property. The real question is how much a pain in the butt getting the new title will be.

 

good luck on the title i lived in fl for about 20 years its really hard and expensive if you can get one. here in ga you dont need a title if it was here i would rebuild it by the looks of that leak it got really hot probbibly warped the head but it could be the valve cover gsk if you can get it running clean it off and see where itd coming from . i hate wiring but could figure it out. if it was me i would check it out good before deciding; the rest of the bike looks pretty good in the pics. if it was mine up here i would probbibly fix it if it ran ok but i like projects

 

Put a battery in it and run a compression test. That will tell you a lot about the motor.

The oil leak looks like just the valve cover gasket.

If you get good compression numbers, don't part it out. My 650 Seca is just as grubby, but pushed 150+ across the board.

 

That bike looks better than any of my restored bikes did to start with.

 

This is the 750 I have been restoring if you look at my gallery you can see it started out ruby red with chopped pipes etc....