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New member/Motorcycle Owner.. few questions

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by Kavey, Dec 17, 2006.

  1. Kavey

    Kavey Member

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    Good to find there is a club full of people with these bikes. I just bought mine yesterday for very cheap as a first street bike. Im loving it so far but I have tons of questions. I owned several dirtbikes as a kid but I wont claim to know much about them anyway.

    Heres the story.. I have promised myself every winter for the last 10 years I would pick up a cheap street bike for the spring. It never happened. This year I have kept an eye on craigslist all winter waiting for the right deal. I came across what was listed as a 81 yamaha maxim 550. The guy couldnt get it to run. I brought it home changed the spark plugs rigged up the choke cable and shot a bit of starting fluid in the intake and got it going. It seems to run pretty well but it does have some issues.

    I guess the first thing I need to know is what type of bike it is exactly and then in short order if anyone knows of local places to get parts in st louis. If not whos the cheapest online vendor who deals with these bikes parts.

    Second off it has no air filter which may be causing it to run lean I assume? Which brings me to the point of the noise it makes. When running it makes like a light rattling sound. It doesnt sound severe but I just dont think it should sound this way. Not sure if that sums it up too well. Any advice on this appreciated.. gonna try to find an air filter for it tonight online somewhere.

    Another question is when I went to geico.com for an insurance quote it wanted a 17 digit VIN.. mine only has 9 digits.. is that normal for these or is something wrong with the title? Also I saw in another thread if i post the VIN you guys could tell me the exact model of this bike. Here is it (excluding the last two digits)
    5k50057XX

    If someone could tell me the exact model I would appreciate it.

    I have a ton of questions but cant think of them at this moment so ill post back when I think of them. Thanks alot.
     
  2. BlueMaxim

    BlueMaxim Active Member

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    5k50057XX would be a 1981 XJ550H sold in the USA.
    Some of the earlier bikes did not have a 17 digit VIN#. If your does it will be on the right side of the steering neck stamped into the metal. This will be your complete VIN#.
    The rattling could be many things. Most likely suspects are, a loose exhaust part, wheel bearings, loose brake caliper or missing anti-rattle shim in the caliper, camchain worn or tensioner stuck. Best thing to do is check the outter items first. The brake caliper or front wheel bearings will usually stop rattling with brake application. The exhaust is usually a loose muffler or header pipe. Sometimes the inner wall of the double walled header pipes will break loose and make a pretty good racket. Enough that many here have thought it to be the camchain. It will vary with engine RPM so check if it is RPM specific. Also check if it goes away with the pulling in of the clutch.
    You have Mikuni carbs on that bike and there are many online vendors for them. Most are listed in the links section. I have used partsnmore.com, motorcyclecarbs.com, oldbakebarn.com and bikebandit.com. bikebandit having the highest prices.
    Welcome aboard and let us know of any questions as you work your way through the rattle.
     
  3. Hvnbnd

    Hvnbnd Active Member

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    Looks like BlueMaxim about covered all that I was going to say.

    Welcome aboard and hope you have a great time with that XJ.

    Definatly needs to have airfilters!!

    I'd suggest looking in fleabay for parts, use search words like XJ550 or xj maxim....etc.

    Be careful on fleabay....... there's crooks out there you know!!!
     
  4. Kavey

    Kavey Member

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    Thanks alot.. much appreciated. Im sure Ill spend alot of time here. I love joining forums devoted to the vehicles I get and I loveee to learn. I have been reading this forum most of the day (got 8 pages into this particular forum and through alot of other parts of the forum as well) First things first where should I look to buy a new air filter? I saw them somewhere yesterday for under 10 bucks but dont remember where. The rattling noise is something engine related its louder at idle but never very loud. THe best comparison I can think of is like a valve train noise in a car. Its very faint.. nothing obvious I guess it just doesnt sound right to me. I think I saw something in a thread earlier that led me to beleive it could be the norm for these bikes. Could be wrong on that.

    Another thing I need like yesterday is a set of mirrors.. do I need something in specific? If so where can I find those? Then of course I need side covers but it seems patience will play a big role in finding those. I might try to fab something up or something if I cant find some by spring.

    Think thats all for the moment.. sure ill think of more pretty quick.. LOL
     
  5. RickCoMatic

    RickCoMatic Well-Known Member

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    You got suspicious noises. You need to know what these noises are. The easiest way to determine what you are hearing it to "Probe" the engine while it's running and determine exactly what it is you are hearing.

    Take a length or wooden or fiberglass rod ... 4 or 5 feet long ... stick one end on the area you want to "listen too" and apply pressure to the other end with your thumb ... then ... place your ear right on your thumb nail and "Hear" what's going-on in there!

    I suspect you you're hearing valve train noise. DOHC's have a lot of valves opening and slamming shut in close proxcimity.

    And, as I have said before ... some noises are GOOD noises. If you are hearing the staccato of valves closing. That's good! It's when you DON'T hear your valves that's a problem.

    "Get-on the stick" ... Probe the engine and let us all know what's making the noise. Probe it ... right after you manually take-up any slack that might need adjusting-out of the cam chain.

    Jack-over the engine by hand ... two full revolutions clockwise ... then -- Quickly jack it Counter-clockwise a half turn. Perform this check a few times to see if the cam chain tensioner takes-up any slack that might need to come out of that chain.
     
  6. welderflame

    welderflame Member

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    Kavey,

    You came to the right place, These people have a wealth of hands on knowledge of these bikes. Don't ever be shy about asking questions,Some of the guys know more than Yamaha about these bikes.
     
  7. welderflame

    welderflame Member

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    Btw,

    I run a UNI foam filter on my 86 max no problems with the jets and easy to clean.
     
  8. BlueMaxim

    BlueMaxim Active Member

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    I used to buy my filters from dennikirk.com. I now run a K&N so don't have to change just clean and re-oil.
     
  9. Robert

    Robert Active Member

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    Howdey Kavey, looks like your in good hands. Enjoy.
     
  10. BlueMaxim

    BlueMaxim Active Member

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    Need to correct my typo here. Should be : denniskirk.com
     

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