Hello and a question from a new user (second try - DB error)

Hey everyone

I just got my first bike since I sold my GXR back around 92. When I was a kid I had a Yamaha XS850 Special and I recently decided I wanted a similar looking bike. I found a bike listed as a Yamaha 650 on Craigslist Friday and drove all the way out to the boonies to look at it.

The bike has not run since 07. It was one of those "It ran when I parked it" deals. The kid who had it had started to sand the tank and none of the name plates were on the tank or the one side cover that was still on the bike so I was not sure what model it actually was. The title just says it is a Yamaha X 650. It is one that was just before they switched to the newer VIN system so the only online search I have found can't look it up. Anyone know how to figure out which model it is?

I looked at pix of all the different flavors of 81 650's I could find online and the closest I can find is either an XJ650 or a Maxim X. No telling if the seat, etc are the original. It has obviously been dropped a few times and I'm guessing the blinkers must have been replaced from the looks of the cluth/brake levers. It has the rectangular-ish bar around the seat that has the black groove in the center and "Yamaha" displayed across the back of it.

The engine is not the painted black one so it isn't a Midnight.

It has a 4 cylinder engine.

I have started to work on it but I'm not sure of the exact model and would like to know what it is when it comes time to order parts. The controls on the bars are all shot and full of sand from sitting out in the desert for years (it was sitting out almost all the way to the entrance to the Cochise Stronghold) so need to be repaired or replaced. I have the carbs off as they were all 'glued' shut from the old gas that was left in it. There seems to be a wiring problem with the back side lights. The headlight does not come on. The front blinkers and tail light do come on.

I poured Marvel Mystery Oil in all four cylinders and let it sit a day and a half and then turned the engine by hand and it is not frozen up. Can't turn it at all with the plugs in so the compression is, at least, not totally shot. It only has 10k on the engine according to the spedo which seems like it works and the title is from the original owner so I *think* it is a low milage engine at least.

I probably paid a tad too much for it (4 bills) but it was a long freaking drive and I didn't want to go home empty handed - lol. Besides I seemed to recall from somewhere back in the dark recesses of my brain that the 81 was the first year they put "special" styling on, what was back then, considered a sport bike. Kind of the 'bike that started it all' - lol - and I just had to have it. Besides I always preferred to buy a vehicle that wasn't quite running and then fix her up. Makes it more mine that way... and , for me at least, turning wrenches is half the fun of owning a bike or a sports car. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

So hello and if anyone can help me correctly identify this bike I'd be most appreciative. I'm sure I'll end up a regular here now that I have scooter fever again. I'm already eyeing that XS750 on Craigslist for $700... lol

 

This post will tell you, in excruciating detail, how to decode the VIN and identify which model you have.

It's not an X if:

1) ...it's smaller than 700cc. US models had a 700cc engine; non-US models were gifted with a 750.
2) ...it's aircooled. X models were liquid cooled.
3) ...it's anything other than '85 or '86 model year.

 

Re: Hello and a question from a new user (second try - DB er

Ahh ok well it is an air cooled 650 straight 4 so not an X then even though the title says that is what it is and the numbers on the title do match the numbers on the bike .

Thanks for the link to how to decode the VIN!

 

Re: Hello and a question from a new user (second try - DB er

Well that was easy enough. Thanks!

So it turns out it is a 1980 XJ650G Maxim so I was close. Just off by a year.

 

Welcome!
While I would not have spent that much for something in that shape, I am not you. Have you done a compression test yet? Check the valve clearances before you do and correct any that are out of spec.
I stripped out an 80 not too many moons ago and still have the bulk of the parts laying about.
Good luck on your efforts, I commend your tenacity!