What your bike can look like if you do it right....

Hi Everybody,
I wanted to express thanks to everyone that has helped me restore my bike. It has taken a lot of time and money but man was it worth it.
If you take the time to do it right you can have an awesome bike. My bike probably runs better than when it left the showroom 31 years ago. Below the photo's is a list of everything I did to this bike after I got it. Here are some photos of my bike for those that may be interested....






What has been done to my 1982 XJ550 Maxim:

Rebuilt front forks
Replaced front brake pads
Replaced rear brake shoes
Replaced cut off switch assembly
Adjusted chain tension
Cleaned and lubed chain
Installed in line fuel filter
Replaced stock oil filter with conversion kit for screw on type filter
Changed oil
Replaced headlight bracket with new OEM part
Replaced blinker switch assembly
Added Battery Tender
Installed new glass mat battery
Added Tool Pouch
Adjusted Valves
Replaced valve cover gasket
Repaired stripped bolts on valve covers
Added windshield
Repaired Tach. cable leak
Replaced grips
Replaced throttle tube
Replaced both tires (new)
Shimmed front brake caliper
Had carbs professionally rebuilt buffed and polished
Synced carbs
Color tuned carbs
Changed plugs
Replaced brake reservoir gasket and screws
Added new rubber for all footrests and shifter
Installed new rear shocks
Replaced Lic. Plate light fixture and bulb
Replaced front wheel bearings and axle parts
Replaced rear wheel bearings and axle parts
Added sissy bar (new reupholstered backrest pad)
Replaced rear tail light lens and gaskets
Replaced rear blinkers (new)
Changed air filter
Changed gas and vac. Lines
Replaced both side covers
Added new petcock on tank
Rebuilt gas cap
Adjusted Cam chain tension
Had both side covers and tank professionally painted
Replaced both rubber seat retainers
Replaced both sets of side cover grommets
Added chrome tank edge trim
Replaced Fuse box with modern type fuse box
Went through and replaced some of the wiring harness
Replaced and repaired all stripped or missing screws and bolts found on bike that I could find.
Replaced whole front brake system with steel line, master cylinder, all new bolts, rotor, electric to MC, brake lever, rebuilt caliper, etc.
Replaced both mufflers with NOS originals. (not easy to find, took me months but I got both of them along with new muffler gaskets).
Replaced clutch lever, with new wiring harness to clutch electrical.
Replaced brake and clutch lever boots.
Reupholstered the seat with an original NOS seat cover.
Replaced Starter Motor
Replaced Horn with a new one.
Replaced Tach with NOS.
Lubed all cables.

 

Bike looks great, dude, shame you wimped out on the carbs & painting. Wiz.

 

Looks great!! Hope my 550 runs that good someday!

 

Looks great!

I really have to track down a backrest... One just like that... did you fab that?

 

Thanks I think...
I sure wouldn't call it wimped out. I wanted the best and I know my limitations so I would call it being smart. I am very happy with my decision of letting a couple others do what they do best.

 

You will get there too. It takes a while and some bucks but when you do.... Wow! It is awesome!

 

I got lucky but here is how....
I watched for a sissy bar for my bike for about 3 months on eBay. I checked every evening. One day there it was, a sissy bar for a 1982 XJ550 maxim. Talk about happy.... I got it for $15 plus shipping. It was completely painted black but under the paint was the gorgeous chrome so I removed all the black paint using aluminum foil. I then had to have a local guy reupholster the back rest. Also had to have some stainless steel spacers made up. It was a bit of work but worth it. My wife loves it! Just keep an eye on eBay daily and you will come across one eventually.

 

* denotes everything I've done as well with the addition of the following:
SS brake lines
Valve cover gasket
Carb to cylinder boots
seat cover
fuse box upgrade

This sounds like the appropriate amount of repairs/upkeep needed to keep 30 year old bikes on the road. Glad to see that you've spent the time and money to properly maintain your ride.

 

Cool RangerG,
Yes the Valve cover gasket was also replaced I just did list it because it was replaced when I did the Valve adjustment. The carb boots, Seat and fuses were already done by the previous owner. I haven't done the brake lines because they are in perfect working order but I do plan on changing them out along with a new exhaust also.
I felt the same way. It seamed like the appropriate amount of repairs needed. Once I started restoring this bike, I just couldn't stop. It felt right.

 

Awesome job...I think you should rescue another XJ...Try to beat Big Fitz for detailed restoration on your next bike. I gotta warn you though, Fitz has some attention to detail!!!

 

Ya no, I am not going to try and beat Fitz. His bikes are awesome.
I will however continue to try and get this bike up to Fitz's standards over the next couple of years.

 

Harder to do for others, but here you go!

 

Thanks Metal Bob for putting those pictures of my bike up but now how the heck did you do that?

 

You can put photos on here by using the tags.

You type ["img"] (don't put the quotes!) then put the image URL (from photobucket or whatnot. Can't do it with pics from your computer harddrive) like you did, then type ["/img"] again without the quotes, but with the square brackets.

[img]your_pic_url

 

Okay this is a test....

 

Nope didn't work. Crap!
I give up. I will stick to just using the links.

 

I checked your code and the problem was that your urls were wrong. They got the "..." in them. Paste the whole url from photobucket between the tags and you've got it!

 

Here we go, I used the wrong code all together. Thanks guys!

 

mine looks nothing like that, I must have done something wrong.
did you keep track of what all that cost ?