82 xj650 engine installation tips

I went with an 82 xj650 engine, instead of going with the 750. It's going to be replacing an 81 xj650 engine. Anything I should be aware of with going up in years? Am I going to have to do anything special with the carbs, or anything else?

I know how to get the carbs off and back on, but haven't done anything more complicated than that. I'll have my brother all for muscle support, but not mechanical help. If someone lives in the fayetteville NC area and wants to make $50 or so lending a hand message me.

Also what can I do with the old engine, it runs, smokes some, burns oil and needs a ring job. Just trash it, or would I be better off salvaging certain parts out of it for use later?

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 17049&rd=1

There's a pic and info on the engine there.

 

I'd knock the Old Engine down. Save the Head and recondition that for later on. If the tranny was good .... save all of that.

Part-out what you can and give-away the rest.

There's a lot of parts on a burnt-out engine that are worth some good coin!

 

Cool, might help me make up some of the $400 I ended up spending.

 

Yamaha shows different carbs and holders for the 82-83 than the 80-81. Could be a minor change and you can swap the old carbs and holders on, or the YICS could have required a geometry change that will be difficult to overcome.

Also, the 82 engine won't have a tachometer drive. Pretty simple conversion to electronic tachometer though, and one less place to leak.

 

damn, I was hoping for a simple swap out of engines, I don't have the carbs for the engine I just bought.

 

I don't know that they won't work. Changes might be superficial. Get your new engine and see.

Start watching for an electronic tach.

 

I found this little bit of info, sounds like it might be superficial, I don't need the tack to drive do I? I'll buy one, but just in case I don't hve it in time I want to be able to ride.


To the guy wondering if he can switch parts between '81 and '82 engines. I put an '82 YICS engine into my '81 with no frame problem whatsoever. It was a little tricky for a moment because the YICS valve covers are a little more square, but they fit. You will have to switch your tachometer to an electric one since it was a mechanical one for '81. I found one on eBay for $10 and grabbed the wire right off the coil for power. As for the vibration, I had that same problem only to realize it was my exhaust slowly cracking on the left lower side. Once it cracked all the way through I had no vibration problem! Lucky me hey?

I love my XJ650. It may have a real 80's look to it, but as far as comfort and drive-ability I have not found its equal. I often ride newer and far more expensive bikes, but I have yet to ride any other comparable bike, (size and style) that I like better

 

Yes you do have the carbs, both bikes used HSC 32 carbs. The difference is in the intake boots and the engine you bought is pictured with the intake boots. The difference between the engines is the width of the cylinder head. The YICS ports make the '82 wider so different intake boots were used to accomodate. This way Yamaha only changed those parts and not carbs, carb boots or airbox. So your current carbs will fit.
I did foget about the tach though and I'm sorry about that. But you won't need it to ride.

 

You can get a Digital Tach and wire it up.
It's going to look like an accessory ... but, it will be accurate!

 

Gauge sets for the 650 Maxim are on eBay all the time. Snag yourself a set for an 82-83 and use the electronic tach. Should swap right in (with 1 wire added for signal).

You might even find just the tach which I suspect will drop right into the housing.

 

It will drop right in.

 

Thanks guys, don't know what I would do without this message board.

 

The electric tach will need at least one wire added. You will need to tie into the orange wire coming from the TCI and connect to the orange wire coming out of the tach connector. The wiring diagrams for both bikes are in the Haynes manual. There is a wiring code difference in the color of wires that power the tach in your current harness. That will not have to be changed. They're just different colored wires that do the same job. The orange wire will have to be added so the tach gets the needed signal.

 

I just completed the same swap on my 1981 XJ650. The low mileage 1982 engine runs great. This discussion really saved me some aggrevation. Thanks to all who contributed. One item that I discovered that wasn't mentioned: The 1982 TCI wiring harness was a tad different, but after checking the service manual wiring diagrams on both the 1981 and 1982, I decided it would still work, and it did with no modifications. The black with white stipe wire that goes to the sidestand relay was simply not needed. Now to find me an electronic tach...