New here and my new bike!! Some questions inside.

Hi all. Found this site last night. Great site! I just got a Yamaha Maxim 650 XJ a few days ago. Its a 1982 and needs a few things. Exhaust I think and a battery maybe. But all in all a beautiful bike! Im having trouble identifying it. Any help would be great.
Thanks for any help.

 

Howdy and welcome! Looks like a 650 Maxim but the VIN would be the clincher. Could you please post the first 5 or so digits of your VIN?

 

Yup - sure looks like an 80-83 650 Maxim to me - with custom painted tank.

Sweet tapdancing Moses that looks like the original exhaust system! 8O

Gotta watch those 2-point engine guards though -- I had those and when the bike went down, most of the damage was because of it -- folds back under the pressure you see. The 3-point versions can't do that, so I replaced with those.

Oh - and looks like you're missing the fork cover emblem thingie.

Looks like a nice ride! Welcome.

 

The first five of the VIN are JYH5N. Thanks for any help.

 

I'll join Altus, the two point case saver bars are weak and will provide minimal protection for anything save just dropping the bike off of the stand. I'd hook up with a three pointer first thing. JYH5N? Would that be followed by an 8 perchance? I'm not finding any prefix beginning with JYH in my Haynes. Anyone else?

 

Im sorry I typed the VIN wrong. Its JYA5N8. Sorry about that.

 

Depends on when during the year it was built, that's technically either:
1982 XJ650J - frame numbers 000101 - 050000
1983 XJ650K - frame numbers 050101 - 100000

 

ok so here's my question. What is the difference between H, J, and K?? and the RH, RJ, and RK???

Is that posted anywhere here? I have no idea whether mine is a XJ550H, J, or K, and I wonder if it even matters parts wise... Not taking away from this post, but maybe to help clarify for him as well to know what exactly his bike is.

Thanks...

 

The letters G, H, J, K refer to the year. G = 1980, H = 1981, J = 1982, k = 1983. When they are by themselves it refers to the Maxim. The R in front of the year letters refers to the Seca version.

 

Ok.....great...So mine is a XJ550J then.

Finally it is clear.

 

Correct - yours is a 550, and his is the 650 J or K

 

Sure looks like a 650 Maxim to me. But is it my imagination or are those Seca or Seca like handlebars? I actually like the look a lot. Funny thing is that when I got my 650 Seca it came with Maxim bars! Maybe the previous owners of our bikes swapped!

What's it say on the side of the tank?

Bake

 

Come to think of it - you're right Bake! That DOES look like either a Seca bar, or a flat bar of some make. Hard to tell if those are the stock Maxim mirrors all out of whack, Seca mirrors, or something aftermarket....
Chaos - what's the bar & mirrors?

 

It doesnt say anything, its just a pinstripe design of some kind. Doesnt look too bad in person. But Im going to strip the tank and go with a glossy black finish and put some aftermarket black exhaust on it. I like the bars a lot too! I thought all of them are like that. But I guess not. It rides so nice! The power is unreal for a bike of its age it is FAST 71 horsepower if the specs I found online are correct. She moves no doubt about it!


As far as the bar and mirrors I have no idea to be honest. They are like drag bars and very comfortable too. The mirrors seem to have come with the bar, but Im not sure on that. They are near worthless anyway, I always do a head check, I never trust mirrors even in my car. I may remove them and get an aftermarket set.

 

Personally, I really like flat bars. I put the original bars back on my Seca the day I bought it. My Sportster had buckhorns on it when I bought it and I swapped them for flat(er) bars the day I bought it too.

I like the idea of a Maxim with flatter bars. It actually ends up looking a lot like a Seca 750.

No question about the power in these engines. My 650 Seca easily blows the doors off my 1200 Sportster. Not even close. Not that I don't like the Sporty, but when it comes to performance and smoothness, it doesn't even compete with an XJ.

How does your beast run?

Greg

 

It seems to run really well given its age actually. It needs exhaust. I start it with the choke and let it run that way a few minutes then cut the choke off. It seems to idle at about 1200 RPM or so. Not the smoothest idle in the world but it hasnt cut out on me yet, unless I stalled it myself while learning the clutch.

Im going to take it tonight and put some high octane in it. I put 87 the other day cause its what I had on hand. It seems good gas is what these engines like.

I love the bike and will keep it even when I buy the 05 Gsxr 600 Im saving for. Its an awsome bike and very hard to believe its age. My friend has been riding bikes half his life. Sportbikes, Harleys,Metrics, Choppers, you name it and he has ridden it and he LOVES my bike. That says it all to me.

Im a happy guy!