'81 XJ650 Midnight Maxim bobber project questions.....HELP!!

First off, I know this is long, but please bear through it! I just joined this site so be gentle if I did any of this wrong lol. My cousin owns an 81 XJ 650 Midnight Maxim which I'm helping him bob and replace some stock parts. We have already removed (by destuction method) the stock air cleaner and are replacing with pod filter. My ? is if we NEED to replace the stock carb jets, if so which ones and to what size?? We live in central Illinois (basically no altitude issues) and generally ride in fair weather conditions (no cold riding). So again, will we run into jetting issues or not? We are also going to replace the exhaust as the previous owner replaced the muffler with a car exhaust tip (no joke) and when the header was replaced, they basically put it back together with grade 2 bolts and whatever they could find that would hold it together (again, no joke) so needless to say we are going to drill and tap every port for a brand new exhaust system he purchased (4-1 with muffler) so will that cause any jetting issues as well. And finally, we replaced the stock handlebars with drag style bars and now all of the cables are far too long and also I noticed the front brake fluid reservoir is at quite a steep angle now. Does anyone know where I can find replacement cables (shorter) and possibly somewhere I could purchase a new front brake fluid reservior?? Thanks in advance!!!!

 

Pods dont go well with these bikes. Most will agree that the bike will never run correctly again regardless of tuning. The problem lies in the cv carbs and how they draw a vacuum. There have been theories about how to fix but in 30 years no one has come up with a solution. The closest ive seen is trying to run the K&N filters that mount to 2 carbs at once. Even then it doesnt work right. Best is stock airbox but you probably dont have one so pods will have to do.
Any changes to exhaust or airbox will require jetting changes. youll have to figure it out the best you can.
Ive got straightbars on my bike and i have the same cable issue you do but worse. Ideally youd get new cables that are shorter from motionpro or something but im going to shorten mine myself since the cables are only a year old. If they dont work ill get new ones.
The master cylinder is a valid concern that im working on now. Plenty of masters fit but im trying to get a good look on mine. Check out mikes xs for some of his. Youll probably want new brake lines as well. Im looking into a single one for the front to get rid of the splitter. Im surprised you dont have a brakeline issue. Mine is easily 6in too long. I had to rotate the fittings to take up some slack.

 

Yea we do have brake line issues, it's a pretty tight fit and it's curled up by the master cylinter pretty bad but not kinked so I'm sure fluid will flow freely as I have the same issue on my personal bike (Suzuki GS650L) after I put drag bars on it and have had no braking issues. My cables were slightly easier to re-install as my stock handlebars were nowhere near the height/curviture of the stock XJ bars so the master cylinder is not at such a drastic angle. If you have any pics or links to cylinders/cables you have purchased or are even looking at I would appreciate it!!

 

The cables im gonna make myself so i dont have pics yet.

Have you tried rerouting yours? I moved mine to the other side of the frame and it halped a touch. Made the bike rideable but not pretty. Im over a good foot on each of the lines. Im probably just gonna get rid of the choke cable all together to help.

check out the masters on this page. Most will work. You want ones in the 13mm bore size or close to it. You will also want to decide if you want mirrors on them or not. Drag bars and the stock mirror setup are put at an odd angle so they are pretty much useless.

http://www.mikesxs.net/products-71.html#products

Personally i like the slimlines ones put I guess he has issues filling those orders. They are usually out of stock.

Ebay has plenty of chinese ones that will fit but quality is suspect.

 

I have re-routed them as much as possible without looking too gaudy so it'll just have to work for now. The mirrors I'm not concerned with as I have found some awesome clamp on style ones that mount directly to the bars. Thanks for the help!

 

No problem. Dont forget to take pics.
Im still stuck on what to do about a seat. What are you planning on?

 

My cousin who owns the xj actually found 2 springer mono seats on ebay and bought them so we're gonna mount it up soon. I'll post some pics in a couple days.