Mook's 82 XJ750 Max redo

Hi all. I have been hanging around for quite some time, and I have decided to start a build thread for my bike. It is a rough looking one, but it has a solid plant with good compression numbers and good papers. This is just a quick intro post and I will follow with much more detail on what has already been done and what is yet to come. I have big plans for a complete restore for this build, and it will be stock oriented with a bit of personalizations here and there. here is a a few pics of what I will be working with. Like I said, it is rough, but there is a diamond hiding under all that rough. I bought the bike 98% complete, except for the front turn signals and factory airbox. It came to me with pods, but they will definetly not be going back on the bike.

 

Hey Mook, here is a heads up for you, if you have a stock frame with no mods at all, you will have to pull the engine to get that 'new' airbox installed. Trust me on this, there will be others out there that will try to convince otherwise, as you can see on my signature, we both own the same bike. There is no way without damaging force to get it out, or in with the engine in place. It won't even work if you tilt the engine forward as some have suggested.

 

Yep...I am in the process of dis-assembly right now. Taking it down to the frame and repainting/powder coat...haven't decided which yet. I will be putting the airbox in during reassembly.

 

Well, I had about 3 hours to work on the Max and started dis-assembly. This was as far as I could get, hopefully I will get more time this weekend to finish taking it apart. I did find a rats nest for wiring in the headlight bucket. I mean literally, a rat had made a nest of my wiring. No biggie there, as I have to rewire a bit for the light swaps anyway. I am so glad to see that red tin can exhaust gone bye bye. Just a few comments on my direction.

I am going to strip the frame and inspect for any signs of fatigue or failure. I will be going with a small flake silver metallic instead of black (and will repeat this on the swingarm and other brackets and such as wel)l which actually closely resembles the shade Yamaha used on the engine. I know powder coat is very tough stuff, and this is a resto that I am going to keep. I also have had a few people tell me that I should think about industrial tractor and implement paint. This actually sounds like a good idea to me as it it some really tough paint, and it would be cheaper since I can spray it myself. Any thoughts/comments?

The other major change that I have planned it the seat. I have never really liked the factory cut of the heat. I am rather partial to a seat I saw on an HD Soft tail custom that I saw at a rally a couple of years ago, and I will try to mimic that design when I am ready to recover the seat.

 

Got a little bit more done today. Got some of the brackets and controls off, and should have the engine out and finish stripping down to bare frame tomorrow. No real issues so far. I did have one exhaust stud come out of the head, but I intend to replace all of them with new anyway. No new pics yet, will post some when camera decides to recognize the card. (hate poor quality cell phone pics)

 

Go the engine out and finished stripping the frame. It is not near as bad as I thought it would be. There is no major rust through spots that I could tell, but, it is much more rust than I want to deal with with wire brushes and such. I believe I will go with the powder coating as media blasting is part of the cost of the job and so is repairing any trouble in the structural integrity.

Also, my rear brakes actually were good. The shoes were not factory, and had only just gotten to the wear indicators. However, since the bike is apart, I am going to put new shoes on for good measure.

Steering head bearing were also in good order, but since I am having the tree refinished as well, new tapered bearings will be going in.

As a matter of fact, all of the bearing and such were in great shape, so it appears other than the cosmetic damage from being abandoned in a barn open to the elements, the bike in in remarkable good shape.

I will get some pics up when I can.

 

Hey Mook, before you jump into powder coating, you should read BigFitz thread on the subject, I don't know the link, but he says it's not the best wearing coating, in fact I've changed my plans for my frame based on what he said about it.

 

Thanks LV. I actually just got back home from dropping some parts off at the powder coaters. I have had some experience in the past with powder coating. It really comes down to who is doing the work and the material being coated.

Steel usually holds up really well, but has to be taken to bare metal, and I mean meticulously. Aluminum is a bit of a different story. It has to be darn near cast clean, and the coating has to be done very shortly after degreasing, Then you still have a good chance if it not adhering well; since aluminium is so porous, unless you are coating the entire part (basically dipping or spraying the entire area of the part). Where you see a lot of failures is when only a portion of the part is painted/coating ie: cylinder head fins only. The trouble s keeping oxygen away from aluminum before it is coated.

The prep before coating is what makes the difference. I am also having an epoxy sealer/primer coat before the color coat. This adds another level of durability to the coating once it has been baked and allowed to properly cure. I have restored several auto in my lifetime, and there is just no best option for frame and brackets. But, I have found that powder coating tends to last longer and is more cost effective given the amount of prep I personally would have to do just to spray wet color.

Now the best wet spray option I have used is Imron. But, this is incredibly expensive and again, the devil is in the prep work. About the only reason I would have used it is if I wanted a really deep glossy finish, which I don't want for the frame in this build. I am more so trying to get the frame and other parts to blend/disappear in with the various shades of silvers, chrome, and grays that am using.

I can't say that powder coating is a cheap option, but for my purposes if certainly fits the bill in what I am going for. All I did was a quick knock out all of the bearings, races, and bolts. The coater is doing the blasting and other prep work. He also is tidying up the factory welds before coating, cleaning all of the race seats, chasing all of the threads, and guaranteeing the finish. By the time I invested in equipment, tools and supplies, I would double the cost of having it done. So, I am getting the frame, swing arm and braket, upper and lower tree and bar clamps, kickstand, and center stand coated and guaranteed for $500. I know this sounds like a lot of money, but this is a bike I am building to keep, and not just flip. Nor do I really want to be tearing it back down in a couple years to repaint it. He said he would be done with the parts by the end of the week, so when I get them home I will post up some pics. I don't plan to let this be a trailer queen either, so it will be ridden well and the durability tested thoroughly.

 

Thanks for the info Mook, I have had my own experience with PC; I had some VW parts done but the idiot I chose coated bearing and gasket seating surfaces which he should have known better. Just make sure all your threaded holes are protected from the coating or you'll be doin' a lot of thread chasing. I suggest you also protect the area of the steering head bearing seating surface, from top to bottom. Use a length of "all tread" a couple of big washers and nuts that fit the all thread. Don't forget about the swing arm pivot bores, you'll need to keep the coating out of there too.
I just read that you've already sent it out, let's hope you got a good coater that has some common sense.

 

I believe I have a good coater. He is a 35year seasoned coater. He is also a bike restoration enthusiast, but his forte is BMW's. He said their finish work includes chasing all the threads and they plug all bearing holes before coating, and clean them afterwards. Another thing they do is dress all of the welds to remove any of the factory weld splatter and smooth gorilla welds. I should know by the end of the week.

BTW...Standard powder coat is very hard and is not intended for impact resistance. The harder any material is, the more brittle it is or easier to chip. For instance glass is very hard and not easily scratched. However, you can take a diamond or scoring tool and score lightly and glass will snap easily.

With powder coating, adding the epoxy sealer/primer gives the coating a bit of an elastomer consistency. I'll use the same glass example...chuck a rock at a pane of plate glass and it shatters. Chuck the same rock at a pane of sandwich glass, or safety glass, and the pane will bend to adsorb the impact without shattering. So, when a tire chucks a rock at a standard powder coat finish, it shatters (chips). With the epoxy sealer, the coating absorbs the impact.

I am really excited to see the finished results, and will post how it holds up as I get road time.

 

picked up my frame from the powder coater today. Here is a pic of the some of the small parts. Having trouble posting pics, over disk quota on this forum.

 

Here is a pic of the frame after powder coating...

 

Very nice.

How much did you pay for the frame coat? I was quoted $170, but I need to do all the prep work. Seems like a pretty good deal to me.

On the other hand. I have an entire POR15 kit that I havent used in gloss black that cost $20. Ive used POR in the past with excellent results. Its about as close to a powdercoat as you can get without the pricetag.

Im still deciding, and your awesome color and paint are making me consider the more expensive of the two. Thanks.....


-Kaya

 

Well, the reason I went with the powder coat is the guy doing the work did all of the prep. I paid $500 for the frame, swingarm, upper and lower tree, brackets, footpeg, and center peg. I just took them off the bike, took them to him, told him what color, and he did the rest. Seeing the results, especially since I did not have the equipment to prep the frame the way I wanted, I think it was well spent. The results speak for themselves. I may have gotten as good of results doing it myself, but by the time I bought all of the equipment, it would have cost me more than what I paid the coater and taken considerably more time.

(edited for spell check and grammar )

 

Oh, BTW, the frame by itself was $300 including strip and prep...

 

Hey MOOK! I hope you remembered that there needs to be a spot of bare metal where the coils go.

 

LV, didn't know that. I didn't notice bare metal on the coil bracket or mounting point on the frame when I took it apart. Do you think getting ground from the threads on the bold and bolt hole for the brackets won't work?

 

Hi Mook, When I stripped down my frame, there was bare metal to ensure a good ground, you may remember that there is an electrical connection coming off the harness, that goes to the coil mounting bolt at the rear mount. That's where the bare metal is/was. Believe it or not, threads have very little surface area to conduct electricity, so I advise that you remove a bit of PC where your coil mounts.

 

Thanks LV

 

I had a bad experience with a powder coater who had no idea what he was doing. He sprayed the areas where bearings seated on my parts as well as gasket surfaces. The next time I get something PC'd I'm gonna be askin' lots of questions.

 

This guy really did a fantastic job. None of the seat surfaces or bolt holes were coated. and what did have oversray, he cleaned. He also chased all the threads. He found one small hole in the rear upright tube, and repaired it at no cost to me. I couldn't be more pleased with the finished work, and am very pleased with the quality of service I got for what I paid. I literally dropped off a frame and parts that were untouched prep wise, and got back pristine finished parts. For those in the mideastern Alabama area, you can't go wrong with Rainbow Powder Coaters (shameless plug intended).

 

under the cover for the swingarm pivot there should be a small drain hole for any water that gets into the frame tubes. if it gets blocked the lower frame gets water in it and the side stand falls off. mine were partly blocked with weld splash

 

What kind of exhaust was that red can? PC looks great!

 

drifter, I don't know what it was, just that it was horrible. It was gutted, load, and sounded more like someone blasting bb's through a trumpet more than it sounded like a tuned exhaust for a high performance short stroke engine. I believe I saw a Mac stamp on it. I will take a close look and see if I can find a manufacturer stamp on it. I do still have it, but the down tubes are a bit crimped going into the collector from road rash.

Thanks for the comments on the pc, I am real pleased with it.

Polock, I just walked in the kitchen to check the drain hole for the swing arm joints, and they are clear on both sides (Don't tell the wife it is a motorcycle frame, currently passing it off as a abstract art appliance stand 8) ). Are there any other areas I need to look at before I start reassembling the bike? So far I have found he did a great job with it. He is a motorcycle enthusiast as well, and takes extra care in the detail when a customer brings in bike parts.

 

I think you have it well covered MooK, the pics look great. As for me, I'm gonna stay with the basic Black for my frame. It will be some time before I can afford to spend the money required for a good media blast and a paint job or PC.

 

LV, if you have a decent sized air compressor you can media blast it yourself. After showing my neighbor the finished work, he rolled out a 50,lb media blasting hopper from under his shed. All it needs is the hose and gun. I can get that from Tractor Supply for like 20$. They also have the kits that look similar to a auto body spray gun for $20, and you just put the media in the cup. You can you can catch most of the media and reuse it. What I am doing is making basically a huge tub by lining the inside of my landscape trailer with plastic and will blast the engine in that. Then I can just take a broom and dustpan and sweep up the media it catches and reuse it.

 

That would work if only I lived out in the sticks, but I reside in a mobile home community where I live under the gestapo oppression of an HOA. I'm sure I'll get dirty looks from my old neighbors when they see my bike. But thanks anyway. I have found a couple of places where I can take my parts for blasting and coating here in Las Vegas.

 

Ok, I got a little more done today. I got the engine case cleaned up and repainted. I still have to pull the covers and polish them, but this is certainly better than it was before. Note the power engine lift, this beats the heck out of an aframe, and I can drive it all over the place. Kinda expensive for a cherry picker, but not nearly as much fun. Never seem to run out of usefullness with that BX24!!


This is shortly after bead blasting. This was my first attempt at media blasting, and I rather enjoy it. However, I was not properly attired for this, and created my own version of desert strorm with glassbeads. On a plus side, my arms and face are throughly exfoliated


Here is a closer pic. Now the glass beads did not do near as good a job as I had hoped, but I guess it is not bad for a back yard setup with a $20 siphon feed media gun from Tractor Supply. Also note that I did not remove the covers. I was careful around the covers, but left them on to help keep the media from getting inside the engine. Also, I used regular freeze plugs in the exhaust ports and rubber expansion plugs in the intake ports. After blasting, because of the awkwardness and bulk of the gun, there was a few crevices it would not get to that the Dremel and wire brush ade quick work of.


This is how it looked after 2 light coats of Duplicolor Aluminum high heat engine paint. Before painting, the engine was degreased and chemical flashed for paint adhesion. The chemical flashing was just a good heavy spray of brake cleaner, used 2 cans. Brake cleaner does a really good job at degreasing and "flashing" or opening the pores of the surface of the part to be painted. You still have to rough up the surface if painting over old paint, but since I bead blasted, the surface was adequately roughed.


This is after the 2 finish coats (medium heavy spray) and 3 hours to bake in the sun. I am really pleased with how it turned out, but still have a lot of polishing to do. You can see where I did just a bit on the valve cover with the Dremel, but I think I will paint it. After seeing the frame and engine refinished together, I am beginning to feel I may just have a bit much silver going on here. I may wind up repainting the cylinders and valve cover with something of a more stand out color. (Kubota orange is really starting to appeal to me :wink: ) If I go this route, then I will likely add an orange pen stripe to the tank...may even paint the "Yamaha" on the tank orange instead of emblems...thoughts?

 

Well, I still haven't got the exhaust. I just sent a do or die email. I asked that by close of business tomorrow that I either have a firm delivery date with tracking information, or a full refund on the money I paid over 10 weeks ago. I really hope I am not getting ripped off by them.

 

Got my tires in today, getting closer...

 

Howdy Mook, I have just removed the head and cylinders from my engine, found what I expected, the rings on #4 are all stuck in their grooves by something like varnish. There is no sign of scoring or scuffing in the cylinders, they are all baby smoothe.

 

Good news LV. Sounds like you got lucky. But since you have it apart, if you do not have bore mics, take it to a shop and have the cylinders miced. If they are not to bad, all you will need it to crosshatch the cylinders, put in fresh new rings, and reassemble.

 

That is exactly what I'm gonna do, Mook. I got the rings freed up and removed from the piston, what ever is was dissolved with carb cleaner. Oh man! I have so much work to do on this thing, I won't be riding this year for sure. Good luck with your project.

 

The rings likely stuck from sitting, then the float was probably stuck which floods the crankcase (leaking past piston rings). Then it likely sat for some time again, and the fuel/ethanol turned to varnish. Put some corn syrup on a paper plate and let it dry out in the sun. You find it is very similar to the varnish we find in our carbs.

 

corn syrup story, a guy that works for the railroad told me this.
a tank car of corn syrup sat in the yard leaking the goo, no one noticed till the tanker was half empty, he had to get under the car and fix the leak in a inch of the stuff on railroad rocks, the rocks ripped his paper suit and they made him strip to his underwear and ride back to the shop in the back of the truck

 

Well, I won't be getting much done on the XJ for the next couple of weeks. Have to go out of town to work at a new plant that the company I work for acquisitioned.

 

Got a little done this weekend. I repainted the wheels, and polished the spokes and bead edges. I started to reassemble, and now have a rolling chassis!!

 

Oh, BTW for those interested in putting the round bars and headlight on on 82', I have a couple of tips.

1) You can use the 83' tree, but you must use the 83' lower tree as well. The mounting hole on the lower part of the headlight bracket mounts to a boss on the 82' lower on the right side of the bike, and the round headlight braket has it on the left side. So if you use the 83' lower, you will have no problems mounting the round headlight bracket.

2) There was a post some time ago where another member was trying to fit these bars on his 82 Max. I believe he was also wanting some risers. You will notice in the last pic, I have mine mounted. I used the original 82' fork tubes with the crossover air valve. Using the upper and lower from the 83' presents no issues with the air forks. The upper tree does not seal the air ports in the forks. The valves from the 82' with the crossover tube slide on the forks and seat on the snap rings just as they did on the 82'. And the damper adjusting nut on top of the fork tube sticks up above the the tree just as it should.

 

I just picked up an 82 750 Max, and am planning on tearing it down to clean out the literal cobwebs -- is not sealing the air ports a problem when switching to the 83 triple tree?

 

What I meant, is another member stated that the upper tree seals the air ports making them hold air. This is not the case. The original valves from the 82 go right back the way they were on originally and function properly. An 83 tree does not interfere with the function of the 82 air setup if installed correctly.

 

Well, finally got another update on the build progress. Due to some difficulties in getting pristine parts, and the itch to ride, I have started reassembling and will forgo some of the cosmetic stuff until the winter. This weekend I put the fenders back on, wiring harness, and test fit the ebay turn signals. Not real happy with the turn signals. I really like the shape and proportions, but the light burns a very pale yellow, and not the orange I was hoping for. I snap a couple of pics of that when I get a chance.

I also got the valve cover painted today, and I am pleased with the results. It is not pro finish, but certainly better than it was.


This is actually the same color paint I used on the wheels. I had thought about using it for the tank and side covers as well, but it is just a little darker than what I was wanting for the tank. I may still go this route, but it really doesn't spray as well as I want for a good finish on the tank. After this has had a week or so to cure, I will wet sand and polish the ribs and YICS on the covers.

For those curious, this is Duplicolor grey wheel paint. The cell phone pic really doesn't do it justice, it is a really deep heavy metallic. It has a nice gloss, even before clear (if you want to clear...I didn't on the wheels and it it difficult to see the difference other than the depth of the finish). It is said to resist temps, and chemicals. Time will tell how it does, but just for kicks, I also sprayed 2 medium coats of high temp engine clear also by Duplicolor.

I will get some more and better pics of the bike as it sits thus far. The cosmetic stuff that will likely wait s polishing the alum. brackets, repainting the calipers and hand controls, re-chroming the front and rear fenders, and emblems and finishing touches.

 

Thanx for the correction. and comfirmation.

The bike is looking god so far.

Ghost

 

Thanks Ghost. It is starting to come together nicely. However, I have run into several issues trying to get my hands on a good exhaust system. Aside from that, I will have to wait on reshaping and refinishing the seat.

 

I posted this pic in another thread, so thoght I would add it as an update on my build. I still have a lot of polishing on the covers, but all in all I am pleased with the results thus far.



There is still a huge amount of finish work to do, but the budget is tightening, and slowing down progress. I have the wiring half-arsed routed, and have yet to do the wiring surgery switching from atari to round gauges and lights from the 83. Still undecided about the covers on the sides of the airbox too. Don't know if I will polish them back black, or paint them silver or chrome. I don't like the chrome rattle can look, and I kinda like the way the black breaks up how much silver and grey tones I have going on. Eventually, just not this season, I will have the fenders rechromed.

 

Well, got a little bit done today on the Max. Got the shift cover polished and re installed. The bear in this was cutting my own gasket. It was a real PITA, and I don't see myself trying that again. A sheet of gasket material, X-Acto knife, and rouge, and considering the time, not a whole h$ll of a lot of savings. But, the gaskets fit perfectly (all 3 of them!!), and it made it much easier to strip and polish the part off the engine. Now I get to wash and repolish after all of the smudging I did...

 

Finally got a decent exhaust. The down tubes have some rust on the back side next to the head, but all in all not in bad shape. The collector is rusty of course, but it is solid. The heat shield and about 4" of the left side muffler have stains where the battery peed acid on them. The heat shield I will eventually have chromed along with the down tubes. As for the mufflers, I will just get a replacement set when I find what I like.

 

Got a little bit done on the XJ this weekend. I decided to strip and repaint the tank. I have not found the color I wanted for a price I could afford at this point of the build, so I decided I would experiment with a rattle can color from Duplicolor.


This is after stripping and the first primer stage. I had some really light dents that I wanted to smooth over in this pic.


Here is the tank after working on the dents and second primer/sealer stage.


here is a pic after wet sanding the primer with 600 grit and 4 coats of color. Sorry for the quality of the pic, it was getting dark on me.


And here is what the color looks like against the silver frame. Now this was just an experiment, and there is no clear on the tank. I wanted just a couple of shades darker, but couldn't find what I was looking for. However, the ever so slight tint of tan in the color is really starting to grow on me. After the base color has cured, I think I will go ahead and wet sand and clear it and see how it looks. The clear will darken and richen the color, and I like the suttle contrast of the tank to the frame.

Thoughts/opinions???

 

Like the color (really subtle difference). (PO here) I like a little more contrast...

skillet
btw like I said that was a PO. As my wife says " the only taste you have is in your mouth". My comeback..."Could be why I married you"...never saw the skillet coming, hence the nickname (sob)...

 

I like the color a lot. I dislike silver vehicles, but have always found that kind of pewter tone attractive. I'd stick with it. looks great!

 

Thanks for the comments guys. I may come back later and add some accent stripes or something, but for now, I think I will just clear it and see how it turns out. I'll probably do the side covers this weekend and see how it all comes together. I am wanting to do something to the airbox covers too, just hadn't decided exactly what.