My 81 xj650 bobber build.

Started with this. Picked it up for a couple hundred just to play around on. Has 40k but all service records for 20 years and alot of new parts.



Threw on some straight bars and stripped it abit.





Added some cheap ebay RFY shocks. I went with a shorter 11" to get a decent drop.

 

Some frame cutting and more parts removal. I also cut about 6in off the bars.




I added a stock ninja 636 clutch perch because the stock one was damaged. I having problems finding a good cable routing for them though. The straight bars have made a mess of the factory cables. Nothing fits right.

Ive continued on the stripping as well. I got rid of the choke and cable so its hand operated for now. No biggie since its easy to grab. Ive also cleaned/ rebuilt and painted the carbs.
Im working on the electrical side now. I got rid of the right side control wires by putting a momentary switch for the starter on the side of the bike and getting rid of the kill switch all together. I never even use them on any of my bikes, I always use the key anyway.
Im also trying to clean up the front area as much as possible. I ordered a set of headlight ears to replace the stock setup so i can drop the light and gauges to clean up the front abit. As it sits now the gauges are a couple inches above the handlebars and it doesnt look right. Im trying to fit a set of cb450 gauges that are much smaller too.

 

Next on my list is a new throttle assembly so i dont have the stock right side controls anymore. You can see were i chopped the wires to make a new harness. Im probably gonna go with either a dirty bike one or one off an r1 or r6.
I still need a seat and figure out what to do about the exhaust. I like it dumped now but it is loud and im sure its reeking havoc on my carbs. Im trying to find a small baffled slipon but im not having much luck.

 

Got abit more work done since its almost 60 here today.

Got the front fender chopped down and is mocked up for paint. I also got the rear fender chopped and mocked up but im not sure how to go about mounting it yet. Also tossed on a cheap seat to see how it looks.
Im still working on the exhaust. I think im going to make a baffle and run a turndown tip.





Ive also been working on the headlight area. Im still moving around the ignition to see if i can find a better home but ill probably leave it in its stock position now. I fitted some cheap emgo headlight mounts so i can drop the light a few inches. They actually fit ok but with a little work they fit perfect and work very good. The light is rock solid when riding even without the lower alignment bolt.



I still need to get a shorter brake line and do something about the gauges. Im not sure if im gonna run just a speedo or run a tach as well.

 

Nice! Keep posting pictures of your progress...

 

Nice dude, liking the progress so far.

 

Did you have to chop the side stand? Looks good

 

I didnt really have to chop it but i did. It probably would have been fine but i wanted the excuse to weld anyway. I ended up raising the front slightly from were it was so now ive got about 3/8th of an inch showing above the triple.

Ive also moved the starter button to the of the frame. Still working on cleaning up the bars. Ive got an 07 r6 throttle assembly that will control the carbs but ive yet to fit it. Looks like itll fit but i wont know till i do it. Ive also got some custom braided lines that ive yet to fit. With the straight bars i needed a much shorter one, I ended up getting a 34in one and its still abit big.
Ive also fitted a clutch cable off a yamaha xv535 virago. Fit is almost perfect but the end play is about a 1/4in too much. It works well but my adjuster is more than 1/2 way out. I may make a few shims to fit on the cable end to take up some more slack. Im pretty happy with it though since it saved me over 40 bucks off a custom one.

I still need to find a new left hand side controller. I dont care for the stock one and its kinda beat. Im gonna update to a modern sport bike one. Im also looking for a new seat/pan to fit up and a nice brake light.

 

Some more progress was made in the last few days.
Ive fitted an r6 throttle assembly in place of the whoel stock unit. I reused the oem throttle tube and cables since the r6 cables were about 2ft to short. Im going to have motionpro make a custom one for me but for now the stock one is fine. Id probably leave it as is but my original throttle cable was on its last legs anyway.




Its alot smaller than stock so it freed up abit of room.
I also got a new left side control switch off some chinese bike. Its much smaller and is all metal and was cheap. Im having some issues wiring it but i think ill figure it out.

 

thats looking tidy there, how you getting on with the new shocks ? i 'm after a set for a 550 I'm bobbing and they look just the ticket, heard nothing but good things about them, but I'm a bit unsure of the spring rates. Mind you at the price....

 

Spring rates are fine. Its no race bike but its ok. I weigh 220lbs and i have about 10 threads showing with about 20 remaining so i can still adjust. I havent done ride height or sag yet but ill bet im fairly close. For the price they are mint.

 

Nice progress so far, giving me some ideas too

 

We really are doing a similar bike ha. A lot of the things you have already done ive been wanting to do. Keep up the good work man.

 

Hopefully i can ease some of your issues. The r6 throttle was a gamble for me but it turned out fine. Once i get motionpro to make a new cable itll be perfect but its fine for now, my oem cable isnt so new anymore though. Just getting the bare housing off ebay for a few bucks will allow you to swap over your tube and cables.

Im going to work on it more in the next few days once the warm weather hits. I gotta figure out a seat mount and put the gauges back on and finish the wiring for the controls. I dont know how im going to mount the fender or rear signals yet either or the license plate for that matter. Im just trying to get the front together now then ill move on.

 

quick question, those RFY shocks, are they pretty universal? like if i just buy a set of 11" ones off ebay should i worry about them working on my 81 seca 550?
thanks for the info!!
bike looks awesome!!!

 

Just make sure the mounts are the same. some have the clevis and some have the eye ones. The eye ones i got fit my bike like oem.

 

this is looking great. I was hoping to get mine bobbed soon,but am new to the xj. was always an xs guy till now. I am inspired. Killer!!!

 

Im gonna try to take some pics tonite. Its nearly completed . I have the front end more or less the way i want it and im still working on the rear. I ended up buying a pile of seats and none of them looked right so im back to using the original one i made shown in the photos. I got it mounted last night and it looks decent, I just gotta cover it. Im still stuck on the rear fender ,license plate mount and rear lights. Other than that shes good to go.

 

dude, it looks awesome.
I want can't wait to see how your seat looks, as I am trying to figure out my own.
more pics!

 

here ya go guys. I ended up buying a nice solo seat that looked aweful on the bike so i went ahead and made my own. I have no idea how it came out so good but i think it fits the bike perfect. I basically got a sign and hammered it over the frame so i got the curves and went ahead from there. I used boating mats underneith for some padding and i took a knife to a leather couch on the side of the road. Its a little slippery but it works. I mounted it drilling into the frmae cross bar. It took me a while to really get onboard with that idea but it was the only way i could really keep the seat low and hide abunch of stuff too.
I still need a brake light, plate mount and rear blinkers then im done with it for abit. Ill tear it apart in the winter to really go nuts on the frame. Hopefully ill get all the parts i need tomorrow at a motorcycle swap meet being held near me. I may try to fit a 2.5inch turndown tip on the header just to get the sound away from me but its not too loud.
Ive been driving it around for the last few days and it runs perfect. Starts with just a push of the switch and rides really good. Ive had to really crank down on the rear shocks to stop it from bottoming out on the fender. Its not the shocks fault its mine for making the bike to low.

 

Got the taillight in. Not really what i was looking for but i bought it sight unseen so i guess its the best i could hope for. Seems like a nice piece though. Solid aluminum and bright.
Im still working on the blinkers and now the bigger problem of a plate mount. Pretty much only option is a side mount with led lights for the mount. Im going to try to reuse the oem blinkers on the rear but im not sure how its gonna turn out.
Bike rides great though. Tad loud with the open headers. Stops great and goes good.

 

Looking sick bro. just have a few questions for ya. I have an 82 that im doing the same type of thing too,and was curious about changing the bars and how much is involved with that. Also, the alluminum plates the hold the rear pegs and are bolted down near the swingarm, do they give the bike any added strength? i mean i want to get rid of them as well as my gauges,(i want it as simple as possible),but i dont know what to do with the clutch cable and whatnot. Your bike looks great, and the rear fender is exactly what im going for with the stock one. But im going to paint my stock shocks flat black i think. I have already cut the pipes and wasnt sure about getting the cone filters and getting rid of the stock air box. Will that require changing timing or the jets at all? Thanks for your time.
Ben

 

i love the bars too. but yeah, what to do w the cables would be my issue too.looking good.

 

The bars can be a bit of a hassle but not too bad. I used it as an excuse to replace all my cables which should have been done anyway. I went from the factory high rise bars down to those broomstickbars and thats about as radical as you can get. I ditched the choke cable entirely, shortened the clutch cable 6in i think (had to do this because the oem cable was binding no matter how i put it) and got a new braided brake line off ebay thats about 6 in shorter as well. My oem brake line was in sad shape and while it still worked it didnt look clean so away it went. The throttle cable was super long but i could have left it with no ill effects and it easily tucked up under the tank. Im still using as a matter of fact with the r6 throtle and it works fine. I will be getting a new custom one soon just because mine is worn abit.
The master cyclinder may be an issue depending on the bars you get. Its fairly angled for the high rise bars and doesnt really sit right on most other bars. Mine about as extreme as a bar as i think you could run with it. I wouldnt run it on any downturned bars.
Aluminum plate holding the rear pegs on just pops off but it does leave to small issues. One is the exhaust hangs off it. Not a big deal, just get some flat stock and run it from the muffler to were the plate used to bolt on to the frame or just leave it as is. Im worried about the muffler leveraging the headers but i plan on keeping the headers open so its a non issue for me now. The other issue is the lower engine bolt. Without those plates it leaves alot of it exposed. Youll have to find something to take up unthreaded parts so it can still fit. I guess ideally youd cut it down and rethread it to fit nice but for now i just have a few 1in spacers being used as washers.
Guages are easy enough to get rid of but you need to buy a kit to close up the tach cable hole on the motor. Costs about 30 bucks i think. Youll also need to pull the timed turn signal box under the tank so your blinkers blink.
I would paint the stock shocks. Itll flack off in minutes id think.
I really wanted to do pods but these bikes just never run right with them. No amount of jetting can ever really get it right. If i could pull the stock airbox with out pulling the motor id try it but im not going to drop my motor multiple times to try to figure it out.

 

Thanks so much for your time boss. I think i understand everything. Other than the alluminum Piece Part. Maybe thats because my pipes are already cut down 18 inches or so. Haha. So i need a tach hole filler huh? And the paint wont stay on the shocks. Bummer. Ive seen em painted too. I didnt know i would have to pull the motor to add pods. Thanks again.

-Benny

 

Im not saying the paint wont stick to the shocks but i do doubt it. Maybe just painting the end caps will stick but the coil itself will just crack any paint you put on it.

 

Hey where did you get the rear fender? Thanks

 

Thats actually the oem one. I cut about 8in off it and it fits right between the rails. im still using the oem plastic guard too thats been cut down.

 

Finally go tthe bike all buttoned up and registered. Im pretty much done with it for the rest of the year. It runs great and everythign works as it should.

 

Nice job so far. You have side covers? Maybe paint the battery black.

Cool 4-1. I'd like to know if it sound like a sports bike?

In the one pic from behind the front forks appear to be gold in color almost matching the rear.

 

Oh, I dunno...

It looks clean, trim, practical; and it has fenders and a front brake. Plus some serious rear shocks; I'm not thinking those came off a Suzuki Savage.

And NO PODS??? 8O How dare you! You're liable to get drummed out of the Corps.

In all seriousness, nice job. I like functional customs. I'd recommend some sexy turn signals though. NOT cutesy little LEDs, just something more "modern" in a Yamaha pattern.

 

thanks.

I dont have the side covers anymore. I sold them for almost what i paid for the bike and they wouldnt have really fit with the seat anyway. I may paint the battery but im going to hold off till i get some time to fab up some nice side covers.

The 4-1 sounds just like any other sport bike. Its a touch to quite for my tastes but its good for day to day riding. I do have another muffler i can put on it but its just crazy loud for my ears. It sounds nasty and isnt loud for people near me but for some reason on the bike its horrendous. If i move my head a few inches in any direction its fine though. I tried playing with the resonance and direction of the output but i could never get it right.

The front forks are just cleared but have yellowed with age. In the winter i plan on tearing it down to the frame and redoing everything and i know im gonna splash some gold on it. stuff like the rims and some bracing.

 

Im glad people like it. I tried to keep it as functional as possible without going over board and making sure it was 100% street legal in my neck of the woods. I reused what i could and got new when needed.

I really, really wanted to do pods but i knew better. If i didnt have to drop the motor to get the airbox out intact i probably would have bite the bullet and just tossed them on and dealt with the running isuues.

Im up on the air on turn signals for the bike. I dont mind and even like the look of the front ones but the rears i just couldnt get right so i used what it came with till i figure something out. I really wanted to build some leds in the rear of the frame tubes were i put the shot gun shells but they end up being to close to be legal by about a 1/4 inch. Im sure i see something i like on a parked bike somewere eventually.