New to the Forums and new to the XJs

Hey all, my name is Rob, I am a new owner of a 1982 Maxim XJ650J. I bought the bike really cheap off another guy. I got it to the house and decided its time to start restoring the bike because its in pretty rough shape. It runs good when the choke is played with, seems like an ongoing issue with these bikes from what I have been reading lately. The guy I bought it from is also military and seemed to know about this bike. I figured instead of listening to someone who was selling me a bike i would check in with the people of this wonderful forum. So the bike will run as long as the choke is "opened" a little. The handle that controls the turn signals is malfunctioning and will have to be replaced. The seats is in amazing condition, the motorcycle fires up first time with no delay, throttle response is good.

After reading a bunch of similar idle issue posts I am thinking I might be another one due for the carb cleaning. I also read in one that they need to be checked for sync. I am new to the whole motorcycle scene so I am not sure how to go about that and I haven't heard alot about the shops around here as far as reliability.

Longterm I want to make thiis bike into a bobber, but right now I just want a bike that I can ride daily and get more seat time on a bike.

Thanks and enjoy my ramble. Any advice or if you know about this stuff and live close to Fort Campbell, let me know.

 

Sounds like carbs, just as you say. Sounds like the bike isn't terribly rough, what makes you say that?

Also would have been good to hear what the guy selling it has to say; take it with a grain of salt, but have it anyways.

That control unit can be around $140 new from Chacal, or you can try your luck on used ones on Ebay; I got one for about $40 that was in decent shape that I've had good luck with, but YMMV.

Any old bike with carbs is going to have this as a common issue, btw. Just the nature of running a varnishing fluid through a bunch of tiny passages on a very precise metering instrument.

Welcome.

 

Is the screw in the middle of the 4 carbs used to adjust the idle? That is what the guy that I bought the bike from told me and I am hesitant to mess with it. I don't want to mess us a bike that runs but runs with choke on, but if that is a possible fix for making the fuel mix a little more rich to make it not need the choke then I will attempt to adjust that.

 

That is indeed the idle screw; however, if I'm not mistaken, it doesn't richen the mixture, just opens the butterfly valve's minimum close rate--basically raises the idling RPM. It might work as a temporary fix until you clean your carbs, but it's just a patch. If you have blocked passages that your choke is supplementing, though, it might still not be enough.

 

Correct. It's the IDLE STOP SCREW, which adjusts the "idle" position of the entire linkage. Mixture screws are located on each individual carb; don't mess with those OR the linkage adjustment screws between the carbs. (YET. That will come later.)

There is no "quick fix" to the carburetion issues on these bikes.

The carbs need to be gone through, cleaned, parts replaced, some things very precisely adjusted; the motors' valve clearances checked and adjusted and then the carbs synchronized. Shortcuts and "halfway" measures will NOT work, that much has been proven over and over. How many times you have to pull the carbs back off is a direct function of the amount of effort invested initially.

You're also going to need to rebuild the brakes.

 

Well i won't lie i am so underprepared to dive into tearing apart a quad carb setup. Never played with carbs before and this looks like a monster to setup. I don't know anything about the Colortune and or Carbtune that i have seen in the posts.

 

Welcome !! Not to worry, As these guys say here ( When these bike are right they right). Just do one carb at a time when you have them all off. There are many forums here on these carbs, I would also do tune-up. I have close to 25K on this 900 transplant (Motor has 50K on it) & I just now got these carb & tuning right. Bike is fast, starts right up & gets 43 MPG. I ride it every day. We are all here to help. Again WELCOME!!!!

 

I'm a new rider as well.
I got my bike in March and it was in the garage until yesterday because there were issues similar to yours when I got it. Not that it took that long to fix, I was just taking my time and reading everything I could on this forum.

None of the procedures in the 'new rider checklist' are really all that hard. cleaning the carbs I found to be especially easy. You're just going to need a few tools, the manual for your bike, and A LOT of patience.

Good luck!

 

If there is anyone near the NW Tennessee area that would be wanting to take a little time out of their busy schedule to show me around this bike I would be most grateful. Might even be a ride to Hooters on me in the deal. Thanks all for the great welcome, I am hoping to start tearing into the bike and getting it done as fast as possible. As funny as it sounds I need the bike for a DR and can't have it down for too long.

 

Carbs aren't hard, especially with the write up's on this site. Look for "in the church of clean" and "the whole 9 yards"

check your valve clearances first. Carbs are a wasted effort if the valves aren't in spec first. Search for BigFitz's write up. (don't remember what it's called). Also look for the "Zip tie" method. You don't need to drop $20 on that useless tool

 

Kwiski - is there a thread on your 650 to 900 transplant? Something of a longer term plan, possibly.