New rider, old ride

Hey Everyone,

New rider in the twin cities area. Recently picked up a 82 XJ750 w/47K.

When I was looking at getting it - the guy was selling it as a 650 on Craigslist. Upon bringing it home and checking the VIN online (I made sure the title matched the frame before buying) - it turned out to be a 750! The guy said he replaced some parts from a donor bike earlier on, so that's why it seemed to not have parts from a 650 - e.g. the rear shocks were the chrome can w/black band looking ones, instead of exposed springs. His loss, my gain.

I rode it around a few times already, but know I have some work to do so It's been decommissioned for safety (my safety, so says the wife ).

If anyone in the MN area is looking to get together and talk/wrench -- my driveway is going to have a tan line from where I'll be sitting every day for the next few weeks while I get repairs / overdue maintenance worked out.

Summer plans (before end of June)
1a. Valve clearance check
1b. Replace steering bearings (local mechanic said they're done) -- conversion to tapered cone from http://www.allballsracing.com/
2. Change final drive oil (already done, but I have some questions)
3. Inspect rear brakes for delamination (per the long thread from BigFitz)
4. Change oil (already done by local mechanic, but we'll see what it needs in a by month's end)
5. General inspection
6. New horn install (loud pair from Harbor Freight -- like the Seca's dual horn shape, just chrome-er and louder)
7. New front tire - current is near bald :\
I've seen some recommendations for the Spitfires -- I might pick a front up for that.

Post June plans
1. fuel sender fix -- it used to read while the bike was vertical, now it reads when parked and slightly tipped over...sometimes. I'm always running on empty!
2. Misc. parts repair


Winter plans
1. Carb rebuild -- she likes running on 1/4 choke -- we'll see how periodic seafoam treatments do till the endo of the season, but either way it needs a carb teardown.
2. Frame strip and paint - the swingarm has some surface rust from what I can tell -- paint bubbles and a rough texture
3. Rewire? This might be a ain't broke, don't fix it type of deal. The only caveat is the battery sensor isn't connected to anything, so it's always warning about it
4. Tank dent fix - bondo...?
5. Tank rust fix -- it has small specs everywhere when looking into it

Chacal -- expect at least a few parts orders from me......

 

Hey welcome to the site! This is the right place for info for your Maxim. Sounds like you're on the right track with your list there, but you better add check & adjust valves, too. & probably should move this up around # 1. These motors require valve checks every 5K, & at 47K shes probably due for it. Stick around & learn all about your XJ, they're great bikes!

 

That's right! I forgot about that :\

I was reading through the valve check FAQ BigFitz did on http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14827.html and it seemed doable.

Do you do your own wwj, or do you have a shop do them?

 

Valve shim removal LOOKS scary but quite easy. I used the special tool for it. There is another method.

Check age of rear tire. Might as well replace it.

You paid a mechanic to remove 2 bolts and change your oil? I hope he reassembled the bolt, filter spring in correct order with correct torque....

Electrical start with fuse panel update and dielectric grease on all connectors.

Por-15 sells a tank sealing kit (inside). Meant for rusty tanks. Also seals tiny pinholes. I have it but not used it yet. Buy from Amazon.

If you want to part with the windscreen for cheap let me know.

I bought my parts bike in St. Cloud MN from a former member.

Oh yeah as the president and treasurer of the XJ750J club you can pay your dues directly to me. LOL

 

For sure I do my own. I use the hold-down tool & I have a fair variety of shims. As Bob said, it may look somewhat intimidating, but I assure you-if I can do it, anybody can. Just takes a little time & practice, but its not hard.

 

Welcome aboard. You've got the right idea, parking it until it's safe.

What's confusing?

We had another new member recently all upset that it didn't contain enough "anti-stupidity" warnings. I put an incredible amount of work into my "how-tos" hoping to do a better job than the service manuals of explaining and illustrating the processes, and thought it was as "Granny-proof" as could be. Let me know what needs clarification and I'll happily edit it.

If you plan to ride the bike, the 5000-mile interval goes by pretty quickly, making it pretty much a DIY proposition.

 

Lets just call that the first and last mistake I made with a mechanic on this bike.

Everything appears fine right now -- like I mentioned, winter projects. Although, someone will undoubtedly mention - if it's not running right now, no better time I suppose. Comes down to a $$ thing

I'll think about it. This one needs readjustment where it's sitting right now. Depends on how tall you are... I had been riding with the top edge of the screen at eye level, and it's a pain! I'd either have to sit straight up, or hunch over to see past the edge warping

When I bought the bike, the PO actually gave me 3 bins worth of spare parts. Misc. plastic, carbs, wiring looms, another wheel set with newer (relatively) rubber, TCI boxes, etc., even a whole engine! I think I'm set on the parts part of it.

Well, I suppose it's a small club if all you care for are XJ750J model rides....

 

Fitz, confusing may have been the wrong term - I'm not quite sure why I wrote it up that way. I've read the valve writeup and the petcock service writeup too - both have expertly taken photos, good descriptions, etc. Heck, I'm just going to edit out that single line.

When it comes to anti-stupidity warnings -- I think I'm good. No complaints out of me.

I certainly meant no insult to you as the writer. Mostly me as the new moto mechanic.

You mean, ride in the sense of all the craigslist bikes with 5K miles on them and 30+ yrs old? Yeah, I plan on riding it.

I'd like to have the major parts in order before a July 4th vacation me and the missus are taking up to a B&B up north. I'd like to trailer the bike there so we can ride it on some of the "Beautiful byways and scenic backroads" that I've been told about.

 

Welcome aboard! As you have already discovered, there is a ton of great info here and some real experts on these bikes.
I believe what Fitz meant by 5K, is that's the service interval for the valves. You need to check the clearances every 5000 miles. If you ride it, figure once a year. The write up is great and it is very obvious once you get in there and see the parts for yourself.
My tip would be after you adjust your clearances, write down what shims are in each valve. That will make adjusting them next time all the easier.

 

Had the same problem with my fairing,I want to look over it,not through it.If you want to lower it you can cut it at the headlight or at the top.

 

Welcome! Nice looking bike!

 

Looks to be in fairly nice shape. With 47k on the clock, have you run a compression check on the plant?

 

Nice 750, even nicer that it was advertised as a 650, but as they say you got the bonus plan, an extra 100cc's for your riding pleasure. Gotta love that!

 

you better pray that someone has done the valve shims at least once in its lifetime though, lol

 

I haven't although I'm prepping the parts list for Chacal - planning a teardown of the carbs / checking valve clearance / and a bit of YICS cleaning

I hoped on the bike in the garage today and started it up -- she ran a bit harder and needed more choke than usual on a cold start. I also noticed smoke coming out of the right side exhaust 8O -- which wasn't happening a few days ago. Checking the oil level also doesn't appear to fill the window when on the center stand. Looking in, there is a coating of it, but no oil to be seen except near the bottom. I suppose the mechanic I went to underfilled it :? Like I said though, last mistake I'll make with a mechanic. The rest will be purely my own



Hoping it's not oil thats getting burned (no smell of it), and perhaps just too much seafoam -- but I suppose both exhausts would be behaving identically then. Until I get the carbs apart, cleaned and back on I can't really say for sure.

When doing the compression test -- do you go the valve check way and manually turn the crankshaft to get the numbers? Or is there an alternate way to do it with our XJs?

 

While test riding it I looked at the handlebars and saw "750". I figured it came from the "larger donor bike" the seller kept mentioning. I figured wrong

 

New front tire has been ordered. Kenda Kruz.

Bearings have been ordered. ETA next week.

Haynes manual arrived.

Chacal parts list being worked on. I'm not sure of which carb kit I should be looking at. Can anyone say if the deluxe kits are worth the extra few bucks?

Also, is there any reason not to upgrade to the metal tipped float needles? It seems if you go the metal route, things wear slower than their rubber counterparts.

 

As far as a compression test, I've never done one, but my impression is you screw in a valve where you would normally put the spark plugs, so the valves have nothing to do with it (in terms of access).

As far as whether you turn the crankshaft, I don't know actually. Seems like that's an option, at least.

 

Welcome im a newer member myself. I have a xj750 seca i got really cheap. If there is any one peice of advice to be giving, it would be do it right the first time! i tryed doing just a lower end rebuild on my carbs and it failed. 2 times. I did it right with parts from Chacal, and tech write ups here from members. and what do you know they were right! it fired up first try and idles smoothly. i still have a way to go before mines road worthy.good luck and cratz on the new ride. looks to be in decent shape. just needs the usual tlc!..