Amateur Restorer/First Time Maxim Owner

My name is Larry and I'm a restore-aholic. It started innocently enough--I'd see a bicycle in someone's trash pile. I'd pull it out, clean it up, repaint it if needed, but it just wasn't enough. I then had to step it up to lawn mowers. I had no mechanical experience, but I was amazed at how easy it was get them back up and running.

My first motorcycle restoration was a 1981 Honda CB650 that sat in a shed for 21 years. It was a mess. I had to replace the tank, pipes, forks, carbs, and numerous other smaller parts, but I got it up and running like a champ.

My next project was a 1973 TS100 Suzuki. The history of this bike was unknown. The person from whom I got it never was able to get it running. It came with an almost complete second bike--a 1971 TC100--as a parts bike. I finally got it going, but it still needs some tweaking. The compression is low and the cylinder wall is in bad shape. It needs to be rebored and get a new piston.

My most recent restore was a 1980 Honda CB900C. It was probably the easiest because it was in pretty good shape already. All I really had to do to get it running was take the carbs apart and give them a good soak and cleaning. The rest was cosmetic--I had to acquire one side panel, and take out some dents and repaint the fuel tank. This one is now my daily rider.

Now to the bike that brings me here. It is the dream of restorers everywhere--The Barn Find. A co-worker and I were talking and I found out they had a "Suzuki 5 something or other" in their barn. They said I could have it if I wanted. Of course I did! I arrived to pick it up and found it was not a Suzuki, but a 1982 Yamaha XJ550 Maxim. It was heavily coated with dust, but it is complete. I've cleaned the carbs on it and done a preliminary test--it does run. An electrical issue has developed (starter solenoid clicks, but bike does not turn over), so I am currently going through every electrical contact on the bike and giving them a thorough cleaning.

I'm sure I'll have questions along the way. It's great to have a resource such as this.

 

now that's a barn find.
Good luck restoring it!

 

Welcome. Nice find. And congratulations on finding your support group for your problem You will find many here with the same affliction.

 

Welcome aboard. Start a Resto thread and post progress pics. We love that stuff ...

 

Hiiiiiiiiiiii Laaaaaaarrrrrryyyy, We love you........

LOL

Welcome to the forums, You'll have a long but enjoyable journey ahead of you. ASK questions, and you'll WILL get your answers. Some you may not like, but they'll be accurate so listen and do, grasshopper.

I took on of my barn-finds and took it to a Second Place trophy, rode it for 10 years, sold it, that guy has been riding it for a couple years. I may just try to buy it back to put back with the others, who knows.............

Nice find, glad you're here.

Clicking solenoid........your battery is too weak.

Dave F

 

Welcome Larry!

This forum is like my second home! The peeps here are awesome and the advice, priceless. Best wishes on your new resto!

 

Thanks for the welcome!

Yeah, that's what I figured. The previous owners tried to do some work on it themselves and they must have gotten this battery some unknown time ago. It charges, but it's not holding a charge. I figured the bike could use a good electrical cleaning anyway.

 

Good golly. It does look quite complete, though. And maybe even kept inside. How many miles on it, any idea?

Get a compression test; if you get any wonky results, get the valve clearances in spec and test it again.

You might just have a diamond in the rough there.

And welcome aboard. Lots of 550 fanatics around here.

 

Folsmoml,

Welcome to the Club. I'll be following this thread. These are the ones I enjoy the most. If she blows good compression take plenty of pics of her as she sits now and bring her back. This one will make the "That thang aint killin' me" to the "How much you want for it?" Catagory.

Gary

 

damn, looks like a long road ahead, i'd start by giving it a good bath!

Welcome!!

Chris

 

Welcome to the forum and good luck, remember that you are not alone in this process. I am on the same boat as you, keep posting progress and pictures.

 

Welcome aboard Larry,

You've come to the right place....

And a big +++ for your avatar...
Archer rocks

 

Thanks!

This bike came with a complete second set of carbs. The previous owner got this bike as a non-running project, but was not able to get it running (or got bored with it). I was not certain if the second set of carbs was a set someone intended to put on, or if it was the original set that was replaced. I pulled the carbs that were on the bike off and started to disassemble them for cleaning. I was surprised to find that the insides were as clean as I've ever seen. I'm not sure what work was done by the previous owner, or the PREVIOUS previous owner, but apparently someone rebuilt them and, from the looks of them, never even put fuel through them. One thing they forgot to do is replace the brackets that hold the throttle and choke cables. I wonder if this is why they could not get it to run?

 

Here it is running for the first time. I do realize the idle is way too high. Fuel is being supplied by my CB650 tank.

1982 Yamaha Maxim

 

Wow! that cleaned up nicely...

runs pretty good considering it was a barn find...

 

+1 what he ^ said.

Gary

 

Ha that's funny seeing a winged emblem on a Yamaha! Looks like you're doing good work. Amazed at those carbs they are definitely not polluted. As to the brackets being left off, anything is possible-sometimes people get frustrated and don't even check the basics.

Plant sounds healthy-looks like a winner.

 

Only two things keeping me from taking it out right now:

I still can't get the fuel tank cap off. I've got it filled with penetrating oil and sitting upside down right now. Every so often I go out and wiggle the key to see if I get get it to break loose.

The front brakes were in terrible shape. The previous owners may have redone the carbs, but they did not touch the brakes. The whole system is packed full of solidified brake fluid. I'm soaking the brake lines in oil and trying to run a guitar string through them to open them up. I've got a rebuild kit on order for the master cylinder.

 

Folsoml, just take those brake lines and throw them away, go do it now.
never use petroleum products on rubber brake parts

 

Will do. Does this apply to WD40 as well? That's what I'm using.

 

WD40 is for taking off sticky price tags and drying the distributor on your 62 Buick, get some LPS1 and a big can of brake fluid.
use brake fluid to clean and lube any rubber brake parts and LPS1 for anything that the WD40 gummed up.
over time WD40 turns into a sticky mess that's really hard to get off

 

I found that it was taking the dried brake fluid on other parts and turning them back into jelly that I could then wipe off. I was hoping it would do this to what is clogging the line--then allowing me to ream it out with the wire.

 

ok i'll add that to sticky price tags
just don't use it on cables or where you can't get at it later.
a quick pass with a propane torch, like real quick hold it in your hand quick will turn dried brake fluid to dust, works good on the groves in the calipers.
those brake lines were shot 20 years ago and your life depends on them

 

Sweet sound. That idle doesn't sound too high to my ears (550s idle is 1200 rpm, I recall), just a bit agressive, but I'll defer to more experienced ears on these forums.

 

Mr. P is right and we cannot overemphasize-- DO NOT RIDE THE BIKE ON THE ORIGINAL BRAKE LINES!!!

You might also want to have a peek at the rear: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=15874.html

And then check the valve clearances.

Polock is right about WD40 too, it's not really useful except to dry wet things. It is DANGEROUS as a cable lube. Doesn't really belong in the garage.

 

Had to get a different tank for it. It had a few dents, but it was in MUCH better shape than the old one. The dents came out nicely. I'm just putting the finishing touches on it now. It's raining here, so I can't paint.

As far as I can tell, the bike now only needs a new front brake switch and a petcock rebuild kit--both of which are on order. I'm sure I'll find other stuff once I get to test driving it. Once I get it running right, I'll give it a thorough cleaning.

 

So you've already:

Checked and adjusted the valve clearances?

Done a compression test?

REPLACED the original brake lines?

Rebuilt the M/C and the caliper?

Pulled the rear wheel and physically inspected the shoes for signs of delamination?

How old are the tires? Checked the date codes to see?

I'm thinking it still needs a bit more work.

 

Yes on Compression, replaced brake lines, rebuilt MC and caliper. No to the other stuff. Thanks for the suggestions. I figured I'd probably have more work to do.

 

To highlight what Fitz said about the tires, running on old tires is dangerous. That bike was sitting for a while, and you can't trust that rubber no matter what the tread depth measures. I'm all about the brakes and tires, I want to STOP when I say stop, no matter how fast I'm going.

 

Here is a pic as of today. Still working on the tank. Still need to check the valves. Thanks to BigFitz's other thread about brake lines, I know I need to replace the lines with which I replaced the other lines (not new, date code says 2003 ). Where can I find the date code on the tires? The shame of them is that they look like they were fairly new when a previous owner stored it. Not a lot of miles on them.

I need to pull the carbs back off and check the butterflies. Something is keeping it idling at about 4k.

 

if your carbs havn't been done yet then you should also clean em up good, you might even get some surprises from previous owners molesting them, ( I found a screw sitting in #2 vacuum piston, and two #40 jets in carb 4 ).

if they have been cleaned and synced then I would suspect perhaps as in my situation my throttle cable was too short, the cables casing has an adjustment near the handle bars which you can try adjusting first, but in my situation I just cut back the adjuster 1/4" cause it was holding the throttle open when it was as short as it goes.

 

I've had the carbs completely apart. I've soaked and cleaned them. I bench synced them, but have not used a carb sync meter. I just noticed as I was running it to consume the remaining fuel in the float bowls that the idle is high only when the nipple on the insulator for carb two is plugged. Am I correct that this should connect to the vacuum shutoff on the petcock? Watch this video if what I am saying does not make sense.

XJ550

With regards to what previous owners have done, when I got this bike, the carbs were installed, but someone neglected to attach the brackets for the throttle and choke cables.

 

As far as your high idle replace the throttle shaft seals. If age hasn't done them in the soaking you mention surely has. You can get them from XJ Forever.

The butterfly screws are 'peened' over so you'll need to carefully file these smooth or you'll damage the shaft. Here's a link to how to replace the seals on Hitachi's. Your Mikuni's will be very similar, the biggest different being the 'peened' over screws.

Hatachi shaft seal replacement.

Also before you ride get the brakes and tires done. I know you've heard it before but it is important.

 

Also when you split your carb rack take lots and lots of photos. Digital photos are cheap. :wink: It will help immensely during reassembly.

 

Good advice! I learned that about three bikes ago! :lol: Thanks for the seal replacement link!

 

Fixed the idling problem. There was something holding the #1 carb's butterfly open just a hair. I cleaned it (again) and re-bench synced them and now she purrs like a kitten.

When you think about how the smallest thing can screw with your carb operation, it's a miracle they ever work at all!

 

Cool.

Now if your valves are in spec, do a running vac sync with the YICS blocked.

Then if your float adjustment was accurate enough, you should start seeing 53mpg like the bike was capable of to begin with, while being able to pull 10K RPM quickly in 5 out of 6 gears.

A well tuned 550 is a joy to ride.

 

+1. You got that right!! If I never thanked you before fitz, THANKS man. I love my 550

 

+1 on that. We are lucky to have a resource like you.

 

Sold her on Ebay. New owner just picked it up today. Thanks for all your help!

 

Sorry dude, but it sounds like you lost my point. I would've kept the bike if it were mine plus you did all the work to get it running well. I hope the next owner uses it as well as maintains it effectively. These 550's are a blast, and to go from where you started to where it ended up on the day of sale, looks like you put some sweat into it.

why didn't you want to keep it? sorry for being nosey...

 

It was my intention all along to sell it once I got it fixed up. I just like working on stuff. I did not need another one. I'll be seeking a new old bike to work on now.

 

Same here, but how did you not get addicted to the Yam? :lol: