BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650J Maxim Bobber

I've been reading these forums for quite some time, but this is the first post I'm making. It is long overdue.

A little background info: I have a knack for biting off more than I can chew, but chewing regardless and swallowing it down (yeah yeah, that's what she said, and you're hilarious), cause I'm stubborn like that.

For at least a year now I've been working on rebuilding my first and only motorcycle with no prior knowledge, no prior experience, and without a garage of my own for that matter (big thanks to my father-in-law). All this to say that all of you have been a tremendous help. I sincerely think that I would not be where I am with the bike today without this website.

So as a humble and meager thank you to all of you, here are pictures of my build so far. It's not completely done, but it's back to running and being street legal. Please ask any and all questions; answering them is the second least I can do to pay back to this community!

Here's what I started with, and what I want to end up with.


And so begins the tear down.




Fender c/o my local TSC.


Took a sawzall to the stock seat.


Made my own battery box.


Started fabbing my own leather seat cover.




I also threw myself into the world of leatherworking. Fellow nerds will recognize this modified wolf design from Final Fantasy 7: Advent Children.





Took the stock seat panel, added some quick-release pegs to it, and made it snap into the frame.



Chopped the exhaust to bits so I could weld in these shorties.



Frame is back from the blasters and ready to powder coat.


Frame is back from powder coat and ready to assemble.



Starting to put it back together. (Never mind the man behind the bike.)






Note the bicycle inner tubes used to reinforce the old-but-still-good intake boots.


Tank paint.



Almost back together... still a mess of wires. This is where you guys helped the most.


Custom design on the back, by yours truly.




Finally got wiring figured out.


Custom made LED brake lights and bracket.



And here she is, 90% complete and 100% ridable!

 

Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Well done!
Comparing to what you were after, id say youve got what you wanted. I like the whole seat conversion too!

Greg

 

Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

looking back, do you think it would have been easier to do the minimum wiring harness from scratch? a little shorty fender gives you a fork brace and a place to hide the pickup for the speedometer. i moved the headlight up as high as i could get it to try to hide the cables and wires.
liking the fender paint, little something on the tank to match ?

 

Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

I had very, very strongly considered it, and pulled a lot of diagrams for it from here as a last resort. But once I had all the relays in the right spots and the right connections together, it worked. I much prefer being able to keep the failsafes (kickstand safety, neutral safety, etc.) in place.

I put mine so low because I really like having the headlight streamlined with the tank. I've also drawn inspirations from this model bike, called the Hardy Daytona, based on a Yamaha VMax:

So, I've been thinking of adding a leather bag on top of the headlight to emulate the cowl on that bike, and use up the remaining leather from the seat.

Thanks. Yes, I'll be getting the tank to match. I picked up a scrap XJ750 tank for the fuel sender and extra capacity. So I'm good and set up with winter projects.

 

Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Huh, The Hardy Daytona looks like the motorcycle from 'Final Fantasy 7' - which was awesome.

Nice bike man, grats on the clean work.

 

Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Yup, sure is. That's the "realistic" rendering of it, which they turned into a collectable model.

 

Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

great looking mod. more details on the tach/speedo please. that is way cool!

CN

 

Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Speedo/tach is an Acewell ACE-2853AB. Hunted around forever, but I eventually found it for about $170 USD... I think. I'll post back if I find the receipt or a link or something.

 

Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Found it. I got it on Amazon.

 

Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

any trouble with the tach jumping around ? did you wrap the sparkplug wire or use the old tach wire? mine gave me fits for awhile on the old tach wire

 

Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

thanks

CN

 

Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

There was a lot of dancing around, but it wasn't much trouble once I started to address it.

I went with the wrap method. Not really sure why - I guess I felt it was an easy, non-invasive first try. The instructions said to wrap about 5 times. I went with 20 because I didn't want to risk having a weak signal, and the unit came with a lot of extra wire in the box, so I figured why not. Firing it up, the tach reading would jump around a lot, but seemed to flash a reasonable looking reading half of the time. It was like trying to watch a video of something being shot with a shaky camera.

Further down the wire, near the headlight housing that I hid most of it in, I soldered the Acewell-supplied resistor inline (100ohm, if I remember right), and sealed it all up with heat shrink. Started it back up, and it was night and day difference: perfectly steady. The only jumping now was when the rpms were just on the border between one pixel and the next.

 

Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Wow! That is a very cool lookin ride. Great job.

 

Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Thanks!

 

Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

nice job!

 

Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Awesome work! Can you give us a rundown of the leatherwork process you used on the seat?

 

Re: 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Thank you, both. (Sorry for the late thanks, Greg.)

That may need to be its own thread, but I think that'd be a worthwhile write-up. I certainly learned a lot, and made some mistakes here and there that would be good mistakes for others to learn from.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

What detent pins (quick release pegs) did you use? I'm thinking of doing something similar when I switch to a solo seat.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Nice, love the seat; well done.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

They were quick release footpeg pins from DK Custom Products that I found on Amazon.

Thanks.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Tell me more about chopping the seat. I have been trying to find a solo seat but haven't really found one inexpensive enough for me. did you literally saw it in half? did you use a particular blade? did the foam do anything weird. did I see that you made custom mounts for it as well? Thanks for the info / inspiration.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Thanks for the info! How did you go about mounting them to the seat? Did you just drill a hole in the pan and let them hang loose and just plug them in the frame or did you fix them to the pan somehow?

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Well, firstly: yes, I did literally just saw the thing in half. I used chalk to roughly draw the line I wanted to cut, knowing I'd be able to clean it up later with a utility knife and sandpaper, then I used a very large reciprocating saw with the longest blade we had in the garage. Beware that this is the kind of plastic that will melt and refuse to itself. There were a few spots that I had to cut twice because of the molten wake it left behind.


The foam I cut with a utility knife, after marking with a sharpie - though truthfully the seams of the original seat cover (aftermarket, I believe) left enough of a dirt/mildew/stain line that I was able to model my cuts after that.


The back half of the seat pan had the hook that held the seat down. There were two metal brackets that held that hook on, and I repurposed them here to help hold the retention pins in place. Otherwise the pins would push up into the foam whenever I tried to put the seat down.




There was a nice little gap that lined up well with the crossbar on the frame and made direct contact, so I lined up my pins there. If I had it to do again, I'd have placed them outside the little bump (which you may or may not be able to see here). Also, I had to add some spacers (nuts and washers) between the brackets and the pin heads to keep them from rising that 1/4 inch or so.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Thank you for the explanation!

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Where did you get the LED lights you used for your tail light? Did they come in yellow? I'd like to find something similar to serve a dual purpose of filling in the frame holes and act as turn signals.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Here's red, amber, and amber with a clear lens.

Keep in mind though that these are LEDs, and you'll need to futz with a load equalizer if you're keeping an otherwise somewhat-stock wiring setup (doable, but ultimately not advisable) or move to a new electronic signaling system as talked about in this thread.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Thanks BaldWonder, BTW do you think that it would be possible to swap out the LED's in those units. I'd like to use a high power Cree or similar, mainly I'm interested in the housings and the refractors. I haven't really seen any standard LED based signals that worked worth a damn, as they are just too dim for daytime.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Well, the lens is pretty small, so I don't know if you'd be getting into a square peg/round hole situation or not, but I will say that the lights are significantly bright to begin with. I got them to replace an earlier set that I bought that were nearly invisible in daylight. Next chance I get, I'll take a picture to demonstrate the brightness. That said, it would probably still take a fair bit of work to get the original LEDs out, as they're glued in place - probably for waterproofing and electrical insulating purposes. It looked like it may have been along the lines of hot-glue and therefore not too hard to remove, but I didn't test it's durability.

Something to note: there is no retroreflective property to these, ie if you have the bike off and sitting in the dark and you shine a flashlight at it, it won't look lit up.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Ah, good point about the lack of reflectors. I might want to paint some stuff with reflective paint. Thanks again.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

3M reflective tape from ebay, good stuff

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Yea I was thinking maby some of that on the down tubes, or you can get reflective microbeads that you mix into your paint like you would metal flake. It kind of gives a cool looking sheen in the daylight as well.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

my gun don't spray beads of anything, it's lucky to spray paint

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Hi Bald, can I ask if you use the bike in the rain at all? Mine is going to be rebuilt after Xmas and I'm considering some of your ideas. But my bike will be used all year round, I'm a bit concerned about the battery being so exposed and how the airpods hold up in rain and if you tend to get rain in the frame from the seat conversion?

Cheers
Ian

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Hey Ian (Newb21), since "finishing" the bike, I've only had it in the rain once. I try to avoid riding in the rain in general, but more for my sake than the bike's. I'm a bit of a fairweather rider, though I think I tolerate colder temps than most in my category. If it's colder than 45'F, or what's on the road makes it a challenge to keep myself on the road, I'll go with the four-wheel option.

As we probably all know, it only takes once to get rust. Currently I don't see any rust where the seat pegs enter the frame. I did all the frame modifications that I could foresee before powdercoating, and I would attribute the [current] lack of rust to that, as most of the interior of that part of the frame got a decent coating. As I was working on the frame, I did notice that the tubes that meet where the swingarm bearing is (you'd have to pop off the little circle chrome cover to see) have openings in the weld to allow water (and sandblast material!) to escape, so I wouldn't worry too much about moisture. In my opinion, that is. I'll admit that I did grow up trained in the fine art of rust farming (see also "junkyard" and "hoarding"), so I may be blinded by tolerance. Or tetanus. Whatever.

As for the air pods, I didn't notice any reduction in performance while riding in said rain. Another admittance: I also am a form-before-function type of person. I care/know enough to make sure things work well enough and are safe (case in point, yes BigFitz, I'm working on the brake lines!), but I know that I focus on aesthetics the most.

With that said, I hope someone more mechanically biased can give you some input about how much the rain will or will not affect the airpods. I would guess that it would
1. be fairly well sheltered by both the engine block and your own legs, and
2. be not much different from riding around on a very humid day or getting gas/petrol with a lot of water in it.

Now, as for the battery, I think I had it high enough that the seat covered it well enough. I am planning on adding a cover for it later on. You can see I've got holes drilled out on either side of the box for attaching something. I want to make a leather cover with a belted closure that I'll tool a design into, similar to the design on the rear fender.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

That's great. Thanks Bald. We get some pretty wet & wild weather here in Costa Del Cardiff lol. But I really want to go with the pods myself for the ooh pretty, shiny shiny looks and easier maintenance (carbs will be so much easier to remove and service with pods) I have some ideas for a type of cover that *shouldn't* restrict the airflow, will have to investigate further.

With the battery I guess I could fab some sort of hinged lid with a rubber seal around the top to keep it water tight.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Just a quick update. Still working on the brakes. Got a rebuild kit from Chacal, and finally popped the cylinder out of the front caliper. I broke down and bought a grease gun from ye ol' Walton Market, and used that to push it out. Then I cleaned it up with degreaser, brake cleaner, a brush, a pick, and magic eraser. That magic eraser is great stuff. Worth every penny.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

OH!

Almost forgot to mention this:
I have the honor of being one of the Associated Builders in the 2014 Greasy Dozen being run by OldBikeBarn.com!




I highly recommend anyone reading this come for the Corn Roast/Campout/Final Reveal in August, down in Southern-ish Ohio.

All the info can be found at www.thegreasydozen.com.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Wow, that caliper and piston cleaned very well! I'm still soaking mine in degreaser, having been sat for 6+ year I think I'm going to have a little difficulty popping the caliper

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Where did you get this fender ?

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

It was from a local Tractor Supply Company store, but I've looked on their site and it's not listed there. It was a 7.5" wide galvanized steel fender. I would be cautious before ordering one online: when I saw them in the store, several of them were flat on one side for mounting to a trailer. The one I got was the last one on the shelf that was curved all around and didn't have any holes pre-drilled in the width I wanted. I don't go to TSC very often, so I don't know if it's a regularly stocked item, but the 30 bucks I paid was the regular price, so I don't think it was a clearance item.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

My local TSC has the same fender at that price. It's a regular item, came close to putting one on my bike and probably should have.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

And here she is, 90% complete and 100% ridable!
[/quote]

Hey BaldWonder, I don't know how I missed this thread up to now but I've got to say well done on a very nice job. It's all the more extraordinary considering your lack of prior experience and lack of your own facilities (garage). I'd love to see some more completed pics.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

I'm sure you realize by now that I hold your talents and opinions in high regard, so a compliment from you is commensurate. In other words: Wow, thanks Rob!

Right now I'm stalled on stripping paint off the brake caliper due to various social commitments and sporadic low temperatures. My own garage, where the beast now resides, is neither heated nor insulated. I will be taking a lot of pictures once the weather is nicer and more progress is made.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Figured I'd add a "what's left to do" list so you guys have a better idea of what I have in mind. The items are ordered by urgency and/or likelihood of getting done anytime soon.

1. Get SS brake lines and level master cylinder Done
   • Rebuild/clean caliper Done
   • Strip and repaint caliper Started
2. Replace rear brake pads Have new pads
3. New alternator brushes
4. Perform valve clearance check
5. Perform compression check Have tester gauge borrowed
6. Bar-end mirrors Done
7. Rear fender patching
   • Repaint
   • Clear coat
8. Saddle Boxes
   • Brackets
   • Rear turn signals
   • Lid pistons
   • Liner and compartments
   • Painting
9. Hide wiring and electronics
10. Battery strap/cover
11. Chop front fender, reattach
12. Leather cowl
13. Get 750 tank Done
    • Strip Started
    • Pull out dents
    • Paint
    • Fuel level connection to speedo
14. Inline fuel filter
15. New crankcase filter?
16. Front bumper/guard
17. Paint engine, someday

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

great list, I would suggest that you move the valve adjust in front of the compression test. you will likely get better results.

love the progress so far.

CN

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Thanks, CN. I swapped those two and added the alternator brushes that I just remembered I have sitting in the basement.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Update: checked the valves clearances, and all eight are within spec. Hurray!

I then moved on to changing the alternator brushes, and discovered that I probably don't have the right ones. I ordered them from OldBikeBarn.com. Sorry Len, this was from before I realized how easy you are to work with. Besides, the guy is from Ohio and is friends with a guy I know from high school.

Anyway, I'll get around to working out a return or exchange with him soon enough. For now, I want to know:
1. if I'm even looking at the right part, and
2. do those brushes look like they need replacing?

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

y un-official opinion is that yes, those are the brushes and no they don't need replacing. If you look closely at the front one you will see a light groove. That is the wear indicator. When you get worn to there it is time to replace.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

Update: Finally got around to finishing taking the paint off the caliper. Bit of advice - when trying to decide if you want to get the tin of stripper or the spray can of stripper, get the spray can. Application is 100 times easier. Save the tin for when you have a large flat surface that you're stripping, like a table or something. Smaller objects with nooks and crannies are what the spray was made for.





Also, I got around to cleaning up the valve cover. I degreased it as much as I could and used the dishwasher to get the bulk of it after that. Honestly though, I wouldn't recommend using it again as it left a lot of the carbon buildup on it. I used acetone and carb cleaner to get the rest off.

I got the following picture off facebook, courtesy of my wife. Apparently she wanted everyone else to know why she was mad at me that morning!



I've sprayed the cover with several coats of black engine enamel. I'm waiting for it to cure before I scrape/sand off the paint on the stripes and YICS lettering. Also, I sprang the 40 bucks on a new gasket from Len. I figure replacing rubber stuff once every 33 years isn't a bad idea. Should be here in a few days.

 

Re: BaldWonder's 1982 XJ650 Maxim J - Bobber/Chop

I didn't take much in the way of progress photos, but I've completed repainting the valve cover, re-bunging the valve cover bolts, sealing the new gasket, bolting the cover back on to spec (7.2 ft/lbs = 86.4 inch/lbs, rounded down to 86, since my inch torque wrench only does whole inches), and performing a compression test.
Cylinder 1 = 135psi
Cylinder 2 = 123psi
Cylinder 3 = 129psi
Cylinder 4 = 140psi

I'm attributing 2 & 3's lower readings to the fact that it's a little cramped, and I wasn't able to hand-tighten the gauge as well as the outer cylinders.

After that, I put the tank back on, filled it up, and fired her up. She was cold, and it was her first start since November, so it took a good number of tries to get it to start. I ran it for a while, giving it throttle until she warmed up, and then she idled nice and smooth without any choke.

I've already repainted the front caliper. Now I just need to rebuilt it, install the new lines, bleed it, and we'll be good to hit the road!