New guy

Hey guys - great site. I'm new to the site but not new to riding or the Yamaha brand. I've got a great opportunity to restore an 83 Midnight Maxim that I finnaly convinced my brother to relinquish to me, after a hiatis in the back of his garage for 20 years. The machine only has 9K mi on it !! I rode this bike back in the 80's when he bought it (I was on his old 650 special II he sold me - great starter bike for me) and remember it as an excellent machine. The bike is in good shape except for what looks like some badly needeed paint work and a new exhaust (the mufflers rotted rather badly at the box). So I'm hoping you guys can point me in the right direction on a couple of items.

- Where is the best place to try and locate an exhaust system or any other parts I might need ? Are the aftermarket brands worth looking at if I cant locate an original ?

- Anything I should be aware of about this bike model / year, as I start this project. Good, bad, gotcha's ?

Any feedback / suggestions ect. would be great to hear. It's obvious this site is the authority for the XJ's, and any info. people want to share would be super to get from the group. If anyone is interested I can post some pictures as the project continues. I'm sure I won't see the road this season, as NY snow will be here before ya know it.

Thanks for the cool site - this place rocks !!

 

Welcome! Good place to start is http://xjbikes.com/Web_Links.html there are a few good sources of info there.

 

We ned a little more info on the bike. 650, 750 or 550 and any mods that have been done. After market exhaust are limited to 4 into 1 systems or Laser's stock which will cost about as much. $300. All these bikes share a problematic fuse box at this age. So replacing that would be a good idea. Since it has been sitting a while I would check the tank for rust and by all means install an inline fuel filter. I would do that first and I mean now! Or else you will be joining the ranks for carb rebuilders not from choice but from necessity since your carbs clogged up and the bike doesn't run now.

 

Thanks for the great feedback. The bike is a 750 with no modis at all. I would like to replace the exhaust with an oem but will use what I can get. I have started pouring through the sites on the liks page to look for the suggested replacement parts. I also began the teardown and so far have gotten the light stuff off (tank, wheels), now for the hard stuff (motor, shaft etc). I see that there is a cd full of technical info on the xj lines. Does anyone know if it covers an 83 mid. max ?

Thanks Guys!