I bought a Midnight Maxim

this came up on one of my daily searches on my local craigslist. sadly, the frame and forks are bent from a collision. it has also been sitting outside under a tarp since 2006. fortunately, the engine is not seized and the mufflers are in great condition.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/94636588@N00/21687541089/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/94636588@N00/21253336933/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/94636588@N00/21874398635/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/94636588@N00/21251653524/in/dateposted-public/

https://www.flickr.com/photos/94636588@N00/21687530029/in/dateposted-public/


i haven't had any time to mess with it since i bought it sunday, but i plan to get the muffs off of ti soon and i need to figure out how to get the seat off, since i don't have a key. unfortunately, i did not get a key and the ignition lock is gone, so i have no way to get the seat off, or get the tank open.

FU

 

Good score!!

On the 750, you can work your way underneath and rotate the hooks.... Not easy, but doable. If you can't get your hands in there, you can also:

1. Flex the hooks enough to pass the pin
Or
2. Unbolt the the grab bar as much as possible to gain a bit of clearance
Or
3. With also a lot of tedious careful work, flex the inner fender enough to be able to remove it via the wheel well. The access the underside of the seat that way.

Done this more than a couple times now . Not convenient or easy, but at least it's doable.

Dave

 

It doesn't look too bad. Are you planning to rescue it or plunder it? Those rims would be sweet on a not black bike. Mebbe a Subaru blue with gold rims... or a gold bike with gold rims...

 

Good work! Always amazes me to see bikes bent in a collision, you'd think the forks/triple clamp would break somewhere. I belong on the Kaw forum as well and there's a pic of one folded right up in the front from a member t boning a car at 65.

 

Nice deal, but photos don't look that bad. Is it worth taking the forks off and see how bent they really are. Triple clamps are plentiful and tubes also.

 

right after posting the op, i went out and removed the grab bar...

mmgrab bar by bruce blessing, on Flickr

then i could easily get to the latch tang nuts...

mmlatch by bruce blessing, on Flickr

does anyone know what was mounted here?

mmrear cover by bruce blessing, on Flickr

i took the tank off and let some of the fuel out through the petcock. surprisingly it smelled ok and didn't appear to have any water in it. i think i will change the oil and try to start it. i was also happy to find that the throttle shafts aren't seized.

mmcarbs by bruce blessing, on Flickr

the frame appears to be seriously bent and the forks are definitely bent too. i also discovered that the previos owner never transferred the title, he may have bought it in its' current condition as well, but i will never know since he passed away of a heart attack a few months ago. i bought it from his brother who knew nothing about it outside of the fact that it was a yamaha.

FU

 

The rear box has a Midnight Maxim gold script emblem that goes there. I'll take a pic of one tonight when I get home

 

Carb hats look nice and shiny, too
Hopefully that's an indicator of cleanliness inside.

 

judging from how well it runs, i would say they are fairly clean inside...



i decided to give it an oil change, since the level was above the sight glass before trying to start it.

FU

 

For everyone else following, here's a pic that I sent him of what goes in the back

 

I was looking at one of those when I bought my 650 Maxim back in 1982. Just didn't have enough money to swing the deal. Hope it comes together for you.
Sounds good from your video.

 

thanks but this bike is parts. i plan to tear it down and store most of it. if the frame weren't bent, i would put it back on the road, but it is too far gone and missing too many parts. what you see is what i got. i was really hoping that there was a box of parts to go with it, but that wasn't the case. i did however manage to unlatch the seat latch from the lock. so i am going to take it to a locksmith and see if they can make me a key. i would like to be able to save teh gas cap and the chain lock.

FU

 

Is the headsotck straight? Do you have a welding rig?

 

Probably be about $35 or so for the key....it is possible you may have stuff that was already swapped--- you might need more than one key made.

 

no, not in the least. yes i do have a mig welder and a a couple oxy acetylene torches, as well as a bunch of steel fitting and fabrication skills.

in this pic, you can see that the frame is too close to the valve cover and that the frame made contact with one of the #1 exhaust nuts. what you can't see is the dent in the #1 head pipe from the frame...

number one by bruce blessing, on Flickr

in this pic, you can see how close the frame is to the #3 head pipe, and ther is a dent in the pipe frome the frame also...

number three by bruce blessing, on Flickr

there is no hope for this bike, short of supplying me with replacement parts for my maxim. i may even have to cut the frame to get the engine out.

FU

 

not likely, this bike looks to have less than 10k miles and is very original.

FU

 

That's to bad to part it because I'm sure Hogfiddles has frame parts you could graft back on there to fix it. But it's all what you want to do.
Midnight Maxims are few and far between these days and I have been looking for one for years. In my area they like most of these bikes have suffered the PO syndrome and are never very complete and beat to death. I saw one on ebay back awhile back fully restored and the guy had a $4000.00 buy it now price on it. I didn't follow it but the pictures were very nice.
I think if I had the majority of the parts like that I would make my 83 into one and give it complete tear down and rebuild. I just think they were and still are a cool looking bike.

 

I meant just the steering neck...you know, the bit with the VIN stamped into it

(yes, I'm hinting at something that involves skirting the letter of the law just a little)

 

if i had a straight frame, even without a title, i would not cut it up (i.e. swap the head stock) to make a bike. if i had a frame with a title, i would consider making a rider, but my pockets are not that deep even. fact of the matter is that it is worth more to me as parts than it is as a whole bike. which is truly sad, but in the end, is a fact of life for most bikes in the current realm of desire as bikes go.

FU

 

So, MN-Maxims, what you are saying is that maybe I should rebuild my bike?
Needs the starter clutch and a top end rebuild.
The typical repaint of the black gas atnk fenders etc.
A friend of mine owns a body shop.


If I could find an original Midnight exhaust, I would have a complete bike.
I have tried to find one, only have a chrome original exhaust.
Think I should get it painted?

Not intending to hi-jack a thread.

 

It's a personal decision to commit to rebuilding a bike. If you have the money, time and want to do such a thing. My personal view is this. If I could find a bike like the one that FtUp has I would take my 83 down completely and make a nice Midnight Maxim. There are not that many out there in restored condition and I believe the value will continue to go up on the unique and low production models we own.
My thoughts for my bike is to start acquiring Midnight parts and when I have the parts I can't reproduce in hand I'm going to pull my bike down and start with a bare power coated frame and swing arm.
I can get the chrome plating stripped easy enough from the plating shop across the freeway from me. It's the gold accent pieces that are going to be hard to come up with decent ones.

 

Well, FtUp, if you decide to part the bike out,
what do you need for the exhaust?
or should we take this off line?
As MN-Maxim stated above, there are fewer of these bikes around.
It may be worth rebuilding just for that very reason.
Could be a fun project for the winter months.....

 

It looks like the frame took a major hit. The lower tubes that go down to the engine mounts are bent. Not to say that a good straight frame as a doner could be used to graft those parts back in there.
Anything can be repaired if there is the time, money and patience to do it. FtUp
Has expressed he could use the parts and doesn't have the funds to do such a project anyway. If any of the gold accent parts end up for sale I will be checking them out.

 

i have posted a cl ad for parts in the seattle area, just search maxim in the seattle cl and you will find it. or you can e mail me directly bruceblessing at gmail. also, there is a midnight maxim locally that has been listed for quite awhile for $1800. it's a resto and all the gold has been painted black, but it looks pretty clean.

http://seattle.craigslist.org/see/mcy/5261692712.html