First bike, XJ650 from true barn find to Bobber/Cruiser

After 2 years I finally convinced my brother to sell me his old bike that has just been sitting.
He did a few mods and maintained it well. So at the end of 2014 it became mine.
Over half a year I researched and gained all the know how I could through the web and mostly from this site. There are some really passionate people here who will never know how much I appreciate their love for peoples safety and proper maintenance. So the bike is pretty much done now I will be adding photos and stuff whenever I get the chance. I has been a great journey and I'm excited to share it with others.

 

If you don't have photos, it didn't happen! lol Congrats on finishing up the bike, We're almost as excited to see it as you are to share it!

 

Not sure why there are doubles but this is the find in the barn.

 

Fine Ill make this picture heavy this will be fun. You can see the mods done from previous owner fender from a trailer, led lights is different places and a bike bell.

 

So the rear turn signals were car washer fluid sprayers with red leds and the stop light is molded to the fender with glue, wood and bondo.

 

So we got the bike fired up and made sure it ran good. Drained over 5L of oil for some crazy reason. Brother said he never ran it with that much.
Copped off the old rusty exhaust and cut up some metal laying around to mock up the hard tail and put on pod filters.

 

Found this old fender and handle bars in a barn at my wifes family farm.

 

Started to figure out how to mount the fender and ordered A jet kit from sigma6 (more about that later)
also started to figure out how to make a sweet exhaust.

 

took the bike to my father in-laws shop and with very little experience we started bending pipes and made them work

 

after a few hours they started to look great. we just welded them straight onto the stock parts took just over 12 feet of pipe.

 

Inspired by a very common video of "xj650 bobber on yoU tube.

 

Jets came in they sent 2 sets determined by the two mods, (pods and straight pipes)
they sent 130 and 135
Along with 40 and 45

Float bowls looked decently clean

 

this is a test fit of solid pieces of aluminum we had milled to fit. that gold stripe is from the bike being a midnight special

 

didn't do much research on how to mount a rear fender so we made it up to give the look we wanted. Drilled holes in the fender and welded bolts in so make it work.

 

I didn't take pics but after reading a post by bigfits I right away replaced the rear drum pads. Front were replaced in the past and work great.

 

drilled holes to mount the stock seat but not a permanent thing. Also shaved the seat and wrapped it

 

mounted turn signals right into the frame.

 

The bike was finally back together enough to rip around the shop parking lot.

 

At this point I took the bike to a local shop where the mechanic has been tuning these bikes since the 80s. He synchronised the carbs, adjusted the air fuel screws and did the valve adjustment.
Told me at full throttle is was way too rich and 120 jets would work much better. I emailed Sigma6 the results and they instantly sent out a set. Thats a fantastic company. I put them in and the bike runs really good. Always starts. Accelerates hard, never chokes and boggs down.

I read a lot about the problems with tuning pods and stuff but bald wonder had a great experience so I just went with it. ( people with experience are never at the mercy of people with theories).

Also I believe some things are left best to experts. I would rather pay someone to do it right once than spend my entire ridding season trying to get it right. I'm sure there is joy in that for some but not for others.

 

How's that so far?

 

looks good!

 

I bought a kit from them as well and had same results, I ended up using the 45 pilot but 120 mains that I already had laying around, the 130's were way too rich

 

plastidip dip just cuz i wanted to try it. Very impressive stuff. Color was ment to be Subaru world rally blue. Turned out lighter than expected.
Found the perfect brake light Too

 

Welded a bracket for the licence plate. Fender is super tight too.

 

head light and digital dash came in.

 

Moved the ignition and put a chain on The key. My bro said it popped out once. No chances.

 

eBay China took over 3 months to realize they sent front turn signals to wrong address. Just made my own same as the back. This is how the bike is currently and it was so much fun building it.

 

Those are some crazy small signals. Are you concerned about their visibility? From the pic, it looks like they point sideways as opposed to the usual forward facing style. I've never seen ones like that used before.

 

They are small yes. I hand signal as well as use the lights. They have small pieces of of the light that stick out and direct the light forward and back.

 

Cool exhaust!

 

^^agree^^ You should post a vid so we can hear the four pipes speak! I like the up swept look to mimic the angle on a stock pipe. I find it looks better than if they were horizontal.

 

^^there ya go^^
Hope it works.
1981 XJ650 bobber:

 

Wooooot! I think that exhaust would get me kicked out of the neighborhood! Good stuff!!

 

Local fuzz would be all up in yur face
But who cares a little glass rattling would be fun

 

good deal man. but where did the rear shocks go ?

 

They are at the chiropractor for an alignment.

 

no problems with cops yet. Try to keep the rpms low lol.

Rear shocks are in a box of spare parts. The chiro have up hope.

 

what digital dash are you using? hard to install?

 

Nice looking bike. I just picked up a maxim xj650. Can you post a link to the sigma6 company you use and what are those air filter cones?? Specs and vendor?? Also, love the look of those custom pipes

 

That exhaust sounds mean... Love the video,

 

Really love what you did to the rear. Want the same for my bike, looks great

 

What height mini apes are those? 9" awesome build man just picked me a 81 xj650 midnight maxim this weekend bobbing it too

 

Hey no shame in letting an expert fix some things, I got a guy doing my carb tuning and rebuilding the motor not that I couldn't do the motor I just have no where to do it

 

your going to bob a Midnight Maxim

 

Yes I am it wasn't in very great condition when I got it they painted over the gold rims and painted the stuff blue and lost covers and stuff picked it up for 300$ with an extra carb set for a 750

 

Im from south africa

 

If you don't mind me asking where did you get the fender from?