What did you do to your Yamaha today?

Thank you. That complete clears it up. Sorry for not finding the information on my own. I've read so much info on here for the 3 weeks or so i had the bike that my head is ready to explode it feels like . This forum is so super awesome though, and i'm glad i went with a XJ bike.

 

Cue: The Carpenters playing in the background --

'We've only just begun............."

 

I got it to start after fully rebuilding the entire thing Of course I still have to synch the carbs and do some other stuff, but it lives. I went out to the shed to unplug the battery maintainer before work, and thought to myself, why not try it. I turned the key, opened the choke, and pressed the button. Almost immediately she came to life. She idled high, and there was some smoke coming out of the left tailpipe, but she lives. After a little while the idle came down to right above 1000, but there was still some smoke. I will have to investigate when I get off work tomorrow morning.

 

Opening the choke is supposed to cause it to idle higher than normal!

 

Yeah, after I wrote that I was thinking about it, and realized I had a duh moment with that. By the way Len, thanks for the info about the cam chain tunnel gasket, I took it off and everything was happy.

 

I did nothing. Not a thing.
I bought a new helmet last week.
I was planning on riding today, or tomorrow since it's been a lovely Spring so far.
Snow is forecast to begin before midnight.

 

We had 2" of the white stuff yesterday. Melted today, discovered the county trucks decide to drop more sand at intersections.

 

Happened to me too. They dumped a bunch of pea gravel on my street - aquarium rock sized gravel - because it snowed. Now the street I live on feels like riding on snow >.<

Won't be swept for weeks to come

 

I live in a rural area. I deal with sand and gravel on the roads year-round.
Care and practice. Care and practice.

 

Put the shim keeper on the work bench and had to leave...soon.....

 

We have had some fantastic weather this last week and I was able to ride to work every day. I'm riding my little Virago 250 while @Toomanybikes has my xj700n. He has been sending me pics as he has been rebuilding the carbs and replacing the POs pods with stock airbox. What did I do with my Yamaha today? Nothing, but Dave has brought it back from the dead! Thanks Dave, I can't wait!

 

Started an 800km road trip, but 200k in, #2 decided to stop firing. Ran about as good as a 600lb 7-11 clerk. pulled over, called a buddy with a truck. Got me and the bike back to the barn, no obvious damage or leaks. #2 header still dead cold. Troubleshooting starts tomorrow.

 

Got my bike MOT's and taxed yesterday. I am looking forward to putting many miles on it this year.

 

Hi, just became a member here and bought my first XJ last weekend. An 82 XJ650 Maxim. At the shop right now getting the frame powdercoated and fuel tank painted. But the rubber on the pegs that came with the bike were all ripped and torn up so I had to throw away the rubber but still have the metal part. How did you make your pegs? I can not find aftermarket pegs aside from used ones from other XJs.

 

Start a conversation with Chacal. I'm more than sure that he carries new footpeg rubber.

 

Cool and threatening rain today. Good day to clean the chain....but whats this???? A nail in the back tire!!! No loss of air, but its been there a while. Thank you Jesus I didn't learn of it at 65mph.

Took wheel to dealer to get a new Dunlop D404 mounted and balanced. Tire matchs the front I got last year:


You are probably thinking "I didn't know D404 tires came in white letters."

They don't. White oil base Sharpie and about a half hour of work.

FYI front fork looks out of align, that is an illusion in the pic.

 

GET OUT OF MY HEAD!

It was the absolute first thought in my mind when I saw the picture.

Looks good!

 

Thought about her while riding a tiny Brazilian Honda in an empty parking lot.
Visor was up, sun was out,boy is my face red!

 

Swapped out the old square headlight for me new sexy round headlight. Need to make a small bracket to mount my LED floodlight as well, as it doesn't quite fit under the round headlight, but that's just a piece of aluminum with a couple bends away from being reinstalled.



... then discovered I have just a teensie little bit of lateral play in my swing arm:

 

That's teensie?

 

Nothing&;&:$@;; I'm painting today!

 

I'm guessing you haven't been riding it lately

 

hah yeah I have been, 50km/day. It felt kinda sketchy in certain situations (that is, if my weight is forward on the bike, it gets a bit... weavy) but the rear shocks are terrible (on the list of stuff to replace), and when I'm sitting back on the bike, it's steady. I figure because it drops so far when I sit on it, that puts most of my weight on the rear wheel, and holds the swingarm in place.

Needless to say, I'm gonna stay off it till I can get a new set of bearings in. I get that you can adjust play, but... I'm pretty sure that's past adjusting

 

I like to think it's a feature - dynamic alignment adjustment!

Steering: It's not just for the front end anymore!

 

Don't ride again until you replace the swingarm bearings and shocks. Tankslappers are not fun, and often lead to additional expenses of a medical nature.

 

I'm jealous -- I know once I put mine back together and push the button nothing will happen. It's just my luck.

 

1 down - 3 to go.

 

Yeah. Despite countless miles over decades, I've never experienced one, and I'm really not very interested in trying it.

This does explain some strange behavior I'd noted but written off as "just me" - a tendency to very briefly feel like it wants to move off to one side when you crank open the throttle - could never really tell if it was the bike or just me, as it'd vanish pretty much instantly. Likewise sometimes feeling like it wants to track out a bit under heavy rear braking. Subtle, though, and because of how one automatically compensates for things, hard to tell if it's actually happening or not. Will be interesting to see what it feels like with that fixed up.

 

It took some time to run, definitely not right away, and I am still getting everything sorted. I think I might take it for a ride tomorrow to remind myself what I am working towards.

 

rrrrrr...today I took my "generic starter rebuild kit, not all parts fit all starters" and thought I got it smooth enough to go but no dice.... broke down and made an order from Chacal... yet another week without riding.

 

You are a wise man , and your starter motor should get there was before the weekend!

 

I make it from aftermarket for honda cb.

 

Prepare handelbar with wires inside

 

Reinstalled bar end mirrors.

 

Have a close look at the U-joint , that slop may have put a lot of stress on it

 

Removed the rear wheel, rear brakes and final drive
Removed the front wheel and speedo cable
Removed the engine side cover & shift lever
Removed the shocks
Removed the exhaust
Removed the rear grab bar
Removed the tank and side panels, gas cap, fuel valve, emblems (out to paint)

Oil in my pumpkin (final drive), still trying to figure out how to fix that.

this comes after:
Removing the front brake caliper, master cylinder
Removing the valve cover & gaskets
Removing the carbs (sent to Hogfiddles & returned)

 

Polished my back test bar.

 

I'm itching to polish everything up -- I just got my g-pops OLDD bench grinder. I'm hoping i can attach a buffing wheel to it.

Anyway, today I assembled everything from Chacal, including the new logos, foot pegs, fuel filter, small misc doo dads and also put the header pipes (re chromed), exhaust, gas tanks (new paint) back on and she started right up!

Oh yeah -- I also snapped a header pipe mounting stud cause I'm a dufus and I don't know how to use a torque wrench. So, there's that.



EDIT: added 2 pics of fuel filter and new pipes with those mounting brackets that took me forever to polish (no buffing wheel).

 

Waited impatiently for my swing arm rebuild kit to come in.

Got my new handlebars, though, so decided I'd take a look at how it looks.

Of course, my risers had 12M bolts, and the studs for the stock square buckhorns are 10M. So... Now I have 12M holes. Not going back to the stock bars on this crown. I've a new master cylinder on the way (that's not tilty) but put everything together to see how it works with the existing cables.

Clutch cable is sketchy; gonna cut it back myself. It will probably remain sketchy though, as the real problem (that is, the non-cosmetic problem) is that the Atari is huge and the clutch cable is impossible to route around it without being more bent than I'm comfortable with. Brake line will *probably* be fine with the new master cylinder, as it's outlet is on the "front" (facing forwards on the bike) which should help. Took the tilty one off again to avoid damaging the existing brake line.

Bar end mirrors, new grips, and new indicators are on the way. Should arrive later this week.

 

Bench grinder with a polish wheel is what I use. Works great.

 

Today was a first ride with my bike,runing like a cake.

 

I hate runny cakes.

 

Yesterday it snowed all morning, probably around 2 inches blowing snow. By 7 PM the sun was out and I was riding my XJ with just a leather coat and gloves. South Dakota weather, wait 5 minutes and it will change!

 

Last night, 10k cold valve clearance check, all were in spec, but noted 3 on the edge - 2 intakes right at .004in, but the .003in would not go, 1 exhaust at .006in, but a .005 would not go. Carb sync check, had to touch up #1 only, Dropped in a fresh set of NGK BPR7ES ( I intentionally removed the cap resistors awhile back ), colortune the pilot circuits, adjusted hot idle speed, then took a quick test ride to top off the fuel tank and check for oil leaks.
This afternoon - air pressure, oil level, light safety check, then RIDE till dark:30.

 

My bad, brain fart typo, my previous post- front feet jumped out of gear:

5K cold valve clearance check not 10K
BPR7EA not BPR7ES

 

Got bearings for the swingarm, tucked in: mufflers and rear wheel off, then discovered the swing arm pivot bolts are ginormous 27mm heads. Gonna have to grab a suitable socket on my way home from work tomorrow; in the mean time, she's a unicycle.

 

You can. It just needs a bushing made with a 2mm wall.

 

We had a blizzard just west of us on Sunday. All roads closed from Cimmaron, Kansas all the way to the front range. It was all gone by Monday afternoon.

 

Yeah, there is that. Hadn't really thought much about it but makes me feel better. Despite the Maxim being really common, I'm actually quite reluctant to cut anything and keep a well organized "go back to stock" box, so it's good to keep in mind.

While I can't imagine wanting to go back to the square bars (if I wanted buckhorns, I'd just buy a pair of regular buckhorns) who knows what the future will hold for the bike.

 

Took a second seat and chopped the passenger foam down. Starting a solo seat with back rack project. Trying to utilize the original seat pan with latch and have two seat that I can switch on/off with ease. We will see how it goes!