Cafe XJ

Anyone know of some good sites to go to that will have quality parts to transform my 82 Maxim into a Cafe? Bars, shocks, turn signal and such?? I'm a noob Thank you in advace!

 

oldbikebarn.com has a cafe conversion kit for my 81 Seca fr 199. check and see if they have one for your maxim. it doesnt have everything but it comes with bars, grips, shocks and a fairing.

 

I saw that, but it's very cheap and I question the qaulity of those parts. Unless things on the XJ's and Seca's are just that cheap?

 

I don't know of any conversion kits but I know mikes XS has tons of parts for anything you want to do.

 

Omars might have rearsets and such. omars

 

What are rearset? I know it's probably something easy to figure out but I'm a total noob!

 

Nevemind found em! I dont know if I want that sort of riding position I think I'll stick to standart. I do want to go with Clubmans.

 

Rearsets help with the positioning if you're running clubmans.
My seca has clubmans (will switch to clip-on's for next season) and I'm usually on my toes or back on the passenger pegs... It's not too bad tho.

Only reason I don't have rearsets is b/c I still have an extra 2-up seat and I don't want to (re)move the passenger pegs.

Shocks - Harley Sportster (lower, nicer... bit stiffer - cheap)

Fairing - Not the ones from the kits, they're ugly... IMO. And I have no idea what makes them "cafe." If you want to run a fairing check out glass from the past or somewhere similar... nothing is made specifically for our bikes tho, as far as I've seen, and it's all expensive.

Turn signals - e-bay. I just kept searching for mini lights (you will have to replace the flasher, but it's not hard and I can give you more info if you want).

Seat - Don't know what to tell you there... Maxim seats are alot different from seca seats as far as I know... remove the rear fender and re-mount the plate/brakelight somewhere and slap on a solo seat - or a 2-up similar to a guiliari (?sp?)

Bars - Looks like you're allready going for clubmans - make sure you lean them far enough forward so that you don't strike the tank when parking, slow speed driving, or DROPPING the bike (dammit).

As far as the tank goes... You'll probably want to look for something with a bit more cafe style (I.E. bolt on a 650 seca tank). But I'll be fighting with you over getting one, lol - J/K there are a couple of people on here that offored to sell me tanks, so I have a line there if you need help too.

Good luck with it! And feel free to contact me if you want to know anything about what I have done to my bike (see my gallery - I'll try and upload some more recent pics).

 

Ease- Is there a way to search for your pics? or do I have to sift through the gallery?

 

**click the "gallery" button under his last post**

 

lmao, yeah I saw that a little while ago.. I'm a little slow at times.

 

Hmmm I'm thinking about turning my 550 Maxim into a cafe bike... Has anyone done that to a 550?

 

Okie dokie got the Maxim home today finally and took her for a couple of short cold rides, I found that the only real trouble I had was that the front brake lever does not operate the brake light... The rear brake does however... Is there a broken switch I need to fix? Usually you can here a little click on the front brakes of most bikes which is the switch clicking to operate the brake light, but I dont feel or hear anything when I use it?

 

I would love to cafe a 550 seca for the simple fact that they are chain drive rather than the shaft. Don't know much about the maxim, but I assume they are similar - so I'd say replace the tank and go or it!

There is a safety switch on the front lever, yep. It's possible that the switch is broken, or that he lever has been replacd with an aftermarket one.
I'm not sure where you can get the replacement, but you might want to try mikes xs (you can get the lever/switch off of a xs 650 - that's what I have on my brake side).
There are also a couple of secas on e-bay now being parted out, so you might want to e-mail the sellers and see if they can ship you that small part (or the whole lever / switch / wiring combo).

Oh, and I haven't noticed any clicking. Just lets out on the switch when you pull in the lever.