No bolt left untouched (project build)

Hey guys I thought I should start up a post on my custom build I am doing on a
1981 xj650

I originally brought the bike last year for $500 NZ not running (had suspicious staterclutch fail).the bloke I brought it off said he could Supply it with a spare running engine which he never followed through with so that lead me to this full strip down mess I currently find myself in...

Been in mind this is my first classic motorbike have owned lots of super sports R6,triumph 675 street and Daytona ect ect
And over the coming years from owning and old classic car it has lead me to falling in love with classic bikes..
And also this is far as I have gone ever gone machaniclly wise with rebuilding somthing.

I am going for a scrambler,tracker,brat build whatever you may call it.

Let me know what you think and I know some of you hate to see xjs cut up but I have tried my best to not cut corners and make it look rough like some hack and slash jobs out there.

Cheers

 

That was when I first got it.
And the tear down began

 

Next I began to design a new shorter rear end to give it a more aggressive seating position.
I also made up a new box to hold/hide all the electronics
Now I really wish I did take motor photos at the beginning.

 

With most of the welding done I then found a new tank to suit the style I was after.
the xj550 tank was a perfect tank for the job.with minimal modifications needed to fit.
Narrowed front dome tank brackets and relocated the mounting bracket near the start of the seat.

 

Custom blue paint job!

 

Next I started making a base for the seat. So I made and shaped a new seat pan.

Here you can see some of the different shades of the blue in the tank
I plan to get some sort of Yamaha logo design down the side as some point.

 

I am often wrong, but I believe that is a 650 Seca tank. I believe they're the only ones with the holes to mount the badges.

 

Checking mister google it looks like the 550s came out with the same tank?
That's what the wreaker said it was so I just assumed it was

 

My 650r tanks have stick-on badges.

Also, the 550r and 650r tanks are NOT the same

 

So it is a 550?

 

Got some foam from the local upholstery shop.
Same foam used in motorcross seats
Had a go at shapeing it myself.
A thin belt sander works very well.

 

I don't have any pictures for the comparison, but read the section regarding 550 RJ tank versus 650 RJ tank dimensions

http://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/fuel-tank-interchange-information.109290/

I will try to get some pictures to add when I get a chance

 

Seat finished !
Not bad for a first time I thought !

 

Upon stripping the frame back for paint I came across some lovely cancer in the frame on the lower runner.someone had done a shocking job on fixing the cracked weld on the kickstand which lead too moisture seeping into the frame.
So I cut out that section and replaced it.this wasn't a easy job because that lower part of the frame is under tension from originally assembly so mirroring this took some time.
Rust treated the frame after this

 

Forks stripped and polsished!

 

Paint and semi Assembly! Woo starting to look like a bike again.its funny how builds always take longer than planned as you always run into somthing and it heads you completely off track!
Thinking I will leave it like this as I have a feeling it may be easyier to lower the frame on its side over the engine rather than try lift the engine into the frame upright cause damn that thing is heavy!!
Has anyone had any experience with doing it that way??

 

Laying the engine on its side and lowering the frame on to it is a recommended way... many do it like that. Personally, I set the engine next to the frame and just lift it and inch it in, but I have long arms and can straddle the frame and reach the engine.

 

seca and maxim 550 have screw mounting for badges too

 

looks good so i will not complain about the 550 tank in US that tank is hard to find and as far as chopping up 80 650 maxim thats ok to we will not hold it against you to much at least it wasnt a 82 seca 650

 

same type shape but you would not have seen too many of the maxim 550 as the 550 you know is what we call a Seca in North America

 

An act of mercy some might say.

 

I think you might've been typing late again… LOL

You can see plenty of the 550 maxims… Not nearly as many of the 550 seca.

It is 650 seca that is difficult to find in the USA… To us anyways the 650 Seca as opposed to the 650 maxim in the USA. It is known as XJ 650 Across the Atlantic .

This, of course, is for the non--turbo xj650 seca

 

what did you use to strip

 

Yup, exactly how I did mine. Lay the engine on it's right side and drop the frame over that way. If you're using the factory airbox, make sure you install that first as you won't be able to get it in (easily) after the motor is in.

 

unsure if he sees the 550 maxims in new zealand just figured he saw the 550 (seca) style where he lives. but I was refering to his fuel tank choice

but yes late night typing forget people are reading and not talking for the finer points

 

Ah, I see

 

Paint stripper then plenty of polishing with wet and dry working through 240grit upto 1500/2000 then finishing on a polishing wheel.

 

Okay open heart surgery time!
Now this is somthing I was planing on paying someone to do but no one was willing to do a perk job on a 4 cylinder rebuild and I didn't want to pay a shop so end in end I ended up doing some research and started tackling it myself.
So here we go...

 

And cases split finally

 

I was luckly enough to come across pretty much everything I needed for the rebuild really cheap!
including pistons,rings,pins.new valves &
springs gaskets spare head and barrel,which had very very little use.
My engine has 65,000km on it to by the way too

 

Now I had everything accessible to replace the starter motor clutch.
To my findings the springs on the rollers had become very light and weak so I was glad to find the reason behind why it was skipping so bad when trying to turn over.

 

Now here comes somthing that relates back to what I said earlier on getting a slightly side tracked..

Struggling with how dirty the engine was and how hard of a time I was having with removing the old gaskets I took a huge leap and fully stripped the cases bare to have this done...

Prepare picture heavy!!

You could eat off this!

 

And the carbs of corse!

 

Unfortunately I had the head already assembled and clearances done so that and the barrels only got acid dipped so not quite the same finish as the Vapour blasting,So I am thinking that I will paint the head and barrels black . What do you think?

 

You do nice work Drake! Almost a shame to get it oily again

 

Did you "break the rack" with the carbs?

 

Thanks simmy appreciate it

 

No no I didn't.haven't looked into what's involed with that yet. I should though...as I want to rebuild them before putting them back on.isnt a special tool needed for lining them back up?

 

Yeah...a flat surface.

 

table saw top works nice

 

Ah sweet will pull the rack apart then when I finish with the engine. Will have to buy a metric o ring set.

Reassembling the engine at the moment and have gone over the manual regards the case sealant. I am a bit worried about putting to much or to little on.also it sounds stupid but do I just apply it to every flat surface on the top case?? Help regards this would be appreciated.

 

.

 

That's what I worked on!

 

OK spill the beans - where did you get cheap parts for this bike?! I once paid 100 USD for a set of rings with one missing and thought that was a terrific bargain!

 

Was just a private seller parts had been sitting for a loooong time . Hence still been in the genuine Yamaha paper bags

 

i put some on the crank seals too. just don't put too much by the little rectangle holes by the main bearings, like it says in the book. you want the surfaces to be clean and dry, no oil film.
those cases look really clean

 

This is amazing! Looks really beautiful. Can't wait to see it all back together

 

Okay guys been some time!!
Sent all my bolts to get zink plated and he had some troubles with his zink baths so they took some time!
Bit unhappy with the 50% success rate of the plating but luckily a few are out of eye site

 

Please don't leak!

 

I apologise for not finishing this thread I got very caught up with a lot of things we all call life but I did "finish the build "
I will upload a bunch of photos I took

Enjoy..

Engine finished re assembling.. sorry I don't know why they are coming through sideways?