XJ Maxim 700 X '86 USA (49-state version) Gearbox Rattling

I fell in love with this bike from the moment I saw her.



Being the first bike I've ever owned I forgot myself in enthousiasm and bought it without even thinking.
Previous owners told me it was driven regulary and that maintenance was done properly.
Since it was my first bike I did not see the flaws but I knew I was taking a risk with buying a bike this age.

I brought it to a local mechanic and asked him what had to be done to make it road safe.
He replaced oil filters, braking fluid and replaced the leaking sealing rings from the front fork.

With all that fixed I could ride it, and I loved every single moment of it.

Until the next problem occured and my petcock started leaking, I order a revision set and I changed all the rubbers. Me being unexperienced I made a huge mistake and i accidently ripped a hole the fuelhose that leads from the petcock to the carburator. Right at the point where it is attached to the carburator.

I did not know what I did so I fixed the petcock put everything back in place and went on a happy ride.
Next day I checked my bike and there was fuel everywhere, long story short I had to take her apart and clean the carburators I used "Cleaning the Mikuni Carbs" guide to clean them but I did not replace anything.
While cleaning I found that the previous owners probarly abused this bike. Screws that were damaged, pieces of metal broken etc.
Ssee pictures below.




Bike is still leaking fuel from the hose that is connected to the airbox, from what I have read here I assume this is because I need to clean my carbs again and perhaps replace/adjust the floaters. (Correct me if I am wrong.)

I have got 1 problem which I cannot identify.

My bike has no problems starting, runs smoothly when idle (as far as I can tell) but whenever I sqeeuze my clutch cable there is a ticking/rattling noise in the gearbox.
The noise only appears when I fully sqeeuze the clutch. When I "play" with the clutch, hold it for 10%, 30%, 50% no rattling sound.
When the bike is idle I don't hear any noise that I did not hear before.

I can't find anything like this problem on this forum.
I hope any of you can help me out.

I assume I did something wrong with attaching the clutch cable, but I have no clue what..

 

There is a needle bearing in the clutch basket that can cause a rattle if it's worn.
#33 on the clutch fiche.

The carbs are overflowing into the crankcase because either one or more floats are sticking, or the float needles are not sealing. Were the float needles replaced when you cleaned the carbs, and did you wet-set the fuel levels?

The broken float pillar is not a big deal, since it broke above the float hinge pin hole.

 

Thanks for the tip, I shall have a look into it.

I did not replace the float needles, I think I shall order new ones and replace the old ones.

Thank you for your reply.

 

Well , you do not want fuel leaking into the carbs/engine, that could be very bad in the short and long term!

 

When you replae the float needles you will have to asjust the floats so that the fuel level is correect. The aftermarket needles are shorter than the originals.

Setting the fuel levels

I'm not positive if the Maxim X fuel leves are listed in that document, but the method for adjusting them is the same as for other models.

 

Thanks for the link. I shall keep it in mind when i recieve them.

The float levels are in the document.!

 

did you ever figure out what the rattling in the gear box was? My exact bike is doing the same thing right now.

 

Welcome to the forum. Yours will probably be the same as mine. I replaced the clutch bearing k-moe referred too above, that fixed it. You need to check if you have any movement in the bearing by pushing and pulling on the clutch basket.