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XJ500 "Cafe" Build story :)

Discussion in 'XJ Modifications' started by zburke11, Feb 16, 2019.

  1. zburke11

    zburke11 Member

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    So I posted about getting an XJ500 recently. Well today I got it! I thought I might as well just create a thread about working on the bike so here it is. Just hauled the bike home today and put it in the garage. It "runs" with a few rough sounds, but knowing how dirty the carbs are, hoping thats the problem. I've read about how thats the biggest problem of these bikes. So, first step, figure out how to get the carbs off, read more and more and more about cleaning them, and watching more and more videos (I'm more of a visual hands on learner, reading lots of technical things with no pictures just gets me confused) Clean the carbs and try to get them sync'd and make sure to take it somewhere to get synced as well.

    Next will be all the papers. The guy bought it in Austria and never registered it here in Slovakia, by the way I'm American haha. So I'll have to get it up and running well, swap tires, brake cables, and then take it in to the Technical Inspection, and if they say its' ok to ride on the road, then take it to the Originality place to make sure it's not stolen or whatever, since it's from another country, and then finally register it. I think after that I can start the next mods. Two biggest ones I will start with are the seat/frame and the handlebars. I say "cafe" cuz the seat will be a brat style with a removable cowl for the cafe look, and also the handlebars will be clip ons so more cafe look. I know there are plenty of purests out there to rip on me for what is and isn't a cafe build, so call it what you want lol. After those two alterations, I'll also be changing the paint job completely, to something just crazy, cuz that's how I roll. Also learning what I can eliminate or move to make it more simplistic looking.

    Anyway here is the first pic of it at home! I'll be posting about the carbs and stuff on here as well. Enjoy! And I'm very much a first time at working on bikes at all, or anything mechanical. Didn't have my hands on this kinda stuff till now and no one to help me but the internet. I've worked on my 79 Lada quite a bit so that gives me some experience :) s7Wa+nApTp6D6J7EKNel6A.jpg
     
  2. a100man

    a100man Well-Known Member

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    The XJ550 'Seca' is already styled as a 'Cafe Racer' so I'm not sure what you are hoping to achieve. Do you know?

    Please get it running and stopping correctly first then plane carefully what you want to do next. In my experience most cafe builds end up abandoned or looking like a stack of shit.
    Commitment, skill (or a lot of cash) are required to pull these off effectively.
     
    Wordman likes this.
  3. 50gary

    50gary Active Member

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    I'm diggin' that front fender marker light. Good luck on your bike, a great way to learn bike mechanics and have fun doing it.
    Cheers, 50gary
     
  4. zburke11

    zburke11 Member

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    I also love the front fender light! It currently doesn't function, but I want to keep it and make it functional even with the "cafe" build :)
     
  5. 50gary

    50gary Active Member

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    It's so funny, sometimes the most corny, oddball, I'd never do that weird thing PO's mod becomes the coolest thing, just because it's part of the bike that makes it's own history. My '75 Suzuki T-500 came with an aftermarket electric cigarette lighter (period correct) too funny and too cool not to keep. Even though I don't smoke.
    Cheers, 50gary
     
    Franz and zburke11 like this.
  6. Kickaha

    Kickaha Active Member Premium Member

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    I bought an XJ550 last weekend and it came with one although aftermarket
     
  7. LarryMc

    LarryMc Active Member

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    Is it actually a 500cc variant?
     
  8. Fuller56

    Fuller56 Well-Known Member

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    If my memory is correct the T500 Suzuki was a 2 cylinder, 2 cycle that pre-dated the 3 cylinder 2 cycle GT family.
    John
     
  9. Simmy

    Simmy Well-Known Member

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    the Titan.

    Back to the XJ of this discussion I believe it mentioned previously it was an XJ500.
    If this is indeed the case then it is a rare bike outside of Japan.
     
  10. LarryMc

    LarryMc Active Member

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    Thats what I thought as well. I found this on German version of Wikipedia. It has been translated so the grammar is unique.

    The XJ 550 was introduced by Yamaha 1981 in the German market to round off as the smallest model, the sporty XJ series down.
    In contrast to her big sisters, she had, instead of the gimbal, chain drive and a six-speed gearbox. It was available in the colors red and black. Compared to the Yamaha XJ 650 , it was much more gracefully built and 30 kilograms lighter. Also, the seat height was lower, which made the XJ 550 particularly interesting for beginners and returnees. Nevertheless, she was a popular driving school machine. Because of their lower weight, she was in the driving dynamics barely behind her big sister 650, as they had to fight with their long final translation. Since the sales success was below expectations and also 600 cc engines came into vogue, the XJ 550, along with the XJ 650, from 1984 by the Yamaha XJ 600 replaced.
    In Austria at the same time a technically closely related version, the XJ 500 (for tax and insurance reasons) with 499 cc and 54 hp sold (chassis number 5N4).
     
  11. zburke11

    zburke11 Member

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    Yep. As LarryMC posted. The parts manual says “Austria, Finland, and Ireland” so must have been those 3 places.

    Anyway I’ve done quite a bit of work on the bike lately. But I’m a crazy person and none of it is normal. I’m afraid to post pics because I don’t want to get ridiculed for my ridiculousness haha.
     
  12. a100man

    a100man Well-Known Member

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    Go on then, show us what you've done..

    we won't be judgemental..

    probably.
     
  13. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    One small detail to be aware of when you get to the carbs (and other parts that use crosshead screws); JIS screwdriver, not Phillips.
     
  14. Praxeus

    Praxeus Member

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    Unless you put dual chrome Stebel horns on it like I did on my XJ, it can't be as strange ;)
     
  15. zburke11

    zburke11 Member

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    Haha alright man. Well everyone here it is so far. I got a new battery for it. A lithium ion so I can turn it sideways in a tray under the seat, but I wasn't paying attention to the cca, and it is only 97 or something. Not sure if it's going to be enough. So right now I'm hooking everything back up to try and check to see if the battery will actually start the bike. We'll find out soon enough. The design came from Into the Spider-verse, which came out recently. I'm also an artist and working on illustrating so I have the artbook, and one of the villains has a "cafe racer" he created, and I couldn't help wanting to recreate it.
    IMG_0122.jpeg IMG_0159.jpeg IMG_0189.jpeg
     
  16. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    oh my ……………..:eek::( but its your bike no one can say its not
     
  17. a100man

    a100man Well-Known Member

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    'Individual ' I think is the word. The pink looks like it pink mark easily, and pick up grease. What kind of paint is it? Paint job aside not too radical so far. Are you keeping the OEM side panels?
     
  18. zburke11

    zburke11 Member

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    Hahahaha, glad you guys love it so much... jokes :) It's just some universal metal paint. It will pick up a few marks here and there, and I'm going to go over spots after all the random marks I've put on working on other things after painting the frame. Side panels? Like the big plastic ones over the original battery and air filter? Nope. Definitely not.

    Also hooked everything up. Well most everything and tried to start it today. And nothing. Not a click or anything. I'm guessing some cut off sensor is wired wrong somewhere. Maybe the clutch safety cable, neutral switch, or side stand? does this bike actually have a side stand relay? I don't even have my kickstand hooked up at the moment haha. So maybe it's that.
     
  19. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    side stand relay is under the seat at the cross bar marked with blue.
    clutch safety switch if disconnected bike will only start in neutral.
    look at your neutral switch if that's not there and clutch safety switch is disconnected it wont start.

    as far as your choice of paint and mods as long as your bike runs down the road I will ride with you without a snicker,


    this link talks about the relays and bypasses also how to id the relays for correct location.
    The Ultimate Relay, Switch, Sensor, and Diodes Guide
     
  20. a100man

    a100man Well-Known Member

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    You're Euro spec bike doesn't have a side-stand relay/safety cutoff I don't think, not even sure if it has a clutch switch...
     

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