All I think about now is riding:0

Idk how it even happened and it was a maxim xj650 that really caught my eye, I offered half his asking price and he took it. I have to feather the gas a little other than that it rides very nice. Came with pods, I wrapped the header changed the oil and filter, ordered 80w gear oil, I've ran chem tool b12a couple times, changed rear shocks, muffler, seat, handle bars, and levers. I have a hoop I want to weld in the back so, carburetors. ... these need checked I know. I got floats and rebuild kits in case anything needs replaced when I clean and my valve shim tool just came so any advice would be awesome as I've never done shims or rebuilt a carb by myself. I'm grateful for all the information I get here from everyone's experience, thank you!

 

Stephen, all you need to know about checking clearances and swapping shims can be found here:
https://www.xjbikes.com/forums/thre...valve-adjustment-with-pics-parts-i-ii.116006/

You found the right place.

 

Awesome thank you!

 

Riding to work today, sounded like a car does when one plug goes out. Then, bike died. Had starting fluid so, engine would start when I sprayed but die. PO had hacked the wires and one connection would be scalding hot when I cranked. Also, when I wiggled the fuse box my neutral light would come off and on. So my bike is parked at the ymca now and I need to start going over all wires

 

First off welcome to the forum....good to see a new member and a pic of a nice bike.

All these older bikes really need a little TLC before they can be "Safe" to ride on the road. It is up to you, but need to check a few things. Sounds like all the wiring might need to be looked at, the connectors get old and tend to get some corrosion on them. I good brass brush and some dielectric grease will do the trick.

As for the fuse box, most of us change them out to a minni spade version. That will really help you out with the overall electrical issues. The hot wire you are talking about, is that from the solenoid? Like I was saying all the wires might need to be looked at.

If you have to feather the bike and it will not idle, then the carbs need a good cleaning as well. You are running PODS and a 4-1 so if the jetting in those carbs is stock, she is running way lean. Just my 2 cents worth. Keep us posted how things are going with the bike.

 

Lol that's what I replaced that old fuse block with, the mini, and had a new starter relay I used problem ended up being the petcock, it cannot run gravity only vacuum. And maybe my imagination but the sound an engine makes that threw a rod...i think I hear that very very softly at low rpm so , hope it makes it the rest of the season, ill check the solenoid, I have a meter I need to watch a video on thorough wire testing. Thanks again, love the site I'm grateful to have all the info I need this convenient

 

What kind of jetting you do for pilot and main?

 

I'm not sure there's dynojet stickers on the tank idk if the kid did that or just stuck those on the tank and I got a rebuild kit I'm not sure what jets came with that, jetting is also something I need to learn

 

Here is a link for you for the stock spec of the xj's
http://xjbikes.wikidot.com/carb-specs

 

Thank you man, this little bike has been so reliable despite its age and everything with the fuel needing tuned. I'm having to use a little starting fluid when the atmosphere is damp I'm sure that's only making things worse

 

Color tune helps !

 

Ha! that is the coolest thing ever I like it

 

Age doesn't make a bike unreliable. Most likely unreliability is from all the previous "cut this and replace that" that went on.

 

unreliability comes from lack of maintaince,

 

If it did throw a rod you'd know right away, and it would not be pretty.

 

and a journey it was, I was new to it so, and I couldn't find my original bike thread but I got an 82 maxim xj650 with pods and no muffler. and finally after riding most of the season I decided to brave the carbs. and I took them off about 7 times but after some trial and error I have the floats correct AND no leaks. now that in itself can be overwhelming, especially when you really didn't have a leak to begin with ha! after I was sure the leaks were fixed I changed the oil and the carbs must come off once for throttle shaft seals I have a vacuum leak, now since the boots bolt at the top and bottom, anyone with advice on keeping the broad sides from pulling in air? just rtv the boots before installation? or felpro cork gasket by itself? anxious to color tune, happy my bike is almost viable transportation again, I refrained from asking questions every time I got stuck I read many threads here and so my gratitude to everyone, the mods, Chacal you don't know how much your information has helped my project this summer you guys are awesome I hope we can ride someday

 

I think this is your thread that you started.
https://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/all-i-think-about-now-is-riding-0.124983/#post-629520

Sounds like you have had a heck of a summer project. Glad that you have her almost on her way again. Those cabrs are always intimidating for the first time. So many great links and vids to show what needs to be done. As for the boots, ATV works good, even a thin layer and let it dry to a good gasket and then put it on. Many different ways to do it, what even makes you feel comfortable and works for you.

Doing a sync of those carbs will need to be done too. That will or should happen with the colortune. Way to stay with it.

 

You can find all of the content that you've ever posted here by going to your profile page. There is a tab to see a list of all your posts, and one to see just a list of the threads that you started.

 

just wanted to add too my thread. r1 forks are ready to go on, waiting on a wheel. carbs.... have been off many times. I read 15-20 hours for first timers potentially. yeah I think I've gone over 20. but now everything is new and clean. no I didn't do shims yet no I don't have a good excuse, I'm doing them next before the forks. gas no longer leaks ha! that alone made me happy. I started the bike today after clear tube checking fuel level, all was well I am at 17.5 on every bowl but I'm closer to the 3mm UNDER spec when checking the level. I don't want to go much less than 17.5 right? I didn't have time to color tune bc of work but later when the bike cooled it just would NOT start? I can't believe my battery lasted that long. aside from that im hoping valve clearances, vacuum sync and color tune will make me healthy again. thanks again everyone

 

to answer the jetting question^^^ I did 116 main and 43 pilot. 4 into 1 header, no muffler, pods (eww pfft) and I'm liking the dynatek coils in the near future so those jets seemed like a place to start?

 

so the season is over I left work with an oil puddle under the bike. and I know why its because I tried rebuilding the carbs and by the time I got it pretty close to right I had ran it so long and it was running lean I'm guessing so in a nutshell I'm sad like in my gut sad right now all the research I did this one I learned hard. ordered my gasket kit. so I'm asking , with oil on the ground after over heating and an engine rebuild in the very near future, any advice I should focus on? beside starter clutch? hone walls, get new rings. . can I deck this head? worst day ever

 

Not too sure how just oil on the ground means you blew the engine? Could admin move this to his other thread pls...

 

oil is on both sides of motor engine won't start, sorry wanted it to be read. ill figure it out

 

Double check the torque on the head nuts.

 

okay ill check that, oil was directly on both sides of engine. was not completely empty so i added and checked my plugs they were covered in carbon. theyre changed and bike seems fine just after a 13 hr shift and bike wont start when bike always starts, noticing oil in 2 spots like that, idk, that seemed bad to me. now i have 140$ in gaskets coming i didnt need yet

 

Stephen, I think you might want to do a little back tracking and take your time. The more you just go for it and not diagnose the problem the more money you will be using up. Find the problem by doing good trouble shooting. Some of the guys use baby powder on the engine to she where the leaks come from. I would guess if you were checking the valve shims that this is your leak location. Might be the donuts or it just could be the valve cover gasket. Are all plugs dark? The chance that all the cylinders failed at ones is very uncommon. I still think you are in the tuning stage with your carbs and that is the issue. Clean them plugs up, get a compression checker and see what you have. I would guess the cylinders are good and you just need to take your time and tune them carbs and fix the valve cover gasket. Clean that engine up and see what is going on.

 

copy that, and am embarrass to say I hadn't started on shim check yet and I've been on 12s at work all weekend so I'm starting that soon but, so when I discovered the vacuum leak I changed the throttle shaft seals and I clear hose checked float levels and fixed that . but I had been dialing very rich to compensate for obvious lean symptoms (vacuum leak) and yes the plugs were disgusting looking and only a month old but new plugs got me going. I believe valve clearance then a proper tune is most important next, I'm very happy its not the end of the season, actually the company I bought the engine gaskets from gave me a chance to opt out because of the time it would take to ship. things worked out. thanks guys!

 

I tried searching, I cannot find anything relative but ever since I believe I overheated and I found the oil under both sides of my crank on the ground, I have no more problem pertinent to losing oil but when I hit my starter button I get maybe one spin of my starter everything stops then it resumes and starts ok. im checking my starter circuit as soon as I hit post reply, then renting a compression tester if I can. anywhere else I should look?

 

I'm checking my valve clearances and so far exhaust #2 was .43 and exhaust #4 the .88 fits. Like the bucket is not coming all the way up? I'm positive when I checked yesterday they were tight. Could the buckets be sticking?

 

So after everything you've been through you're just now checking your valve clearances? The bucket gets firmly pushed up by the valve/spring. If a valve isn't closing, the valve is sticking. Generally speaking, as the engine wears, valve clearances tighten up as the valves pound themselves into the head. You didn't mention if the .43 and .88 numbers are metric; I'll assume so. Sudden (or intermittent) large valve clearances indicate a sticking or stuck valve, which is a distinct possibility based on all of the abuse you've described heaping upon this poor motor.

I would recommend turning the motor over slowly by hand a few times and carefully watching the operation of the cams and buckets. Check the clearances more than once and record your findings. Continued huge valve clearances indicates a serious problem that shims won't fix. I would recommend a compression test but if you've got a valve or two not closing fully it would be a waste of time.

 

I tried uploading a video of it running. It was about 24 sec and says too large. Valves are shimmed most were tight. With the carbs and exhaust off i let seafoam sit on the faces as I spun the engine thru the week with atf/acetone in the cylinders cranking a little each day. And when done I got different readings, changed shims, then checked them again and again everything stayed consistent. My cams were always retarded to my eye less than a tooth. But I took the cams off the shoulders and moved them a tooth and everything lined up perfect. Since I couldn't move chain with the tensioner out one tooth I have to say that would've been a hard jump with the tensioner in, looks more like the previous owner may have made a mistake retiming. Idk. Timing good, valves good, carbs are like mirrors inside, I have pods and no muffler so I'm trying 43s and 116s for jets everything inside new and fresh. It's running nicely I've bench synced and sitting at work ready to color tune and vacuum synch in the morning. Couldn't have done this without everyone's info here thank you. I'll be making my own seat, have an xj900 caliper to rebuild and fit for the rear. Probably could've used any caliper i like how the 900 caliper matches the lines of the yics valve cover. Swapped swing arms for a virago so U joint was fitted for that with new needle bearings. And I happened upon the seca shocks I liked the dual springs one chrome one gold I'll repaint changing the chrome to silver. Lots of paint and powder coat to do but I'm almost running smoothly and that's saying a lot considering yes this poor engine was subject to some abuse but, I bought this bike running poorly and I neglected to fix it in the proper order it was my first I learned a lot it's healthier than it was when I got it and it's far from finished. Since there's a welder here in the shop at work I brought the oil cooler piece here to weld some AN10 fittings I think that will be a cool addition. No pun intended