XJ700 package deal

Yes I got very lucky finding this! Nearing winter and the gentleman was selling this for his girlfriend. They had a tragedy in the family and just wanted it gone. I was lucky enough to be the first to call and in turn buy it.

Table, wheel calk, new battery, manual, kreem tank kit and motorcycle with title. Lets just say it was a GREAT deal.
I look forward to working on the bike and getting it ready for many more yrs of riding.
DSCN0029 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
DSCN0028 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
DSCN0027 by Tim Brown, on Flickr

 

I love my XJ700. Fortunately, it was running and all stock when I got it. Still took a lot of work to get it in perfect running condition. My best advice is to keep it stock.

 

Oh yes it will be OEM. Nice looking little bike, that little gas tank give it 100 miles between fill up? Front tire is so bald, I don't think I have even had a bike with such a bold front time.

 

If the engine is in good condition and you get the carbs dialed in perfectly you can probably between 40-41 mpg on the road at 60 mph. I have actually gotten a little better on 100% highway rides. Hogfiddles says he can get close to 45 on his, but I suspect that his is about as perfect as one can get. I think the advertised mileage new was about 45-46. I start looking for fuel at about 75 miles, but have gone more than 100–hitting reserve at about 95.

 

700n , today at pump 2.6 gal's @ 85 mi. I get 32.69 mi per. bike is tuned and runs perfect .

"runs perfect" Did I just type that out loud ? - doomed.

 

That seems very low??
My 650's and 750's used to get anywhere close to 47MPG, my current 750's get closer to 48...

How fast are you running, I'm not usually hanging about?

 

between 0 and 115 mph.

 

yup we all ride very slow and never speed. ( my wife has left the room) mpg will be dependant on how quickly you get up to speed, how you down shift and how much you weigh in at.

 

I am not a cruising kind of rider, normally won't ride a motorcycle under 700 cc just for the fun factor. It seems the gas tank on these bikes just looks small compared to the Seca style tank. This is the fist XJ700 airhead I have worked on. My last XJ700 was the (X) so a little difference with this engine. Those coil packs up front of the gas tank for one, that is a little interesting.

 

makes them easier to access for testing/replacment. frame is also a different style than 750. motor is not burried under gas tank had to fill that gap with something so coil pack and chrome cover

 

I saw the ad. Congrats. Yes. Free motorcycle for you after purchase of the lift...

ive got two spare motors if ya need another down the road

 

Thanks, I think once I get the tank and carbs cleaned up she will be fine. I hooked battery to her yesterday and gave the starter button a try. Engine turned over, most of the lights came on but the turn signals are non op. Carbs looked like they leaked a lot of fuel down the side of the engine, just the normal stuff for these older bikes. Paul (the guy who was selling the bike) was a really nice guy, we chatted for some time. He is a Cub Cadet man and is more into them the bike restoration.

 

Hmm... mower... motorcycle.... mower.... motorcycle. I do love some nicely pruned bermuda in the summer after honing the blades. Those engines are a HELL of a lot easier to work on.. buuuutttt. Two-wheels are more fun. (At least if you avoid the roads here in Wilmington). Saw a couple laying in the middle median and their bike had a flattened right side. Left turn, red light runner. People blatently run red lights here, EVERYwhere and without any remorse. And, of course, no LEO is ever around until someone gets hit.

 

Cleaned up the bike a little bit. Decided to take the carbs off. Used a heat gun to warm up the rubber on both sides of the cab bodies. It is winter again and rubber does not like to bend in my shop that is not that warm. These carbs take the winner for the most varnish leaked on the outside of any bike I have worked on.
DSCN0034 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
The insides of the carbs were nasty but nothing like the outside and the engine under the carb bodies. I would guess that the PO never did a bench test to see if they were leaking or not. Put them on turned on the gas and the leak started. Gave up right there and left the gas on. Just a guess.
DSCN0032 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
Cleaned up around the plugs with a screw driver and compressed air. Pulled the plugs and #1 was just bummed up and nasty. I would guess from maybe test starting it at some point with it being on the side stand. #2 and 4 were new plugs and # 3 had a little bit of carbon on it but not much. Turned the lights off in the shop and turned it over with plug wires on, spark to all 4!

Have the carbs 1/2 pulled apart, letting all the jets and evolution tubs sit in some B-12 overnight. The gum on the outside of the carbs was so bad that the throttle wold not move. I though at first it was a bad cable, not the case, that much gum on the carb bodies.

 

Definitely going to need a soaking and probably a few pin pokes in the jet holes everywhere. Do you have a carb cleaning pin set? I'm looking at getting a jet cleaning assortment with those and brass brushes. Spray some CRC DI Intake cleaner in the cylinders and let it sit over night. The carbon will just dissolve into black ink. Yes, the "ink" will permanently stain everything porous it touches. Do it before you change the oil, in-case you have some bad rings.

 

I normally spray some B-12 in the tops of each cylinder at their TDC. I let it set for a while, get a shop towel and compressed air (125 psi) and take care of the carbon that way. The air brings all the stuff up into the rag and it does a good job for the most part. Thanks for the tip thought. As for the small holes I use a stripped bread tie as a good poker for those holes. Normally the only one I have issues cleaning out is the enrichment hole in the bottom of the bowel. On this set of carbs they all were plugged and needed soaking and TLC for sometime before I got air to go through them.

 

Just puled the carb bodies apart today, make I have never seen more varnish on a carb set in my wrenching. Hoping I can save them as they seem to be okay just supper varnish. Will need to replace fuel and TB "O" rings for sure. A lot more soaking and then I will get them back together and bench sync them. Fuel bench test for wet set and then back on the bike. Nice to get back into the shop and do some wrenching

 

Berry's Chem-Dip will melt it away like snow in summer.

 

Thanks been working on that with "Q" tips and it is working, just taking a long time. Just need to wait on the cems to work and not rush things. Using the chem dip now one carb at a time. So this will take a few days. I can work on the wiring, changing the oil, brake fluid ect. All the other fun checks that need to be done.

 

Don't leave it in there too long or it will discolor the aluminum. A couple of hours should do.

 

Thanks about that color but not too worried ab out that. Most of that can be powered off with some soap water and a tooth brush.

 

Finally got the gas cap off the tank...not good. Threw some nuts and bolts in it to knock the big stuff off. Took high pressure air and a vacuum to it, this is just to get the chunks out. Seems to be holding water for now, have some old viegure solution just to get the nasty stuff out. I will use a good rust removal chem this time but I do not plan on sealing the tank. Not very lucky with 87 oct gas in my area.

One more carb to put together and then finding some good "O" rings for the fuel tubes. Yes I know Len has them and that might be the way I go. Still working on the clutch cable, just being stubborn, a little more PB and some TLC and she should come lose.

 

Crud Cutter, The Must For Rust. 100x better and faster than evaporust. Rotate it often to keep it in contact or it will not work well. Smells like diluted hcl and phos acid mix to me so wear gloves. It will leave a phosphate coating for protection, but very thin, which is fine for gas tanks.

 

place the carbs in boiling water for about 15 minutes, then blow them out with carb cleaner followed with compressed air. Varnish will be gone.

 

Please tell me you replaced the butterfly seals...if you split rack and tore down carbs ,soaking in carb cleaner will perish carb seals ...see my post on why you should replace your butterfly seals ...

 

^^^ Oh yes learned my lesson on a FJ1200 I worked on and didn't check the throttle body seals. Could not get the bike to idle. Could look down and see the engine suction pressure moving the throttle shaft on both outside carbs. I am just putting the individual carbs back together, all the jets and the diaphragm and tops. The seals will come later as they can be down without having to break into the bottom or top of the carbs. I look over the seals real good and make sure there are no cracks in them. I normally soak them in DOT3 for 24 hrs too, just to give them a little life again. That normally works.

The PO must have filled the gas tank up, put the bike on prime and just left it sit. The carbs were just covered. That boiling idea I should have done, would have made it easy and I will remember that in the future.

 

Got the carbs on her today and gave it a try.
DSCN0038 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
DSCN0039 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
She started up and sounded good. She got a sponge bath for that and a clean air box. Not that it needed to be cleaned out or anything. Might need a new filter before I run her on the rd though?
DSCN0041 by Tim Brown, on Flickr

 

Got the shed doors open, AUX gas tank hanging up and let her rip. No drips from the bowls that is still good. She is running and shooting all kinds of mouse stuff out of the exhaust! No acorns but lots of other stuff. Nice flames with that as well. 1 and 4 are not firing as they should be, 2 and 3 are nice and warm on the IR temp gauge. Start to take apart the connectors, cut the leads back a bit and do some cleaning on the contacts for the coils. Nice easy place for the coils on the XJ700, I say that now until I might have to change them out. This bike has 3505 miles on the speedo...no way right?

The side covers on both side are the Yamaha type without the YICS stamped on the side. The engine is a YICS as they bolts are there to plug the holes and the valve cover has the YICS on it. Just interesting, PO might have changed them out, for all I know they come that way on the XJ700 Maxim?

 

700 is YICS whether it says so on the engine sides or not

 

I knew the engine was that as it has the bolt covering the YICS tool location. Was not sure if all YICS engines came with the engine covers stamped YICS? Thanks for the input though.

 

My 700 just says YAMAHA

 

Warmed up the bike today and added a little sea foam in the oil. Just wanted to get it up to temp and make sure the oil wold drain good being so cold out. Getting those 19mm and 12mm drain/filer cover plugs off took some time. The 12mm I had to hit with my electric impact driver to break it free. Jacking the bike rear end up to get at the plugs is a must on the lift too. Oil filter is a EMO so at least it was changed out once. Still oil was nasty as most of these projects bikes are.

Soaking the MC screws now so I can work on the brakes next. Warming up the bike unfroze the oil swx as well. The light was not working (known good light) and now the light comes on as it should. I think the first oil change with be about one tank of gas just to make sure it gets cleaned up nice.

Going to try the Evapo-Rust soon, but needs to be 65F or above, so that might have to weight a while.

 

Worked on getting the cover off the MC here is what I use if they are stuck, rusty or just a pain. The screws are still in good condition that is how the bit is able to fit. Use a 1/4 wrench and a hammer just tap and add pressure counter clockwise and it seems to work well.
DSCN0047 by Tim Brown, on Flickr

 

This is the oil filter with what looks like old rust res on both sides.
DSCN0045 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
DSCN0044 by Tim Brown, on Flickr

 

Got the shims in and buttoned her back up. Put the choke on with no gas hooked up, just what was left in the bowl from last week. She started right up, valve were way out of spec. Now I have to wait for a warmer day to open shed and do a carb synch, have not got the shop set up for exhaust fumes to run outside and keep the shed warm. This is still a hobby ( I keep telling myself) so no need to rig that up.

 

Pulled the wheels off her today, have them on order. Front was totally bald and the back was dry rotted cracked. While the wheels are off I polished the axles and have the tank warming up for the rust removal process. I will problebly have to rebuild the petcock too, but I will check that after the tank is done and I have a good mix of fuel with some mystery oil on the metal in the tank.

 

Finished the tank over the past few days. Looks like the new to me product did a great job. So Evapo Rust of better from now on. Easy to use and didn't have to shake or really keep an eye on it. Rinsed it well with fresh water and then hit the inside with compressed air. Added some Mystery oil to it and got that covering all the metal inside in case of flash rusting that could happen. Once it is filled with fuel the Mystery oil will just get burned away.

Took the really large grips off it too, even found a spacer on the left bar end to make up the size difference.
20200203_131610 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
20200203_131633 by Tim Brown, on Flickr
Have a new set ready to go on, but I might change out the bars to a little more conventional set, not sure yet. Time of get a new gas cap (as that was off when I got the bike).

 

As you can tell from the pics at the start of the thread, this bike has cosmetic issues. New tires are being mounted now, already did a little work on the front disks to clean them up and polish the bolts. Now comes the rear brake housing, tried to clean it up a bit and then sanded it with 150 and orbital. Hit it again with the bench polishing wheel and I don't think that is the trick. Going with aluminum colored 500 degree engine paint to make it look better. Being that is so cold here I have to heat the can's up on the stove and take the heat gun to the part to get them up to 75 F or so. We have more snow on the way and I was hoping to have the tires back on to be able to move the bike, not going to happen.

In the future I will need to take a look at painting the front fender and maybe the gas tank. I know the clear coat for the tank has to be the good stuff that will not be harmed by gas. I am always trying to paint and it never turns out the way I think it should. Nos this is all rattle can and not a air brush with the proper mix of paint and hardener, don't know if I want to build a make shift paint booth to do all that.

 

Paint seemed to work okay, good enough and better looking than what it was. Back tire is back on and got a call from the shop that the front is done. A little cool today so not working on the bikes today. Should be closer to 30's tomorrow so will get back to wiring and the front tire for this bike.

 

Pushed the bike back into the little workshop and onto the lift table. Once the weather gets a little warmer time to scyn, color tune rinse and repeat. On a side note, got the new CCTV hard drive secure box all welded up and mounted. That to have that behind me.

 

Should be warm enough to day to get the bike sync done. I have it all hooked up to gas and the sync tool ready to go. I cheated last night and started it to see how far off, not much, just 1 &2 are a little off. With these temps really hope to get this bike of of the shop and back into the shed.

 

What a great warmer day in my area. Was able to open up the shop doors and let the sun warm it up, great for this time of yr. Got the 700 running very well, looked at the oil as it was running and the new oil is already dirty. Going to have to add some sea foam and run it for a 100 miles and change again. PO must have not taken care of it very well. On a good note, when I did the valve spec the over head cams looked great with no visible wear.

Worked on the gas tank after the Evapo-rust did its job. Had to do much more rinsing to get all the little stuff out of the tank, but I am happy with how it turned out. The petcock was also just full of gummed up gas, I am hoping I was able to clean it and refresh the internal gasket. Added new fuel line, in line filter and clamps. Need to fill the tank up and add a little additive of some type to help with any residual water that could be in the tank. I think today she will find her way to the shed.

The seat is interesting, I know these seats really have to be pushed in well or I am just missing something. I know I am used to the Seca type seat but this 700 seat is a bugger to get in place.

 

Took her down the road the other day, two things from the little trip. New petcock rebuild kit needed, spraying gas on the valve cover from the square portion of the suction valve. The speedo was not working, upon further inspection the rubber had rubbed off the speedo cable. It has rusted sold, so new cable on the way. Hoping that will be the last two things that will keep her off the road. We have about 2" of snow last night, so still not motorcycle weather yet...getting close though.

 

Put the new petcock kit in and no more gas leak, so nice. Bike started great and I wish it was warmer and not raining out. Speedo cable should be here soon and then some cosmetic stuff. I sure wish the gas tank was a little bigger and I didn't feel cramped on this bike. Someone will love her...but she will leave the stable...if we ever get out of this mess we are in.

 

Been a while sense I have posted about this bike. Had a bad (frozen) speedo cable, didn't fix issue. Found out that the wheel speedo part was locked up inside, had to order a used one on line. Well as I was playing with the front tire, I noticed that it was really lose. Yep the wheel bearings on both sides were bad. The one on the speedo side was really bad. Waiting on the mail now to put them back in and get this bike on the road. I think I will have to play with the bearings in the steering head as well, seems to want to just fall to the side, and it should not do that.

 

Really got after tracing out the wiring. I removed all the OEM relays from the bike. I also removed the buss fuse in the headlight bucket. My goal is to reduce the wires behind the headlight. Moved the turn signal interrupter and the headlight/stator relay to the tail of the bike. Wire mess pics to follow.