Brand new enthusiast

My name is Jonathan.

I have very little experience riding or working with mechanical systems but have had a desire for a long time to learn. So I found myself an 82 maxim with just over 10,000km. It needs a little TLC which I very much look forward to giving to it.

I just wanted to introduce myself and get as much feedback and tips from this community! Thanks in advance for the help!

After picking up the bike today I managed to remove the carburetor and front wheel, both which need some work.

 

nice bike but you don't really want it setting on the pipes. either block it under the frame or people have been known to use the center stand and a bag of sand or something on the back of the seat.
that log would work. the pipes are expensive and hard to find

 

Ok, good to know, thank you for telling me! All feedback is appreciated

 

10,000km is low for a 40 year old bike...probably sitting a lot. How it was stored is important...especially in the climate you are in. Fluids absorb moisture, rubber degrades etc... What's your game plan?

 

Thanks for asking. Here's the deal:

I purchased the bike of an acquaintance of mine who claimed he was the 3 owner and the first owner had always garage stored it and flushed it for the winter. When I looked at the bike last week it was stored outside; uncovered. It had a flat front tire and no battery. I was told the carb had recently been cleaned but not tuned properly so upon start up it would idle way to high so the fellow didn't want to start it up for me. I chose to purchase it anyway.

When I brought it home the first thing I did was attach it to a battery and try start it. I fired up pretty quick and sure enough it idled extremely high for a few short seconds then shut off and fuel started leaking all over the place. After some consideration I chose to pull the carb out and bring it to my mechanic where we discovered the floats had being installed upside and so it was just continuously dumping fuel into the carb which then puked back into the air box (soaking my air filter.. do I need to replace my filter based on that?). My mechanic linked me up with a guy who has his Red Seal in motorcycle mechanics who is going to help me strip the carb down, rebuild it and tune it all back up. Any advice on where to find parts (gaskets etc.) for it?

I also right away went out and purchased two brand new tires and a battery. Perhaps putting the cart before the horse but I was just so excited !

I would love some feedback on anything else I should be looking at while I have the bike partly stripped down. Should I be flushing the engine? I feel like I want to give it an oil change but couldn't find a filter or dipstick or anything. Pardon my ignorance but some direction in this area would be appreciated too!

 

Sounds like you need to get to know the bike...do you have manuals? Owners and/or service?

 

Hi tj.

In following my response in the dm's: I don't think I can upload the photos via direct message so here are the two photos of the VIN

 

Welcome.
Nice bike, now try not to mess it up. (This is really easy to do if you don't think about what you're doing before picking up the spanner (wrench?)).
Loads of info on here, I suggest you spend an evening reading through the information overload hour - do a search!
Then, you will need to make sure it stops as well as goes, and nothing is likely to fall off.
To get you excited, yes get it running - strip and clean the carbs(plural), drop the oil and change the filter, remove the tank and clean the inside (including the peacock), and it should run. If you still have glass fuses look closely at them, preferable replace with blade type. If you're careful with dry setting the float levels, and bench syncing each one it should run well enough to ride.
The handlebar controls will likely need cleaning (inside), the drive gear oil and fork oils changing, rear shocks will be scrap.

 

15T model code XJ750J Canadian bike.
Pm'd you with other info.

Top right hand corner of the page (XJ4EVER), scroll down after the catalog sections. Excellent resource...lots of info.

You'll be reading for a while...

 

If your registration reads 15J-001035, it sounds like an error...I couldn't find any info on 15J. I know the last 2 XJ's I've had recently, have both had errors in the registration document. In Ontario I've had to get a letter from a dealer with the corrections and provide this info to Service Ontario...PIA. You will have to ask ICBC how to proceed.

I used to live in New West...where in Vancouver are you? If you contact @Toomanybikes he's just down the road from you...he seems to have a lot of parts.

 

Thank you Minimutly! I will do some research into some of these things you mentioned. I really appreciate your input.

 

Haha yes, I have already come across some of these information pages. I was pleasantly surprised at the level of detail offered.

Thank you for the information on the specifics of the bike. This will give me a good starting point.

I live in the Langley area. Thanks for the connection.

 

Do you need the throttle shaft seals as well( I have some in stock)

 

You know, I wouldn't recommend changing these yourself - I agree they probably do need to be changed, but the potential for a disaster from lack of experience would stop me recommending a beginner to do it.

 

Haha, I have no idea if I need some! I have never heard of those before.

 

So, I am in the shop right now with a guy. We looked at it and confirmed that it would be wise to change the throttle shaft seals!

 

Just wanted to thank you all for your feedback and detailed information.

I picked up the bike three weeks ago and so far have managed to get the carb back in working condition, replace the front tire myself, change the oil and final gear oil. Now the bike runs well. I have run it just about everyday so far with no major complications. I definitely have some more work do on the bike that I look forward to in the next coming weeks.

Thank you all very much for this incredibly informative forum!!!

 

Ok I have another question for you people; but before I start someone please let me know if I should keeps asking on this same thread or should I be posting questions about specific items in another, more appropriate area.

Ok so my left indicator is working great but the right indicator is not blinking. Previously I was confident that both lights were ON but just not. I went to diagnose it today when I realized that the REAR RIGHT indicator is not coming on at all but the FRONT RIGHT is. So, I did the first most obvious thing and swapped bulbs... not the culprit. Next I pulled out the relay and did my best to clean it and stare at it as if I knew what I was looking at . I re-installed it and no luck.

Then, I looked closer at the REAR RIGHT indicator and realized one of the wires was pulled out and disconnected. So pulled the whole assembly apart and just need some input on how to re-attach the wiring connector seen in the photo. Can I just solder it back on using the old soldering iron my dad has stored in his shop? or is there more I should be aware of.

Thanks in advance!

 

yes just clean the area you will be soldering to make sure you get a good solder joint the solder should flow to the metal not look like it is a bead

 

Ok super, thank you! Do you know where I can buy a new connector? I had to cut that one to run the wire through but I doubt I would be able to re-use the connector.

 

Also, I opened up the master cylinder because the fluid seemed low. Look what I found! Looks like I am going to have some more work ahead of me. Anyone have input on where I can buy new brake cables? I have read on this forum theses should be replaced every few years. I'm not sure what year they are from but I assume they should be replaced. I've uploaded a photo of the cables too.

 

Pipes, and @chacal in the US is your guy for them

 

Standard answer for me is www.xj4ever.com. He has proper wire and Yamaha connectors. Your talking about connector to connect to main harness? You can make due with hardware store connectors it is important to use quality wire flame resistant