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Rescue XJ550H

Discussion in 'Hangout Lounge' started by XJ550H, Jul 10, 2021.

  1. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    This is going to be a non technical thread of an XJ550H aka 1981 XJ550 Maxim.
    several months ago I noticed someone up the street picked up a 550. he was posting on FB about it , I reconized him from a fb yard sale ad. Kind of freaked him out when I contacted him.

    I offered him my help and advice he went with his friend who has a HD. his first mistake. I also know his friend.
    a few months go by and he asks for my help,
    he wanta to turn his bike into an on off road bike.
    he had a local shop clean rebuild his carbs paid a lot for this service. still has a leaking fuel tee.
    so long story short he gives up I picked up this little jem for 150$ it has a seca 550 motor the rest of the bike is stock except for the front directionals.
    I got the bike because it has 2 new tires Shinko tourmasters and I needed 2 new tires for my 550.
    I swapped the tires today and find the rear tire needed new wheel bearings , lucky for me I had a spare set on my shelf.
    when doing this I find the chain is 4 links shorter than it should b she came with a rebuild kite My guess is it was cut down to compensate for "streched" chain.

    It has new rear brake shoes .
    new dront pads on a frozen caliper made it a bitch to push down hill to my house
    I have to rebuild the front caliper but it is missing the metal shim that goes under the pads. it was there when I traded him a 550 caliper for the 750 caliper that was on the bike with a frozen pin.
    the allen was stripped out so I drove a star bit into it turned the bolt out and got a new one. this is the caliper I will rebuild and install.
    put a new rear fender on the poor thing as he had cut it down and put a tiny light on the fender and forgot he needed a plate light and mount , (work un related to getting it running well and safw first. Rule NUMBER 1)

    put 2 new stems on the rear directionals another part I had on my shelf.
     
  2. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    The Carbs.
    leaking fuel tee after paying a pro to clean/rebuild.
    carb 4 overflows float height issue as it will seal the needle.
    put in my seca carb set (another part on my shelf ) and fired it up .

    I am going to dig into the carbs to repair the tee and set fuel levels . hope fully it is a seca carb set or I may need to rejet it, not sure right now but they were very clean inside.
    I need the set I installed for a possible seca purchase coming my way.

    It will be interesting to see if the o rings in mixture screws and the rest of the fuel rail was replaced.

    also will have to look deep as the original carbs that came with the bike were butchered by him and his friend and another set had to be purchased to cobble together 1 full set.

    funny story there I had purchased a set of 550 carbs from his friend for 20$ asked him if he wanted more but he said no.
    the PO wanted me to sell him that set for 20$. hahahahah. he ended up buying a set for 100$, because he did not want to pay me 50$ for the set I got for 20$.
     
  3. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    the purchase
    when I got the bike home I repaired a connection to the tci I told him he needed to fix the broken wire to start the bike.
    fired right up .
    I know advics is free and does not need to be taken
    I offered him my services for free but he did not want my help untill his HD buddy left him high and dry
    tried to help him but still he did not want to listen.
    She has a nice home now and will be properly repaired so it will stop as well as go.
    I do not know if i will keep her I dont want my Moose Killer getting Jealouse. She can have a side to her I dont want to see again.
     
  4. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    wiring
    guy liked to use wire nuts
    I picked up a couple of boxes of connectors with a crimp tool for my Kawasaki. Got them from Amazone because it had kawi style connectore and the bullet connectors
    Happen to fit the yamaha bullets
    next is to tackle the inline fuses( he listened on this)
    wire nuts again. going to locate a fuse box ( another shelf part)on the side of the aircleaner cover because it will fit nicely there .
    will solder the extensions to exsistin wires and use qd to connect to fuse box.
     
  5. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    the trip home down the hill. frozen caliper as i mentioned . then the rear axle nut fell off. WTF.
    axle in backwards with castle nut on right side no cotter pin. NO cotter pin couldnt spend the 30 cents after putting new tires on the bike.
    good thing I heard it hit the ground .

    the lesson to be learned here is trust no one when buying a bike. check it out from stem to stern , check every thing.

    also tommorow I will be adjusting cam chain when I pull out the test set of carbs, Best time to do this. then valve clearance check as I will have the crank cover off.

    well enough rambling for now , tommorow is another day and we will see what fun things I find as I get deeper into this Jem.

    oh I forgot he lost the brake rod nut so he just put a standard nut on the brake rod, lucky for me its another part I have .
     
  6. Franz

    Franz Well-Known Member

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    Liked the carburettor deal lol. Any photographs of your bike?
     
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  7. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    Yeah I'll take a couple pictures of it. One of the fender that he chopped up. Oh I think I forgot to mention he couldn't get the battery in so he took the battery box out. The bike is complete has both left and right side covers. He took the chain box off I have to contact them see if he still has it if not I have an extra one but that will mean two keys. The gauge is still have a lot of red on them but I don't believe it's the original set of gauges. I think it's under $15,000 miles on the meter. Which wouldn't make any sense with having to put a seca motor in it.
     
  8. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    I have a headlight rim that has one of those shades on it I might put that on the bike not sure yet. I've always liked those shades. I guess if I put it on there I'd have to keep the bike. But that's how it goes when I buy a parts bike it's not really to use this parts it's meant to go pick up more parts
     
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  9. Minimutly

    Minimutly Well-Known Member

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    Good write up!
    Amazing how someone who knows nothing decides to completely ignore obvious knowledge and experience, your gain I guess.
     

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