XJ700X work updates.

Work on the new acquisition.
Tank had lots of rust.


I first cleaned it via electrolysis.


Then used a couple gallons of phosphoric acid to finish the job.

 

Nice!

 

Took a preliminary look inside a carb bowl. Float needle is stuck, open I think.

 

That's a remarkable difference showing before and after.

I'd think about rebuilding the cap, including a new seal too.
I'm sure the little breather check ball in it is cruddy like the tank, and the springs get rusty.

Tony

 

Let me add, the carbs look pretty good on the outside like they were redone at some point.

Tony

 

Well done....

How long did the tank take to do?

Those carbs do look good for the age.

 

The carb rack has been off at some point because two bowls are in the wrong positions, facing the wrong directions. The caps are still over the pilot screws.

 

The electrolysis was around 11-12 hours. The acid soak about 18-19 hours.

 

The bike sat in PO garage since 2014, I think. He wasn't planning on storing it but never got around to riding again. That's the reason for rusty tank and gummed up carbs. They are exceptionally clean on the outside.

 

What's the best way to remove the float needle housing? It appears to be pressed in with maybe an o-ring seal and held in place with small clamp. None of the four will budge and I certainly don't want to deform this thing by gripping too hard.

 

Yes, the brass seats on Mikuni carbs use an o-ring, which can "seize" the seat to the carb body. If you don't plan o re-using the seats, just grab with vise-grips and twist it out. Otherwise, soak with penetrating oil for as long as it takes, maybe some heat around / on the aluminum body to get it to expand a bit.

 

I do plan on reusing the seats and all the jets once they are cleaned up. That is the dilemma, I don't want to deform them by gripping too hard.

 

Just drilled the caps off over the pilot screws. The screws don't want to turn very well so they are now soaking in Blaster.

 

I’d plan on get new assemblies

 

They have been under the caps so they’ll come out in cleanly— there’s no dirt in there. The PB will help, I’d just turn them back and forth a little bit first, the turn all the way in ( turn forward a ways then backup a bit then forward.... Etc.... allows the oil to work in better. Then turn out with the same procedure. Gentle but firm down pressure will help keep the screwdriver from jumping/stripping. Remember, the screws are spring loaded, and the o-ring is probably the sticking point.

dfox

 

And P.S. if you slightly scar (but not deform) the outer edge of the seat it makes no difference (besides visual.........).

 

+1
When I rebuild my carbs I used penetrating oil, heat, tried to rock them loose and ended up using brute force with vise-grips. Man those suckers can be stuck... Luckily I already had new ones lying around.

 

Got the carbs back together and had to ream two of the float needle seats so the needles would freely spin without getting stuck. Wrestled the rack into the bike Sat., what a job with an X! It started up ok. Sunday I synced the vacuum levels but without a colortune it is temporary, the levels were way off. Checked the compression and got 154 PSI in cyl. #1, 140 in #2, 132 in #3 and 130 in #4. Not what I was looking for. Took the bike for a little ride around the son's complex and wow, does it really wanna go! Takes right off at the touch of the throttle and hitting the gas at higher RPM's seemed to want to throw me off the bike. Definitely a different feel from the non-X. Battery only charges at 13.5 V at 3000 RPM. Lot's of small stuff to do but it is now time to get it registered.
Edit: I checked compression with engine cold. Will recheck with a warmed up engine later.

 

Huntchuks.... I TOLD you it would feel like that— remember I told you about “The X-Factor” when you Get into the power band.....and you laughed at that??? Well, now you have experienced “THE X-FACTOR”

 

Current bike configuration. Missing left horn and tank badges still need to be glued back on.



Tough getting used to the high aftermarket handlebars.

 

Looking good!
I've had a few aftermarket handlebars on my X. They looked good but now I'm back to stock. The way the original handlebars are shaped relaxes the wrists and riding position. You want to be able to lean in the wind and relax when your driving at higher speed.

 

With these bars I can actually lean back! Not good, requires the abs to clench and makes me feel like I am wanting to slide onto the tank. I need to locate some good condition stock handlebars. I can't even use the bars from the non-X because they are bent from a PO lay down.

 

I may have a set..... maybe just swap ya— I’ll check

 

Hahaha, sorry just had a visual

 

Got my left horn installed, thanks to @Dan Gardner. Now I have a mini collection.

 

Looking good!

 

When installing it I noticed it almost completely obstructs access to the coolant reservoir and am speculating the horn was removed to gain access some time in the past and was not reinstalled. Who on earth would not reinstall a horn?

 

Just one more item on the list of bizarre and inexplicable crap people have done to these machines over the years, I suppose.

 

Because there's one on the other side?
Sometimes the bracket will crack and break so it may have been tossed?

You can only guess at this point, and I wouldn't lose sleep over it.

BTW, they're looking nice.

Tony

 

So, the X is running badly. Rough at low RPM's which really shows when taking off in 1st. After the oil change yesterday I regapped the plugs (from PO) and all were on the high side with #1 being out of spec. While warming up the bike to circulate the new oil I found that at higher than idle RPM's, over 2000 or so, I get a lot of popping coming from both mufflers. May be too rich and burning fuel in the pipes? The plugs don't show a rich condition so I am perplexed.

 

Dropped off the X at son's and picked up the airhead. Another possible symptom is it appears the exhaust gaskets are bad and getting worse. everything is as tight as can be and will be replacing with new gaskets. The louder it runs, the worse it runs. Is the X very sensitive to back pressure or leakage? Can it cause rough lower RPM's and popping at higher? I've even had an occasional louder backfire type pop if releasing the throttle quickly.

 

Carbs rebuilt?

 

Clean as a whistle. Unless they got dirty since I reinstalled them.

 

Wish I would’ve seen this before I spent 3 days getting rust out of a 550 tank..

 

Synced?

 

Vacuum synced but I have no 12 MM Colortune to adjust mixture.

 

Pulled plugs last week and tweaked the gaps, one being much larger than the rest. No change in the way the bike runs. Saturday I pulled plugs to have a look at the pistons with a bore scope and one plug, when held vertically, had no gap at all. In fact, the insulator had broken and slid down over the electrode. The pistons have no dings or holes. Sunday I bought and installed new plugs. Huge difference. Warmed up the engine, drained the bowls, disconnected the TCI and checked compression again. My cheap Harbor Freight gauge shows #1 at 145 PSI, #2 at 145, #3 at 147 and #4 at 144. Because of the consistency between cylinders, I think the gauge just reads low and I am good. While running bike on center stand and idling, revving, holding at 2000 and 3000 rpm, the popping has largely if not completely disappeared. Pulled the new plugs and #1 and #3 were discolored but #2 and #4 were shiny like new. All pipes were hot. Replaced plugs, turned out the mixture screws on 2 and 4 and repeated the process. Pulled plugs and no change. Buttoned it up, covered the red bike and rode the X home after a little joy ride. Yesterday (Monday) I pulled the plugs and they all had white on the top of the side electrode and dark coloring in the center insulator and some dark, not heavy, deposits on the rim of the threads. Checked the mixture screws and all are from 3.5 - 4 to 5 - 5.5 turns. Not sure what to do next. Seems lean still but propane test shows no air leaks. Next step I guess is valve clearances, maybe today.

 

Make sure you:

-read up on the procedure for the X. It’s different than the airheads. ( shim under Bucket rather than shim on top of bucket, and you should Zip tie the cams to the chain so you don’t put anything off by a tooth. Also, mark cam positions first since you must lift the cams)
-have narrow feelers
-have rags to stuff into the cam chain tunnel
-have plenty of time
-don’t mix up the cam caps

 

Thanks, I have read some of that. Nasty business. I did buy some narrow feelers for this purpose. May be a better weekend job. You are allowed to come over and help.

 

Also don't pull the cam caps one by one but unbolt them all evenly. And also don't mix up the buckets. I always take the cams completely out, didn't know it is possible to do the job with the cams zip tied to the chain.

 

Yeah, I meant don’t mix up the buckets.... typed the wrong thing..but don’t mix up the caps either——-

yeah, ziptie the cam sprockets to the chain so you don’t change the tooth position

 

From member ‘desinger_mike’:
——-
I'll chime in with a couple tips:
To get the buckets out of the head, I used a valve lapping drive. (a suction cup on a wood handle). Slipped them right out.

The shims usually "stick" to the inside of the bucket when you pull them up due to the precise finish and film of oil. DO NOT drop one down the engine!

Leave the plugs in the holes (see comment about dropping stuff into the engine)

I removed one drive screw on each camshaft gear and then rotated it 180 degrees and then remove the other two. THEN use wire ties to secure the chain to the gear so you don't need to worry about the timing. Mark the direction of the cam on the gear before you spin it.
I also wired the chain up on the front and back so it didn't skip a cog on the crankshaft.
Once the screws were out I slid a 5/16" threaded rod through the center of the camshaft and tightened nuts down on each side to make it easy to spin the camshaft without turning over the engine. Once the rod was tight, I could turn it by cranking the nuts (trying to tighten them)

You need a NARROW feeler gauge set to get into the intake valves. About 3/8" wide will fit. The set will need to go down to .0015" or .002"

HAP's shim pool is great but it will take a little time to send the shims back and forth so don't expect to get them back in a day.
Some of us have a bunch of spares on the shelf so start a thread when you figure out what you need and we'll check our stash.

Go slow, plug the camchain slot with rags and don't drop anything.
Do NOT overtorque the camshaft caps or you will be bumming!
——