New rider and new member

Ya those bees are not fun...I am sure you would have had a heads up when you started to pull it apart and one or two came out. Anyway, glad they were gone and that you can clean it up.

Before you start to buy lots of parts, do some good trouble shooting and testing of each item and that will save you some $$.

Keep going on the project and get some good trouble shooting skills developed with this bike for future projects.

 

Alright. These things (that I'm indicating with my pick, pic 1) around the bolts that hold the cylinder head on- do I need to remove the lower chunk of my engine down to the crank case to remove and replace them? The larger ones look good (pic 2). Figured I was only going to have to do gaskets and orings in the engine, but then these little buggers start disintegrating. I'm already going to have to order a bunch of little stuff like v seals and washers for the carbs, and other little incidental things so I want to maximize my shipping cost to make the most of it.

Status overall is bike is down an entire front fork (pic 3). Bearings fully cleaned and ready to pack/assemble again. Going to use wire brush to get rust from inside headlight housing and clean that all up. Front wheel has wd40 on it so I can maybe get it off the fork to set aside for getting new tires. I'm hoping to get fork disassembled, cleaned, reassembled this weekend. Oh and both handlebar controls are working great again. They were completely frozen up, mud wasp nest in one, they were bad. Now they're working great, even polished up the electrical contacts in them. They look as beat up as ever but they're working great. I might possibly try to squeeze in getting some rust off my exhaust pipes this weekend too.

 

My engine was out of the frame because l was splitting the cases. When you remove the cylinders some of the loose dirt and the sheathing Yamaha put on the studs in your 1st picture can get into the cases. You have to remove the cylinders to get the old sheathing off. The mistake l made was not burning as much off through the front engine fins before l removed the cylinders. The problem l had was the sheathing bunched up between the top of the studs and barrels. I took my time so l didn't damage anything and eventually got them off. To compound the problem the stud on my 900f engine at the front centre of the cylinders was corroded. Ended up using heat from a MAP gas torch to free it. The sheathing was to protect the studs from corrosion and prevent ringing between the barrels and studs. Use a torch to see at an angle behind the frame tubes between the fins if the sheathing is intact in the sections exposed to the road. You might be able to just refit the head.

I was thinking if it would be possible to unscrew the studs from the case on the sheathed ones to see if they could be removed easier re-sheathed and refitted that way. I wonder if anyone has tried this? Then again they will probably be difficult to remove given all the time and heat cycles they have been through. Then again you don't want loose bits of sheathing getting into the stud holes in the case .

 

@Franz I had to read that several times to understand it, hah. So if I'm understanding correctly that sheathing is just to protect the bolts, and has no active function and as long as it's still intact down low should be fine to just forget about for now.

I do plan to eventually fully strip it all down, but if I don't have to do it now, I don't want to me

 

@Franz RIP- the ones along the rear of engine are great. Along the front ... 5 of 6 bolts are corroded. Can see exposed bolts in fins

This means a teardown, yea? Fml. I don't want to end up down in the crank case. I am nervous I'll take that off to replace bolts and end up needing to do piston rings or something, and then be way in over my head trying to set clearances and whatever else I need to do.

 

Yes the sheathing protects the studs. I expect the ones at the rear of the engine to be fine as they are not facing all the road dirt and rain. If you don't want to remove the cylinders until later you could do that and spray some heat resistant paint on the studs at the front of the engine to give them some protection. If you decide to remove the cylinders you don't want to break any piston rings. I don't know if you can buy replacement rings now. As for valve clearances you should check them anyway even if you decide not to remove the cylinders.

 

Here is a thread explaining how valve clearances are done.

https://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/bigfitzs-airhead-valve-adjustment-with-pics-parts-i-ii.116006/

 

If you have not done so I would advise you to put a rag or tape over the cam chain tunnel to prevent anything falling into the crankcase. When my engine was out I lost a bolt down the opening of the cam chain tensioner I got it out with a magnetic pick up tool fortunately. Make sure during reassembly the exhaust cam chain guide is inside its pocket in the crankcase. Let me know if you want a picture uploaded of this.

 

What did you use to screw them up? An easy-out? (Like a tapered left hand thread thing?) that job was only ever going to have one outcome...

 

I would go further than telling you to take your time - STOP STRIPPING THE ENGINE NOW.
If the barrels are not worn, or the base gasket is showing signs of leakage, leave the block in place. It doesn’t need removing. Sure, clean the head and valves, lap the seats, set the clearances, but then put it back together, carefully.
Get a set of carbs cleaned and bench set, do the rest of the stuff around the engine, get it running and riding, do the sea foam thing with the oil if you want - did you free off the clutch?
Sorry, but that’s the best advice I can give.
Good luck.

 

Makes perfect sense as I stated if he gets dirt falling into the cases that is bad as is the potential for broken piston rings.

 

@Minimutly to your first question, yep. Easy out from harbor freight. That cost me a hundred bucks to get a new #1&2

The second bit, I decided today that was what I was going to do. I'm going to clean it up and when I get cylinder head back I'm going to just reassemble it with new gaskets and orings. Bolts are corroded, sure, but not terrible. I'll replace them some other time. I'm not tearing anymore down on that bike except to put the wiring harness I bought from @750MaximSeattle in place (and to get my AGM battery in place since it's just a little too far to slide in easily but WILL fit once it clears those pins for mounting the side cover).

 

My to do list-
Steering bearings cleaned, greased
Fork seals, oil
Carbs assembled, bench sync, install
Wiring harness (and potential component replacement if that doesn't fix my fuse blowing issue)
Rebuild master cyl
Rebuild front caliper (new pads, new brake line too)
Rear brake
New tires
Crank case clean (seafoam/ATF/whatever I haven't decided exactly what I'm doing there yet)
Cylinder head back on
New oil in drive shaft would be nice
Drop the new gas tank on and the seat in place and hope it works

 

That's a good list, @Adkride88 , but I would add priorities since time is a factor. In other words, new tires can come later, need to get it running first.

 

@Dan Gardner one of tires is baaaad. The rear at least holds air but it's got a scary amount of dry rot on sidewalls. The front tire can't even take air.

I'll be honest, forks are low priority. Low enough that I'm about to just load my grease gun and put the bearings back in on head stack and send it. Bigger fish to fry, that can be a winter project. Same as those sheaths on bolts in engine. I'll make that a project when it's too nasty out to ride.

 

The new gas tank came in. Looks nice, changes the lines on the bike with such a fat tank. Its beautiful inside too, no visible rust. I need to get a petcock for it but that's no prob. The stock tank that was on this was nasty; I thought there was a mouse nest in it and found it was just a giant clod of rust stuck together. It has holes rusted through on both sides too. I was going to get it cleaned up and welded, but that would have cost me as much as just buying this 750 tank. I make a frankencap for it, using all the seals and springs from the new tank and the lock mechanism from the stock tank and now have a functional cap too (the stock tank cap was corroded and rusted badly). Little bit of brake cleaner through it to clean out the rust and gunk, air blow dry, and some graphite powder and it's working great. I might only have one key, but my ignition and gas cap are as smooth as butter now so I won't risk breaking the thing hah.

Tonight I am planning to finish pulling the old wiring harness. I'm going to clean all the contacts with spray and/or brush, and make sure all ground points are also clean and well connected and get it all wired back up.

Next after that is cleaning up the top of engine so I can just put new gaskets on and replace cylinder head when I get that back from the shop. Get carbs back together and bench sync. Then front brake/tire/bearings, rear brake/tire/bearings, new oil in shaft housing (I'm just going to drain, flush with new oil, and then fill- I'm not going to split and disassemble it). Then hopefully I'll have top of my engine here and I can put it all together and try to start it up.

Looks like we're not closing on new house until end of July... So I have plenty of time to get it done before we move still. While a month was nice thought, before we move was the ultimate real goal. Still gives me time to actually go get my permit too.

 

750 Tank? you will like the extra gallon of fuel it holds.

 

@XJ550H yep. I was going to buy another 650 tank but then read a bunch of posts on here saying that it was a direct replacement, no modification needed. I think it was about $50 more than the 650 tank I was looking at, but that extra capacity was worth the couple extra bucks. It really changes the lines on the bike too, I like it.

Picking up some new handlebars on Friday too, closer to stock appearance. Gotta get my order in with chacal so I can get this thing all ready for whenever I get the cylinder head back.

 

I've identified why it kept blowing fuses, I think; every single grounding connection I've found was corroded all tf up. I'm still putting the replacement wiring harness in, I've got it partially hooked up now, but I think it was at least in part due to every ground being corroded and poor contact.

The pile of bars I picked up for $40 had a half dozen 7/8", including ones I love, both look and feel on my wrists when sitting on the bike. That pullback is going to be a good bit more comfortable than the forward lean required with those straight bars the previous owner had on there.

I may be totally wrong on my interpretation of NY law, but it looked like drag pipes are a no-go when it comes to getting it inspected. So I picked up a pair of baffles to do both sides, also two repair kits to patch and seal the small cracks in each side where the condensation rusted through on the two decades in storage. Then I'll throw on some fiberglass exhaust wrap and call it good on the pipes (yes, I know I need to hit it with the high temp silicone paint too, but since I can't run engine to cure it yet I'm going to just do that later when I can actually cure it proper).

I think I'm gonna get my tires this weekend maybe. We'll see.

 

sportster mufflers are known to fit the xj and can be had really cheap.
you may need to add some stainless steel wool pads to help quite it down with the baffles installed

 

@XJ550H I never would have thought of using steel wool. So that is a better choice than the fiberglass batting they come with (or do you use both)?

Last owner put 3" drag pipes on it. I'll be honest I do like the look of the big pipes. I just need to make them a bit more quiet

 

stainless steel wool it will last longer than steel wool.
fiberglass or the wool both work

 

So I've been at this, trying to figure electrical out.

I've ruled out rectifier. Headlight. Taillight. In fact I can plug everything in but my controls. Plugging either one in alone blows fuse, also plugging both in does the same thing.

Replace them as the cause? Or is that indictive of something else?

 

Sounds like you got a hot short somewhere

 

@hogfiddles can I just bypass it like precious owner had it and pretend nothing is wrong?

I'm out of ideas. I bought bulk bag of 20 amp fuses so I could just try one by one unplugging components and seeing when they blow. I've been chewing through them trying different combinations since the numerous hours trying to test with DMM have revealed nothing major to me (did help me ID dead starter cutoff relay though, in tandem with my variable DC power supply). Unplug something, replace fuse, connect battery and hope. Repeat.

I've replaced wiring harness. Rectifier. There's currently no relays connected at all. The ignition coils are not plugged in. Head/tail/all signals disconnected. Horn also disconnected.

If I leave bar controls unplugged it doesn't blow no matter what I plug in.

If I have rectifier off, I can connect controls- problem is THEN my console lights come on when battery is connected (even with key removed and even when the ignition switch is unplugged too). That light does not come on when my bar controls are unplugged, rectifier in place.

I'm out of ideas.

 

Have you studied a correct wiring diagram to compare with what’s hooked up?

 

Additionally- when lights are disconnected, rectifier disconnected, relays except the cutoff one replaced... I blow the signal fuse. Removing the signal auto kill module fixes that, so Im going to say that might be bad? The console lights still come on though, so that can't be the only issue. I have no idea. I've walked through the guides on here, I still don't feel like I'm any closer to figuring this out.

 

Yes. Printed in color, also used Haynes manual (currently open and sitting on the bike).

The dude that I bought it from had main fuse bypassed. And the signal fuse. Silly me decided to start replacing janky stuff like that.

 

And now I can't get the starter to turn over even bridging relay with screw driver. Fml.

 

@hogfiddles could .. handlebars be doing it?

Just on a whim I took bars off but left everything plugged in; rectifier, controls, the works. As long as the bars dont touch the bike frame, it's good. I connected clutch cable to lever, to properly ground out bar and tried again. No blown fuse. When I accidentally touched the headlight housing with the bar-main fuse went pop.

Could it really be that simple and stupid? Just paint where the bars sit and have the brige connecters screwed down, or buy some kinda little insulation shim to prevent the bars ground grounding out right there?

 

Sounds like you have something wired wrong. Keep in mind that on the bikes, the switched break the circuit on the ground side, not the “hot” side. That way you shouldn’t be getting a spark when you connect wires or turn something on. It’s not like wiring a house where the switch is in the “hot” wire.

Did you wire a switch with the “hot” lead?

 

You see this last bit - rectifier off, console lights on? You need to investigate this - look into diode pack, go back to basics with everything disconnected other than the controls - check they are all working.
Fault finding electrics is not something you can tell someone how to do, it’s a learnt skill, but is really about logic and having a meter, so starting from basics helps - you have to get to know and not be scared of your wiring diagram. Learn to work out what to expect, measure it and understand why it’s not what you expected. Use Volts to test circuits, ohms to
Verify bits of it.

 

One of the problems is you have multiple threads addressing the same issue, it's best to stick with one thread so members can easily track the history of the bike

https://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/wiring-question.130994/#post-669551

You had a bike that powered up, you replaced the fuse box and it started blowing the fuse. You got a new harness, you installed a new fuse box and it is blowing main fuse again - I asked for pics of the fuse box wiring and battery area and still waiting

There is no way the controls can blow the main fuse if the bike is wired per print - that is only going to happen if the rectifier is bad / miswired, the ignition switch is bad / miswired, or one other hot wire that looks to be red wire spare bullet connector in the headlight is connected to a ground

This would get back to that spare red bullet connector on the harness that is not supposed to be connected - if this was connected to the controls and there was a fault in one of the controls that places 12V on the bars then yes it would blow the main fuse

And no connecting the clutch cable does not properly ground the bars

And also no even considering bypassing the fuses unless you want to buy another harness

And the neutral light will glow dimly if the signal fuse is blown, that is normal

 

So looking at your other thread where you posted pictures of wiring in the headlight bucket it appears you have some aftermarket wiring connected to that spare bullet connector mentioned above - it's not a perfect view but worth asking?

 

Been at this over 5 hours tonight. Printed big full color wiring diagram at work. I think... Jfc I think I have it. For real (finally).

I can plug everything in, bars on and rectifier+ ignition too. No key = no light. Key on=neutral light. Kill switch to on=oil level light (oil is empty- this is how I want to see light). No fuses blowing.

I can't start bike; it's missing cylinder head, and the safety cutoff relay is dead and disconnected (yes, tested with DMM and a variable DC power supply to see if it would click on/off, it's dead) so I can't test ignition.

Headlights and console do not come on until the bike is running, correct? My god if that's correct I figured it out. If not... Then I gotta figure out why THEY aren't working now, but I've seen in a few places that they don't turn on until engine is running.

 

@Rooster53 these bullet connectors up front? Originally I had them connected. Disconnecting them didn't solve the issue, but it definitely causes fuses to blow when they're connected, even now that I have everything else seemingly working. Leaving them disconnected (and identifying the missing ground and improvising the connection the previous owner had removed) seems to have fixed it. Man I hope it did.

 

Xj650 maxim headlight does not come on until after the bike fires.

 

Yes. Excellent. That's great to wake up and see.

Until I get the cylinder head back in place, I'm going to assume electrical issues are resolved. There was a missing ground that I had to dig out a new bolt and connect (previous owner had it just jammed next to the air box and not actually connected to anything, something I didn't see until I pulled air box out to get to all the wiring to inspect it), and also a hot wire connected to wrong point.

 

So I need to come back and say that yes, it was fixed. It did, yes, have issues that needed to be fixed (including blown relay, missing ground, etc). Yes, I also messed it up again.

When I posted here the other day and said I had figured it out, that was done with the battery outside the bike sitting on a bucket next to bike, facing the bike. Poles should have been backwards- yet in a stroke of luck... Positive was now on the right. Why? Because my battery has negative on left. So my accidentally wiring backwards during that test meant it was wired correctly. It worked not in spite of, but rather because I hooked it up backwards.

Flash forward to Wednesday, battery in normally, tested, pop.

I thought I was losing my mind. I was working on bike until almost 2am today testing every lead again. I took parts to work to test with our $800 fluke DMM thinking maybe my harbor freight unit. I couldn't figure it out. Tonight it struck me to check battery, make sure I didn't switch things.

I didn't. The battery is just backwards from what it used to be/should be/I thought it was. Negative is left, positive right. I was too embarrassed to come back and say I hadn't actually fixed it (which, cool enough I had correctly identified issues and fixed them, but I did replace things that weren't necessary due to not identifying why the fuse was actually blowing. I didn't know that at the time.

Now all I need to finish this electrical mess is some new battery leads that are a bit longer, and a starter cutoff relay, and I'll be back in business, electrically at least.

 

Hello from a fellow noob!

 

Everything remaining was ordered this past week. I scooped up most of it from xj4ever with only a few exceptions. I wanted black shocks so I went through Progressive directly for 12 series struts and springs (412 only available in chrome). I snagged budget headlight on Amazon because I didn't want to invest a bunch in electrical system that I have hopes of redoing entirely this winter. Picked up mirrors that I loved on Dime City Cycles. Having never worked on suspension before I didn't realize I needed a tool to compress the springs, although I should have realized that I would. That was okay though, because I'd earned enough points at RevZilla buying all my riding gear that I got the progressive spring compression tool and a spanner wrench for $13. Gear wise I got everything except riding pants; full faced helmet (k6), jacket, boots, gloves. Installed my new horn (also Amazon); 112 decibel 400/500mhz dual horn+ relay system. That is so much better than the 40yo cone that was on it that went 'meep meep' and could comfortably be set off while working in an enclosed garage. Got the wiring for mc + brake light soldered, sealed, and tested (replaced the very rusted bolts holding the light on fender too).

Biggest 'oof' lately was once I got my wheels back with the new tires and bearings... I put them on and forgot to put the bushing back in the final drive. I'll have to take that wheel off and slip that in. I did get my rear brakes all redone too though. The old pads had fused to the inside of the wheel so I had to clean them up real good. Everything is beautiful and new, greased up and working (except the fact I have to take it all out to put that bushing in, oops). I'll do that when I go to install the new shocks once I get those assembled. Overall it's all sliding into place like it should. This week I'll have all my parts from Chacal and I can finish the carb rebuild and then work on getting them bench synced to the best of my ability.

Once the carbs are done, and the rear end is sorted out, all I'll need is my cylinder head back. I left a message last week with the shop that has it. If I don't hear from him this week I'm going to just to by once I finish *everything* else and ask to just get it back, then I'll find someone else to get the broken bolt out of it that won't just sit on it for 2+ months. All that's left besides carbs and top end of engine is basically fluids.

I feel so close to being done with this rebuild but still so far away haha.

Also, hi @Brad Nimbus , welcome. This is a great forum; you've joined a great community. Great place to learn anything you don't know already.

 

I do have one question with wiring one last component thought, ignition coils.

They didn't come with any label or any kind of diagram. I don't want to wire them up wrong. I need to attach the plugs to connect to wiring harness. Does it matter which wire attaches to which connection?

 

Productive night- shocks together (admittedly I did that this afternoon). Ignition coils wired and in place. Rear end done (bushing in, wheel back on, new shocks on).

All riding gear came in yesterday/today. Parts from xj4ever ETA tomorrow, as long as USPS doesn't delay again. Who knows with them.

This was a good day.

 

Parts all came in. Carbs are like 98% back together now. Going to go do front brake rotor before bed, right after posting this.

Got cylinder head back. Bolt is very seized in. The Harley shop that was doing it as a favor for me couldn't get out with welder. He was going to have to mill it out, but shop is slammed. He hasn't had time to do side stuff. I am going to take it to local machine shop here, someplace our family mechanic recommended. He's been our mechanic for decades, so I trust his word when he tells me this guy is great. Hopefully he can get it out for me.

 

Brakes done. Man, if only doing brakes on car was this easy.

These aftermarket rotors from xj4ever are sweet looking. Gotta get some new pads from him now too. Before I'd discovered this site (and thus xj4ever) I bought a set of pads on ebay that I'm pretty sure are fake since Chacal confirmed that the size stamped on them was correct, but they cant fit in caliper with rotor. I'm gonna just get ones I know work from my him.

 

Cylinder head back on. Realized my brother still has my torque wrench so that's it for tonight. Crank set to TDC, head on and bolts down finger tight. I'm going to just set float height on the carbs and wrap up until I get my wrench back tomorrow.

@Mezzmo your YouTube videos have been *super* helpful in all of this. Sure, I didn't bore mine out and do all the awesome work you did, but I've been referring back to them almost as much as the Haynes manual. Indispensable. It was watching that series that convinced me to make the dive into this bike to begin with, figured 'hey I can just watch this guy's rebuild if I get stuck'... And I have. So thank you, for both the motivation up front to go buy it, and the top tier video guides that have clarified a lot of things as I've been going along. You've also set me up to spend a bunch of money on this bike this winter, because you did a lot of things to yours that I want to incorporate, like that m-unit hah. But honestly, great videos man. Thank you.

 

@Adkride88 - not trying to be a Debbie Downer or anything, but looks like you have the carb hats swapped on #3 and #4. The chrome hats should be on the outer (#1,#4), and the duller finish hats on the inner (#2,#3) carbs. Purely aesthetic, minor detail.

Brake rotor looks super cool. Nice job!

 

Dan is correct ..... swap the 3/4 hats