82 750 Maxim "Indecision"

This project has gone off the rails, so I thought I'd start a new post to document it. I hope this is appropriate and in the correct forum location. The brief history: Aquired this bike in February with no knowledge of, or history with XJ's or really street bikes of any flavor. My intent was to spend nothing, make it run and learn a little along the way. I was on that path, but a few things kept nagging in the back of my mind. "Indecision" is a fitting name for the bike.

Indecision when first picked up.



I then picked up a parts bike, which really could be a complete project on its own, other than the frame had been bobbed and that's really not my end goal. Digging into the bobber (let's call him "Bob") further I became convinced that most all of the main guts were in better condition than the original bike (i.e. motor, swing arm, exhaust, wiring harness, front and rear shocks) so the degree of transplant is large. Yes, I briefly considered cutting the tail off "Indecision" and welding it onto "Bob's" missing appendages, but that didn't feel right. But hey, check in tomorrow!

Indecision and Bob meeting for the first time



And then removing that much from Indecision, it seemed a foul play to not take it all the way to the frame and start fresh. So yah, today I took an almost functional bike and made a pile of parts. One lesson learned, the book says remove the oil filter to facilitate pulling the motor. I did try, at least, but the partially rounded super special filter bolt became a fully rounded super special bolt. Then I figured, well maybe I can get the motor or with the filter still on. I gotta say, they made the frame devilishly close to allowing that. Close enough that I spent a good hour cussing at it before finally welding a big ass nut to the special bolt and finally cranking it out.

After pulling the motor I did find some melty wire bits at the back of the motor where the sidestand switch and alternator and pickup coils all flow. Nothing fully shorted, but ugly, as though there may have been a brief, hot fire, fueled by leaky carbs or excess ether. I need to keep tabs of things like this to convince myself I made the right decision.

So now Indecision hangs like the carcasse of a slain beast, naked and disassembled. Next stop will be the pressure washer. But not today. I'm worn out.

 

are they both 82's?
there are differances between the 82 and 83 in the wiring harness

I have a tail section that you could weld back on Bob

 

Yes, both 82's. I haven't decided what to do with Bob yet. It was missing the gages, headlights, blinkers, seat, side panels and rear fender so it would need a few things to make it operable as a non-bobber even if I swapped in all the running gear from the first bike.

I best get something done and running before planning too far ahead.

 

Figured I was clogging up the "What did you do to your Yamaha today" thread so I'll revive this old post and try to keep everything here.

Quick recap...The bike I'm currently building is the two bikes above, merged and morphed along with many other miscellaneous parts. The merging was literal at the frame level when I found the steering stem bent. Chop weld grind paint presto.





Next was the fork rebuild which included springs and cartridge valves from Racetech.

 

Oops...fat fingered the post button.

Anyhow, forks....



So the front of the bike is more or less assembled. Calipers rebuilt, wheel bearings, MC rebuilt, been cleaning up levers and whatnot the best I can.

Current project is the hind end. Ran into a broken pinion the other day, but fortunately had a couple more to choose from. Just about have everything ready to bolt up now.

 

And I should mention, this is the photo I've got printed out on the wall as inspiration. I'm not expecting it to be quite this level of "wow"...got to manage expectations here. But I like the red, and this gives something to shoot for.

I'm sure most of you have seen this bike in the photo which was sold a few years back with zero miles on it. Pretty amazing.

 

Just to be clear, it is Indecision that has the bent steering head? Good that you found and noticed that before getting too far into the build. Nice job on the rear frame transplant, looks good. Good paperwork on Bob?

 

Why would you cut the frame further forward? Would have been easier just to cut a new back end off the bent frame and weld it to the allready shortened one? I did exactly this on my 650 maxim, using a turbo back end. one thing I was surprised at was the thin-ness of the tube.

 

I used the front from Bob and the rear from Indecision. I cut if further forward because the tail had been chopped already right at the joint where the tubes come together, and it was a very messy sawzall cut. Even though structurally it wouldn't have mattered too much, it wasn't a spot I could have made clean welds.

Here's the other post where I attempted straightening the frame first before doing the splice.

https://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/harness-routing-under-tank-kicking-my-butt.132083/

 

Ok, I see it. Followed your link to the other thread - went to check, and guess what, one of my 650 seca projects has exactly the same bent frame issue. I will take the tank off both my maxim and seca to check those when I get some time.
It seems the damage you show is not so unusual - maybe worth adding to a sticky @k-moe ?

 

Of the 4 '82 Maxim's I have, 3 of them had some degree of bending here. The bend is most evident when standing in front of the bike and sighting down the frame tubes that parallel the exhaust pipes (easy to do on the assembled bike also). These tubes should be straight, and also in line with the gusset at the bottom of the steering head. If the steering head is bent, these lower frame tubes will be concave, with a slight, gradual bend towards the motor.



Can this happen from normal wear and tear and hitting the odd pothole over 40 years of life? Or does it take a massive impact, like hitting a deer? My experience with trying to un-bend the frame tells me it is closer to the massive impact. So 3 out of 4 frames...but I also tend to buy bikes that are destined for scrap rather than meticulously maintained.

Decreasing the rake angle also decreases the trail, making the steering more twitchy. This isn't necessarily a bad thing. As much as I like my 550, it is VERY stable in the steering...also meaning it is a bit heavy in the corners. It has a nice, straight frame. My 750 that has some bend (not as bad as the frame I tried to straighten) is much more lively and nimble, and I prefer that feel.

 

Interesting. My maxim has always felt lacking in stability, which ties in with less rake and trail. Needs checking...

 

Done.
I do think that it's worth being made more visible since you had a machine with the same damage.

IMO that bend is not from normal use. The bike hit something at speed.

 

Hey @k-moe this is probably the wrong one to sticky if you wanted a bent frame post. This is the one I'm trying to use for my build thread, as poorly documented as it is. There is the other link above just discussing the frame. Or somebody could create one specifically for the subject. Can we call it "Get bent" ?

@Minimutly did you ever check your bikes? I am curious to see if this is a not uncommon thing.

 

Ditto here. I know for a fact the PO of mine fitted new forks after running into something, but I can't say the bike feels unstable, just different from what I do most of the miles on. Doesn't take more than a mile to get used to it, though.
All the same, a squint down the line of the headstock and frame might be revealing...

 

I stickied both. the full tale is important.

 

I've been a bit sidetracked by my 1100 project, but still making progress on the 750 also. I decided to try a vapor honing service to clean up all the motor parts and covers. That consists of water blasting with fine glass beads. It's not as aggressive as sand blasting and leaves a satin finish. I'm pretty happy with the results. Not totally sure yet on a finish...whether to try to polish the side covers more, clear coat or just paint. Getting closer to reassembling the motor at least. If you are in the Portland / SW Washington area and looking for vapor honing, I can give you some contact info.



Also working on the carb rebuild. I got an ultrasonic cleaner recently just for this reason, and I'm pleased with it so far. It's also great for all the small nut and bolt hardware that gets so time consuming to clean by hand.



And also got the Progressive rear shocks, loosely mounted here. Engine assembly is the next big task, and cleaning up that Atari is still looming in the future. And yes, I'm building this one in the house. You guys don't leave your bikes outside do you??

 

@Roast644 Nice work.