1982 XJ650 stock to bobber project - on a budget

just wanted to say that you built an awesome bike and inspired me to try my luck at building a xj...

 

Thanks for the comments. Good luck on your project too. There really isnt too much to these XJs. Just take your time and keep the momentum moving

 

Crath, thanks for the inspiration dude. Your build is what got me started on mine and im finally done. You have an awesome bike. Thanks again!

 

Congrats on completing your build. Where do you have pictures posted? I'll start searching the mod section now...

 

You inspired me to buy an XJ and do a little bob job to mine too man. Its still in progress, but thanks. I wanted to ask you, where did you get the piece of metal (I dont know what to call it) that is welded to your tubing on the left side that you actually put the bolt through by the rear axle?

 

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The piece you are talking about came from 3/8" thick by 2" wide cold rolled mild steel available from any steel shop. Nothing special there either. I just cut, ground, and shaped it to fit how I wanted. The round stock is steel steam pipe, regularly used for high heat, high pressure heating systems in building. Nothing special there either. Lots of people insist on using DOM tubing, but I have never had any problems with the cheap stuff. We are building 500 lbs motorcycles here, not 6000 lbs tow vehicles!!!

 

crath, great bike man. I just got an 82 xj1100j and i think im gonna cut it up this winter using your bike as inspiration.

How much carb work had to be done after the pods and shorty exhaust?

also, how is the idle? it sounds great at cruise, does it keep that same snarlin nasty attitude at a red light? say yes......

 

Yes, it most definitly has the same raspyness at idle, just not as loud. You can talk to the guy next to you at a stop light no problem. I did a lot of tweaking on the carbs before I got it just right. I changed out the jets two or three times. It doesnt hold an idle real well. I have to adjust the idle speed depending on temp & humidity

 

I just finished the same bike build yesterday. I had a lot of fun with it. I think I,m keeping mine ratted out.



http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=23808.html

 

Where are you located?

 

About 50 miles north east of Minneapolis/St. Paul

 

what size rear tire is that?

 

It's a 130/90 16. I am pretty sure it is the stock size. The newer tire looks a lot wider, but is sized only 130

 

Yeah it's about right, it looks wider than that in the photo. I think stock was a 120, but mine is an 81 Seca with an 18". So I'm thinking that Dunlop has a wider footprint.

 

I just bought a 1982 xj650, shaft driven that I am going to build a bobber out of. I laughed when you told your story about how you got yours before your buddy could get to it! This will be my first bobber build and I'm going to use the hardtail frame set up that you showed here. I will get some before pictures of it and take them as I go. I am curious if welding the swing arm to the frame at the pivit points was truly neccessary? I guess I'll have to get to mine to see what the advantage is of doing that.

One other question... your frame modification looks fairly simple; cut, weld, bolt and paint. How long did it take you to do the modfication in hours, and was it as simple as it looks? Oh, lastly, did you need to do any bending of your 1 inch OD tube to work around the drive shaft?

 

Glad the thread can help!

The modification to the frame is as easy as it looks, yes. Doing the frame itself only took me about three hours. I spent more time on the seat mount than I did the frame rails. That's what ends up taking the most time. Things like fender mounts, tail light mounts, battery mounts, changing the rear tank mount, wiring harness modifications, license plate mount, mounts for relays and modules, modifying fenders, etc. plus, I did some body work on the frame and all the joints to smooth things out. But you got it basically right, cut, weld, bolt, and paint. Its all the fit and finish that really makes the difference in the long run. Lots of guys just try to do a quick job with these bikes and the final product shows it. Take your time, take pride in what you do, dont do anything too extreme, and will come out right.

I did not have to bend any of the frame railes around the driveshaft. I did have the pie cut and bend in the stock frame rails that slant at about a 45 degree and towards the rear. I think I posted pictures of this. This is so those frame rails will line up with the aftermarket rails that I put in between the rear tank area and the back of the swing arm.

All in all, I spend about 1 month to build the bike, a total of about 80-100 hours. Lots of time in paint and prep and fine tuning (wiring, carb work and what not).

 

Be cautious, I've read several reports here of the stock frame welds cracking when these bikes are hardtailed or the shocks are replaced with struts.

 

I can see that happening, the frame will have more vibration and shock since converting to hardtail. Combine the age of the frame and frame welds into the equation, something is going to give.

 

not to mention the stock welds look like roughly smeared black rtv sealant.
Who welded these things, Hellen Keller?

 

Mine look like seagulls were practicing their aim.