1984 XJ600

Hi every one,
just thought i'd introduce myself and see how this works, i'm a newbie & have not been a forum member before.
I've just bought an 84 XJ600 (pre-diversion) I intend on customising the bike over the long term, no hurry with this one, spend money as an when it suits. I'm thinking cafe racer/street fighter , i'm a bit vague on ideas at the moment, first job is to basically replace the clutch, it sounds like there's a bag of bolts rattling around in there.
I bought all the parts from Partzilla in the US (i'm in Australia) we didn't have this bike here for too long so getting parts is a bit tricky from this end.
Question1 : How the hell do you get the airbox out? Second job is a carbie tune up (it's running rough from a standing start) and then get this thing running right on pods. I know pods can cause a lot of headaches but the airbox is just gonna have to go to fit in with the future look that i'm after. Any tips hint etc.
That'll do for now, thanks in advance for any suggestions
Cheers,Ash

 

Welcome! I too have an FJ600 (Canada calls these ones FJ's and the later ones XJ's) that I am slowly modding and customizing. To remove the airbox you need to remove the engine (she isn't light). If you're going that route I'd suggest velocity stacks with filters on the end... seems to help with the fueling. Mine's completley stripped and aside from the frame/engine/wiring there's not much else I'm keeping. Shipping to Aus might be a bit pricey though!

 

Thanks for the reply... umm what's a velocity stack? If I was prepared to sacrifice the airbox I could just cut it out, but then there's no turning back and Ive heard so many bad things about pods that this could be a mistake?? (a replacement airbox could be hard to find!) I read somewhere (maybe this forum) that if you block off the kidney bean shaped inlet at the top of the carbie intake and feed a hose from that to atmospheric pressure that this will avoid re jetting as the excess airflow from the pods will not over pressurise the diaphragm from above... capiche?
I've also heard that a an old 80's GS550 tank will fit to get the old style look i'm after... any thoughts on this?

 

This was the post you were referring to:

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=3 ... t=315.html

The end result wasn't any better than the first place.... if memory serves me right.

DON'T trash that airbox, you might want it later.

The reality is that you CAN run pods with lots of adjustment trial and error, at the sacrifice of some performance, and a risk of blowing an engine. My bike came with pods (and dirty carbs), and i really didn't want the air box in there.... (i thought) it ran good, but when i swapped to the airbox and stock jets, Holy Mother of God, it ran like an ass raped ape!

 

Welcome. If you're thinking of doing a café racer, click on xj modifications and check out Swedish 82 xj550 Café Racer build thread by broberg. The dude did an excellent job. Very beautiful, very tasteful.
As far as removing the air box, get the bike running good in stock form first before any mods. You need a baseline to work from. And don't throw anything away. You may have to replace it if the mod doesn't work.
In the mean time, have fun and post pics of your build.

 

Thanks all, a bit clearer now! So if i got this right....

Get bike running sweet as standard.
Remove engine to remove airbox (to keep it for later!)
Put engine back.
Re-jet carbs, keep the rubbers (Velocity stacks)
Put on pods.

Get my look with a bit less performance (that's Ok i'm over 40!)

Question: Which pods are best?
What are the jet sizes required?

Love being able to ask you guys this stuff... I should've done this when I rebuilt my GSX250, life would've been easier!