1st bike and a fixer upper besides

Hello
I am the proud new owner of a Maxim 650,(my first bike ever) or at least that is what the seller told me. I am sure that there is way to determine what size the motor is, but here are a few more questions.
1)What repair manual should I get?
2)The motor turns over fine, new battery, but the seller told me that he had no spark and thought the coils were bad. Is there a quick test to see if the coils are bad?
3)Is there a general "bring out of storage" regimen you would suggest? I noticed that there seems to be an abundance of "electric/electronic gremlins" that like to hide in the bike.
Keep the answers simple as I am an avid amatuer and proficient Jeep mechanic.
Thanks

 

Hey welcome, I'm super new as well and have already gotten some great advice.. I'm looking forward to reading the answers to your post. Cheers!

 

Welcome - get a Haynes manual and factory service manual - they compliment each other. You can start with the Haynes.

Electrical problems are mostly solved by replacing the fuse box. Test you coils my metering the primary should be around2 ohm IIRC. Remove the plug caps and meter the secondary should be about 10K ohms IIRC someone will pipe in I don't have my book with me.

2 coils one fires 1 and 4 the other 2 and 3 common to have them misplugged...

 

As a general tip for bringing the bike back to life: rebuild the carbs and do it properly the first time. Look at Rick's "The Whole 9 Yards" write-up for how to properly clean carbs.

As bill said, check the resistance across the coils. Sometimes the plug caps can be out of spec, so check the resistance with the caps off.

 

Gee - buying a non running bike as your first bike is asking for trouble (I should know - I never did get that "bargain" KR250 running all those years ago... :cry: )

Anyway, I would firstly see if you can get the bike started before you go off investing time and money into something that may cost you more to fix than buying a runner.

Firstly, remove the spark plugs. Put a plug back in the first plug lead and rest the threads of the plug against the fins on the side of the head. Turn the bike on, press the starter and look at the plug. Got spark? If so, good. Do the same with the next lead. Got spark on that too?- good. Now put the plugs back in and move on to the carbs. If no spark....see bill's post above....

Now the carbs. You want fresh fuel. Drain the tank and put in fresh fuel. Reconnect the tank to the carbs, turn the fuel tap to PRI, unscrew the drain screws on the carb bowls one at a time until fresh fuel comes out of each carb (I use a plastic drink bottle vertically sliced to slide in under the carbs to catch the spent gas). You might need to give the bowls a "tap" on the side to encourage them to drain (or push a piece of wire up the drain screw hole of they are blocked).

Now, make sure the battery is fully charged and try to start it.

If the motor runs OK (no knocks or endless smokescreens) then CONGRATS! - get a manual and do some searches on the site for carb cleaning, fusebox replacement, valve clearances, etc.

If the motor is toast.....re-assess your situation (sell it?, replacement motor?, re-build??)

That's my 2c..

Best of luck with it :wink:

 

Welcome to the fold.

If you want to check your engine capacity, there should be a number stamped above the clutch cover, on the RH side of the engine. On bike facing forward. Have a look at XJ4ever's threads, which have the model types based on the engine and frame number.

I'm going to go against Hillsy, and suggest that after you get the manual, take the carbs off and clean and clunk test the carb slides. The only cost is a can of spray carb cleaner. Access to an air compressor helps too. There is no point in just putting fresh fuel as you have no idea when the carbs were last taken apart for cleaning. This is the most common problem with these bikes. There are plenty of excellent threads, and advice on this site about taking the carbs apart for cleaning. Also, getting your emulision tubes clean is a must. This is the choke mechanism to help start the engine.

I rescued my XJ900 from the bike wreckers as a non-runner. It had no battery, and most of the electrics were not working, but it was mainly the carbs. 2 and 3 carb had stuck slides, and 2 carb had a stuck float. And just about every orifice was blocked with 21 years of dirt. Following the advice from this site, I cleaned the carbs, and went through the electrics from the new battery until I had power everywhere and spark. The original coils were ok. I turned the engine over by hand to check nothing sounded amiss.

I'm still overhauling the worn out suspension and neglected brakes, but the engine, even left for 3 or more weeks, fires right up and idles. Valve adjustment is next before I try revving it.

 

Get your manual; locate and unplug (temporarily) the safety relay, thus bypassing the sidestand switch, neutral switch and all that tomfoolery.

If you get spark back, you need to troubleshoot the "safety" circuit.

While you're waiting for your manual, you can start cleaning and doing simple things like having a look at the air filter, etc.

Welcome aboard. The best overall advice I can give is to take your manual and go through the "maintenence" section, item by item, LEAVING NOTHING OUT, until the bike has been "gone thru" from front to back.

Brake fluid will need to be flushed and replaced, rear brake shoes inspected for signs of delamination, how old are the tires, front fork oil and maybe seals will need to be replaced, pretty much any gasket you disturb will need to be replaced.

I wouldn't do ANY of the above until the motor's at least running though. Or at least do a compression test to be sure you're not just wasting your time.

 

One thing you can do about the “electric/electronic gremlins".

Get some contact cleaner and dielectric grease.

Then every time you do ANYTHING to the bike if there is an electric connection/plug anywhere close to where your are working, unplug it clean it and apply the grease.

You'll be fixing a lot of present and future gremlins.

After you get all the gremlins out from under the seat and tank you'll find a couple more hiding in the headlight.
If the bike is coming back to life... now would be a good time to dump the OEM bulb for a brighter/whiter "Silverstar" or other after market bulb.

ab

 

Thanks so much for the advice. I bought the bike right and the guy had it running last year, and it wouldnt statrt this spring, and he had a kid on the way, so getting cash for the bike was what he needed.
I am looking forward to the project and will update you on the progress.
Keep commenting as I am learning from all the comments.