A new project, the abandoned xj650RJ

I offered $75 for the frame but he rather not since he will be stuck with the rest. To me, most of the rest is junk but whatever... we'll how much he is willing to let it go for.

 

Exactly, without the exhaust/tank it's hardly worth rebuilding, add in the airbox & seat plus all the rusty bits & it's barely worth bothering except for scrap value... If he doesn't let you have the lot for your price he'll end up paying someone to take it away in about 10 years lol

 

Hmm... The guy wants $200 for the stuff. Not sure if it is worth it

 

ugh I'd say not. But then again, it's worth what it's worth to you...

 

Agreed, unless he can sweeten the deal I am not touching it.

 

The past couple of days I have ad no time to work on my project, between starting the mowing season and the baby little no time left. I need to install the carbs, exhaust and find out if the 750 motor comes back life. I guess a trip to autozone for oil and spark plugs is on the schedule.

 

I never did vote in your poll. Where was the "Buy two more spare bikes to go with it" option?

 

About 2 months and 250 posts later

Or a couple of conversations with Dave and Fitz to get infected with the xj bug

 

Yeah, it takes a bunch of planning to resurrect a dead bike, at that same time swap the engine from a non-YICS 650 to a YICS 750, still take care of family and baby, search for parts/parts bikes, hold a job, etc..............

I'm having fun following along--it will eventually get done. My way of thinking is: 'it gets done when it gets done' I'm not one to rush things either.

Eco, You could also point out to the fellow that without the specific valued parts, the bike is not worth much. He said he didn't want to take the $75 and get stuck with the rest of the parts--tell him, "heck, then I'll take all the other parts, too, and then it's MY problem to get stuck with the extra parts". If he doesn't bite, then offer a little bit more for everything....if still no bite, then he's thinking he'll get a fortune for it. Oh well.

Funny, some guys are like that------there's a fellow about 3 mi down the road that keeps posting his 650 maxim on Craigslist......keeps asking around $2200 to $2500, depending on which post you see (LOL). Says it has around 120hp, has 750 carbs on it, and a bunch of other silly stuff. I think it's way out of of line, plus I don't think he has as much knowledge about it as he likes to think he has. Personal opinion, of course.

dave

 

He originally was asking for $400 and told him I could do $200 since there was no tank, seat and the engine is untested. Those were the ONLY parts missing according to him. Once I asked for pictures of the mufflers and air box he said "sorry not there either" asked for gauges "they're somewhere but can't find".

That is when I said "forget it, I'll take the frame for $75 or else and he said, else.

Did I mentioned that I would have to drive 2.5 hours to pick them up?

 

Not worth it. Of course, I'm a bastard and when someone lies to me, craigslist or not, I walk away after giving them the V sign and a verbal scar.

 

How's that being a bastard? Totally reasonable behaviour IMO, in my "book" people get every benefit of the doubt to prove themselves honest & good, but as soon as they prove otherwise they can whistle, whatever we may have previously agreed...

 

Rookie update: I was trying to bench sync the carb floats and I thought I had some passages blocked in the bowls to do the testing. I opened them up and two of them were only half way up filled (obviously not enough gas and the other two were totally dry. Even if the floats were a couple of mm off compared to each other how could they be totally dry?

This is when I need a yoga session otherwise I am going to beat this thing up so hard that Dave will not be able to salvage a single bolt.

My guess is that this is the reason why owners hide their xjs under a tarp or a barn and let them sit. I wish somebody who knew what they were doing lived nearby to give me some pointers.

 

Which two had fuel in them? If the fuel transfer tubes were blocked that would keep all four from filling properly (or at all if completely blocked).

 

The two closest to the T on the gas shaft were half full, I may need to use my air compressor and hope that whatever is blocking it will clear up, I really don't want to break up the rack and have to replace shaft seals... but oh well.

 

I am so thankful for awesome people in this forum, Dave called me and gave me some pointers on how to troubleshoot my carbs.

I flipped upside down the rack without the bowls, blew air into the gas inlet with a little hose, no air would come out so all needles are sealing properly, next I lifted the bowls one carb at a time and I could hear air coming out. That tells me that the fuel shaft is not blocked (I'm glad).

I noticed that the petrooster barely drips gas when on prime. I will investigate this later and rebuild.

This conversation with Dave was better than any XJ yoga that I've tried before

 

Glad to hear those results..........

Now, things to look for on the 'rooster.......

1. it could simply have dirt plugging it, or a mud wasp......seen that often--
2. the diaphragm could have turned to goo in the presence of old rotten gas
3. more than likely its a case of a really dirty screen/tower on the inside of the tank.....that can also cause the insides of the petcock to get nasty.
4. Whatever you find, make sure to install an inline fuel filter, then you will never have to worry again.

Nice chatting with you a few minutes ago............

Dave Fox

 

+5million on the inline filter! Glad you didn't use the XJ as an anvil after all! 8O

 

Howdy,

I went back and blew compressed air into the fuel inlet, It raised the valved enough for all the floats to start bobbing I made sure that I took one off at a time as well as the float needle and blew some air to make sure the passage and needle is totally clean and clear.

The compressed air also helped to make sure that the passages in the bowls were clear.

More work ahead but one thing at a time...

 

I can't figure out how I made room for the carbs... now with the airbox in, boots on one side and intake manifolds on the other there seems to be zero clearance for the carbs to go it. I tried to push back the airbox as far as it would go but there is still not enough room to slide the carbs in.

This is a proven example that taking things apart is the easy step, making them fit again is a real pain!

 

Put the carbs in from the left side of the bike. Make sure of the following:

push the airboots back into the airbox

make sure that the clutch cable is out of the way

Now you should have plenty of room. work the airboots on to the carbs once the carbs are in place.

Dave F

 

Thanks, and that is how it works, I was trying to secure the boots first off the box, obviously there is more than one way to skin a cat (or maybe there is only one RIGHT and easy way to do it).

 

From the LEFT?

Wasn't it Dale Earnhardt who said "there's two ways to do this-- my way and the wrong way?"

Isn't the starter kinda in the way? I always take mine in/out the right side. (So does Yamaha.)

Or am I not the only one who's getting old here?

Dragon Warrior, it is easier to remove/install the carbs if the airbox boots are not in the way at all. The factory book has you removing them (and the airbox mounting bolts) prior to carb removal, although re-installation is indeed easier if they're just pushed into the airbox. And I wasn't just busting Dave's chops, the carbs come in/out the right, but he was right otherwise.

 

I removed the boots. Made gettin the carbs in and out really easy. But like fitz said, getting those boots back in with the carbs in was a test of patience. Something to remember if you remove them is that they are not all the same. I'm sure you have figured that out already but thought I would mention it if you didn't. Better to not find out how I did where you spend 40 minutes getting 2 boots in only to have to pull them back out to fix the problem :-(

 

Now that's weird, I have the ones off of my '83 Maxim 750 right in front of me and the four of them are perfectly identical.
Is this different for a 650?

 

On mine the 2 & 3 airbox to carb boots were slightly shorter than the 1 & 4 boots. Might be different on the 750. That I'm not sure of. At least that is how they were on mine.

 

SInce the back of your carb rack is certainly straight, so the face of your airbox is convex or what?

 

I think it is more that the 1 & 4 carbs don't line up with the airbox holes. So they have to be a bit longer to reach the carbs... Not sure the truth in that but that is only explanation I can think of.

 

Makes sense!

 

I believe the airbox boots are pretty straight, the intake manifolds are not, they are angled differently (don't ask me how I found out).

 

the airbox boots are all the same.

Dave F

 

Yes, I knew about intake manifolds, but I've never heard of different angles or different lengths of airboots before.

 

Ok maybe I was simply dreaming it... I have been wrong before.

 

I got the carbs into the intake manifolds but apparently I pushed to hard when pushing the boots into the airbox and I busted it on the side. Now it feels like it is a P.I.T.A to get the boots out in place and get them into the carbs...

 

The crack can be fixed. Use an old soldering iron to melt it back together; strong as new and nobody will see it anyway.

The boots are a PITA...unless.....warm them up with a hair dryer....easy peasy.

 

Yup..... either a hair drier or a heat gun. I've said in numerous different forums that the heat gun is one of the best tools to have handy.

Eco, another tool I really like to use is and older Craftsman brake tool....looks like a screwdriver handlewith an awl-type tip, but is bent in certain ways. That tool allows me to reach around the back of each boot and slip the tip into grooves to allow me to help 'pull' the boots into place aided eslecially by the heat gun.

As someone else also mentioned.... it is quite possible that the front of your airbox is no longer flat--rather, it's concave. It SHOULD be FLAT across the front.

Dave F

 

If your hands aren't too big, you could also help yourself with one hand pushing out on a boot from inside the airbox while prying from the outside with a long flat screwdriver. It worked well on my Maxim 750.

 

Here is a little update on my slow progress: The boots have been hooked back to the carbs, I was looking for the little trey where the battery and solenoid go and is nowhere to be found so instead of searching forever I was going to put the ignition switch back on... when I took it off i remember having only one bolt and the other one broke. Now I have zero bolts and two broken bolts... since it is caterpillar season and got tired of getting pooped I called it a day. I sprayed some kroil and hopefully it will loosen up at least one broken bolt so I can get it out.

Fun stuff

 

Can you get a dremel cutting disc to the broken bolts? Could cut a screwdriver slot in them to help back them out...

Why caterpillars & poop, birds feasting? :?

 

Ok, this is getting old. Every freakin screw on this thing is a major task. I tried to use the dremel to cut a groove after letting it sit in kroil. Only to have the screw snapped in half and now there is nothing to grip. The ignition switch may need to hang with zip ties or what the hell...

If somebody wants to pick 1 seca in boxes and one without title almost complete come get em. give me some cash or paint my house and we'll call it a day.

 

Don't let small things discourage you, remember the Zen & the art... thing about finding the "Quality" in things.

Have a rest from it, get on with some other stuff, maybe have a few beers with friends, and then come back to it afresh with a positive mental attitude. Pop that top yoke off, nip down the local machine shop & have them mount it up in the pillar drill, they'll be out in no time & you'll even be able to save the threads if they drill carefully

Just remember you've put in the hard miles, this is just the niggly little bits that wait in the wings to catch you out. Don't let them phase you, or they'll win!

 

Eco.....DON'T give up. ANY of us who have taken a basket case and put them into a running or show condition have gone through this.

The challenge is to NOT give up.

My way of doing it is to work til things go wrong, then walk away and do something else. Then come back later, when I'm in a mood to work. If I get frustrated but keep trying, then I start breaking things more out of frustration than anything else. I also do NOT have a time limit or deadline. It simply gets finished when it is finally finished. Example: my X-from-scratch........I thought it would be done and on the road last summer. To date, the valve stem seals are still not in, the head is not on, valves not adjusted, engine still on the bench, tins and covers still not painted.......or even primed; the goldwing still not back together, etc.....too many other things in the way, and on/on/on/etc..........

They'll get done when they get done.

Hang in there.

Othewise, I wish I could throw them all on a trailer.......I'd be able to finish up MY 650rj!!!! LOL

Dave Fox

 

Thanks for the words of encouragement Dave. I was pretty frustrated this morning, it helped to go out for a walk with the baby and 10,000 dogs.

I need to keep that is mind, this is not a weekend project or will be done in 2 months. Sometimes it is hard to think about working on it since I don't have a garage and have to take tools in and out of the driveway every time I even think about working on it.

I guess it would help if I had a bike that actually starts but needed a lot of work vs. a bunch of parts that have not seen the road since they got here.

 

I had my 650 for two years before it even started. It took 8 years before I recieved that 2nd Place trophy for it..........

Dave F

 

After the time to cool off and regain my patience I took of some more parts on the bike that will need some love.

I am hoping a friend that works at a machine shop can help me to drill out the broken bolts and even make an adapter to fit the 85' 750 dash and gauges so this bike will look sweet.

I'm also thinking about painting this part since it is already off and in need of some love.





Like Dave said this is a long process and I am aiming to take care of every single part before I call this one done. So the conclusion also is that this bike will not be road ready this summer, maybe next one.

 

Those are the wrong turnsignals, too. They are for the 85/86 xj700/X/Virago/VMax/etc...... lines, not the 82. The '82 would have the bigger round-back chrome housing with the flat-faced lenses.

But hey, at least you're sounding a little more rational now, too.

Dave F

 

Dave, I think I am going to end up with two project bikes. The first one that I am currently working on it will not be a restoration to stock since I already put a 750 engine in it and will need an electronic tach.

I think am gonna go for a non stock look, for now the turn signals that I found will do. I will also use the 85' xj700 dash that already has an electronic tach so may need a little fiddling with the wiring harnesses.

 

Ok, just checking.

Dave F

 

Thanks for the heads up, I figured that with the 750 it's not really a restoration so I will see what this ends up. I will let my artistic sprit talk (and my shallow wallet) :lol:

Something like this with the gauges I have on hand. Once this one is done (whenever that happens) I will only have to find a frame for the parts bike since now I have plenty of them for 2 bikes

 

Just out of curiosity, would this fit if I just swap parts to get the dash/gauges to bolt in?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1985-85-yamaha- ... 73&vxp=mtr