A new project, the abandoned xj650RJ

So based on the tutorial from Len:
http://www.xj4ever.com/setting%20fuel%20levels.pdf

On the first try I filled the bowls and the gas level was 5 mm below the edge of the bowl (specs. call for 3 mm). Once drained I measured the floats and pull the tab to "lower" the floats level by 2 mm) and right now they all rise 20 mm above the edge of the carb body. I retest tomorrow and report findings. It would be easier if there was a set height for the floats to measure and set.

 

The secret?

If you bend the tang enough to know you bent it, you went too far. Think "nudge" or "tweak" or "kiss." Back in my adding machine repairman days, we called it "forming."

There is a "dry" height setting, but just measuring it is a PIA and it's only a starting point. Wet-setting produces better results with less tang bending.

Excuse me, forming.

 

I may have done some rough kissing or over forming we'll see when I fill the bowls again tomorrow

 

Ok,

So after fiddling for a while with the tangs and gasoline I finally got the floats to the right level (happy dance).

The next step will be to close them and attach to the engine.

:idea: Since I was curious about the parts bike who looks a lot better than the one I am fixing I took off the pods off the carbs just to find out that everything inside seems shut frozen (probably due to old gas) I had to use a screw driver to pry the diaphragm assy and needle up to free them up. I will unmount this suckers tomorrow now that I am on a carb spree and find out how nasty they are.

 

Alright,

This project is proof that there is no such thing as "straight forward" or simple task.

The 750 engine does not have the stacks between the engine and the carbs so I figured I could use the ones on the 650 engine right... not so fast, the bolts are not position equally.

On the 750 they are tilted towards the center of the engine where the 650's has all of them tilted to the left.

You can see all vacuum ports to the right of the mounting bolts



Unfortunately on the 750 they are angled towards the center of the engine. the vacuum ports will be sideways of the center one will not clear the engine...



I am guessing I will be looking for stacks from a 750 that nobody uses

 

On a side note I went ahead and removed the carbs from the parts bike and this is what I found



This are almost as bad as the 650 carbs that I originally pulled from the bike but at least the floats are not totally shut and the posts are all in there. It seems like the PO but the airbox and added pods but didn't rejet the carbs. I am sure this bike ran like crap.

 

Umm...

The difference between the YICS 750 and the pre-YICS 650 is why the manifolds don't fit.

YICS motors and pre-YICS motors had different intake manifold orientations. It's the YICS vs. "non" thing, not the displacement. Later 650 Maxims (and Canadian Secas) had YICS motors.

Of course it ran like crap which is why it got given up on. Most of these bikes got parked once they began to run crappy, either because of neglected valves or carb issues. Or uneducated mods gone bad.

The only reason we have thirty year old bikes with less than a gazillion miles on them is because at some point a PO gave up and shoved it in a corner (or out behind the barn.)

 

Thanks Master shifu, I found out it's a matter if YICS manifolds vs non YICS.

I will be looking/shopping for some that will fit. Until then I will be doing a bit more cleaning (airbox, boots), maybe I will start looking at the electronics and start putting that together.

 

Sorry Eco, thought you knew about that already or I would have warned you about that............

Dave F

 

That's ok Dave, I will start looking on ebay for the right ones. How is your 650 coming along?

 

stand-still at the moment... life is in the way:

All-County concert
Musical stage production
Spring concert 1 last night
a few snow days that screwed up evening rehearsal schedules
a screwball on a shooting rampage that locked down the school
etc............

oh yeah...........actually a decent few snowfalls that allowed the trails to open for some really good sledding----they close this coming sunday night at midnight. THEN it's time to start waking up the herd. )

Dave

 

So here is another little change that I need to figure out, it seems like the 750 does not have a port for the tachometer's cable. I believe somebody mentioned that it is electronic on this engine vs the mechanical one on the 650.

This morning since I am at home hanging out with the baby and she took her morning nap I looked into my box of gauges (how did I ended up with a box of them) and tried to mix and match something that will for the mounting bracket.

Here is a picture of what I currently have but I am guessing this tach is not gonna work.



Any ideas of what I may need to look for that will fit the bracket and the engine?

This whole 750 swap is becoming a pain in the neck and now I am considering using the 650 engine from the parts bike instead of all this, if I decide to go that route it means that I have to take that one out, check valves, compression, basically do it all over again which I am not thrilled about it.

So... besides what I have already found that needs to get this baby running (carbs, TCI box) is there anything else that will need mixing/matching to get this bad boy hooked up and running?

 

Correct.......the 650rj is a cable tach and the 750 you have is an electronic tach...........

HOWEVER.......

At least on the 650 engine, the provision was there for mechanical even on the heads that were on an electrical bike. The cable hookup was covered with a block-off plate. all someone had to do was to pull the cams, but the gear shaft in, and they'd be good to go. I've seen some 650 electrical ones with the gear even in the head.

All that to say-- take a look at the 750 head that you have. You MIGHT be able to put the gear in there. I don't know if the 750 head was done that way or not.........

maybe I just had a few oddballs come through, too...........

Dave F

 

Dave I looked at the engine and I can't find any plate blocking any cable hookup. I am thingking I will have to find an eletronic tach that matches the speedo I currently have.

Once again, to the drawing board (ebay lurking).

 

Well, I managed to get my status to 6th gear and still have to get an XJ to fire up. I guess this is the ultimate rebuilt since I had to learn everything about this bikes from square one which is where mine was when I started.

 

I'm pretty sure the 750 cams didn't have the gear on them.

Finding an electronic tach won't be too difficult; finding one that matches might be. Most of the electronic tachs I've seen have the later, fat rectangular-section needles.

Look closely at my speedo in the pic below. It originally had a clear-white needle, I painted it to match; then "fudged" the paint on the (original style) tach needle to sort of match.

I have an electronic tach to put in; its needle matches the speedo. Most of the Yamaha OE electronic tachs you find will have this later style needle.




Here's another possibility, and these appear to actually be "canned" instruments. However, I can't say for sure if these guts would fit in your outer cans, but they just might. Plus these do have the earlier style needles.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Yamaha-FZ700-FZ ... 81&vxp=mtr

 

The 750's i have has the tacho' gear on the cam but it's an electric tacho'.

 

Fitz.... IIFC, he has the standard 650/750 maxim gauges with the two round pods/flat-bottom/black front/chrome single-piece back with the four lights in the middle type of assembly. Those are completely disassemble-able, not canned.

Eco, it may be as simple as swapping the wiring harness .............

Dave F

 

Are you saying that I may need to swap the entire wiring harness to run the gauges? Or is this so I can connect all the gauges that Fitz was showing me?

I was also thinking about trying to put this gauges in instead:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/yamaha-xj700-xj ... 99&vxp=mtr

I already have the gauges, I may need some sort of brackets to make them fit the 650 mounts.

 

The 650 Seca gauge cluster includes two "canned" instruments mounted on a bracket with the indicator panel in between. I assumed that was what we were working with.

 

Correct, the one on the picture I took is the one I originally have intended for it. The two canned instruments mounted on a bracket with the indicator panel.

Also good news, I found the intake manifolds needed to move forward so I will keep inching away towards having something to ride.

 

I am just asking for trouble... I am close to seal a deal to buy a third bike YIKES!!!

This is another 650RJ that is all in boxes and the frame has a title. Everything seems in pretty rough shape but would give me the frame I would need to get the parts bike street legal and would give me plenty of spare parts to sell.

 

No, that's a non- YIKES!!!! bike. LOL

Only the 3rd?!?!??!

I just brought home another 650 maxim on saturday........... it is very nice shape, needs the clutch pack put back together (PO took it apart since it was creeping, but I think it's a cable adjustment issue) and it should be good to go. I"m going to do the shim check, etc......, and try to replace the gauge faces since the red has faded. Otherwise, there's no rust, faded paint, or anything. ONE small ding in the tank.

1980 XJ650 Maxim-I

I should be able to make a nice bike out of this one

Dave F

 

go for it! I need more 85/86 airheads

 

It is a non YIKES!!! Good Dave.

What I am really jealous is about your stable that is in riding condition. I am close to get my third bike and all I have to show for is a pile of parts but nothing has been even fired up don't think about road ready which some days makes me wonder what the heck I'm doing... I know riding is something I am NOT doing (anytime soon).

Oh well... this third one does not have a seat or a tank but I already have an extra seat all I would need is a tank in good shape (or I could try to get the original tank to pop the big dent off it.

 

I have the maroon tank that came on mine originally.......there is some repairs to it on the underside, but it looks decent and seems to be solid.

If you still find that you need and tank, let me know........

Dave F

 

Thanks Dave,

I need to figure out if the one I have can be fixed (no holes or a lot of rust) but it has a big dent that I don't know if it can be fixed.

If I end up buying that third bike (which I most likely will) I will look into it and let you know for sure if I need a tank.

Here are pictures of what I am looking at buying soon:

 

Oh my !

 

Wow never knew they sold kits! 8O

lol but if the deal's right it's another big stash of spares...

 

I think the price is about right especially because the frame has a title, which is what I need to have the parts bike street legal.

 

I got my set of intake manifolds in the mail today. They are not NOS but they are in really good shape so it's time for me to do some wrenching.

 

You do realize that after building two 650 Secas essentially from scratch, you're gonna know these puppies inside and out.

Do you have a dealer assembly manual yet? If not, get me your email address and I'll shoot you some scans.

Some of that stuff isn't worth anything, like the rusty used up shocks, but some stuff is way worth it. Is that an original 8" Seca headlight bucket?

 

Looks to be...has the correct bracket anyway. That thing is XJ gold!

 

It may need a lot of polishing because it looks more like a super RAW diamond :wink:

 

See, Eco!?!?!?! I'm not the ONLY one telling you that you'll be the XJ650 Seca NON-turbo expert................

Dave Fox

 

I am not sure if I would call myself an expert but will have a big stash of parts and pieces for sure

 

Intakes are on:



I am trying to get a feeling for what this project is going to look like even if I have done nothing to make it cosmetically better and it will take a lot of work.



Nothing can/should be tested without a well charged battery:



And here is the charger (same charger used r/c planes to charge lipo batteries jsut different settings):

 

Uh-oh......looks like Jose is starting to put things together! He'd better be careful, or he's gonna end up with a complete bike that will even run! LOL

Dave F

 

Nice charger, and the bike's starting to look like a real one again too, keep up the good work

 

+1 on that Dave! Looking good Eco!

 

LOL a bike that will run? that sounds like wishful thinking sometimes but yes, at least I feel like I need to buy less pieces to get something running. Maybe I will be able to attend a carb clinic on a riding bike by 2020 :?

 

And to give me extra motivation today is going to be 65 degrees and sunny!!!

 

Is it just me or this post came in with a 4 month delay?

 

Oh, it is my personal goal to make sure it does

 

Or a bunch of time reading a thread, apparently.

 

Thanks for the suggestion but I would not even insinuate to anybody to test ride a motorcycle that obviously has not been maintained, with the risk of having (which it does) the original brake lines, I haven't even looked at brake shoes/pads and overall an unsafe and really bad idea.

ROTFLMAO

 

You're right. You gave very good advice. Perhaps I was being a bit harsh.

 

Only one problem with your advice dragsta (well, safety aside), and that is the fact that the fitted engine has all it's gears. He swapped engines earlier on in the 30 pages of worthless reading (joking Eco, you know I've read & enjoyed the whole thread!)

 

Well, the "bike in a box" owner may be a little misleading. Originally he said that the only things missing were the tank and the seat. When i asked about mufflers he said "gone", when I asked for the airbox he said "not there". I am thinking I will just make an offer on the frame and a couple of things but forget my first offer.

 

Huh, amazing what someone can "forget" when the dollar signs pop into their eyes :roll:

That's why a bit of experience stripping & building one of the same model can come in handy, if that was your first buy it'd be too easy to potentially miss large, important parts like airbox & exhaust... You should offer him $10 to take it out from under his feet & he should be very happy with that!