A newbie says hello to the forum.

Ok, I figured it was high time to introduce myself to the group as I have been lurking and reading each and everyone of your posts here since I bought my XJ about 2 weeks ago. Let me start off by telling you a little about myselfl; I've always wanted to get a bike of my own but never got one. Sure, I've ridden some dirt-bikes as a kid and such but when I finally got to the point where I felt the "itch" the wife more or less put that thought to bed. Well to make a long story longer, I finally talked her into getting the ok to buy one (under the provisions that I take and pass the basic riders course and I could find a bike for $500 or less).

Well, I passed the course with flying colours and I was searching ebay, craigslist, etc everyday for "the bike". Then I saw it (see pics below), I could see the potential - And only $500, I bought it on the spot. A 1982 XJ750.

At first I couldn't really tell exaclty what kind of XJ750 it was (I think it's a maxim), please correct me if i'm incorrect anyone. Sure it's got some dings, dents, etc (I call them character) but thats just gives me some excuses to work on her during the winter months. I'm a total newbie to working with motorcycles (heck the only thing I do on my car is change the oil) but I have a very logical technical head on my shoulders and I have ordered the Haynes book for my bike as I couldn't find a cylmers.

When I got it, I had to take off the back saddle bags (I will keep them for future use) and get rid of the front fairing as I like the naked look of the bike. Unfortunately, the mirrors, headlight and front blinkers were all in the fairing so I am waiting on the parts that I ordered to get here.

Anyways, I hope to post more and more as I'm sure I will run into somethings that stump me along the way.



The bike as I got her.


The bike after I got her naked.

 

That my friend is a Maxim.

Welcome aboard.

BTW, that luggage is rare as hens teeth. It is worth a good chunk of what you paid for the bike.

 

I'll second what MiCarl said, hang on to that luggage and the fairing (yeah, I wish I had it, I'll hook you up with the lights and blinkers in a heartbeat!).
Welcome to the forum, I'm glad your sweetheart required you to take the course. It is one of the best things you can do to improve your odds of staying upright and safe! Now, let's get you started on the other important things.
Riding gear: get the best you can afford. Jacket, boots, gloves and a helmet. Look at investing $500 or better for quality stuff. The cheap stuff will not make you happy (just wear a cheap pair of gloves for a while, the ones with the seams inside, you'll see what I mean). The important part of your gear is get stuff that fits properly. I'm assuming that the rider's course you took had a section on this. If not, let us know, we'll walk you through it.
A maintenance manual and/or (I'm recommending the and) the XJCD: if your going to work on the bike, it is invalueable to know what you are looking at and how it all goes back together! If this is your first time out in the ring, these should be the first purchases you make. Read them and get familiar with the bike and it's components. This will ease your efforts to fix/tune your bike while skipping the repair shop, saving you big bucks!
One more tool for you: the search function on the left side of the screen. Chances are that the question you have in your head has been in a few heads already and may very well have been answered already. Check it out with the search and see if its out there. If not, fire away with the questions (if the question is there and you would like to get further explaination, throw it out there as well).
Hope this is providing some encouragement, glad to have you here.

 

Welcome to the forum Schwarztrader! Great bunch of folks here.
BTW- Interested in selling that front fairing ? If it would fit on my bike I might be interested in a buy.

 

Thanks all to the warm welcome. As for parting with the luggage, I want to keep it in case the wife and I decide to make an overnight jaunt to the coast one of these days. Now the fairing, I'm not decided on what I'm going to do with it just yet (so hold your pants on boys "and girls").

I have one little question regarding what "type" of XJ750 Maxim I have. How can I tell if it's an XJ750D/J/K/MK/RH/L/or X?

 

Looks like "K" Group. The MK is the same bike with a "Goth" look done in Black.

My Max was a MK and I had to work like Crazy stripping the Black and removing the Gold from the trim.

Just slashing the seat-cover won't prevent the dreaded "Seat-slide-effect".

You'll have to some work reshaping the foam rubber; too!

 

Welcome to the forum. You've come to the right place. Congrats on passing the MSF course......you're miles ahead by getting that out of the way. You got a good buy on a nice bike and I agree with the others about the luggage being worth more than the bike....hang on to it!

 

Welcome Schwarztrader...I like naked bikes better too! Isn't it funny how a cheap purchase price makes a wife happy and willing to go along with our biking ventures. If they ever got a clue that we will dump more money into these things after we buy them, they would never go along with it! :lol:

Just a side point of interest about the luggage that came to mind...I saw this Seca on Craigs List that had the same stuff on it.
Seca 750