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Amazon Carb Rebuild Kit

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by cyman73, Feb 2, 2026.

  1. cyman73

    cyman73 New Member

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    Hi all,
    My first post!!!

    I have a 1981 XJ550. The bike sat for 10+ years in my brother's garage. I took it from him and now it's my project bike.

    I purchased a carb rebuild kit from Amazon -
    4sets Carburetor Repair Carb Rebuild Kit for 1981-1983 Yamaha XJ550 XJ 550 Maxim 500
    (probably strike one). Upon opening it I noticed it had 2 main jets for each carb.

    The markings on them are 120 and 117.5. The engine/exhaust is stock and the main jet should be 112.5.

    Is there any chance that I could get the 117.5 main jet to work? What modifications would I need to make? I'm probably going to order a new kit that has the proper main jet size, but I wanted to get your collective opinion.

    Thank you.
     
    cyman73, Feb 2, 2026
    #1
  2. Roast644

    Roast644 Well-Known Member

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    I think the collective opinion will be to reuse your original jets. Unless they are damaged, just clean them. There is no guarantee the cheap, new ones are the same, even with the same number stamp.

    And if you are unfamiliar with the rebuild and setup process, read this:

    https://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/in-the-church-of-clean.14692/

    Good luck! 550 is a fun little bike.
     
    Roast644, Feb 3, 2026 at 9:31 AM
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  3. Rayzerman

    Rayzerman New Member

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    Yes conventional wisdom is to use your original brass.... put it all in an ultrasonic cleaner (I use 50/50 Simple Green/water plus a good squirt of Dawn dishwashing soap). After cleaning, inspect the idle/pilot jets little holes are all clear.
     
    Rayzerman, Feb 3, 2026 at 9:49 AM
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  4. SecaMaverick

    SecaMaverick Active Member

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    There has also been some concerns voiced on this forum regarding the usability of some of the carb kits from Amazon.
    For best results, get your carb rebuild kits from Len (aka Chacal), using the XJ4Ever link on the upper-right corner of the forum page. He also has a monumentally large compilation of advice on all the XJs' systems, including carburetors.
    "The Church of Clean" is a must-read.
     
    SecaMaverick, Feb 3, 2026 at 11:56 AM
    #4
    Uxbridge Brule likes this.
  5. cyman73

    cyman73 New Member

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    Thank you all for your great advice.

    I cleaned the hell out of the original brass and plan to reuse them. Started reading "The Church of Clean".

    I am looking at purchasing the deluxe complete rebuild kit for the XJ550 model (HCP18865) and it is quite more than the Amazon kit at $279.95.
     
    cyman73, Feb 6, 2026 at 5:54 PM
    #5

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