Beginner restoration of a 82 XJ550 Maxim

Take a couple pics of the rim as it is, then go talk with the shop..... they can let you know if anything else needs to come off.

 

Holy smokes, having too much fun today. Have the bike all torn apart. Brakes, Carbs, fusebox, and I've got an order in to our man Len at xj4ever for a bunch of random things. Excited to put it all together.

I had a few questions on other things I wanna do as I'm doing this full revamp. Oil... I live in Utah, Temperature does get below freezing (although I'm not riding in that). But I want something that will work all season long most likely as I won't be putting tons of miles on it. For my climate I'm seeing: 10W40 or 20w50. Recommendations on stuff I can easily get my hands on that will work good?

 

I'd still follow the manual on the oil recommendations regardless, you're putting a lot of love & labor into your bike so why compromise on a few quarts of oil? Shell Rotalla T-5 seems to be the popular choice for the majority, at present I'm running a straight Pennzoil 10W40 dino-oil with STP oil treatment (blue bottle) for the add'l zinc content in my 750 SECA following the recommended "ratio" and overall this makes it roughly a 20W50.
One thing not mention was if you have overhauled the engine, if so I'd go with a break-in oil first.
Keep rockin' the XJ

 

From how I'm reading the charts, for my temperature range I'm seeing 10w40. Is that gonna work for me through the summer too? But be able to keep in the winter?

 

I see talk about the Shell Rotella, but it not being JASO MA, or maybe thats some versions. Anyone have a link to walmart or amazon or somewhere I can get this stuff that is the right one for the xj550?

 

Rotella T4 is JASO MA/MA2 and JASO DH-2 rated.
Rotella-T4-Triple-Protection-SAE-15W-40-Diesel-Motor-Oil-1-Gal-550045126/300387920

 

Thank you this is the link I needed!

 

Had a question pop in my head. The oil in it has like 1 mile in it but is over a year old and might have a little gas in it from the carbs being bad. I add the oil as one of the first things I did when I first got the bike so I wasn't turning it over dry as I fixed it up.

So with this oil change happening with my carb rebuild and other things, would you:
1. do the oil change last, so after it's all rebuild and will run, run it for a few minutes so the oil moves around and gets warm, let it then gather in the bottom and then drain and replace filter and oil.
2. Before I try running it after the carb rebuild, drain and replace. Doesn't matter if the oil is warm or hasn't moved in a few weeks.

 

Smell your hole.
No, I mean smell your oil filler hole. Does it smell gassy? Drain it and replace it. Does it smell like a regular crankcase? Top it off and go ride.

 

haha very nice Hogfiddles. I haven't smelt a ton of crankcases in my day, but to me it does smell a little more fummy like gas. It seems like a cheap precaution compared to all the other money going into other things. I just was curious on if I needed to warm it up first or just drain it to start.

 

You can warm it up if you wish, but I’d just go a head and drain it out

 

Thanks guys. Ok next thing. P.s. gosh its exciting to have it all a part and new parts on the way, gonna be sweet to reassemble with working pieces.

So I've got the brakes all torn down. I'm upgrading to stainless steel lines, new MC, Pads on the front. I thought it would be good to take apart the caliper and clean it, make sure its moving smooth. Problem is... is that cup piece able to come out? Doesn't seem to want to budge. It's probably out an inch ish from when I pulled it off. Tips? Is it needed? Might be fine, I guess I won't know till I hooked it all back up. I tried blowing a little bit of air in the brake fluid hole with air valve still in. I don't have a bolt on hand to try the reverse(plug fluid hole and spray in air release hole) , unless that's the key.

Thoughts? Is it needed? How can one easily do it, ideally without specialty tools.

 

Anyone got a resource for me on the above question? Getting the caliper cup out cleaned and back in? Is that needed?

 

Yes, it's necessary. The "cup" is really called the piston, and there are a variety of methods of removal. Note that any of these methods may/will result in the piston becoming, literally, just like 40mm (or so) artillery shell, so make sure that it's pointed away from you (or anything near and dear to you) during the removal process, and the best practice would be to put a piece of wood, etc. against the caliper and wedge it across the caliper body "arms" to restrict the travel of the piston as soon as it exits the caliper body.

And by the way, except for method "a" below, when the piston does break free of the caliper body, besides shooting out like a small missile, it will make a very loud "bang", which can startle small children and large pets and unaware novices at performing this process. A very loud bang........

It's never a bad idea to soak around the outer edge of the piston with penetrating oil to (hopefully) make extraction by any of the following methods easier:

a) if the caliper is still attached to the master cylinder, then pump the master cylinder with the hand lever a few times.

b) if the caliper is no longer attached to the master cylinder, remove the brake hose union bolt, and using a rubber-tipped nozzle on an air compressor, plug the rubber tip into the port where the union bolt entered the caliper, and apply air pressure. Note that unlike method "a", this method is what will really turn the piston into a very large bullet if/when it pops free of the caliper body.

c) if the caliper is no longer attached to the master cylinder, and method "b" above doesn't work, then the only other method is to get a grease gun, a special adapter to introduce grease into the caliper (our HCP12230 "piston popper"), and pump grease into the caliper body (grease is basically uncompressible, and a grease gun generates tremendous pressures --- up to 3000psi,much more than the 120 or so psi that an air compressor can --- and this method will (slowly and messily) remove the piston (under 3000psi of pressure, so watch out!).


The reason the piston is stuck is because crud and crap and other bad things have injured the rubber seals inside the caliper body, and they have swollen, seized, and/or deformed and are "locking" the piston in the caliper body. You need a caliper rebuild kit (which includes those seals) and you'll most probably find that you need a safe method of cleaning the seal LANDS in the caliper body, as any built-up, baked-on (calipers get hot......) remnants in those lands will prevent new seals from sitting in those lands properly, and you'll have the same or similar version of this problem even with brand new seals installed.....

 

Oh, and by the way, the caliper piston does not "wear out", and unless it has rust or gouges/scratches on the OUTER faces, it is perfectly re-usable. It's the rubber seals that the piston slides against that wear out or become damaged......

 

The time to release the piston is before stripping your brakes, pump it out with the brake lever.

 

Minimutly is correct. Very simple if you just take the pads out then pump the piston out. I ended up putting things back together to do that.


Question for the group, when you put the piston back in after cleaning everything up, how tight should it be? Like… I probably can’t get it back down far enough for the pads without a c clamp. Should I have silicone greased it? Can I do the clamp?

 

I use brake fluid to fit the pistons into the caliper.

 

Wet setting the carbs on the xj550's. Anyone got a DIY plug or way to connect to that port on the bowls? I'm on the way out of the valley of doom, or light depending on perspective, from the church of clean and I'm to the wet set before I rejoin, bench sync, hook them up and then vacuum sink.

Anyone got some tips on this? I know chacal has the part, he's got everything, a fountain of glory he is. But I kinda wanted to see if I could get it done tomorrow, and I don't wanna wait for shipping!

 

HCP1592 OEM clear-tube FUEL LEVEL TUBE GAUGE, used to check the fuel level in the bowls when the bowls are installed by attaching the end of the clear tube to the float bowl drain nipple, and then holding the graduated fuel gauge up against the side of the fuel bowl. Black millimeter markings on the measurement tube allow you to easily determine the fuel level with respect to the bowl-to-body reference point. For use on all XJ models with fuel bowl drain nipples (all models with Hitachi carbs and XJ600 Seca II, XJ1100, and XS1100 models with Mikuni carbs, and all other Mikuni carbs using our HCP26218 adapter tool or the HCP8494 drain outlet nipples).
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HCP4926x2 Aftermarket clear-tube FUEL LEVEL TUBE GAUGE, used to check the fuel level in the bowls when the bowls are installed by attaching the end of the clear rubber tube to the float bowl drain nipple, and then holding the other end against the side of the fuel bowl. Unlike the original gauge HCP1592 listed above, this is just a clear section of fuel line and does NOT have the upper end with any graduated markings. For use on all XJ models with fuel bowl drain nipples (all models with Hitachi carbs and XJ600 Seca II, XJ1100, and XS1100 models with Mikuni carbs, and all other Mikuni carbs using our HCP26218 adapter tool or the HCP8494 drain outlet nipples).
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HCP26218 Aftermarket float bowl FUEL LEVEL TUBE ADAPTER TOOL, for use on almost all Mikuni carb bowls which do not have a tube nipple cast into the bowl drain output port (note that XJ1100 or XS1100 models, do have a cast-in bowl drain nipple). Unlike Hitachi carbs, Mikuni float bowls do not have a permanent float bowl drain outlet port fitting which the clear tube fuel level gauge can be attached onto; nope, there's just an empty hole there. Yamaha supplied dealership service departments with a special o-ringed brass adapter fitting that pops into this hole, and which could be used during fuel-level checks….moving this (non-permanent) adapter from bowl-to-bowl as the fuel-level checking process proceeded. This reproduction o-ringed aluminum adapter properly duplicates the function of the original (note: for a permanent adapter solution, you can use the HCP8494 bowl drain nipples below).
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HCP8494 Aftermarket float bowl DRAIN NIPPLE, for all Mikuni carb bowls on XJ550, XJ650 Turbo, XJ700-X, XJ750-X, XJ900 models (but not on XJ1100 models, which have a cast-in bowl drain nipple). Unlike Hitachi carbs, Mikuni float bowls do not have a permanent float bowl drain outlet port fitting which the clear tube fuel level gauge can be attached to; no, there's just an empty hole there. The factory had a special o-ringed brass adapter fitting that fit into this hole that would be used during fuel-level checks, but very few people have that adapter and even it is somewhat cumbersome to use. These precisely machined nipples are designed for permanent installation into the Mikuni float bowls----just tap them in place, they are a friction-fit----and them you can slip the fuel-level gauge tube directly onto the protruding end of the fitting. Simple 20-second installation: clean the inside of the drain port in the bowl, use a bit of silicone lube on the adapter, place proper end in drain port, and gently tap in place with a hammer. Once installed, it's leak-free but can still be removed (not easily, but it can!), in case your preferences ever change in the future. Protrudes approximately 1/8" from the drain port, enough to install the clear tube gauge but not enough to interfere with other carb functions. Looks original once installed. Fits Mikuni carbs used on all XJ550 models, XJ650 Turbo, XJ700-X, XJ750-X, and XJ900 models. Use 1 per float bowl. Each:
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