Brand spankin' new.

Well this is my first post here and I just got my first bike.. I don't know shit about anything so I'll be asking a lot of questions and hopefully one of these days be knowledgeable enough to lend a hand around here.
I have a black 1982 XJ650 Maxim. Runs great, but seems to have some electrical problems, i.e. the starter button is picky as to when it wants to fire the bike up (had to push start the thing last night) and the headlight flickers a little.
I'm gonna change the spark plugs and put a new headlight and battery in to see if it fixes any of these problems. The neutral light comes on and when I press the starter button, it dims very slightly but doesn't fire up. Not really sure what that means.

Anyways, thanks for having me around and I'm sure I'll learn a lot.

 

Welcome.

Have your battery load tested before you replace it but it sounds like it could be weak. Could be it's not getting charged so you will need to check your generator brushes.

You can check the charging circuit by measuring voltage at the battery with bike running above 2k - it should be about 14 volts

Most of your problems could be charging related. Also the original fuse box is garbage at this age you should replace it ASAP with modern blade type. One other thing put an inline fuel filter on to trap any junk coming from your tank.

Good luck

 

Welcome to the forum.

 

Thanks for the welcome guys.
Bill, sounds like great advice. I'm afraid I've never really done much in the way of motorcycle maintenance, so I'm gonna have to get someone to help me out on my end.
I think you're probably right about the charging problem, I hooked up a battery charger and it took forever, but when it did fully charge the bike started right away. Next day, same problem and it took about 45 mins to charge it again.

 

These bikes are easy to work on - however you do need a good manual. Chacal on this site is a GREAT source for parts etc. See his supporting Vendor forum posting or PM him with your needs.

The generator is help with 2 bolts - the brushes are usually shot if not charging or your voltage regulator is bad - not hard to test.

 

If the new battery doesn't fix your problem, you might want to look at the ignition switch. My bike was acting kinda screwy, same symptoms like you're having then, I pulled the switch to find that all of the wafers that are stacked to make the contacts were loose & the housing was broken. BTW welcome to the forum, lots of good stuff here & good folks too!

Cheers
Ken

 

welcome aboard...

everyone here is pretty helpful in one way or another...

i never really did anything other than change oil or plugs on my bike when i first got it in 91. when i decided to start riding again, i got all sorts of help in getting it back on the road after a 15 year hiatus...

good luck and have fun...

 

Welcome Pug, I just had to replace my starter button because it broke and fell out!! my advise, order a new one from Chacal for about $12 and when you take it apart to put the new one in clean the contact that is opposite the button and it will be fine... for that issue! mine had the same problem and sometimes I had to wiggle the button to get it to make enough contact to turn over (I think thats why it broke) new non-brittle plastic and a clean contact will save you a headache later if it falls out while your riding!!! (mine fell out at home right after a 70 km ride!!)
Shaun