First Bike, 81 Maxim xj650 with vetter kit-mods/maintenance

Hello all, Being a newbie to the bike world with a bike is arguably rough shape, I am wondering what "maintenance stuff" I should do as I resto-mod it so to speak. The bike has 19,000on the clock

The bike is currently not getting fuel and not running, I suspect its carb related due to the leaking petcock.

So far on the list I have:
Carb clean
de-rust and clean the tank
replace petcock or install inline fuel cutoff w/ a filter
fix hole in tail pipe. (rusted clean through and I think its cracked in half)

Besides this should I look to do anything else? Also does anyone know of any good part stores for the maxim, and where you can get cheap slip on pipes, not mufflers I want to straight pipe it.

 

Start by adding the year and model of XJ to your signaure so we always know what bike you have.

Then start reading:
The Information Overload Hour
(read the links in that article too)

Then start doing.

When you need parts start a conversation with Chacal. He has everything (nearly), and won't sell you parts that don't fit.

Carbs will need more than just a quick cleaning, unlss you like chasing your tail for weeks.
IN THE CHURCH OF CLEAN

The petcock is rebuildable Rebuilding the Yamaha Vacuum Fuel Valve w/pics

Rebuilding the brake system with new lines is a priority once you know that the engine can fire.

Checking/adjusting the valve clearances is also a priority if you want to kep the engine running.
AIRHEAD VALVE ADJUSTMENT with Pics

Please keep any questions or problems in this thread so we can keep track of what work has, or has not, been done.

 

K-moe, thank you for the info, it was very informative. I apologize for not including the year on the bike I thought I did. It is a 81 xj650 with vetter kit.

 

You did include tha info in the thread title, but this won't likely be th only thread you ever post in.
Go to your profile and edit your signature so your bike is always in every post that you make.
I put mine in red type for easy visibility (just my preference).

 

what do you mean by Vetter kit? Fairing and bags?

 

Yes that's what I have, I only mentioned it cause the wiring seems like a mess.

Anyways Update, Cleaned the carbs, rebuilt petcock, changed all the lines and replaced the fuel filter, and de-rusted tank. Gave the bike a test start and it fired up at 2000rpm ide but as I adjusted it trying to lower it to 1500rpm it jumped to 5000rpm idle.
I did bench sync it. however I messed with dial that adjusts the butterflies, Does turning to the right tighten close them or open them?

Carb clean was as follow,
-Complete disassemble and a long soak in carb cleaner then polished all moving parts
-ensured function was working properly
-bench synched with a thin piece of paper
-adjusted floats to 17.5mm +/- .5

Petcock is functioning properly

I did give it a rev to 7000rpm and let off and it still sat at 5000rpm not residual fuel I fear.

Also A side note previous owner Never had an issue with idle before my ownership and carb clean

 

Right opens the butterflies (higher idle) left closes them (lower idle)

Were the throttle shafts, idle mixture o-rings, and fuel rail o-rings replaced?
Carb cleaner kills throttle shaft seals, especially when left to soak. Age kills throttle shaft seals. Failed throttle shaft seals cause vacuum leaks, which leads to an uncontrollable high-idle.

That's a baseline. Wet setting will dial them in. Fluel levels are critical and will affect the fuel mixture.
Setting the fuel levels

 

O-rings were removed during the clean before the soak, also for items that I suspected would degrade the at I couldn't remove I used dawn dish soap soak -> a degreaser -> clean water rinse and wipe down. On a side note I suspect the carbs were cleaned not long before my ownership cause many of the gaskets/o-rings looked new. Possibly rebuilt?

Anyways, thanks K-moe for the info, I have it idling very happily at 1500rpm now and it's revs sound very clean, I'll see if I can upload a video.

Next up on the list is:
-Shimming
-very very very broken exhaust( left muffler is in half)
- sorting out a possible electrical issue of it needing a minute and a shake before it cranks, I hear a pop/click and then it goes, it also has the warning oil light on when not cranking. then it goes off when it cranks I am not sure if its the oil level sensor or the starting solenoid, if cheap enough I might just replace both.
- oil/filter change

 

Please mind the jumper cable motorcycle batter....that is one I borrowed from my brother, mine has not arrived in the mail yet.....and the left muffler was removed in this video

 

The oil level light is supposed to come on at sartup as a self-check of the lamp. It would be most unfortuanate to not have enough oil and not have any warning of that condiion just because the light burned out.

Sounds like an XJ

 

Okay so does anyone know of a reasonably cheap slip on exhaust that works for these bikes? The left muffler as mentioned is in half and the metal is way to thin to weld. So I can either cut the other outer muffler off to the inner pipe to match and throw the slip-ons on, or do a very bad patch job using metal strips, hose clamps and exhaust tape to just get it to pass inspection then worry about it later.

On a side note I was playing around with the bike today, and I found that the left blinker activates solid(like turning on a light solid, no blink blink) on the front but nothing happens in the back. while the right blinker operates just fine front and back. Any ideas? in addition to this the aftermarket air horn makes a rather depressing groan when pressed and I know nothing on those.

Does anyone *coughs* K-moe *coughs* got any guru-isms on these issues here?

 

Check the signal bulbs. A bad bulb or dirty socket. or low wattage bulb (should be 27 watts) will cause that problem.

Search for Sportster Muffler using google and the command site:xjbikes.com.

 

Update:

Firstly I have been slacking....
but anyways,

I was able to salvage most of the pipe, and I scored some aftermarket sportster mufflers for a good price from ebay and shall arrive soon (I really didnt like the tapered bullet mufflers, I got 2.5" slash cuts instead with baffles). I have currently ceramic coated the pipes matt black to prevent future rusting. and hopefully will be able to install the restored exhaust system by the end of next week.
Pictures will come when system is together.

 

little teaser mock up while I wait for the rest of the mounting hardware to come in next week.

 

Here is the bike all done guys its ready for inspection over here, and its maiden voyage. I will definitely keep the resto-modding going as I get more into this bike though.
Embedded video


Idle was set to spec 1050-1100 RPM.

 

Not all finished. The idle sounds lumpy. Did you perform a running synch on the carbs?

 

For those wondering what I did to mount it I used copper gasket and some pipe reducers to clamp it on. Product is EMGO 19 inch SLash cut mufflers. 1 3/4" ID and 17/8 OD. You will need a 1 set of 1 7/8 OD clamp, and EMGO 1 3/4- 1 1/2 reducer. Cut off the original exhaust shell with, and it should reveal two inner pipes with a 1 1/2 OD pipe, I think, I dont own calipers, I used a ruler.
Now liberally apply the gasket sealer to the muffler gasket and pipe, and clamp it together If you cannot get it to be super snug to the remaining pipe, use a cut up soda can to create a shim. In addition I would not worry about it falling off if you cannot get it snug. The pipe connects perfectly to where the foot pegs were. Used a few longer bolts and nuts and it will hold everything good and snug.

The gasket cleaner will seal the leaks at the joint.

"Finished" being the exhaust will pass inspection. Not to what I will be getting to down the road this season

I don't have the carb synching tool and was going to have my mechanic do it. It was benched synch for now, please bear in mind its also 30 degrees out side and it was only running for a few minutes.

Hope this helps.

 

Hey guys, took the bike out, and changed the oil/filter. Found nothing remarkable about a bike that sat for a little over a year and a half, (some gas, condensation, a smidgen of sludge.) Anyways, I filled to the bubble on the full line, and when I started the bike, all the oil disappeared from the sight window while running, but when I shut it off and let it sit, The oil all came back to the sight window. Is that normal?
My bike does say 2500cm on the cover, but I required about 2.9 quarts. When checking the drained oil I had a little over three quarts in it.

*side note* The oil level light is functioning and never came on when idling.

 

2500cm^2 is the sump volume. That does not take the filtr volume into account.

It is very much normal for the oil to only be visible in the sight glass when the engine is off and the bike is on the center stand. The oil gets pumped around to the rest of the engine, hence the level dropping.