First Cafe Racer Mod! 1983 XJ750 Maxim

Hmm I can’t get a solid read on the fuel sending unit, I got a read from 8-290 ohms a couple times but 98% of the time I just get random numbers, does that mean my unit is trash?
There’s no consistency even though it has solid contact, no rust or corrosion.

 

needs a little cleaning and adjustment.
there is past thread was about /adjusting sensors

set your meter to 200 ohms see if you get a smoother reading

 

put a little oil on the wiper

 

So the fuel sending unit that came with the tank was faulty, wired coils were loose and it gave many random readings!
IF ANYONE WANTS IT, just pay for shipping!

I had to buy one off eBay for around $40, works well but the inside of the float is a little worn... should be ok though!

My Acewell MD052-253 gauge works perfectly for my configuration!
(They have multiple configurations)
It allowed me too add the fuel gauge meter, make everything digital and the next test once I kick it over again is to connect the analog-to-digital speed sensor adapter to the gauge that also came from Acewell made specifically for our bikes! No need for magnets!

Now I just have to figure out to to clean up these wires and get them stashed away without stuffing them into the headlight... those fins tend to get hot and I don’t want to melt any wiring in there!

 

GLORY DAYS!!!!
She started up today!
After installing the Spin On Filter from chacal, I oiled her up again, put some new fuel lines on, added a fuel filter, and started her right up!
She started like crap with the carbs needing adjustment and dumping a bunch of fuel out of the air box hose which stopped eventually...
but now I take off the carbs, ship them to Hogfiddles, let him work his magic while I inspect the valve shims!

The fuel gauge read accurately, it idled well, but accelerating killed the engine.

 

Check the oil level. Remove the oil fill cap and sniff.
The only way for fuel to get to the airbox is for it to have filled the crankcase.
A gas-filled crankcase will stall an engine, and that's the best of the possible results in that scenario.

 

I think I was leaving the Prime on and it kept flowing....
I was watching the fuel flow through the filter thinking it was just filling up the bowls until I saw the puddle at my feet!
That’s a great suggestion so I just gave a sniff and it smells nice and oily!

 

Even when set on prime raw fuel should never get into anywhere but the float bowls. Your float needles were either leaking, or the floats were stuck.

 

It hasn’t ran since May of 2018.... I vote stuck!
I’m going to be sending them over to Hogfiddles to get the professional checkup since I don’t want to be chasing vague issues or screwing anything up when it comes to the initial overhaul!

Time to check some valves and do some more painting!

 

Maybe. It's pretty uncommon to find any used bike that doesn't need the rubber parts replaced.

 

Looking inside my intake, the barrel look VERY clean but deep inside looks like it has quite a bit of funk, should I spray anything in there to clean it out before I slap the rebuilt carbs, new shims, boots and seals on?
Perhaps Seafoam????

 

just put that back together

 

I'm still waiting on parts to arrive... They just look really dirty so I got to thinking that maybe I can spray something on them to break it up, perhaps it'll help it perform cleaner and more efficient, even if it's only a small degree.
I was thinking of Seafoam to sit on them just before I start mounting the carbs and then start the engine again to blow it out!

 

if the head was off and the valves were out of the way then you could clean it up and get the gunk OUT of the engine. just putting something on it probably won't take any off, but if it did, it goes in the cylinder. now think about this. the head is off, you scrape and wire brush a bunch of that stuff off and catch it, what are you going to do with it?
throw it on top of the piston?
if you want a tiny increase in flow, hold the intake tube on the head and feel for a ridge where the intake meets the head, get rid of that

 

Freshly painted valve covers!
Fitz write up was great!

Strip it-


Sand the ribs- (250,500,1000)


Paint and scrape- (wait 20 minutes before scraping)


-Wait 5 days-
Block sand and polish ribs again! (500, 1000, 1200, 2000) Finished with some White Diamond polish


I taped it up around the ribs to prevent any scuffing, otherwise I would have ruined the surrounding paint

 

Had to give these old bolts heads some love too!
Same treatment as the valve cover ribs ^^^

 

there are instructions online for plating. looks easy enough to do using a battery charger

 

Plating sounds interesting!
I just gave these a smooooth polish, definitely worth it!

 

Very nice work!

 

i used this stuff
https://www.caswellplating.com/elec...-kits/8-oz-plug-n-plater-nickel-solution.html
on the b0lt ontop the steering neck and it got a patina but no rust

 

That’s awesome!
I used their black oxide for steel, it was a complete waste of $$$...
Does the nickel hold up to weather and physical abrasions?

 

In case the lady forgets her mirror, I polished this one up too!

 

Most cold-blue solutions are not good for much aside from small touchups.
Rust bluing takes longer, but is more DYI friendly than hot-tank bluing. Try that next time.

 

hold up to weather, yes, washing, yes. physical abuse, probably not.
i just used a battery charger, the key is keep doing it like 20 times, only takes a second. i used a piece of cotton ball and changed it every other time.
i had a few scrapes on the muffler chrome that had some rust and looked like poop. cleaned the rust with acid then went over it with the nickel stuff and they disappeared and
stayed gone

 

wow, that stuff is reasonably priced if does what it says. Just dip, no electrolysis?

 

actually it is electrolysis. the kit has a little power supply (use a battery tender) and a little metal rod with a alligator clip (forget that) and a bottle of special sauce.
all you need is the refill bottle of special sauce. clip one lead to the bike (+ or - i forget which one) rip about 1/4 of a cotton ball and clip it in the other lead.
IMPORTANT pour some special sauce in a bottle cap. dip the cotton in the bottle cap, nice and dripping wet and rub that on the part for about 30 sec.
now the good stuff is used up from the special sauce, get a new cotton ball and repeat. never put used special sauce in the big bottle and contaminate it.

 

I want to paint this black, is it easy to remove, change the seal and put it back on or is it WAY more complicated than it looks on the outside?
Not 100% sure if it has a very minor leak or if it was likely catching crud from being in the back, wasn’t much near the lip where it goes from black to silver.
I cleaned the area with brake cleaner...

Here’s a previous photo:

 

there's no gasket there so in 30 years that's not much of a leak. take it apart, wipe it out and check it in 10 years

 

There are oil seals at the output side of the engine, and the input side of the final drive.
Removal of the final drive is easy, just take off the shock and undo the four nuts on the housing.

 

Oh! So there’s no oil going to leak out?!

The round piece on top, is that a vent? How does it work? Couldn’t find much on it...

 

The round cap on top is the breather. No oil will leak out unless you set it so the breather is the lowest point, or you remove the fill or drain plugs, or you start pulling seals.

 

The vent is magnetic so it must contain Iron!
I’m thinking of plating it with Nickel like Polock mentioned he does with some parts.
I bought the Caswell Nickel plating already, waiting for it to arrive

 

Success!
After putting everything back together (stripping, painting, polishing, new bearings, new brake pads, nickel plating, more polishing...) putting it together, hearing some clacking, pulled it apart and found the drive shaft came out at the gear end, apparently it comes out very easily! Seal seems ok, will keep an eye for leaks, looks very easy to replace.

QUESTION:
Anyone know the torque on the castle nut for the rear axle?
( I need to get a manual for this bike...)

 

pretty dam tight

 

Ahahaha
That's what I did the first time, made it really hard to pull the screw driver out on the right side, figured I might have made it too tight!

 

are you sure of the spacers on the axle, i don't think that hole should get covered by the swingarm no matter how tight the castle nut is

 

They weren't quite covered but it started too, It was Really tight at that point! I was still able to get it out but it took some spinning and wiggling!
Looks like it's suppose to be 73-80 Ft lbs of torque, I'm certain I went way over that!
I didn't change the spacers and made sure to use the ones that came with it.

 

After scratching my head trying to figure out how to hide this rat nest of wiring, and the front wheel conveniently removed to get a set of Metzler 888’s.... I realized it’s insanely long!
Going to use my original labeling to track backwards, relabel again, and start trimming up over a Foot of wiring!
If I track it back a little more and depending how I can arrange the connections since Yamaha wanted to overlap EVERYTHING.... I might be able to hide it all underneath the gas tank!

 

reach up behind the steering neck, there's a little area in there to hide some stuff but that's a lot of wire

 

That's where I'm sort of thinking of placing the connectors! I just need to go through the wiring in the diagram you shared to figure out a few wires that end in little black boxes, possibly unwrap the mess of wires all the way back and move them to the other side since the Ground wires being shared are no longer needed as I currently suspect, due to using the Acewell gauge being an all-in-one source for information on the bike.
I may end up cutting out up to 2 feet of wire!....

 

put a connector on the headlight ground wire someplace handy, so you can turn the headlight off if you need to

 

Like running from the cops???

 

well you might need the key on to get that Acewell sorted out or turn signals, don't need a headlight for that sort of thing
for police you want to turn off the tail/brake light

 

Curious what this little box is, I’m not good enough at reading electrical diagrams to figure this one out... (circled in red)

There a black/red stripe wire (marked in yellow) crossing over to what was the stock gauge cluster warning lights, pretty sure it’s a Ground wire that I don’t need anymore, strongly contemplating cutting it away since all the sensors use the Ground connected to the new Acewell Gauge.

comes to the connector before the box as Blk/red, becomes dark green, then a new blk/red crosses over like I mentioned previously

 

?? https://www.ebay.com/i/220673136450...i9xHGimaR-yAlQdRwHzEfDesscCptxj8aAtGiEALw_wcB

 

That was my first thought but it’s totally separate from the turn signal wires, and I don’t see a connection between them

 

Do you have a schematic w/ wire colors labeled? That helps a lot!

 

That is the diode block, it's the 2nd picture in the Ebay link. The B/R wire was used for the oil light, one goes to the oil switch and the other goes to the oil indicator light. The diode is used to isolate the circuit from the starter solenoid circuit and to illuminate the oil light when the starter button is pressed.

 

ah! Thank you!
So is it the ground wire for the oil light?
My Acewell gauge has a ground wire for it, so everything uses that now, the oil light works in the new gauge when I tested it along with the other signal lights.
Would that mean it’s ok to clip this wire off to free up this rats nest?

 

sure clip it off but don't throw it away