front fork air pressure

My 82 xj650j had air front forks. It's my understanding that 12-16psi is supposed to be the range for these. I have them at 16 psi now, but they seem a little too soft to me still. What pressure do you guys recommend? Can I safely go higher without damaging anything?

 

Air pressure is only one part of properly working forks. Have you changed the oil in them? Proper oil level is the first thing to check. There is no way to "check" the level, you have to drain and refill them with the right volume of oil.
I run my forks with 15 w oil and 5 psi.

 

No not yet. The forks are next on my list of to do. Once I get it back on the road in a few weeks I'm gonna do them. They were supposed to have been done 2 years ago I believe.

 

You never know, they might've been... Good that they're on the "to-do" list though as it's amazing what things a seller will "do" in their head in order to get it sold lol. Even if they have been done you may want to go with a heavier grade of fork oil.

Also if the forks feel "saggy" it may be worth checking the free length of the springs (650J should be 467mm/18.39"). 31 years can be hard on them

 

Thanks again for the info ... you are a fountain of knowledge! I did buy the bike from the 2nd owner who is a good friend of mine and who is also good friends to the original owner. all garage kept but all in all a little at a time I just am dying to get it back on the road! ill post a pic in a bit

 

I paid $300 for it last yea bout this time. I spent about $150 in parts. was in a minor accident (hit in rear and tipped on the right side) new rear fender, side marker lens, brake lever and a simple tune up.

 

pipes are looking gold, running rich?

 

Pipe discolouration will happen no matter what if they're single walled. If they're dual walled, running lean can colour them.

 

Hence the reason for the carb overhaul. Exhaust is only 2 year old , but nothing has ever been done to the carbs& intake. Requires choke to be on to stay running. So clean carbs, bigger jets and cone filters she should purr like a kitten when I'm done!

 

After seeing how dirty the fork oil was in my relatively clean Seca, I say drain it and refill. I've learned to question any PO repair work because Previous Owners seem to screw a lot up.

 

Lean surely!


Please don't fit pod/cone filters, opens a whole can of potential worms (search the mess of threads on tuning with pods ) IMHO it's just not worth it even for the looks! Your bike looks great as it is by the way, specially for $450/£225ish in

By the way, the manual is the real fountain of knowledge NOT me! 8) Speaking of which, Haynes has 17psi as max pressure. Small difference & more likely springs/spacers/oil will be the cure, but all the same....

 

thought lean was blue/purple? from the excessive heat? since it isnt burning properly.

 

temp colors
here's the colors and temps, this is for steel the numbers for chrome might change a little but the order of colors is the same. blue, lean, is hotter than yellow

 

yes actually it is running rich. its not getting enough fuel so the choke had to stay on, forcing it to run too rich. they did turn purple a bit a few months after this pic. most of which i was able to clean off nicely but the carb overhaul and jet kit should fix this issue