Just a hello from Blairsville, GA and a new XJ700 owner

Would like to thank you all for the wonderful information on this site and for being willing to help those of us who are newbies to these bikes. I live in the mountains of Blairsville, GA and recently obtained an ‘85 Maxim X (XJ700N) from my neighbor. It has less than 4000 original miles on it so I wanted to keep it stock but I quickly realized this was near impossible with the lack of parts. The bike is actually is pretty good shape and was in a barn near Cleveland for many years, trailered to my neighbors, then I got it. Considering the condition I guess instead of doing a complete breakdown and rebuild, I’ll most likely just do a refresh. It wasn’t beaten to death before I got it, actually has the original tires, even with the new tire nubs, with no dry rot or cracking! Hoping a bit of TLC and a lot of standard maintenance, and tires of course, it’ll be back on the road. Really looking forward to it…

So, anyway, I just wanted to say hi and thank you for being here…

Dean

 

Welcome! The X is a pretty awesome and desirable bike! You'll find good support for that bike here and Chacal has an amazing selection of parts for all XJ's. You can find his catalog by clicking on the Everything XJ box in the upper right of the screen.

 

Do you have the 700n air cooled or the water cooled X?

 

GET NEW TIRES it will save you

 

I have the water cooled version...

and yes! I wouldn't even think of riding on these tires. Far too old no matter what the condition. We have some of the best riding roads in the country here and riders come from all over the world to ride them. I live a couple miles away from the Richard Russell Scenic Highway, The Wolf (Wolf Pen Gap), Blood Mountain, Tail of the Dragon, Moonshiner 28, Cherohala Highway, etc. They are very demanding roads and one small mishap could send you off a mountain with a very long fall before you find ground again.

I have Metzler 888's on my daily ride, a V-Star 950 Touring, and like them a lot. Will most likely do the same on this one.

 

Wife’s son lives outside of Blairsville. Wife and I have ridden all the roads in North GA, NC, and TN. Probably done the Dragon 30-35 times. Great place to ride. Just be careful.

 

Have to be! These roads will bite you for sure, if you give them a chance. Does you wife's son ride too?

 

No, he is not a rider. Does a lot of hunting I think. He works at the water bottling plant--some kind of supervisor.

 

I have a rally in your back yard. www.vintageyamaharally.com It's posted on the forum.

You might even know me. I just moved from Dahlonega and am a TWoS regular.

 

that's a possibility... I also head over to TWoS quite a bit. Have a friend who lives in Suches so I do some visiting when able. I also head up to Michelle's place (Copperhead Lodge) every now and again to meetup with some friends, usually on Thursday's (weather permitting).

I already have your rally in my calendar for 2019 and will definitely be there. I, unfortunately, missed this year as I didn't find out about it until after it was over. Of course, I didn't get by Maxim until just after returning from Barber Vintage Days last month so I just wasn't paying that much attention to "vintage" stuff until then. Your show is late enough in the year where I should have the bugs in this bike sorted out by then (nothing happens fast around here). Looking forward to it...

A local gentleman and VJMC member, Dennis Bradley, had his vintage show in Blairsville a couple weeks ago but the weather did not cooperate. I didn't make it until late but better late than never, I suppose.

 

You have two differen bikes listed---

Maxim 700X is liquid cooled, and is XJ700XN
Maxim 700 air-cooled is XJ700N

 

Thought I fixed that... Sorry

 

Fixed it to what?

 

From the collector's perspective (not my own). See if you can find another set of wheels, and keep the original tires mounted on the original wheels.

 

I was figuring I'd just have them removed and keep them. You think it would make that much of a difference to someone? I think I saw some on eBay and will go take another look... Thanks

 

Thought I had corrected the model number in the signature.

 

How about correcting here in the forum where we can read it

 

I apologize but I don't understand. I changed my signature to '85 XJ700XN which the model for the 1985 water-cooled model (as per your first reply). If I go back and look at my posts since then that is what shows. I'll keep poking around with the settings and see if I can figure out what you are referring to. I must be missing something...

I can no longer edit the original post, I'm guessing there is a time limit of some sort on editing.

 

I think what he is saying is that the XJ700X is the water cooled, and the XJ700N is the air cooled. There isn't an XJ700XN model, so it is either an "X" or a "N".

 

I guess I should throw this book away


and the parts manual for the XSN

 

Well, I'll be darned! Didn't know an "X" and "N" went together! Odd couple.

 

XN
X = model designation
N = year

1982 = J
1983 = K
etc.

 

I went over to the online service manual at http://xjcd.org/node/1008 and used the model number indicated there.

I guess I'm not the only one that is confused because if you go to http://maxim-x.com/specifications.html it is listed as an XJ700X. XJ Bikes member Chacal has some very comprehensive information here https://www.xjbikes.com/forums/threads/service-manual-and-specs-xj700s-maxim.119242/ that indicates the water-cooled version is an XJ700XN.

My service manual also lists it as an XJ700XN but it's not an original manual. I just downloaded it from the Internet.

So I think I'm gonna go with XJ700XN for now until I find some additional information telling me otherwise.

 

As long as it runs well, who cares!

 

Well, it'll be a while before I find out how it runs. I just pulled the carbs a couple days ago to begin a full disassembly and cleaning. Found birdseed in the airbox being stored by some critter so I know it's been a long time since it ran. I figure I have the whole winter to play with this so I'm just going to do one thing at a time, go through everything, and if things go well, will have it in good enough shape to ride by next spring or summer. Still trying to decide whether to do a full stripdown and repaint or just so some serious maintenance and cleaning on it. Have to admit though, the more I tinker with it the more I want to do a total teardown. We'll see...

 

Dean,

Welcome aboard! Glad to see the model designation got sorted out.

By the looks of the picture, your bike seems to be it very good shape. Doing the total teardown involves a lot of effort, but you'll reassure yourself that everything has been checked and replaced as needed. On these bikes that were made over 30 years ago, doing so will help make sure it's safe and fun to ride.

Lots of info and resources here, and there's always great advise and assistance on any topic/repair you need help with.

Tony