Need to make my 650 Maxim taller

Can you install a longer than stock of 12 3/4" rear shock on the 650 Maxim?
May be a shock from another bike. I am a tall guy and feel like I am on a mini bike.
Bill207

 

You can put a taller shock have the seat redone to make it taller and put different bars on it to stretch you out some. Try out some different bikes to see what it takes to make you more comfortable/ center stand the bike and sit on it put a phone book on the seat reach past the hand grips to see where they would be better then figure out if it is even possible to make the bike fit you

 

There ya go. Good advice.

Adjusting a bike to fit you is one of the things a lot of people simply don't do; it's the first thing I do.

In more direct response to your questions:

Yes, you certainly can fit slightly longer rear shocks. You don't have to fudge something from a different bike; just get a new set of longer shocks. Note that I said slightly. I wouldn't go more than a 13.5"

Raising the rear end will change the front end geometry in that rake and trail will decrease slightly making the bike a little more quick steering. Since the Max has "cruiser" numbers in the front it shouldn't prove to be much of an issue.

Another consideration is your driveshaft, we don't want it running at too sharp of an angle all the time. You might consider a switch to a Seca rear wheel (18") but since it requires a slightly narrower tire I don't know how much different the overall diameter would be.

A change of handlebar height and bend can have a major difference; changing out the irritating Jap handlebar is the first thing I've done to every Yamaha I've owned.

Recontouring the seat, even adding as little as 1" of foam while filling in the front "scoop" a bit also makes a world of difference.

I'm 6'5"+ but with lower bars plus a recontoured seat I'm really comfortable on my Seca 550. I didn't raise the suspension height, the Seca is taller to begin with. I just needed to be "un-cramped."

 

Thanks Waldo and Bigfitx
I will persue the Seca 18" wheel. May be some one on the forum can shed some light on the diameters of these two wheel and tire assemblies.
I am new to the site and you guys have one heck of a good forum. Thanks again Bill207

 

I've got a set of 1" risers on my stock bars (which I am fond of), an overstuffed seat and highway pegs for a 6'1" frame. The risers bring the handle bars back about 2" as well.

 

You might consider some forward foot controls to ease those long legs. I'm only 5'8 and I had to put some on mine. :wink:

 

I have an 81 750 seca with 12' eye to eye rear shocks and I put foreward off set risers for my long arms with small apes for my long arms, I lowered the seat height, (sculpted and sectioned it to look like the xj750 police seat) and made my own highway bars for my long legs (I'm 6'3") and I chopped the fenders and lowered the rear fender. I'd like to put a 16" wheel on back, wanna trade?
It won't effect your fit on the bike but it will raise it about an 1" I've currently got a 130/80 on it and give you about an 11% taller 5th gear.
Going to taller rear shocks and seca air forks with dual antidive disc brakes will give you about another 2"s on front. You could easily go to 13" tall rear shocks. The more you lift the rear the less comfortable it will be after about 120 mile ride.

 

You can do some of this from the comfort of your own computer. A guy on the AdventureRider forum developed an app so you can do this in a virtual world: http://pixplot.com/ergo/
Extremely cool idea and is getting rave reviews. You can adjust the "manequin" to your size as well as modify the seat/bar positions from stock.

 

I think Orange n Black has it.

I personally feel that making this model bike taller is not the answer to your problem.
Longer would be the "fix".
I am 6' 1" tall and have a low seat height and stock shocks but as soon as I put highway pegs on my crash bars I knew what comfort really was.

You should look into the forward controls from TC BROTHERS.
This is the link for your bike. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/YAMAHA-X ... 514wt_1167

 

Oh, I forgot to mention the tank lift.

 

one of things i did was to air up the front shocks. they only hold about 5 pounds i think it is. 1 more pound will fully extend em. rode that way for the last 3 years owned my first maxim. never bothered with the second maxim. now that i'm older the whole thing just felt like i was riding a scooter. literally

the suzuki i have now is about 2 inches taller. and 12 inches longer. add the power to the mix and now i feel like i have something between my legs.

 

I would really like to have a S83, it fits me well and having 1400cc's would be great.

 

can anyone tell me how to make my 650 into a 1400 ? :lol:

 

Thanks for all the replies
All of your idea's have give me something to think about.
Padre, thanks for the offer of the wheel swap but I want to keep my original wheel.
I am still searching for total diameters of the 130x90 x16 and 120x80 x18 hoping the 18 " wheel and tire assembly will boost the height of the bike 1 inch.
Another idea I like from Bigfitz was to remove the stock 12.750 shock and install 13.500 shocks which should give me 3/4 to 1 inch boost.
I have highway pegs already and that helps and another good idea from BillB
and Orange&Black.
Snowwy66, My 81 does not have air adjustable struts but I wish they did.
Zap, I will check out the Virtual World App, sounds interesting.

Thanks Again to all, Plenty to ponder.
bill207

 

Nitrous Oxide

 

my 82 had caps that you screwed off the top of the forks. underneath those caps was the air valves. one in each fork.

my magnas had one valve located in the bottom tree somewhere.

i never bothered with my 81 maxim so you might be right about not having an air valve. but i think air had to be pumped in them somehow.

 

Robert, I don't know if my bars are stock or not but they are buck horn style
and fit me well, my butt,arms and back are fine. If my legs were shorter the problem would be solved. Thanks for the input.
bill207

 

I will research to see if I can replace my fork caps with the 82 caps with air fittings, then I could blow the fork tubes up an inch or two.
Thanks for the idea.bill207

 

Or a really big shoehorn.

 

Filling in Yamaha's traditional "scoop" in the seat and adding an inch to the stock "ride platform" height made a world of difference for me.

Check these folks out: http://www.sargentcycle.com/custserv.htm They did both of my 550 seats, and did a superlative job on the recontoured one. Great work at reasonable prices, plus they're really nice people to deal with. We had more than one phone conversation in the process of getting my recontour job done and the results speak for themselves: