New to xjbikes! And xj's... And.... Bikes

What's up guys, I recently saw a nice shiny bike sitting next to the road on the way to work a month ago and since have found out I found a pretty sweet ride. This is what caught my eye 8O (That's what i did when i saw it, I mostly just wanted to use that smiley because it is awesome and I have never seen one like it before hahaha)


But anyway, I am new to the site, xj's in general, and bikes as a whole. Been wanting to get riding for a few years now but finally just happened to stumble upon one heck of a deal so here I am with a bike! It has 38k on the odo but you would never be able to tell looking at the bike. Here's another picture of it in my garage


Better pictures to come, I just re-did the side covers so the "MAXIM" is gold again, next up is to do the gas tank emblems.

Umm what else.. The bike was taken very well care of on the mechanical side so I basically bought it and started riding it. Only thing that needs tending is the front brake doesn't turn on the brake light, the back brake does though so for now I just make sure to let people know I am stopping with the back brake.

For now I suppose that's it, let me know what you guys think! Feel free to ask questions about the bike as well!

 

Welcome and nice find!

 

Nice find!! I had the same expression when I came across my xj...love at first sight!!


Welcome to the club...you definitely came to the right place! There are lots of helpful people here with TONS of experience with these bikes. If you happen to need parts (which I'm sure you will at some point), XJ4EVER has everything you'll ever need! PM member Chacal, email info at xj4ever. Com, or click the banner at the top of the page.

I'll start with a few of the basics
First off do you have a service manual? If not you should get one...they're filled with information that you NEED to know. Second check the date codes on all of your brake hoses...their life expectancy is only 4 years. Tires have day codes too...they're good for 6 years. Also check your fusebox , if its the original with old glass fuses you may want to replace it with a new one with plastic blade style fuses and save yourself some trouble later.

That'll get you started. I'm sure others more experienced than myself will have more to add.

Happy riding!!

 

Nice find!! I had the same expression when I came across my xj...love at first sight!!


Welcome to the club...you definitely came to the right place! There are lots of helpful people here with TONS of experience with these bikes. If you happen to need parts (which I'm sure you will at some point), XJ4EVER has everything you'll ever need! PM member Chacal, email info at xj4ever. Com, or click the banner at the top of the page.

I'll start with a few of the basics
First off do you have a service manual? If not you should get one...they're filled with information that you NEED to know. Second check the date codes on all of your brake hoses...their life expectancy is only 4 years. Tires have day codes too...they're good for 6 years. Also check your fusebox , if its the original with old glass fuses you may want to replace it with a new one with plastic blade style fuses and save yourself some trouble later.

That'll get you started. I'm sure others more experienced than myself will have more to add.

Happy riding!!

 

nice! update your sig! Welcome!


check the rear brakes for delamination, date codes on the tires, and adjust the valve shims before you ride it!!

 

Welcome to the site !!

+1 on safety checks,
Hopefully your engine IS well maintained, but if you don't have your valve lash #'s IN WRITING, then you'll never know if you are close to burning a valve.

Takes an hour to pop that cover and have a look.
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(no rear delam problem with disc brakes, handlebar switch is an easy swap, see Chacal)

 

Thanks guys

Yes midnightmoose luckily the PO had a service manual so it came along with the bike. I see you have an 83 midnight maxim, my brother has one as well, having one heck of a time finding a right side cover haha. But anyway, the tires have <200miles on them, and not from sitting for over 6 years but they were new last year so they are good to go. About the brake lines.. Could this be the dreaded stamp from 1982? Sure looks like it. 1/82



Here is a pic of one of my refinished side covers just for fun, just a pic form my cell phone so not the best quality but it looks pretty nice out in the sun I must say.



And thanks to fitz I have been reading up on the procedure to check the clearances of the valve shims and will be probably checking that sometime soon.

What's this handlebar switch timetoride? I haven't encountered this yet in my exploring the site.

 

Yowzers, I'm always impressed with the size of those XJ1100s, the big big big brother of my XJ650. Nice work with the side cover btw!

Didn't realize that they had disk brakes in the back, does that have a 4 into 1 as well? Anyways welcome and enjoy!

 

Welcome. Nice bike and good job on the side covers.

 

thanks guys, and yeah mwhite there's a disc brake in the back, and a 4 into 1 exhaust. From what searching around I have done I am pretty convinced it is a MAC 4-1 exhaust system. I could easily be wrong though.