Old Bike, Possible New Project.. New to Mechanics..

I bought my 1983 XJ650 Maxim several years ago from a good friend. It was the bike I learned to ride on, thus has a lot of sentimental value. It was running when I got it, but died shortly after (turned it over every few days and killed the battery I think). The battery I bought and charged I think got overcharged as the battery was hot and leaking some fluid (which I cleaned). I tried it anyways and it still didn't start up so it went into storage for a few years.

My friend bought the bike when it had about 6k~ miles on it and sold it to me with 13387 on it. He checked the valves and they were all good when he got it and told me I probably wouldn't need to check them. I am honestly terrified to attempt something like a valve clearance check, I don't want to get into the internals of the motor for fear of messing it up.

I've got some income tax money (about $500) that I can spend on the bike I'm thinking, though I keep trying to talk myself into just buying a V-Twin, which would cost more :-/

Fast forward to yesterday, I finally got it moved to my house and in my shop. Here are a list of issues I've noticed so far:

Gas has been sitting almost full in the tank, so I've noticed no rust in the tank, thankfully. I'm pretty sure the carbs will be gummed up and I'll need a new inline fuel filter and of course new gas. I was hoping to not have to take the carbs off or apart, as the extent of my mechanical knowledge is putting a header and a CAI on an MR2 Spyder.

Front forks have too much bounce, they are air adjustable, yet no residue down the forks and the seals aren't cracked. There is a bit of residue on the seal themselves. Not sure if I can just put more air in them, or if I would have to change out the fork oil and seals.

Surface rust EVERYWHERE. On the frame would be easiest to remove, as I've found some paint that eats away rust (or something of that nature). Though many of the chrome parts and various parts of the motor (mainly the pieces that are connecting a bolt or whatnot) have rust on them. Is there anything short of getting a dremmel or sandpaper to them that I can do? The rear shocks are also covered in surface rust, though I may just replace these.. I did find a $100 set of nitro shocks a few years ago that would work, though I can't recall where I found them or what the model was to find them again.

Ignition button is gone, though a makeshift one was put on the bike, it was held on with zip ties. Any other way to do this, or do I just need to purchase a new throttle assembly?

Oxidatin n the motor: I'm sure I can find some cleaner to get it off, so I'm not as worried about this.

From what I recall, the carbs were let out mostly when my friend put open headers on the bike, which I'll have to retune somehow.

Most of the other things are just cosmetic that I have to buy replacements for: Rear turn signals, front turn signals, etc.

I think that about sums it up, if I find or think of more I'll update this main post.

I've been considering just selling the bike as-is and getting a Honda Sabre 1100 due to it being a V-Twin and requiring no valve clearance checks (hydraulic lifters, yay!). But my heart is tied to this bike, I fell in love even more with motorcycles after I rode it and feel as though getting rid of it would be like getting rid of a chapter in my book of life.. I just don't know mechanics well enough and may get far too frustrated attempting to repair what I consider a 'basket case' of a bike.

On a side note, I have no tools (sad I know, though I used my friend's tools when I lived with him, which is where the bike was in storage). So I found a roadside tool kit from Chacal (another reason I want to try and stay with this bike, where else can I find a great community and an awesome vendor to find all my parts from!)

EDIT: Can any parts from my 1977 KZ650 work for my XJ650? Like the throttle grip and starter button?

Sorry for such a long post.

 

Question #1: Do you want to learn? There is a LOT to be done there; but it's not as daunting as it may seem at first. Chacal has horn/starter button kits as well as fork rebuild parts, etc.

Question #2: Are you prepared to spend a tad more than that $500, and acquire some more tools and manual(s) along the way?

Question #3: Do you have the time and patience to "learn as you go" and be careful and thorough? If you can read a manual and follow instructions, you can do this. And learn a whole lot in the process.

Question #4: Ready to get your hands dirty? Get frustrated? Feel triumphant? Be amazed?

Wanna RIDE A CLASSIC?

If so, then let's rock and roll. But yes, it will require carb work, a valve clearance check, etc., etc. No shortcuts.

Your first quest will be for a service manual. The Haynes is acceptable, a factory manual even better. I prefer both, myself.

 

Hey Gig,

let me say a few things that hopefully will help you to see things a little clearer:

1. Welcome to to the list, you're at the right place

2. your heart is at the right place

3. if you stay here, ask ANY question regarding your bike, we WILL help you get through it.

4. DO NOT look at the BIG picture. BIG picture says, "Holy crap, I have so much to do......I can't do that". Look at the small picture. SMALL picture says, "I need to do THIS one task". THEN you look at the next SMALL picture, etc......... take it ONE step at a time, and you'll get there.

5. Start button-- you can put a new button in. The contol pod is totally accessible if you just take your time, draw pictures, or take notes of where things go. If you get stuck, WE'RE HERE. If it is broke, there's plenty of parts available through members here.

6. Valve shims - you can do it. You are NOT going deep into the engine. You simply pull the tank off, a couple other things, and then you remove the valve cover which is just the top cover of the engine. Once that is removed, you're looking at the cams and the shims are under the cams. You DO NOT remove the cams for this job. You CAN do it yourself.

7. Carbs-- if you are too afraid to go into them, that's ok........I'll come back to that in a second.

If you search the forums for the forum called, "in the church of clean", you can read and re-read it, then do it yourself.

Now, if you're still to afraid to go into them, there are people here who are willing to help. I, for one. If you want to send them up, I'd do the rack for you, and we can talk particulars off-list at that point.

8. These bikes are old, we know that. BUT we also know that once they are brought back to condition, they are stone-cold reliable. I don't know as we can say that for others.

9. New bikes look nice, but OUR bikes turn the heads when they are done well.

10. If you heart also says, "But I DO want a new bike", then here's a suggestion== get yourself your new bike, and enjoy riding it BUT KEEP THE XJ and take your time restoring it. Do each step as best you can, making each part look as best you can. When you ride it, you'll enjoy your first bike, your first RESTORED bike, that YOU did yourself. Not only did you first learn to ride on it, you then learned to WRENCH on it. YOu'll end up being an XJ expert like many others here.

11. There ARE other things you will need to to do bring the bike back 'from the dead' but we are here to help you through each and every step. You CAN do it.


My first bike was an xj650 maxim. The first thing I ever learned to do was to figure out how to remove the carbs so that I could take somewhere to have cleaned. That's all I knew at the time, cuz that's all I figured out. I didn't even know this group existed. Then I had to figure out how to put them back in. THen I had to figure out how to remove a rim, remove the master cyl, etc.......all without help. I figured it out, but man, if I knew THEN that this group was here, I'd have been SO far ahead.

Now, it took about a week and I had the bike running, it was reliable to the day I sold it 12 yrs later, the new owner has been riding it two years, and loves it.

It took a Second Place trophy in the 10th year that I had it. You know the drill....find a nice new part and put it on. Ooooooh, another new part!--I think I'll put it on. OOooooooh, look at that, I'll get that and get rid of a rusty part....now look at the nice chrome!!!!, etc.......

Mommy look at the pretty bicycle!......That's not a bicycle dear, that's a beautiful old Goldwing........that's not a goldwing, ma'am, that's a 1983 XJ650 K Maxim. I restored it myself.....that's my first bike and I learned to ride on it many umpteen years ago, and I bought back years later, and then learned how to repair things, and I LOVE it SO much that I just HAD to restore it.. I'm gonna hug it, and kiss it, and squeeze it, and I'm gonna call it 'George'...........oh, wow--that's an incredibly touching story, it brought a tear to my eye. As a matter of fact, I'm going to vote for THIS one. I hope you win the big trophy. Good luck! (that IS a beautiful, bike, isn't it? Daddy's isn't NEARLY as nice as that, and his harley is only a year old.......................................................

STAY with us, STAY with it..............

Dave F

 

ScreamingG,

Welcome to the club. X1 What they ^ said.

Gary

 

I like it when complete strangers, little old ladies, whoever, says: "I don't know anything about motorcycles but that sure is a beautiful bike. Is that new?"

 

Responses in red.

 

Responses are in red. I do really like older bikes, though I'd much prefer a Virago or XS650 due to fewer cylinders, I just don't have one and would rather work with what I have and perhaps get an XS650 later.

 

if you wanna ride this thing within a couple months then you needs to break it down into what it needs to be SAFE. most important thing when you are riding is your safety.

So brakes, tires, and hand controls need to be in tip top shape. You need to be able to stop the bike, steer the bike and control the bike don't you?

next is Carbs, they get a section by themselves, they need to be cleaned and tuned so that it doesn't do something unexpected and leave you stranded somewhere.

last are lights, signals, having a look over your wiring, battery, and your gauges, just to ensure everything is functioning properly.

not everything needs to be ripped right apart just check that everything is working.

the brakes and carbs are the two areas where you need to get them pulled apart. if some things are too far outside your comfort zone of wrenching then look into getting someone else to work on those specific areas.

After some experience with working on your bike you may warm up to just diving in wrench and screwdriver in hand and learning by doing.

Good luck and hang in there

 

If you can take apart, clean, and reassemble a gun and do board work on computers, then you can do what you need to do for this bike. I'd bet it is mostly intact if it was running, and will basically need your attention and effort and only a few actual parts.

I have two Virago's and although they are slightly cheaper than XJ's to repair etc., they aren't as reliable or nearly as much fun. The XS models were the L.C.Ancestor to the XJ's and as such the XJ's are evolved beyond them. Much of what Yamaha designed for the XJ line is still in use today in their sport bikes. XJ's are great bikes, plenty fast, and have a reputation for being extremely well designed and built.

You will be shocked how easy the valve adjustment really is once you've done it. They should be checked about every 5k miles, but often only a few or even none will need adjustment-but no way to tell if you don't check em. Your valves will 'tick' audibly at idle when they are adjusted right. If they are silent they are way tight (see engine failure). I owned a Nighthawk with hydraulic valves, they add weight and can be very expensive when they do fail-I felt just like you at the time though-now I know better.

Lots of parts online and often locally you can find a parts bike. XJ4Ever our parts guru (top right of page) has a ton of parts and the best service you will find. Here's an ebay sample.

http://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_trksid= ... &_from=R40

The hardest things to do on these bikes are related to opening up the cases and rebuilding internals. I seriously doubt you will need to worry about that with the mileage this bike has as long as you get fresh fluids in there and do the preventative maintenance.

You will need other tools, but I would just pick them up as needed so you don't spend all your dough on things you may or may not need. I'd say that is always a good policy for doing a project. It is possible if your dedicated you can be riding before the hot humid 10lb mosquitoes return.

Welcome to the site, and welcome to your new OCD passion. Those tendencies will serve you well with this.

 

Good checklist. As far as carbs, my cousin said if I can pull them and bring them to him he would look at them. Though I'm thinking of doing what I read here and getting four containers and taking each of them apart.. The quicker I learn about them, the easier they will be to take apart and tune the next time. I much prefer carbs over FI due to the simplicity (once I've learned) to tune and fix.

 

The Viragos aren't as reliable? I was always under the impression that V-Twins would always be more reliable than inline 4s.. I do remember reading somewhere that the parallel twins like the XS had some mechanical issues due to the design, is this true? I've always wanted to build a cafe-style bike.. LOVE Cafe Racers.

Thanks for the ebay link! I was searching for Throttle Assembly I think and wasn't getting much of anything, though the ones that your search link brought up won't work for the XJ650. :-/

 

MercuryMan,

Just found this one on eBay.. Will it work? It doesn't look anything like mine but it has my bike listed as one that it will work for. Mine has a twist turn knob for the RUN switch and a round start button.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/RIGHT-SWITCH-CO ... 81&vxp=mtr

 

as long as the plug for the electrical is the same then it should be a direct swap.

 

If your right control pod is actually broken, as in, the casting is broken, then it's time for a new one. If the metal castings themselves are not broken, then you only need whatever internal parts are faulty. It's a simple clamshell.......top and bottom. top has the switch (which is easily replace-able) the start button is a simple button with a spring, inside a cage (which is removeable). These parts are all READILY available.

That all said, if the casting is broken, PM me, I probably have one around here somewhere. If I don't, someone else does....IF someone else doesn't, ebay always does.

Valve shim job, it takes longer to explain than it does to do. The tool will be more complicated than using the simple zip tie method. Search the archives for the write ups on it. Also, let us know where you are located....probably a list member is near you.

That is NOT the correct right control for your bike. It MIGHT work, but for that cost or less, you can get the correct item.

Virago--They are a reliable bike, but the starter gear 'rocks in a box' problem of the 81-84 750 and 920 models is also reliable. If you haven't had it happen yet, you WILL. If you had it happen and fixed it, it WILL come back. They are KNOWN for it. Maybe is should say FAMOUS for it, or REKNOWNED for it. LOL The later (84-and a half on), were better. They went to a different to a 4 brush starter and changed the starter stuff a little bit to alleviate the issue. The rest of the bikes from 84+ on up, are BASICALLY a maxim design without the engine cradle, and very similar to the 85-86 xj700. There are differences, but loads of similarities and cross-over of parts, too.

Dave F

 

Why not just get a CORRECT switch pod, they're all over eBay. Any year 650 Maxim and any of the 550s are the same, plug-n-play.

If you want RELIABLE then you absolutely have to catch up on the maintenance. Which does include the valve clearances. They were supposed to have been checked initially at 3000 miles, and they DO need to be checked every 5000 miles. The reason being, the clearances tighten as they wear, not loosen. Eventually they can hit zero clearance, at which point the valve is no longer closing properly and will quickly become burnt. Pulling the head to replace a valve is one heck of a lot more complicated than just staying on top of the required maintenance in the first place.

The V-Twin Virago and the XS series of twins have screw-type valve adjusters which makes the work a tad easier; but THEY need to be checked and adjusted more frequently.

The only bikes you'll find that don't need valve adjustment at some point are those with hydraulic lifters, like the Honda Nighthawk used to be. Most high-performance engines still have shim adjusted valves, except that most now have the shims UNDER the buckets like the "X" motors (camshaft removal required to adjust.)

The bottom line is this: an XJ Yamaha can be as turn-key stone reliable as any modern bike. But to get it to that point, it has to be brought current on maintenance, and kept that way. Once everything has been properly remediated, you can go 5K miles at a time with nothing but gas in the tank, an oil change and keeping an eye on the water in the battery and the air in the tires.

But you have to get it completely to that point. Until you do, it won't be "reliable." Rideable, certainly. Reliable, not so much.

 

Make that "infamous." It's why I don't have an XV920R in the garage right now.

I wonder if they fixed that in the later 980cc European version, the TR1?



Did somebody say "Cafe Racer?" This one's just too sexy, I couldn't resist:

 

Yup, that too...............

Maybe that would explain why the only 920 parts I have are just that-----parts, no complete bike. LOL

Dave F

 

The red one looks like a Seca with a V-Twin put in the frame!

 

Virago's starters are a PIA and even the fix is marginal, they did redesign it later but some early V's can't use the new starter. They also had problems with the back cylinder overheating which could lead to component failures-I've seen it now on several 750's. I'd bet in most of those cases the owner wasn't doing proper maintenance. Other than those things they are rock solid. I haven't heard anything really bad about the XS's-just that they weren't as good a mousetrap as the XJ's.

I'm fairly sure that ebay link I posted has several right hand controls which match yours. Keep in mind several XJ parts are interchangeable, not all but many. You just have to check the part #'s, or ask the seller questions, or post the ones you think match yours up here and let us look to id them. It's just a matter of taking the time to investigate. Once you think you have one then you must assess the seller as completely as possible (ie read the small print) and/or ask questions to determine the likelihood of getting what you need.

 

Fitz......you sure come up with some nice pics...........

dave