Smack's XJ550 Maxim build

Well like lots of stories on here, I bought the bike in pretty sorry shape and have been rebuilding it over the winter. Most of the components are ready to go, just need time and the occasional helper to put it together. Enjoy!

 

Just finished making my new brake/turn signal housing. I swapped out the plate light for 2 LED bulbs, and installed a brake light modulator hooked up to 2 LEDs. The everything, including the mount for it was made specifically for this. Tested it with the spare battery, thank god everything works, those were some cramped spaces for a lot of wires.

 

looks good man. where abouts in bc are you located?

 

Thanks CG. I'm in Prince George. You guys still got snow there?

 

It was a pretty busy afternoon. My cousin came over and helped me get the engine into the frame, and I spent the next few hours putting stuff back together.



Ok I was really busy...



Vroom vroom

 

yup, i have got a few feet to melt still before i can get the bike out of storage.

 

Well I took a few days off to a busted thumb, but since it's healing nicely, I got back to work. Reassembled the cluster, now with an aluminum front piece, with acrylic up front. I also added a digital voltmeter to the tach side.



Mounted.


Getting there.

 

Looks great. I love the little details and that you re used the stock air box. Keep up the good work.

 

Well after chasing down some electrical gremlins which fried more 10A fuses than I'm happy to admit (which ended up being a shorted starting relay), I finally got the mufflers mounted, and attached leads for a battery tender. Mounted the pegs after I took the pics. All that's left to do is bleed the front brake and attach the carbs. Well, yeah I still have to set up the headlight, but I'm waiting for a new steering crown because this one cracked

 

How did you get those awesome aluminum pieces into your guages?

 

The glass on the originals were all hazy and yellow, and that matte faceplate had numerous cracked which let light through, annoying the crap out of my at night. I tried prying them out from behind to no avail. So I grabbed a hammer and got smashy smashy

The outer rubber liner for both gauges were intact and in great shape, so I cleaned all the old resin out of the gauges, and then started cutting acrylic for the front. Put the rubber on them, installed, epoxyied, resined. Then I cut out the aluminum pieces with a Dremel. They actually go all the way around the gauge, you just can't see it. Wet sanded the face of the aluminum with 1000 grit. Coated the edges in gasket maker, let it dry, installed them behind the acrylic, using epoxy and extrs resin layers to secure them. Nothing too difficult, definitely time consuming. I probably put about 15 hours in to get that result.

 

So today, most of my time went into assembling a new bbq, but after that, I bled the brake, mounted the carbs, and hooked up the tank. I tried starting it, but to no avail. A quick check revealed a kinked fuel hose. Luckily I have a spare, but it will have to wait a day or 2, as it is presently wicked stormy outside.

 

Nice build. The frame and engine look great. I plan to do some similar painting next winter once I flush out the mechanical side of my xj750.

What mufflers did you install, where did you pick them up?
J

 

Thanks! Got the mufflers on ebay

 

Finally got it running, though it is a little wonky. I suspect a lean mixture, but I'll leave that for tomorrow. Still no steering head, but when that arrives, I'll put on the headlight.

 

Very Nice!! Can you shed some more info on the mufflers?

 

http://pages.ebay.com/motors/link/?nav= ... 0858108088

Got them from ebay, basically everything else came from Len (huge, huge, huuuuuge shout out, by the way). They came with spacers, but I didn't need em. Got new collector-to-muffler gaskets from XJ4Ever and they just slipped right over them. The mount that comes with them was straight, so it took some bending, drilling, and cutting, but it turned out pretty nice. I'll get some pics of those for you tomorrow.

 

I love this. It's something i really want to do. Especially the seat. How did u get it on there? Is that the stock seat just reupholstered? Any welding or anything like that? I'm trying to avoid ruining the frame but what it to sit lower and look smoother like ur bike does.

 

Thanks! Yup, original seat just shaped and reupholstered. PO was an aircraft upholesterer and did it himself. He had to cut and weld a couple places on top of thr frame to make the seat fit. Aside from that, everything I did was basically a fresh rebuild. Full engine rebuild, new gaskets everywhere, valves lapped and clearances to spec, new brakes front and back, new brake lines, rebuilt calipers and MC... the list goes on. She runs like a dream! I'll post a pic when I get home from work this weekend.

 

Well it's been way too long since I worked on the bike. I was on call for work the last 3 weeks and expected to stay home for most of it, but they had other plans for me.

Spartacus, here's the pic of the muffler mount. It was straight and about 9 inches long, so I cut it down, and bent it to the angles I needed.



While I was out of town for the last week, the new grips and bar end mirrors I ordered arrived. Since I have 34 hours off this weekend, that was my project today. You were right Fitz, the look of the bike changes for sure, but I am very impressed with these.