Ted's '82 XJ750 Maxim Bobber

Re: Bringing a '82 XJ750 Maxim back to life-might need some

[/quote]

constantly lifting on the shifter, hunting for one more gear...
Like the valve cover respray[/quote]

:lol: Yep.. spent plenty of time looking for "6th gear when I got on I-29! Funny that you mention the valve cover.. that's one of the few things I haven't resprayed yet! :lol: PO did it.. it actually looks pretty rough in real life and is the biggest eyesore on the bike. I'm going to redo it eventually but waiting until I have the cash flow to replace the gasket and seals at the same time.

 

Re: Bringing a '82 XJ750 Maxim back to life-might need some

Got my new headlight in the mail today and it's already installed (plus got rid of the Atari guage cluster). This was waaaaaay easier than I even expected it to be and only took about 45 minutes for the whole swap. I followed instructions from this thread (thanks cturek!):
http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic ... art=0.html

The only issue I have is no light for the rear (foot) brake but the front brake light is good to go. Any ideas?

For those who are interested ~ this is the factory headlight from an '83 XJ1100 and bolted right on to the existing ears from the square bucket with no modification necessary!

Here's a couple pics.. I might be interested in selling the square lights and cluster if anyone is interested but they're not in great shape. The tach needle is broke off and the speedo never quite worked right. The large headlight has a crack in the top of the housing that was duct taped and the smaller aux light is in good shape but I think it needs a new bulb.

 

Re: Bringing a '82 XJ750 Maxim back to life-might need some

Going out tonight to look at a Vstar solo seat from craigslist.. I'm hoping it will work without much modification. I can't wait to hack the rear end off this thing and give it a little attitude. It's bad enough that the rear end and seat on these were built ugly from the factory but the damn seat isn't even comfortable!! I know others have complained about this but it's like the friggin thing is pushing you up towards the tank. :evil:

Here's a pic of the seat from CL - the guy is asking $35 OBO.. great deal, hope it'll work, I'll keep ya's posted!



In other related news; I was cruising through town Saturday night, minding my own business and enjoying the new view from my seat, and this little #@$%&^ SOB popped out of the darkness in a city park on my right side, wound up and chucked a "Big Gulp" full of ice right at my newly installed headlight! :evil: It didn't really do any harm but in the right circumstance could've been deadly. I turned my head back and yelled some expletives (that he probably couldn't hear or understand through my helmet). I can't even explain how badly I wanted to pull over and smash his face into the curb but I'm sure he had the rest of the basketball team hanging out in the shadows behind him with a small aresenal of shanks, gats, spears, or whatever.

Long story short - be careful out there guys! There's a lot of A-holes out there and ya never know what's gonna' come at ya'!

 

Re: Bringing a '82 XJ750 Maxim back to life-might need some help

You're a wiser man than me. I once had a bum throw a bag of trash in the road in front of me. I could *see* his friends were there. Didn't keep me from stopping and giving him a "talking to"

 

Re: Bringing a '82 XJ750 Maxim back to life-might need some help

Yeah, I can't help but feel like I should've done something. At least called the cops on him or whatever. I can tell ya' next time I ride through his side of town I'll be making good use of my concealed weapons permit.

 

Re: Bringing a '82 XJ750 Maxim back to life-might need some

The Vstar seat was a no-go.. waaaay too wide. I'm sure if a guy had the time & tools you could make one work but not me. I'll probably go with one of these:

http://www.rustyriders.net/seats/new-so ... 13-x9.html

but really wish I had the dough for one of these:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/LaRosa-Rustic-B ... 7b&vxp=mtr

Stuck at work now but hopefully I get sometime to squeeze in a "birthday ride" tonight! Happy birthday to me!!!

 

Re: Bringing a '82 XJ750 Maxim back to life-might need some help

Happy Birthday TTT

 

Re: Bringing a '82 XJ750 Maxim back to life-might need some

Well between my birthday on the 28th and getting married on Sep.2, it's been a hectic couple of weeks but now back to business. I spent some of our wedding gift money on some '82 Virago bar clamps from fleabay and some new handlbars from TC Bros. choppers. I paid a little extra for express shipping so hopefully they'll be here tomorrow or Saturday.

I know a lot of people like to replace these goofy 2-piece bars and it's hard to find any good info on how to do it. I'm going to try to take a lot of pics and document the process so, if it works, can be a good guide for others.

Here's a couple pics of the bars and clamps. I hope these look good.. I wanted something a little different but these could be either really cool or even goofier than factory. 8O I might go with some drag bars or something lower profile eventually if I bob/hardtail it.

 

Re: Bringing a '82 XJ750 Maxim back to life-might need some help

hmm, not sure how those virago clamps work, usually guys just take the triple tree from an 83 and use that to convert to 7/8" bars.

And just a suggestion for if you are planning to run the garmin most of the time - fab up a nice mount into the bars or buy a motorcycle mount, replae the original fusebox with a blade style box, and then wire in a 12v plug into the extra bank on the new fusebox. I just ran a jumper from another wire that was hot when the key was "on"

then you dont have to worry about pulling it off the bike to charge it or worry about long road trips.

happy birthday and congrats on the wedding as well!

 

Re: Bringing a '82 XJ750 Maxim back to life-might need some help

Thanks buddy!

I like where you're heads at on the garmin - I actually got a mount (again from ebay) that I'm hoping I can squeeze it in between the clamps on the center of the handlebars. Great idea on the accessory plug though - I think I'll do that for sure.

I saw an old thread on here a few days back with a guy ( I think it was "the dude" with the purple '82 XJ750) that said he used 80's virago bar clamps and they worked like a charm.. we'll see. I'm hoping it will work but not holding my breath. From what I've seen I should just be able to pull the studs for the adjustable bars and put the Virago clamps back in the same hole but I may need to drill the hole out a little bigger and/or make a spacer to get the right thread depth. Either way, you guys will be the first to know!

Garmin mount:

 

Re: '82 XJ750 Maxim - it's alive, now for the fun stuff!

cool cool! keep us updated!

 

Re: '82 XJ750 Maxim - it's alive, now for the fun stuff!

Well I paid $23 for priority shipping and my handlebars still aren't here! :evil: Looks like they should be delivered today though - that's 7 days from Ohio to South Dakota.. I'm not impressed.

Hopefully I'll be bar-swapping tonight!

Slapped a pinstripe on the tank last night for fun.. I kinda' like it.

Also relocated the ignition switch to under the tank - super easy, no extra fabbing.. only took about 15 minutes.

Blinkers are gone, too!
Pics!

 

Re: '82 XJ750 Maxim - it's alive, now for the fun stuff!

do you have to be off the bike to put the key in now?

 

Re: '82 XJ750 Maxim - it's alive, now for the fun stuff!

Nope. I can reach right under the tank and do it while seated on the bike.. took a few times to get used to the location but now I can do it without bending all the way down and around to look at it. The only issue I've noticed is that you can't have extra keys or a dangly keychain. I had a little ceramic skull keychain that went flying when the shocks compressed and it bounced off the tire. :lol:

 

Re: '82 XJ750 Maxim - it's alive, now for the fun stuff!

STOKED!! Just got word that my new bars are waiting for me at home!! I sure hope these bar clamps work...

Also plan on doing this "seat shave' mod soon, this link is now pasted here so I don't have to waste another 45 minutes searching for it next time :lol: And maybe someone else will want to try it too..

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=1 ... art=0.html

Pics should be on the way later tonight or tomorrow!

~ might be time for the "powers that be" to move this to the XJ Modifications forum

 

Re: '82 XJ750 Maxim - it's alive, now for the fun stuff!

Well almost everything worked like a charm.. my only problem is the brake line is too short to stand the bars up straight where I want them. I guess the next step is a longer brake line but I'm not sold on the bars yet. They're a little smaller than I expected & kinda' look like bicycle handlebars. :?

The Virago bar clamps worked pefectly - no drilling or other modification necessary but I had to use a 1/2" spacer to get the right thread depth. I stopped by the local Ace Hardware and picked up a couple of 1/2" bushings that were perfect.

Garmin mount is perfect too.

Pics and a handle bar how-to should be on the way later tonight or tomorrow.

Cheers! 8)

 

Re: '82 XJ750 Maxim - it's alive, now for the fun stuff!

Here's the link for the bar/clamp swap.. pretty simple stuff:

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=39729.html

Couple pics o' the ride:

 

Re: Ted's '82 XJ750 Maxim - bar swap done, sort of.

Just thought I'd throw up a quick update here. Not much done lately but gearing up for some more work. I actually ditched the big gawdy chrome license plate bracket the other night & really like the way it cleans up the rear-end. Headed out to the garage now to replace my clutch cable and I got a longer SS upper brake line that I hope to install tomorrow or Saturday so I can bring the bars back a little.

Here's a pic with me and my dad on our first real ride together. Had a great time & I'm sure it will be one of those memories I'll always cherish but I think I need to work on my tough biker look! 8)



Couple more shameless bike pics! :lol:

 

Re: Ted's '82 XJ750 Maxim - bar swap done, sort of.

Okay, new clutch cable installed.. that was easy!!

The old cable was in rough shape. It looks like someone sliced away some of the insulation of the cable to squirt lube in there maybe? Regardless, it didn't seem very safe so definitely worth the $15 and 20 minutes.

Proof - and a couple before and after pics of that big ugly license plate bracket.

 

Re: Ted's '82 XJ750 Maxim - new clutch cable, shameless pics,etc

You did lube the new cable, right?

About repositioning the ignition switch there...

You've already had the tire bite off a key fob.

Does it ever rain in SD? Any sprinkler systems or car washes there? What will happen to the ignition switch if you run through a puddle?

You might want to put a front fender back on. The stock fender incorporates a rather beefy fork brace under its center section and just removing the fender will "unhinge" the front end a bit.