What did you do to your Yamaha today?

went to town yesterday, drove around, stopped at a friends house, headed out of town, and noticed my foot was getting really wet.

turns out one of my fuel lines cracked and broke.....

so i limped it back to my friends house, and got the hose replaced!

you're not a real biker, if you haven't fixed your bike on the side of the rode! hah.

 

I rode the 900 over to the FedEx Terminal area in Billerica and used their spacious loop around the Truck Terminal as a track for doing a series of Plug Chops.

I'd make a few loops and then gun-it good on the long straightaway and kill it.
Coast to a stop and pull those Plugs and get a good read on them for Tweaking the Pilot Miixture Screws on those Big Mikuni's.

After four or five loops around the place, this afternoon, I have all four Pilot Mixtures set ... EVENLY ... But, I don't have the Optimum setting for Air~Fuel dialed-in yet.

Looks like I have to add a bit of Richness, across the board, before I have the four holes all at a Mix that is going to get the Throttle Response to not hesitate getting cranked open from closed and coasting.

I'm close ... very close! Within the width of a Nickel or a Dime I'd say.
All I need is that little bit of extra Mixture that we need for sustaining Ignition coming off-idle. Coming off closed-throttle.

I'll get it!
So long as it doesn't rain tomorrow!

 

i t-boned a car at.. idk 30? 40?

photos later

 

Shit!

 

Yesterday:
New stator coil and oil/filter change.

 

Cleaned 3 of 4 carbs, need to order new float bowl gaskets (should have known better). Replaced shaft seals as well. Replaced factory fuse holders with new weather resistant ATO fuse box from this guy.

Tonight, finish remaining carb, wrap intake holders with an inner tube to augment the liquid e-tape, order new carb to airbox rubbers, and start in on the electrical connections. I'm getting there.

 

nothing today. but last night i broke a set of bar end mirrors i was trying to install. that kinda sucked.

 

Started experimenting with polishing the aluminum last night. Now I just need to get around to replacing that fuse box and putting in an inline FF.

 

Tuesday My front fairing broke off while driving home from work....

Luckely I could reach a save place for stopping on time...

Wednesday I tore the headlight out of the fairing and yesterday I puted on the bike again...

Now i have a XJ750 Naked Seca....

 

Dropped her off at the shop. : (

 

Got the carbs for my X pretty much reassembled; just gotta stick the remaining two starter plungers back in, and double-check the float heights. Then maybe next week I can see about cranking the thing over and see if she'll fire.

 

I just dished out my front seat about an inch to nothing so that it slopes back instead of forward. May have taken a little bit too much toward the back, if you do this be careful. Restapled cover with 1/4" arrow T50, found out how much my stapler sucked. Las night took off rear wheel, taking to garage today to get my new tire put on. I have a brake caliper rebuild kit on the way, along with new front brake lever. Seems that someone dropped the bike before me and liked the lever turning straight down.

 

Used the 650 to test some parts from the 750 and discovered a few things. The poor 650's electrical system has been modified quite a bit. Things have been rearranged all over the place.

For example, it is my understanding that the relay up front SHOULD be the starter circuit cut-out (e.g. in gear with clutch out, black), the one by the self-cancelling unit (blue mark) should be the headlight relay, and the one by the TCI (yellow mark) should be the side stand relay. Right?

Well, I have the headlight relay below the TCI (blue mark), the side stand realy up front (yellow mark) and the starter circuit cut-out (black) by the self-cancelling unit.

The bike runs just fine (though needs a few fresh tanks of gas and some Sea Foam run through it), but this kind of thing tells me that I'm going to have to dig deeper into this bike's wiring than I thought at first.

Oh, and discovered that the leads from the side stand switch have been cut, very close to the switch itself. Side stand switch works (I get about 10 Ohms when it's up, discontinuity when it's down), though I wonder if there's a connector anywhere to use!

Oh, well. One more thing for the To Do pile.

 

Colortuned the 900. Came-out great!
I can't believe that it took 25 years to come-up with the Colortune Plug!

The 900 is Blue on all four!
Nice Blue.
Frank Sinatra's eye's; Blue!

She's idling like a Chronograph Ticking-time!
Throttle Response is immediate ... and, that's what I was going for!

Those four big Mikuni's are Race Prepped and ready for some Street Fighting.
Would somebody get me the email address of the guy who invented Colortune and let me send him a note of thanks.

I like it when the Engine is right on the Edge of Fine-Tuning.
Hooked-up the Carb Sticks to check the Sync ... didn't have to Tweak it one little bit ... still dead-on from last year!

 

Dismantled the rear wheel rear brakes frozen, rusty and dirty . cleaned and lubed. and adjusted. , I HAVE BRAKES.

took the bike on its maiden voyage for testing (10 miles) she ran great and smooth now for the front brakes

man it sure does rev high in 5th gear wow lots of noise from the exhaust.

any suggestions for quieter pipes, like manufacturers stores ?????

1982 xs400j with 2 into 2. I was thinking longer pipes as the current end just before the center of the rear wheel. maybe take it to the back edge of the tire? i have no idea of the specs on the pipe, size and all, if anyone knows i would appreaciate it greatly.

 

Put new saddle bags on and rode. Fixing to redo my seat. Its to bulky right now.

 

Used the 650 as a tester for the 750's coils (see Resurrecting the 750). Worked pretty well. Took the 650 to get gas and revved it up high to make sure those coils are *good* and not just good at idle.

On the way to get gas, I see two people with helmets walking the other way. I stopped. It was my neighbor and his girlfriend. Apparently, his CBR 600 F4i quit on him. "I think the battery is dead."

I'm going to keep an eye out for a cheap F4i for sale soon.

Also found out some things about the 650's relays (and the 750's relays).

First of all, you can't trust the diagrams that show what's mounted where. They conflict with each other and are confusing. Sometimes they even show you things that don't exist! However, you CAN trust the WIRING diagrams. Based on the wire colors and some empirical testing, I have things mostly figured out.

I think the relays on the 650 are all in the right places, but the headlight and side stand relay *plugs* have been swapped. E.g. the wiring harness has been redone in some way such that the connector for the headlight relay (confirmed by wire colors and by "no headlight when plug is pulled") goes to the blue-marked relay mounted below the TCI. A quick comparison with the 750 suggests that this is the side stand relay (the 750 has no headlight relay, but DOES have a blue-marked side stand relay mounted below its TCI).

According to the wiring diagram, the headlight and side stand relays are *similar*, but not exactly the same. Some more investigation is in order here.

Also, it's useful to note that the wiring diagram shows that the relay mounted by the self-cancelling unit under the tank is the starter circuit cut-off relay. The "component location" diagram shows that the headlight relay is mounted there. The wiring diagram is the one that is correct, for both the 650 and the 750. *sigh*

More tomorrow, I hope.

 

Took the carbs off and tweeked them a bit and put them back on and took it for a short spin. (don't want to go to far no license,plates ,insurance or title for that matter . nice thing about a small town! Got a little worried first time out the clutch slipped a little when I got on it in 3rd & 4th gear and it idled fast after it warmed up. Messed with the clutch lever adjustment and idle screw and WHOA did that mf take of after that! Thing ran great! Now just got to finish working on the small things. lol

 

My clutch's friction point is near the end of the lever travel, so I wanted to screw in the adjuster at the clutch. The Haynes mentions a cover with two screws, well, I don't have that so I removed the footpeg and shifter in preparation for removing the side cover. Unfortunately for me, one of the 5mm allen bolts is frozen and of course it stripped. Cut a slot with a Dremel for a big screwdriver, still no luck. Then I notice this little rubber plug.... hmmmm.... no! They didn't! They did! Those thoughtful Yamaha engineers put a rubber plug over the clutch adjuster so you don't have to remove the side cover. The Haynes was simply wrong. :evil:

Unfortunately, after lubing the cable and adjusting the clutch, I'm still almost out of travel so it's time for new friction disks.

The good news is, I finally bent the shifter back where it belongs while it was off the bike. It's been hitting the alternator case ever since the bike was dropped a few years ago.

Shouldn't an XS400 have 6 gears? Mine does...

Yeah, the stock pipes are a bit loud for me too. I'm reluctant to mess with them, though, because it would probably require rejetting and I have enough problems with the stock carbs!

 

Today I found out that my 5kR idle was due to the throttle return hitting the boot clamp preventing full close! I also painted the battery covers and rear fender flat black. Installed new black handlebar-end mirrors and planned out where to cut the exhaust in order to install my new mufflers. Pics coming soon!

 

I did a brake stand in my Seca Turbo! I need new tires so I am thinking about smoking them on my way there. Or on a street right by there.

 

pics or it didn't happen

you'd have to have near perfect tires, brakes, shocks etcetc

these bikes are too heavy and setup to stay both wheels on the ground. If you did than awesome, with the tinytinytiny forks i would say stupid too...

550lbs on tinytiny forks = something to go wrong.

but i call B/S on the wheelies too.. shaft-drive, forward heavy engine etcetc...


but i do know that you can do a massive burnout!!!

 

I took the first step to getting mine up and running.....washed 14 years of dust and grime off it :wink: . Went to Iron pony Friday night and they closed 10 minutes after I got there so I was unable to pick up the stuff on my first parts list, a battery, oil change stuff, and chrome polish. Went back Saturday and they closed at 6, of course I showed up at 6:30 thinking they would be open till at least 8. I was wrong :evil:

 

Rode the 650. Don't have any idea how far or how fast, since the spedo is way off. I suspect I was going 90+ based on the wind. Had it wound up to 8000 or so in 5th gear.

Found out the gas cap leaks badly. Stopped at a little town north of here that is used to bikers. Got gas for both of us (pizza for me, unleaded for the ol' girl). Had to pop start it since the neutral sensor is intermittent. Got home and realized my jeans (and leg, and the right side of the tank) had gotten doused in gasoline. Wonderful.

But I tell you what: She runs great. Definitely still needs some love. She acts like a bike that has been abused and just needs some steady TLC for a couple of years and she'll be back in top shape. Even at 8000+ in 5th, she still had some pull left! Woo!

 

new fork seals, headlight, oil & filter, lubed chain, lubed cables, adjusted other crap, and rode it 55 miles afterward. she runs soooo good right now!

 

Took her out for the first good run of the year...nice low end grunt after some carb tuning last year (thanks Rick). Everything else is nice and smooth... now on to the brake lines, after that, some cosmetic fixes and basic maintenance....

Added pics of the signals, mirrors and Truck bed liner painted tank to my rebuild page....

tynernt .... A XS400 Maxim has 5 gears, the Seca has 6 (think this goes for the XJ's too)

 

Forgot to mention that I got the top plug removed from one of the fork tubes of the donor 650. At first glance, you'd think this fork was going to be useful purely for learning purposes, but the corrosion appears to be superficial. The retaining ring came right out and cleaned up nicely! The O-ring on the plug looks good, and was keeping all the fork oil in there (which I hadn't drained, so it promptly poured out onto my workbench. Looking forward to figuring the forks out so I can renew the seals on both sets for the 650s.

Oh, and found out that my 750 kinds resembles a newer model Seca (square lights), but is in all likelihood a 750 MAXIM. Anyone want to confirm? VIN starts with JYA15R. Google says "XJ750J", which is a Maxim, right? Seca would be an RJ and would be JYA5G2?

 

Well, not all done today, but over the past couple of weeks:

- Installed windshield (National Cycle Deflector Screen DX - 85.00 at Motorcycle Accesory Warehouse www.mawonline.com.

- New skins, Bridgestone Spitfire S11 front and back. Eliminated the shuddery-bouncy feeling I was getting at 30- 60 kph. I took them out on the highway and they felt great at 110 kph. The local dealer had a sale of 20% off and free mounting/balancing. $170 complete! I did have to remove the wheels and take them in because they won't work on bikes older than 1990. It was good experience since I had never removed them before.

- Gradually removing some of the accumulated overall dinginess. It's a pain getting into some of the little corners, but it will be worth it in the end.

 

Rhys..........you are correct. it's an '82 XJ750 Maxim!

 

rode my the bike to get a haircut
then i rode it to get gas
then i rode it because it was wet from me cleaning it
then i had to get milk for the baby
then i had to get beer
then i had to get dinner
i was just waiting for my wife to give me an excuse to get on it
really nice bike i just got it and replaced the fuewl filter
oh
i drove it to the auto store and got a new fuse block and oil
someday when i get a chance...

 

I re-routed the gas line on my 900 to accommodate an inline Fuel Filter.

Had everything working pretty good until I put the tank back down and put the bolt back in to secure it down.

Learned my lesson from Sunday. Rode it around the block instead of thinking everything was Hunkie-Dorey and left the sub-division ... only to have the Fuel Line kink and be a mile away from the garage.

Pushed a 900 lately?
Uphill?

That frosted my donuts!
Anyway, I played-around with a few fittings and got the Fuel Line thing ironed-out ... and began Plug Chops; again!

It's not too far out ... but, nailing it down is getting on my nerves.
I just want it to get dialed-in and go play in the traffic!

 

Today and yesterday both I regreted that I bought the bike at all.

 

Yea, well ... try pushing a 900 back home ... lookin' and feelin' all stupid because you have to own-up to being dumb and not riding it around the block a few times after doing fuel line work!

Believe me ... much more fun when the engine's running.
I spent the day re-routing gas line so it won't get pinched-off when I put the tank down.

I don't think I did a good job tightening that last hose clamp.
I had a gas leak.
At least I was just riding it around the block, today!

 

I would like to have that opprotunity some day....I havent ridden the bike any further than 10 ft. and the RPM shot up on me in 1st gear. Havent even had the chance to get it into 2nd.

 

Won a bid on ebay for some harley mufflers that I'm gonna put on the ol' girl.

 

Jeez, Rick, that's how I felt Saturday after installing the new dishwasher and forgetting to check all the fittings for leaks before closing it up. I felt REEEEEAL stupid when the missus screamed from the basement about the water running through the ceiling. Oops.

 

today, on my new unmolested bike i :
-removed all body panels and tank, and de-badged all.
-threw out the front fender
-threw out the airbox
-removed the carbs
-removed the exhaust
-threw out a bunch of random plastic parts
-started drilling out the carb flange bolts, and realized that the remaining 5 bolts are going to break as well.
-purchased on ebay a set of sportster mufflers, and drag bars.

i have the sickness, and i may need help before my wife kills me.

 

Zookie:

Don't get your hopes up for hangin' Keihin's on the Old XJ.

I looked on their web site all excited about maybe popping for a set of used ones off a wrecked Plastic Wrapped Bullet and didn't see anything that was going to fit early Yamaha in the Applications Section.

Now, I know a web search doesn't confirm that they aren't going to fit.
But there were a limited number of Yammies they fit and XJ Series wasn;t mentioned.

We'll know for sure when you get done drilling and tapping.

 

Today...

I changed my oil, cut off my stock mufflers only to learn I need to do more fab work than originally planned (weather is getting real nice here, time to hurry!!!!) and installed my Silvania Silverstar headlight.

 

Replaced Chain, rear brake shoes, adjusted valves "thanks Chacal for the shims" replaced the leaking V/C gasket and bolt seals. Did another round with the colortune installed new plugs and resistor covers. Went for a 200mile round trip with my new old XJ i love it!

 

Saturday...pulled old crusty rod knockin' 650 motor out of bike and install smokin 750 motor. Tried pulling the rotor off the alternator and cracked it, so bought another of the 'bay. Got everything back together and no power to the instruments, scratched my head, walked around, double checked wiring around battery, then looked under the bike. The ground wire for the ignition hadn't been reaatached, did that and everything lit up good. Sunday, Went to parents for lunch, went grocery shopping with family, then had a couple of hours to play with bike. Looked over some posts here, then took a gear puller, bunged it behind the rotor, one sharp smack of the hammer and voila, rotor in my hand. Checked the damage, smoothed the cracked portion out, verified there was no electrical damage, then installed the rotor on the new motor. Put the Bassanni 4:1 i have laying around on, then went to put the footpegs back on, tightened motor mounts, etc. Bunged the threads on the left side footrest so couldn't ride. Not a problem, get a new bolt at work Monday sez I. Fired up the motor, ran decent, then quickly shut it off and put 3 quarts of oil in bike. I guess that was the point at which i was getting too tired. So monday, get the new bolt, notice a puddle of oil under the bike. Checked the drain plug, yep, its loose. Had to pull the header off for access, so i put the stock exhaust back on, tightened down all bolts again, checked the drain plug and went for a bit of a ride. Nice power, especially midrange, smokes a lot off the motor, turned out the P.O. didn't tghten down the 2 front bolts at the head/cylinder union, so i put a pair of 10mm nuts on there and stopped the oil flow. Bummer is i lost the left sidecover going on my test ride, but i picked another up off eBay. So going to ride to work now, caffeine overload.....cruzerjd

 

^^^ Damn dude, you're like the Tasmanian Devil with tools!!!

 

today, i put photos online.. availalbe in another thread here or on my facebook..

the previous days, taking apart the damaged bike to see what i need to replace.

luckily i've sourced a parts bike thats 'been beside the garage' for awhile... here's hoping!

 

i covered my headers in thermo tec tonight
motor took a crap on me while riding
adjusted some stuff and rode the crap out of it

 

I got the last carb cleaned, new shaft seals and o-rings across the board. Assembled everything and got them put back into the bike (huge PITA for sure). It was late, mufflers don't have baffles, and my 1 year old was sleeping so I put new battery acid in the old battery (it was empty when I got it from the PO for some reason) and hooked up a brand new Harbor Freight charger and it didn't work, wtf. Luckily I also bought a battery tender while I was there and that sat on the battery over night. Hopefully today after work all will be well and she'll start up.

 

Been busy. This spring -repainted tank and side panels, changed oil & filter ( trying Shell Rot 15-40 ), replaced stock mufflers with harley ones off a sporster, installed Iridium plugs, tracked down electrical problem, syncd carbs, changed brake fluid, touched up some of the paint on trim pieces.

Runs pretty good now.

Things I did through the fall/winter - had gas tank cleaned and lined, recovered seat, tracked down better side panels, changed handlebars & mirrors, replaced tires, replaced carb boots, replaced carbs, changed fork oil,checked timing, replaced timing cover.

All I can think of for now.

 

MikesSX clubmans, napolean bar end mirrors, chacals spin-on oil kit, new oil and air filter. Want to do pods but know nothing about carbs (shame shame)

Need to replace my forks... old rust left pits No idea how to do that either

 

Replacing the forks is quite easy, but quite expensive. Is the pitting on the tubes (top) or the stanchions (bottom)?

 

Well, it looks like I sheared an o-ring on one of the fuel pipes and I have a fuel leak to fix. It gives me a better reason to take the carbs off one more time to check the jets since it seems that at least one of the holes is burning awful rich. While I have them off, I'll also be double checking the float levels just in case as well.

 

I've done quite a bit on my XJ750 Maxim in the past week... When I first got the bike (couple weeks ago), it wasn't running on all cylinders. 1 and 2 were not firing. After swapping in different coils and ignitor box, still the same deal, so we determined it must be a carb issue. Pulled off the carbs and started the cleaning process, old school style. During tear down, all went smooth until I got to the last pilot screw (carb #4), which someone had destroyed at some point in the past. Got it out, and ordered some pilot screw bits from Chacal, including a new screw. I received these today. I think the reason that 1 and 2 were not firing right before was that the floats on those two carbs were stuck real good. They were gummed up quite well.

With the carbs off, I've pulled the stock air box and ordered pod filters... received those a couple days ago.

Today I polished my bores and slides. They passed the clunk test, but I figured, lets make them even better. I sanded them down with WD40 and 800 grit followed by 1000 grit (couldn't find anything finer).

Now I'm just waiting for my DynoJet kit to show up, so that I can start re-assembly. Can't wait to fire her up again... hopefully this time on all fours.