What did you do to your Yamaha today?

So far, between yesterday and today-
Cleaned/sync'd carbs
Cleaned out/repaired front master and calipers
Integrated rear turn signals into taillight
Installed new mini front turn signals
Installed low rise dirty-bars
Test Ride!!!!!!!!







Still a fun old beastie! Made so much difference putting the dirty-bars on it, oh ya, I deleted the StarWars fairing and am now trying to figure out what I'm going to do with the funny looking Headlight/running light combo, maybe a pair of halogens :twisted:

 

yesterday-got it running for the first time since I bought it
today-got the tach working

 

Mounted saddlebags, adjusted highway pegs and any loose bolts. took some measurments and found out my bars were bent so I decided to make some new ones.26" straight bars I made straight from the hardware store.Cant use my right mirror with it though and I need to modify my front brake lever to make it work better.It gives it more of a street fighter look and feel to me but its probably going to end up looking like a sport tourer by the time im done with it. All in all this bike is probably the easiest vehicle ive ever worked on and that includes bicycles.

 

Miracle of miracles, found a complete rack of carbs for my XJ700X. Headed up to Indy today to pick something else up and stopped by Cycle Re-Cycle II. One guy went in the back and started comparing mine to what they had in stock - I couldn't believe it when he said he found an identical rack.

I guess they'd come in on a Nighthawk 750, some previous owner must have decided to try those instead I guess. They look quite a bit better than what I had.

Also picked up some new grips. Hopefully, with the new carbs, the thing will run.

 

Rode it around the area about 10 or 12 miles to see how it was doing, did real good, still waiting on parts and eye-balling a parts bike real hard, just not sure my wallet agrees with me yet.

 

Rode the ten miles to work and home, covered it up so it's dry for tomorrow's trip.

 

98% done with the bike now...
new street tires mounted and balanced yesterday
rode around collecting parts to repair the nasty job the PO did on the fuse box.. they had 3 20amp and no fuse for one of them... after about 3 hours of running and crimping wires i got it done...
got 3 of the four air to carb boots in so i used one old one on it... runes amazingly better now...

thanks to all for the information passed on to me!!! could not have done it without you all...

 

-washed 2 years of parked outside winter grime off it.
-stared at the front brakes wishing they would fill themselves

 

well got the tank stripped and took the wire wheel to petcock and gave it new life

 

took some rust of the chrome with coke and tin foil

 

took it out for a while today to see how it was riding... ended up putting 30 miles on... IT WAS FANTASTIC!!! then it got to cold...

 

Rode to work, thought I'd be smart and put my yamaha ignition key on my key ring of keys.........leaving work I turn onto the highway and hit the throttle and unbeknown st to me, the damn things flew out of the ignition. I back tracked with my daughter in her car and found them right where I first entered the highway, only a little bit bent up, lol. Live and learn, need to go get copies of them all made. Other than that, was a very nice ride!

 

Met my buddy on his VTX 1800 and rode around a little, very nice day to ride. Pulled plugs after to see how they were looking.......not bad after 160 miles or so, keeping an eye on everything though......might need to replace the clutch plates and cable, jury is still out though.

 

started to paint the side covers. don't know how well painting the Maxim emblems will go as they seem old and grimey and hard to scuff

put on the seat cover. looks a tonne better than the old torn seat

 

The wife took a half day off work so we could drive the hour north to where my bike has been stored for the winter. I had to finish wiring 3 of the new blinkers on before I could ride it. Also, had to fab a few tabs to mount the front pair. All in all, when all the work was finished it was night time. Started the bike for warm up, helmet on, then my wife informs me of her concern for my safety. I live in western PA so hills and deer are plenty. I may or may not have met a few tears fall as I killed the bike and removed my lid... as of now, she's coming home Wednesday!

 

rewired headlight, indicators, rebuilt front master cyl, sealed leaking tank (again) and gave it a quick rev tune

 

Rebuilt the forks using the new kits from Len. Very nice quality, everything went together smoothly as it should. Rode about 80 miles and NO leaks! Not even a little oil residue on the forks. Thanks Len!

 

Going to be getting stainless steel brake lines all the way from mc to caliper from Len. Then install them one weekend. Hopefully have a better feeling lever after upgrade.

 

Got the new rear tire in the mail to replace the FRONT tire the local bike shop put on it... grr! And started tearing into the wiring to shorten up the harness and relocate some wires... probably run some through the frame! It hit 80 yesterday but there were some wicked storms. Can't wait to ride!

 

Rode it for the very first time! It was a whopping 1/4 mile since the front brakes were barely working (needs MC rebuild), but it was a very satisfying feeling. This thing hauls ass for being 30 years old too, I was shocked at how much low end grunt it has and how much it takes off at 6000RPM.

 

Monday... took the MSC... faild u turn... tusday retested and passed... i HATE THE LITTLE BIKES THAY MAKE U USE!!! 250cc ugg... suprisingly it sounds like i didnt compleatly boch the banch synk and i set the mixture screws out 2 1/2 turns and it runs fantasticly... little trubble worming up but other then that... POLISING is all i need to do... untill i have money for manifold boots...

 

put some paint on the 650 maxim (HOK Brandywine Kandy base coat and HOK kosmic klear with brandywine intensifier ) and 750 seca (rustoleum semi-gloss black)

650
dim light

bright light


750

 

last night - cleaned and polished, gave it a test run around the back streets (currently unrego'd)
this afternoon - rego inspection, should pass no problems
tomorrow morning - get rego and go for a ride!

 

Started the valve adjust process. It was going swimmingly until I heard the sound of escaping air as I rotated the engine. Am I hearing the oil pump do it's pumping biznas through one of the pumpie holes or is one of my valves leaking?

My concern-o-meter is a 5.3 out of 10 and rising.

 

Put my crash bars and highway pegs back on. Contemplated putting the new rubber on the back. Decided against it too save sunlight for a great ride home. Put about 60 miles on her to get home. Gotta get the tire sorted out tmw then have her inspected. After that, let the miles fly!

 

Replaced my turn signal assembly/switch! Finally have working,dependable, blinkers and a pretty a** brand new switch to boot! Thanks Chacal, you rock man!

Mac

 

Brushed the snow off and made a list of carb parts I'm gonna need from Chacal. Maybe it'll be nice enough to ride once I get 'em built again... :roll:

 

Loosened the throttle to make room for a little more slack, as the bike was idling too high... I do believe it lowered about 1000 RPMs...

 

replaced the 750's shifter centering spring and made a manometer so I can sync my carbs when the time comes

 

How about bottoming out the speedometer on an XJ550 in fourth gear? Have you done that today? HaHa!
My left side cover flew off at around at 100 and probably hit the pavement like a golf ball and teleported! Went back in a car and retraced my route and at least didn't see any shattered plastic on the road. It's in XJ heaven.
Too much to list that I've done on my bike and some people on this forum don't encourage it, but the OEM bikini fairing is getting on my nerves. It is causing high speed wobbles as I've read it does. Still, the speedo bottoming out in fourth with two more gears to go is a good litmus test for what I've done. HaHa! I kept going into the wind.
What else are you supposed to do when you're speedo has bottomed out with two gears to go? :lol:
I would like Fitz to detail how to put a higher limit speedo on. He has one on his. I'd like to know when I'm coming into the zone of my top limit instead of guessing how fast I am going just using my blurred peripheral vision and luck. Boo!
Much Love to All on this Forum! Much Luck Too, Later!

 

Removed and shined up my passenger foot-peg mounting plates. They need to rename Mothers to Mother F**cking 10,000 strokes to shine! lol! But I tell you what.....wow what a difference. They almost shine as nice as the tail pipes and so worth the effort!

 

Still have some things to wrench as I wait for my shims to come, as well as my Carbtune from Chacal.

Finally replaced all my carb screw with allen heads. Not sure if it's exactly the same on the other XJ's, but for the Seca II I used:

M4x.70x10 for the bowls/diaphragm covers
M4x.70x12 for the three screws that hold the idle adjust brace on
M4x.70x16 for the four screws that hold the throttle cable brace on



Sanded and painted the left side crank cover, which the P.O. had scratched to heck when he dropped the bike many moons ago

Before:



After:

 

Looks nice Andrew!

 

I TRIED to swap out the rear brake pads today. When I got in there the pads are smaller than the set from fleabay.
I deglazed the originals (which were still showing 1/8 to 3/16 worth pad) and put it back on and looking for the right ones now.

 

Took off set of 3 point mini bars and foot pegs off my parts bike and put it on my running bike.


Also took off a ground ground bolt for mine that was missing near the cdi/regulator and airbox behind the left side cover.


Snagged two airbox side cover screws to replace my missing ones (1 on each side).

 

I gave my Seca wat fer with this thing right here



Ahh one step closer!

 

Runs like a dream! Took it out for a ride up to the dam for some turns and sun shine : )
http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=29450.html

 

Got my front brake pads on, got the wheel back on, got her off the jack finally... and discovered the oil drain plug was stuck! Gotta get a better socket tomorrow so I can finally change her oil.

 

Finally added new grips to the dirt bike bars I installed last year.... much nicer.....
I think I need a 2nd bike so i can recondition this one

 

between last night and this am
pulled carbs apart and cleaned the heck out of them ripped the gasket :cry: so I then
painted tank ,rear fender, and frame
made side covers for both side ( may think about relocating ingnition to side panel , not sure yet )
waiting on paint then installing painted parts, rear brake light
and then drink a ice cold beer

 

Checked the air in the tires and rode it...

 

put the newly painted tank and side covers on the 650. installed the battery feed her some gas and started her up. first ride tomorrow if the weather is good.

 

Let it rest after riding it work all week. She deserved it.

 

Put these babies in -- just have to sync and it's good to goooooo

 

Changed old OEM rubber brake lines on the front to new stainless stell braided lines and bled the system on the front brake. Very nice upgrade and well worth the money spent. Much nicer brakes, fuller lever and better stoppping power. I highly recommend doing this if you haven't already.

 

Man this Carbtune is great. How did I ever get by without it?




Allmoosstt tthhheerrreeee

 

Put some fun miles on it through the hills in western PA. While doing that, I also discovered/realized I need to devise a new way of mounting the aftermarket seat. I rubbed the tire a cpl times with the cross-bar under my seat. hmmm . . .

 

In the last couple weeks.
Painted and put on a 750 tank
rebuilt petcock
replaced throttle tube and grips
changed oil and filter

 

Took off the wheels and scurried them to the local tire shop to get my new 006's installed. First time using Shinko tires. We'll see how they do.

 

Broke the bolt head off one of the intake manifolds. DOH!