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XJ600/FJ600 51J Project Advice

Discussion in 'XJ Modifications' started by Ciarán, May 12, 2020.

  1. Ciarán

    Ciarán Member

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    @bensalf I'm more than happy to send them your way but I'll have to find out where to get a box large enough to ship them. As I said, the pannier frame seems to be somewhat warped but maybe some heat would help bend it back in. Given the quality of your build I'm convinced you'll manage it.

    It may be a few weeks before restrictions are loosened enough here for me to source a box big enough and to get it to a post office.
     
  2. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    yeh, ok ,no problem, when-ever you can get around to it, I,ll , have them, thanks, just what I need for my next bobber project.
    its another one -just same as yours.
    stu
     
  3. Minimutly

    Minimutly Well-Known Member

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    I think the cable will go down between carbs 3 and 4, otherwise it will have to go on the outside of the rack. I'm not interested in trying a 550/600 clutch cover, unles I'm forced to.
    One oddity I noticed when I bought my xj600 airbox - it has a helmholtz resonator built into the side gover, must be a mod Yamhaa worked out.
     
  4. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    It has a what.?o_O
     
  5. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    so , managed to find one of my photos of the clutch cable routing on the 600, after I figured out how to post then, after photobucket
     

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  6. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    067.JPG
    here's one of the inside cover of the airbox , possibly with the "thingy", that "minymutly" mentioned.
    ;)
     
  7. Minimutly

    Minimutly Well-Known Member

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    That's the one - not fitted to all the 600s, and not to the 650 or 900s. It's a chamber (or pair of chambers) that go nowhere. All to do with the resonant frequency of the air in the airbox at a certain rpm - its likely that Yamaha sussed out that they could gain a bunch of hp somewhere in the rev range - either to up the max hp or bring the bottom end up.
    Very common on injected cars.
     
  8. Minimutly

    Minimutly Well-Known Member

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    Thanks, food for thought
     
  9. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    oh, o_O
     
  10. Ciarán

    Ciarán Member

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    Quick update. Installed an inline fuel filter, new battery, and new spark plugs and she fired up immediately. I've had some issue with trying to do an oil change and was wondering if it is normal to have to remove the exhausts on an XJ to do an oil change (the Hayne's manual suggests that this is the normal procedure for other Yamaha models).

    Other than that 'm ordering a few pieces now that I know the bike runs. I'll order an ultrasonic cleaner so I can rebuild the carbs although that's not a priority for me. I'm mainly focused on doing wheels bearings, seals, new tyres, chain and sprocket, and refurbished brakes, and new front suspension while I have things apart.

    I am considering a new bar set up so don't want to commit to braided lines etc yet as they may wind up the wrong length. Also not sure if it is worthwhile refurbing the master cylinder as I might end up swapping that too. All comments welcome.

    @bensalf - I'd love to hear about how you managed your rearsets. I've put aside the parts for you and will ship them as soon as I can get a box/boxes big enough.
     
  11. a100man

    a100man Well-Known Member

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    Filter access can depend on whether the exhaust is after-market or original - guess which is worst!

    IIRC teh XJ600 has an odd handlebar bar set-up (pseudo clip-ons) which will mean modifying the top yoke to fit 22mm clamps if you want other bars..
     
  12. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    hi , Ciaran, thanks for the update, we can exchange contacts ,when you're ready.
    re, the rearsets, well I made the alloy brackets myself, out of 10mm thick alloy plate. i'll se if I can find the pictures how I made them.
    stu
    first I made some cardboard cutouts of the shape I needed to pick up the original hanger mounting holes,. and roughly the shape for the place I needed the footrests.
    then I made some wooden hangers from the cardboard , and mounted them up
    209.JPG
    208.JPG
    then transferred the shape onto 10mm thick alloy plate and cut them out
    PC310196.JPG PC100184.JPG 267.JPG P1040198.JPG 267.JPG
    PC230190.JPG PC230192.JPG P1040198.JPG
    the footrest brackets are the original square chrome ones, but I changed the footrests to more sporty ones
    P2030222.JPG 259.JPG 260.JPG
     

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  13. 50gary

    50gary Active Member

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    Kudos, good job all around. I like it when guys do their own work and design. So much more personal than buying parts.
    Cheers, 50gary
     
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  14. Franz

    Franz Well-Known Member

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    That is what I think too. I like the work he has done and the exhaust silencers remind me of the Triumph Hurricane although that had three silencers. I wish I had a workshop that would be fun. Best present my father ever got me was a Mecanno set it all started there.
     
  15. Ciarán

    Ciarán Member

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    Hi folks, been a while since I've updated. I've done some minimal work on a tear down. Stripping off a few bits and pieces and well, let's just say the front brakes were really stuck on!
    The pads on both calipers were seized on the discs - it took some time to get them off! Actual disassembly of the calipers was nearly impossible. I got to a point where I was convinced they were scrap material so took a chance on sticking the calipers between two blocks of wood in a vise. With a 1m breaker bar (and a lot of huffing and puffing) I was able to split the calipers without stripping the threads. Looking at them now though the pistons are well and truly stuck in there and I'm not sure I'll be able to remove them to rebuild these brakes.

    Which leads me to some interesting thoughts re caliper swaps. So I'm absolutely a complete novice at this hence why I'm being cautious but if I have to buy used brakes + a rebuild kit I'm possibly talking similar money to swapping for a completely different caliper anyway.

    This is an old Tokico 6-pot caliper I have left over from a 2003 Bandit (I was binning these calipers as they were beyond saving). I am obviously concerned that 6-pots may be too aggressive an upgrade. But to me it looks like a small spacer will push the caliper over to be centred on the disc.

    I'm using these Tokico's as an example to get opinions on whether something like this could work (to test the concept) - I've seen a few sites advertise Brembo P4 30/34 (4 pots) for about €280 a pair. Their mounting distance is different so I'd have to design a mount specific to them.

    IMG_20200617_175122.jpg

    I've mocked up a super quick and blocky 3d render of a possible mounting plate design (not to scale).

    You can see the fork leg is light grey while the new adapter plate is blue. Black represents the upper mounting point of the Tokico Caliper. You can see in pink (2nd render) the spacer required to centre the caliper on the disc.
    1.jpg
    2.png
    IMG_20200617_175143.jpg
     

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    Last edited: Jun 17, 2020
  16. Ciarán

    Ciarán Member

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    So folks, very tiny update but as you can see I have the tokicos closer to centred on the disc. Two m8 washers were enough to get the brakes almost perfectly centred.

    Given the state of the calipers that came off the bike and the ready supply of these tokicos I'm growing more certain of mocking up an adapter bracket in scrap and then having someone machine the bracket and spacers in aluminium.

    As you can see in my last post the calipers seem to sit in quite a nice place due to the fact I can use the lower mounting point from the stock set up. In fact the original brake line (which is shot) turns out to be just about the perfect length with these brakes so I should be able to buy off the shelf braided lines and not have to worry about the length.

    IMG_20200618_204042.jpg
     
  17. a100man

    a100man Well-Known Member

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    Hi Ciaran

    The original caliper was used on a lot of models I think so you should be able to pick-up serviceable units on ebay., or there are places that can refurb old units in almost any state - cheap too. If not in Ireland then England for sure. Meanwhile lob your existing units in a bucket of paraffin.
    the Tokicos might work too but it seems a fair bit of effort if you have other aspects to be getting on with.
     
  18. bensalf

    bensalf Well-Known Member

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    just a point on the Tokicos, if they're 6 pot, that's 12 pots for both, does the master cylinder have enough capacity to push them all out, or are you replacing the M/C
    :)
    stu
     
  19. Ciarán

    Ciarán Member

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    Thanks guys. I was thinking much the same in terms of the work involved in making them work. I may replace the M/C but at the moment I'm still undecided. I think I take flights of fancy re doing cool things by way of upgrades - in reality I need to watch the budget and stick with as many standard parts as possible.
     
  20. Ciarán

    Ciarán Member

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    It has been a while since I've updated partly due to going through a patch of low motivation generally (not for the project specifically). Following on from previous discussions I decided that I'd do my best to salvage the front calipers despite some terribly stuck pistons.

    I used the old trick of hooking them up to a grease gun and managed to get the pistons removed.

    The calipers actually seem in fine order and the pistons are better than expected. I will order a full rebuild kit asap but the site I'm using for parts informed me they won't have that in stock for 4-6 weeks!

    I now have the challenge of cleaning the grease from the caliper internals, I'll have to research the forums to see if I can find a recommendation for an affordable ultrasonic cleaner as I think it might save me a lot of work in the long run with carbs etc. needing work down the line.

    *Edit: So I spent 30-40 minutes spraying brake cleaner into every cavity in the split calipers and I'm fairly confident they're 90% degreased. I'll give them another go when they've dried off a bit and the light is better.

    I plan to replace the master cylinder and brake lines in the near future as both are completely shot. Will also try and sort chain and sprockets too.
     

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    Last edited: Jul 21, 2020
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