My Maxim Lives Again!

I have a 1980 XJ650 Maxim. I ordered what parts that the local bike dealer could get. Which was the float bowl gaskets, float needles and seats, and #40 pilot jets. I disassembled the carbs as much as possible without separating them. I bought the cheapest and biggest pot I could find at a local Walmart. I dipped the carbs in boiling water for at least 15 mins. All the gunk started coming off the carbs and floating in the water. When done there was grime all around the top of the pot. I took a blowgun and blew out all the water in all the jets and passages the best I could. I reassembled the carbs with what new parts I had. I carefully inspected the old parts that I had to reuse and set the float levels. I use a paperclip to roughly snyc the carbs together. I read about it in one of the threads on here. Once I got the carbs on the bike, I tried for like three days trying to get it to fire. It kept backfiring through the righthand side exhaust. So I pulled the plugs. Three of them were wet. I checked the spark. Two of the plugs had a weak spark. I hooked up a spark tester. It tested good so I replaced the plugs. Still didn't fire up. So I crossed my fingers and gave it a shot of ether. She roared to life. After a little warm up, I set the idle and tweaked on the carbs a bit. That paperclip trick to snyc the carbs got it close enough that the bike has a really smooth idle. I need to do a complete snyc though. It has a bit of a bog just off idle. I need to replace the carb to head boots. They are all cracked and one I know for sure is leaking. I can see the boot get wet when the engine is running. I have so much to finish on this bike before the warm weather gets here.

 

I had the same problem starting when i got mine running recheck the passages in the float bowls it was the problem with mine also try using only half choke and no throttle when you start it i got this advise from someone here and if i give my max even the smallest twist of throttle before she is running she won't start at all! I'm sure this is due to another problem i've not yet discovered but it has worked so far I hope it will work for you to, you may also want to check your valve clearance I've recently checked mine and found all my intake valves way out of spec but i haven't fixed it to see if it helps but I'm sure it can't hurt! see fitz's how to in the faq's section it wasn't hard to check or pull the shim's
Shaun

 

I have planned on checking the valve clearance before doing a final tune on the carbs. I also looking into a colortune kit. I have a list of things that need to be done on this bike. I have paint work, get the seat redone, tires, brakes, and lots of cleaning and polishing on the engine and exhaust. Here a pic just after I got it running.