first bike 81 xj650 maxim

hey everyone new member here. just picked up an 81 xj650 maxim for 250$. little backround on me im 17 and love to bmx. so its safe to say i love being on 2 wheels, so i got a motorcycle.

i posted a picture below, hopefully it works, but that is the current condition of my bike. its not the stock tank its some honda tank. and the battery is dead. right now i got a bettery on order, and in the procces of finding a tank

my question is qhat should i check over first? right now im doing a big overhaul cleaning the bike, and my buddies told me to drain the carbs, but nothing came out. so next step is to remove the carb bowl? any other general info would be great, i look forward to working on it a learning about it. thanks!





o and if you noticed i took off the front fender for now, rust is covering the inside

 

Welcome to wonderful world of XJ....this is a great forum so please heed the advice offered......you will need to look up Bigfitz's thread on delamination of the rear brake: http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=15874.html
.......and make sure you check well and fix...do not assume that work has been done on the bike - and if it has, assume that it was not done right!....then you need to check the date stamp on your tires.. [my tires were 17 and 14 years old!!!]Next comes the the front disc - the original rubber hydraulic brake hose has a life of 4 years max - so change to stainless steel...also drain and rebuild the master cylinder. Then do the following:

Check/adjust valve clearances
Clean carbs
set fuel levels
sync carbs
install an inline filter
change oil and filter
new plugs
running sync

Oh, by the way, if you don't have a manual, get one soonest!!! You picked up the bike at the right price, but you can't expect to just jump on it and ride away ...safely......so expect $600-800 to get it right...these are good bikes to work on and if you need spares, chacal has them [top right of page]. Hope that list wasn't too daunting.....the haynes manual lists all the service items in the first chapter or two. Also, where are you? If you put your location in your signature, there maybe folks close by...

Once again, welcome!!

Dave

 

thanks alot yamadof! ill do my best to go through that checklest, i have alot of freind and family very knoweldegeable in bikes

i just ordered a haynes manual actually, like 5 minuts ago

there is a little slit in the brake line but i dont think its leaking yet

the man said the tires were new, and they do look good, but ill check out that stamp.

also im from michigan, still trying to figure out this whole site

 

Welcome to the club, hope you like wrenching!

+1 to what Yammadof said, you've got some work ahead of you to make it reliable and SAFE.

In addition to the above list I would like to add taking the MSF rider course as soon as you can. They will teach you the basics of riding and do it on a smaller bike than your 650.

And in most states it is a requirement to get your license.

Just google "MSF rider course" with your zip code and it should bring up a list of courses close to you.

And yes, add your location to your profile and your bike info in your signature, most of us would jump at the chance to help a young feller out

 

thanks tskaz ill look into that, can you tell me were i can update my signature and my location?

 

found it

 

Good deal.

Hey! There are actually quite a few of us pretty close to ya.

 

cool cool. you wouldnt happen to have a right side cover or tank would ya?

 

No I don't.

Suggest ebay for finding the RS cover.

PM member micarl, he has a shop down that way and may be able to hook you up with a local tank. If you use ebay to find the tank, be very sure of what you are getting. And check the prices, the 650 Maxim tank is the easiest one to find, which also makes it less expensive than the others.

 

thanks for the info. and its suprissing then that i havent found any 650 maxim tanks on ebay, at least any in decent condition. i dont mind giving it a paintjob, but it becomes to much when 70% of the tank needs to be bondo'd.

 

Keep in mind, the inside of the tank is more important than the outside.

All the Bondo in the world won't fix a tank that is rusty on the inside.

And wait to run it until you get that manual, then go through everything, in order, in the maintenance section.

And plan on replacing those old rubber brake lines.

Then by the time spring comes you'll have an awesome bike to ride.

For today's lesson: click on the XJ4Ever logo in the upper right corner of the screen. Lots of info on your XJ there.

 

cool thanks alot for all your help! friendly people here

 

Hey warchol......glad to see you're up for the challenge! Do you have a well lit workspace and tools? ebay is good for some of the spares stuff:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/yamaha-xj-650-m ... es&vxp=mtr

This link is to a midnight maxim gas tank..........

Dave

 

workspace yes, all the tools no, i have all the basic tools its just some odds and ends ill hae to borrow or pick up

and thanks for the link, i think i saw that one before, is that about how much any tank will run $? i wasnt sure.

 

It's not a bad price IF there is little to no rust inside the tank.

You can find cheaper, but they might need more work.

 

Just to give you a heads up on that tank you have now. It looks to be a early 80's CB650 Nighthawk tank. Compare with pics of tanks on Ebay to make sure.

Since you are looking for a tank. A well known Modification is to use the 750 Maxim Tank on the 650's to gain approx another gallon of fuel capacity. this is a direct swap on the bike with no other changes necessary.

On that Ebay tank. It is questionable since the seller is trying to hide something with the primer paint, and not showing a pic of the inside condition. make sure you ask plaenty of questions about it before making the purchase. Or just check out the Sell, Wanted, Trade section here. plenty of bikes being parted out for decent prices.

Ghost

 

yea this tank right now desont work, im not 100% sure why, but my buddy told me its becuase it uses 2 petcocks instead of 1? something like that. either way ill be getting a new one soon, and ive heard about gaining that extra gallon with the 750

 

Howdy YOUNGSTER! welcome from Las Vegas Nevada. I would encourage you to go with the bigger tank, I was out on a ride with my 650 maxim and I ran out of gas after 100 miles. Here is a tip to help you when you pull your rear wheel off, after everything is unbolted, leave the brake backing plate inside the wheel. Some other people on this site have said to remove it for extra room, I don't know what bike they were working on but it wasn't a 650 Maxim. There is no way that backing plate will come out before the wheel, I know, I tried and got a scratched up backing plate. The Haynes manual forgets to tell us this, that's why I'm telling you. Merry Christmas Lad

 

Welcome!

I too am new around here, and like you, joined because i just bought my forst bike - an '83 maxim 750.

As others have said, the first thing to do is to replace the rear drum brake pads. about 50.00 from chacal here on the xj forums.

Here is the thread i started: (lots of great info to get started there)

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/p=3 ... tml#303592

Here is chacal's email address to buy the brake pads: info@xj4ever.com

Also, this is all on the thread i started but ill tell you anyway:

Check the valve clearaces and adjust/replace shims as nessassary.

Replace the beake lines for the fornt brake, they will have the mfg date on them and if they are original as i sucpect, or even moderatly old, they should be replaced. you should check the front pads as well.

The brake lines on mine were dated '83 - aka the original ones on there - so i am going to upgraded to stainless braided lines, as many have said its a huge upgrade.

check the plugs

check the air filter

also, check the date on the tires, if they are over 5 years old, replace em. you are letting your life depend on 2 wheels, if you blow a tire, its serious and not worth skimping 100 bucks on. get good tires, not the crappy avery or whatever that brand is. its worth the good money for the tires.

how to tell the date on the tires is there should be a DOT stamp and then 4 numbers. the first two are is the number of the week, and the second two are the year that they are manufactured. for example: 4503 would be the 45th week (november) of 2003

anything over 5 years old should be replaced, regardless of treadwear.

But mostly, just heed everyones warnings, no matter how tempting it is to just get on and ride, do yourself a safety reality check to make sure its safe to ride. your life isint worth the gamble of saving 600 bucks

most importantly, just ask questions - even though (this is not a dis, this forum is incredibly knowlegleble) this forum might not be the bustleing new forum with a ton of active people, the people who do have knowlege are smart and wise and knowlegleble beyone belief and will take the time to help you if you need it and will accept it. I plan on being more active soon, but right now between the mix of exams and it being winter, the work on my new bike has been slow.

Welcome again man!!!

 

Also, service manuals are a MUST - i got one with the bike, on a disc in pdf version, and its the bomb. im going to get it printed so i dont have to have my macbook out in the garage gettin dirty when im wrenchin'

If you want a copy, idk what has changed from the 81-83 version or whatever, but i just checked again and i dont see a date, so maybe they are the same? I'm assuming at least familiar at least.

But idk if im allowed to do this, i probably should read the forum rules, but im sure a mod will tell me if im wrong, but shoot, for 5 bucks sent via paypal, ill burn the manual to a disc and ship it to ya, the 5 bucks just to cover the cost of the cd, shipping, and a couple buckd for the time it takes to burn it and go to the post office. mainly its a welcome gift though, lol

 

ALSO! in terms of that tank - its still old and probably worth money to somebody else who needs that one and has an xj tank! haha unlikely about them having an xj tank, but figure out exactly what tank it is and put that bad boy on ebay!!

 

This one looks awfully rough.... but.... its cheap-ish... but idk if its worth it after the ammount of work you would have to put into it...

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1983-Yamaha-Mid ... _736wt_955

 

o wow lotsa of info, thanks mtnbikecrazy. but ill think ill pass on the disc for now i got a manual on the way, but if i need it in the future ill give you a ring


i just checked my tires they are from 08, and look like theve never hit pavement

 

whats your take on the inside of this thing?

 

The first and most important things you need to do when you get the manual:

Pull the rear tire and check for delamination
Pull and clean the carbs
Check and adjust valve clearances
Sync carbs
Change all fluids
Change plugs
and you should install a blade style fuse box in place of the old glass fuse one.

 

ok will do, and glass fuse box?

 

little update:

found some side covers and a 4 to 1 exsuast system on here. (yay! or from the past few days alot of people say woot! on here)

battery should be here tomorow, also got a haynes manual, header wrap, paint and the ties as well.

so now looking for the tank, then i will start to go throught it when the manual comes, and start to order the smaller thing like a new brake line and other bits and pieces i find that need replacing

im getting really pumped on this bike!

 

Keep in mind that you will have to re-jet the carbs to use that 4-1 exhaust

 

A yes I am aware