yx600 motor in a 550?

so my motor is going out i think and i want to put a radian motor in it will this work and is the starter, carbs, and stator the same?

 

you can look up the part numbers here
http://www.yamahamotorsportsandmari...Motorcycles&make=YAMAHA&year=1986&fveh=177150

 

What makes you think the mill is going out?

Gary H.

 

86 radian
sTARTING MOTOR ASY
3KM-81890-00-00 (replaces 3KM-81800-00-00)

81 xj 550
4G0-81800-60-00 STARTING MOTOR ASSEMBLY
According to cross reference, this was also used on: 1984-1985 FJ600 ... 4G0-81800-60-00
probaly not

 

this is my third 550 motor i can tell its going out

 

I'm not refuting that. I'm asking what's causing them to "go out" because a well maintained mill will see 100k miles or more. How many miles are on it?

Gary H

 

i ride really hard and put them through hell i had the bottom end in one piston go out and fried the rings or 3 others

 

so the radian motor is the fj600 motor with a different top end, carbs and exhaust from the research i have done

 

Wouldn't it be more fiscally responsible to ride really smart and perform regular maintenance?

 

Sounds most logical to me. With regular maintenance xj's can be ridden hard and will endure. But I'm not judging.

Gary H.

 

^Agreed^ The XJ series has a well deserved reputation for having durable and long-lasting engines. Motorcycles in general have a well-deserved reputation for being the least likely vehicle for an owner to maintain properly. You can 't just buy a used motorcycle and go riding without going through it to make sure everything is as it should be. Even if you were drag-racing a 550 and running it with a skimmed head for higher compression I wouldn't expect you to go through so much as an engine every two or three seasons.

 

The Radian has what is essentialy a 550 engine and frame with other bits from the parts bin stuck on it. The FJ600 engine is also based on the XJ550.

 

Another user (FtUp) has been putting Radian parts on his XJ. Haven't seen him post much here lately, but he may be a source of information for what might fit. He had a whole parts bin from a Radian, and I know he put the rims on, but I don't remember what else he did. You out there, buddy? Help a brother out!

 

Search > member > FtUp. Without solving the problems related to the 550 mills "going out" how long are you expecting a 600 mill to last? I understand it's your bike so I'll STFU now.

Gary H.

 

well when i got my bike back in November it had sat for 8 years so i went through the whole thing and accidentally put the oil filter in backwards on one motor and broke the head on another from hitting the pipes on the ground while cornering.

so from everyones memory will it be a direct cross over for the motor

 

i ride al year round and was think about skimming the head but wasnt sure how much i could take with out crashing a valve. and so right now the bike doesnt like to start if you let it die or kill it and it doesnt always liking starting in the morning at all

 

Maybe motorcycles just aren't your thing?

How will refacing the head stop you from crashing the pipes on a turn, or putting an oil filter on backwards (or was it the bottom end of one of the pistons and fried rings in 3 others?)

 

Woo Daddy! That's some hard riding! Must have been a wild ride!

 

Darren,
Slow down man. We're not against you, we're here to help. We all have our pride and I'm not about stomping all over some one else. Hard riding will not ruin a xj mill. Race riding (continuously red lining) a stock mill will; they're not set up for racing. Putting a oil filter in backwards will (a new engine with no oil flow will lock up fairly quick).The arrows are pointing to you possibly thinking everything is good with a mill when in fact it isn't and then running them hard. I'm hoping you get a mill dialed in correctly and see for yourself what we're saying is true. The mill on these bikes are stout. The long toothes (members who have been riding for a long time) are here for a reason (and it's not just the looks of the bikes).

Gary H.

 

Have you checked valve clearances?

 

i was the bottom end of one piston and fried the other rings. and yes i understand what everyone is saying i didnt treat the first two motors very well ( i got to put about 8000 miles on one and 6000 on the other) but im wanting to move to a bigger motor so im not winding it up all the time

 

The size of the engine has nawt to do with the RPM range or where the engine makes its power. Engine design is far more involved than that. I can understand the desire to have a low-revving, torquey engine (steam-tractor engines are among my favorite things to watch work); but how high the engine revs is not by itself an indicator of longevity or reliability, nor is displacement.

What sort of riding do you do the most of? Maybe we can help steer you toward some choices that suit what you need/want.

 

i ride quicker than i should be i dont cruise much its more of im getting where im going as quick as i can

 

I sold my radian engine to a guy who had an fj600. he said number 4 cyl blew the whole bottom corner off the case on his fj. but in answer to your question about whether or not a yx600 engine will fit your 550, yes. that being said, you will want to use the carbs from the radian as well since they are jetted differently and the 600 is a non yics engine. the carbs also have some added vents that the 550 doesn't have. if you can get the 600 exhaust too that would be a bonus but not entirely necessary since the 550 exhaust will bolt on.

FU

 

but my 550 carbs should fit in the meantime right?

 

they will, but they won't have the proper jets. and you will likely burn down your new engine faster than the last two.

FU

 

is that from it being lean?

 

can i jet the carbs bigger?

 

yes and yes. if you can find out what jets the radian has, then you could conceivably fit the 550 carbs with the same size jets and it should work. I say should, because I have not tried it myself. remember the 600 is a NON yics engine, so there may be other differences that I am not aware of.

FU

 

one other thing, the early engines had the same charging and ignition systems as the 550. I am not sure what year it happened, but the charging system got integrated with the ignition, so the wiring would be different, so you want to stick with an 86 engine and it should be plug n play.

FU

 

awsome it is an 86

 

will the motor fit under the stock tank?

 

Yes.

 

I'm still doing this..

Physical size teh Radian engine fits fine and as said the ignition and charging system are very similar to the 550. The TCI wiring is different though so be careful if you plan to use the existing TCI (should still work but connectors might not match exactly). Also there is not mechanical rev counter on the Radian so you will have to do without or try and rig up an electronic one (I have an FZ one I hope to try soon). As for the carbs I have some BS32s I am trying out BUT I cannot get it to run except on ether. I have them out again now for another clean, but they are a b*tch to get in and out. They're quite a bit bigger that the 28s and you need the engine mounting rubbers and the airbox rubbers form an FJ600 (pre 91 XJ600 in Europe) this make for hardly any jiggle room. I've been rubbing my hand and wrist raw trying to move the rubbers from inside the airbox - it all fits but it ain't easy and I've got weedy small hands.

I'm hoping that this time i might get it to run - another try out this weekend. I have been neglecting the XJ of late sonot been hanging here for a while - been getting to grips with a cheap FZ750..

 

The key to any engine swap (if you want it to run with a minimum of work) is to get the carbs and the whole ignition system along with the engine. A whole donor bike makes it even easier.

 

ok so i wont have a tach then?
and if i need to reuse a plug and just rewire it i can do that ( i hope )
i guess i wil find out on friday when i start to try and do this

 

Absolutely - better still a known running donor bike. I got the Radian engine by mistake. It was ebayed as an FJ/XJ600 engine but guess what ? the guy couldn't wire it up to his XJ600 ! for 50 quid I took it anyway and for any extra 25 quid he sold me the 32 carbs although I think teh Radian should have 30s, a tenner bought me the TCI. My main problem I think is unfamiliarity with these CV carbs, cleaning choke circuit setting up etc.. Fingers crossed I have made a decent fist of it this time - I'll let you know.

 

If you search my threads theres one about the TCI wiring I think..

 

ok ya im getting the motor from a shop near me and they said that it does run im getting it for 75$ and ill see f they have a tci while im there. and yes they are supposed to have 30mm but i have 28mm and i checked by puting some 550 carbs on it and they fit into the boots. i checked with another shop and he said to shim the needle with some washers since im using smaller carbs

 

well go the motor in and running used the 550 timing plate so that i wouldnt have to redo the wiring harness but i think with the 550 exhuast it is chocking it out and is to much back pressure

 

New engine will need valve clearance check. Also the small carbs might be an issue , no ?

 

yes i know i need to check the valve clearance, yes they didnt work well so i shimmed the main needle and it smoothed out and also the exhuast is to small it is bogging it in low rpm so i took it off for the moment but only for a few days im getting a bigger pipe on it soon

 

OK good luck - I'm interested in how this works out - maybe 28mm carbs will work out better for me too.

Cheers

 

Yeah, this is a big one! Lots could learn from this thread... opens up a whole new heap of options when the mill goes south!

 

i also reused the 550 carb boots and didnt have to change the ignition box or wiring at on on the bike. i just dont have a tach right now. next im going to look at the yx600 wiring harness ( i do have one ad a timing plate and ignition box ) and see is i can not have to instal the whole harnes to get a tach

 

this is it wen it was almost done

 

so the starter was a perfect fit and lined up with all of the bolt holes just an fyi for others to know

 

so i wired in the electronic tac and it works just have to splice the right wires

 

update motor runs great switched to the radian timing plate and had to jet the carbs up (the stock jetting for a radian will not work they are to low) im using the 550 carbs still.

 

Hi Darren - thansk for the update. Guess what ? I got my yx600 engine running too - but also on the 550 (BS28 ) carbs that I thought were past it. I still have no idea why the BS32s were no good. What jets did you end up using?

I'm going to use the standard airbox but I have a pretty load Alfa (by Micron) exhaust on which I guess is not very restricting.

I might reconnect the external 'balancer' tube on the carb intakes too to see if that makes a difference.

Cheers