Desert Military XJ650 - podded, modded but not cut... First Built

Fellow riders, xj brothers and sisters, since this is my first post I should probably thank to EVERYbody here for asking good and not so good questions, and especially to people who answered them. Yeah.

So. I bought a basket case xj650 about two yrs ago basically to see what a motorcycle engine inside looks like, right. I like to learn. My bike was all in pieces when bought, sized engine, rusty etc. Nobody in their right mind would touch that. Spend a $100 bucks for her.

When I split engine case something "clicked", I was hooked and I said "daaamn! , I'm gonna make this baby run again"...
Many of you guys were one of those kids that have to take every single toy apart? I know I was. I still am I guess. Anyway, you guys are great help. And if anything was easy, it was because of you. Every single component was a project on it's own, no bolt unturned, every part was disassembled to the smallest bits at some point (except the final drive) and cleaned.
Ya!

So you might have some questions, shoot it up. I'll try to answer for this project specifically, but most of it it's just usual XJ stuff.

Bike is 1982 XJ650 Maxim, 35080 km when I bought it. Been riding it for a couple of months now without any problems. I don't consider it finished yet, but she's a rider. woop...woop...

Some pics, hope you like her.

After initial cleaning and blasting several spider families with air...



The moment of being hooked...


...assembled...


... and, say, 20 months later...




Detail ...


Detail 2...


All the work I did myself - solo seat, handles, paint job, tail light/license plate/signals bracket... front tire is rear tire converted with "kit" ...

Saddle bags? Well, I bought.

Check some video me accelerating ... YT


Okay gearheads see you around!

 

Nice work!! I'm assuming with the front/rear wheel kit you have a drum brake in front? What mods did you do to run pods and exhaust?

Very cool

 

He's got a disc up front. You can see it on the left side of the wheel.

 

OK.
Let's get to the elephant in the room first.

Wherever I stop for coffee or something there's always a guy who ask if I re-jet the carbs. The answer is - yes, I re-jeted 'em. I re-jet them according to the Church here for 4 in 1 exhaust, baffled, sea level (calculate a bit).

Pods
Now, the pods are the cheapest Chinese free shipping option. The ones that covers that top oval hole on the intake side of the carbs. When I ordered them I didn't know as mush as I know now (which is not much, but a bit more than nothing lol).

There's a lot of arguments stock airbox vs. pods. My experience is only with pods, as I have bought disassembled Maxim, and I figured I'll have to take carbs on an off for at least 48 times, and pods just make a life a little bit easier this way.
Airbox was designed and engineered for that engine, it's watertight, and no problem unit. Putting it on - easiest and the right way to go.

If you want to go pods way, I'll say you can do it, but read and learn everything this forum has to offer, know in what kind of trouble you can get into, watch videos.
I never had any major issues and my bike is running nice and smooth. I do have some flats, but that don't bother me much. I did however kept my (cracked) airbox, rubber boots and chrome covers just in case my pod adventure would become a nightmare.

I plan to fab one filter for all 4 carbs, but not just yet.

Carbs
...I supercleaned the carbs. That means that they have been completely disassembled at least 4 times, if I remember... That's right all the way to the single bolt. Changed all gaskets, shaft seals, membrane springs, renew fuel enrichment system, basically every inner part renewed, I think floats and air jets were not swapped and I changed all the outside bolts. Rubber boots to engine intake were in good condition.

I used carb cleaner spray. I tried some stuff from youtube too, like lemon juice boiling, vinegar etc. I was fun.No matter what, I had to dig into the dirt. Be warned carb cleaner will change your shaft seals (and all rubber parts for that matter) in to a black gooey slush if not wiped off. You can, however, soften hardened shaft seals with carb cleaner, but clean them off shortly after...

I just bought new ones.

Now, for main jets I put from stock to 118 and pilots to 43. But I'm not sure right now, so... yeah.

Carbs were in crappy condition, they don't look like it, but they were...

 

Another mini project that I was really excited about was the rear to front wheel conversion. There was a guy on Craigslist selling the kit nearby and I had to have it. Drum cover was measured for Virago I think?... but on the other side there is machined bracket that fits with the holes on the rim on one side and holes of the rotor brake on the other. So front disc brake works. There is some playing around to make everything fit nicely, centered and straight.

Adapter kit...

 

Very nice, well thought out and planned (and executed)! Love the engine color. Pin-up gal on the tank is the only way to go.......

 

Thank you guys.

@desmotom Just want you to know I didn't meant you as an elephant in the room, as I was writing that post before I saw your response lol
I was referring to everyday occasion on the parking lots.

So, no hard feelings, ya?

 

No problem! Good info and project. Pin up girl!!

 

The Engine Rebuilt

That was actually the first thing that I bite my teeth into. Everything else just followed. According to previous owner engine was laying on it's side for like 15 years. Was seized because of nr. 3 piston. Anyway, I started to tear it apart after I studied Haynes manual to unconsciousness. Even though I did broke some cooling fins.

I bought complete gasket kit, the one that comes with valve stem seals. Believe it or not, I did the whole (first) disassembly in the kitchen, haha. After 15 years there wasn't a drop of oil inside.

Gears were surface rusted. I bought some eco friendly de-rusting solution, doesn't smell or anything, looks yellow like if you go to nr.1 (washroom), soaked rusty parts for like 24 hrs, and they come out really clean. Later I bought another one that looks green.
I actually de-rust all the parts with that (I don't remember the brand exactly).

Clutch rings looked good almost as new I cleaned, measured them and put them back. So far there was no slipping or anything wrong, but due to its age new clutch rings are one of the things on my list. I want to be on the tight budget, but some things just have to be changed sooner than later.

Engine cases, cam shaft/valve cover, cylinder head, engine/valve head were soda blasted. I was rinsing the heck out of them later as I didn't want to have any soda leftovers in those tiny little oil passages.


Re-threaded all bolts and holes on the engine to get proper torque later.

In the process I did some stupid mistakes, but I don't have any regrets reassembling the whole engine about 4 times lol.
Like one of the bearings slip from that half circled "thingies" that catches the groove of the bearing. I realized that when engine was already on the frame and shifter side cover wouldn't go all the way. I was so pissed I grab the engine from the frame with just hands an put it on the rubber mat on the floor. Before that I was experimenting with some really weird ways to do it.

Some other time was to rebuilt the starter clutch.
I bought a starter clutch repair kit. To unbolt those three bolts I used cordless Makita impact driver, bought replacement bolts which were about 3mm to long, so I ground them of, and use red loctite.

I think other two times were to redo the gasket seal between cases and to rethread holes and bolts.

When working on starter motor I make it really, really clean and make sure it wasn't damaged. Brushes seemed fine but I replaced them anyway.

I also replaced alternator brushes on an clean all the wiring and connections.

Checked all the valve stems for imperfections, they seemed fine, I ground valve seats, and later put all the correct valve shims to get them into specs.


Putting the engine together, timing it right and put it back on the frame is pretty straightforward once you do it 4 times lol.

For the paint I used engine enamel, both black and sandy colors are PlastiKote brand. I used same sandy color for forks, final drive, gas tank, side covers and fork tree (maybe for some other small pieces). Before painting it I cleaned the parts and use etch primer to properly bond the paint to the parts (except the cylinder and valve head just cleaned those, paint 'em and let the heat do the rest)



There's probably a lot of smaller things done that I didn't mention here, but you have a general idea.

 

What is the Poll all about?

So, I was playing with some ideas in the past and for clearer vision I did some photoshop and designing. It might help you guys to see what I have in mind.

Decal


Pin-Up


Sharkmouth



Thank you.

 

Combination of two. The pin up girl with Yamaha 650 on the bomb.

 

I like the decal makes it look like a crazy thing Yamaha made. Next favorite pin up

 

I think shark mouth suits the bike best. Your photoshop skills are high. Now I distrust all your pictures! Lol. Great job saving the bike.

 

pin up girl riding the shark and a yamaha tattoo on her thigh

 

Some people just want it all. sheesh!

 

not really. i didn't mention the bomb (which the shark should have in his mouth, btw)

great looking bike

 

I think you should just go with this:

 

i like it, real nice job, but when i watched the video, the chrome bars jumped right out. paint them bars

 

lol

You guys have some cool ideas. Imagine "Pin-up dude" waving a hat.... haha ..sitting on a bomb (really!?)...

Yo, painting chromed bars would be major PITA. You need to scratch the surface with sanding so the paint can have a grip, somewhere to stick to. And chrome is really hard. I kinda like them bars though.

I did go through a hassle of painting chrome caps on swing arm. Scuffed them with scotch brite, spray paint 'em black (I think Krylon camouflage black - Walmart), and use some of the 2K spray can a.k.a. "spraybomb" (Lordco) in mat finish.

I like 2K spray can clearcoats because they have catalyst inside. There is another valve on the bottom side of the can and you press on it so the catalyst mixes up with clearcoat in a can. Then you have like 48 hours to use it. You basically end up with shop grade top coat, resistant for chipping and scratching.... Ya, not like them Marha Stuart clearcoats lol....

Try it!! It's like $20 canadian per can.

I used same mat clearcoat over paintjob. Nice dull finish. Love it.