Just picked up an '81 xj550 maxim

Hi all,

I just picked up a 1982 xj550 maxim with 57k km for cheap in southern Ontario. The deal was too good to pas up. This is my first bike so I have a lot of learning to do though I like to think I'm pretty mechanically inclined - I do tons of work on my snowmobiles and truck.

It doesn't run, the PO said he had it running really good 2 years ago before he parked it. The tires look pretty good imo, the paint on the tank is oxidized but no rust. PO said when he bought the bike the inside of the tank was rusty so he had some shop coat and seal the inside. No rust from what I can see but the edges by the cap are peeling.

Front brake doesn't work, though the pads and rotor look new, the brake lever is bent and the fluid reservoir is empty and the viewing glass is broken so I'll need to replace the whole handlebar assembly and I may as well upgrade to braided lines while I'm at it.

Choke cable is seized. Doesn't move at all, not sure why. The choke arm on the carbs moves fine so something is holding the cable.

The throttle works but it doesn't return/twist back to zero.

Battery is done, needs replacing. I was thinking of just going with a small lithium 4-cell battery (anti gravity ag401).

Left side exhaust bracket (where it bolts to the passenger foot peg) is bent so the left exhaust sticks out farther than the right side and the rear stand rests against the pipe. I'm not sure what happened as it's bent out (away from the bike). I took the left pipe off and didn't even need to loosen the ring clamp so something in that side must be out of whack.

The PO said that he put in a jet kit 2 years ago but noticed that one of the butterfly valves was bent. I'm not sure how that couldve happened but I'll be doing a full carb clean and rebuild so I guess we'll see. The carb boots are all cracked and gross looking. I definitely need to replace those. He also told me that the he thinks the #1 cylinder on the left side wasn't getting enough fuel.

The chain is rusty and awful. Going to replace it. What length chain do I need for this bike?

I also noticed thick black greasy stuff on the front of the motor between the two middle headers. I'm not sure if the head is leaking oil or if the last oil change was just supper messy and it wasn't cleaned but I guess I'll figure it out.

So I have a lot to do on this thing but I'm looking forward to it. I paid so little for the bike that I can afford to have some fun with it. I'll order the shop manuals for this bike.

I'd like to start by getting it running, so a battery and some fuel and freeing up the choke cable are first on my list.

If the motor runs then I'll go ahead and clean and rebuild the carbs and replace whatever needs replacing. I've never done carb work so I'll take my time here. I suppose they'll need to be synced as well, which I have also never done.

I'll check and adjust the valve clearances. I've never done this either.

I noticed some cut wires by the headlight. I think they belong to the horns but I'm not sure. I'll find out once the bike has a new battery.

I also need to fix the throttle but I'll have to do some reading on how to do that.

I'll also change the tube style fuses to blade style. With a new smaller battery I'll have plenty of room in there I think.

Also, if I can get everything up and running I'll do complete fluid change. What weights of oil do I need in this thing?

Thanks for the help. I'm looking forward to this project. I'm sure I've missed a ton of stuff and I know I'll find more issues and things to fix as I go along but it wouldn't be a project bike without surprises!

 

Looks good and you've come to the right site. Looking forward to your updates!

 

Welcome to the site, lots of info here. One of the moderators is "k-moe" in his signature block are links to must read info about your bike. Please take the time to read them, it will save you lots of time and research time.

Keep us up to date with lots of pics.

 

You have a good starting point. First thing DO NOT ditch the stock airbox!!! Pods suck , Hear to often pods make it easy to pull carbs..if you do your carbs right first time you won't have to pull them again. Take your carbs to church this means a FULL tear down "breaking the rack" replace the butterfly shaft seals . As a general rule never trust the Previous owner unless it someone you know and can trust. Please by all means click on xj4ever on upper right corner of page , go to information overload , Chacal sells almost every part you will need . Take your time and do research you can have it up and running with pride if you do it yourself . Good luck

 

Yeah I plan on keeping the stock airbox. I'll need a new filter though, but that's not really an issue.

Going out today to pick up a new battery to try and get this thing started. Hopefully I'll have enough time to get the carbs out.

As far as batteries go, is there one that you guys like? I can't find a part number I can look up to see which batteries will fit.

 

AMG sealed battery from Batteries Plus like 65.00$ great battery !!!!!

 

I ended up going with a MottoBatt MB12U off of amazon. Got it for a decent price.

 

Brake lever is not bent it is supposed to have that curve in it.

cut wires is one of them pink? pink is to horn.

 

Okay so by the horns is a brown wire that goes down to the voltage regulator in one of the photos but isn't connected to it. The regulator has no wires connect to it at all.

There's also a red wire and blue wire that are taped together and go up into the headlight housing. See the attached photo.

There's also a set of three with a taped connector. These wires are orange red and black and these also go into the headlight housing.

 

voltage reg witers are on a large connector behind the panel

red and blue wires is your ignition switch there


check your inbox please

 

Will do, thanks for the info.

When you say "behind the panel" is that behind the panel that the gray square thing with fins is attached to, by the airbox?

 

the battery cover panel 2 bolts to remove on left side the wires go to left and up through the channel molded into battery cover then connector should be at frame visable with seat removed

 

Alright so I got the bike running for a minute or so but only with quick start. I don't think the engine was getting any fuel so I'm thinking something in the carbs is plugged. The air filter is also disgusting. I'll replace that for sure.

The choke cable is also still seized. I wasn't able to free it up and I'm not sure how to get it moving. Might need to replace it.

One of the previous owners has done some funky wiring. This is the fuse box, its all taped up and the lid has been cut to 'kinda-sorta' make it close. There's a bunch of cut wires (see above post) by the headlight, and two cut wires that go towards the battery. I'm definitely going to have to rewire at least part of this bike. I also want to switch to a blade-style fuse box.



I took the carbs out of the bike and the bowls were filled with fuel.
Took the tank off as well. I think the cylinder order goes from left to right 1-2-3-4, correct?

I took some photos of the spark plugs. Plugs from cylinders 1 and 2 looks kinda of dark while the plugs from cylinders 3 and 4 are almost white and look like they were burning hot.

Cylinder 1


Cylinder 2


Cylinder 3


Cylinder 4




As for the carbs, I haven't taken them apart just yet, but the butterfly valve on cylinder 3 is missing a screw and is bent out (facing away from the motor). The bore around it is also scratched up. How could something like this have happened? It looks like it was pried with a screwdriver or something. I'm going to have to go through the parts list and figure out what I need.

As you can see from the pictures, they're pretty dirty. I certainly have my work cut out for me.

 

big question is where did the screw go ?

 

Well knowing my luck it probably went into the engine. I looked into the cylinder as best as I could and didn't see any knicks but I'll probably have to pull the head and take a real good look. I'll pull the motor to paint the frame and clean up the engine and that'll be the time to do it.

EDIT: Come to think of it, the PO said he had done some carb work (rejetted) before he parked it. I'd be willing to bet he lost the screw and just didnt bother buying a replacement. I won't chance it, I'll still take off the head and have a look see but I think it's fine.

 

The horror!

 

Oh deer. You will need a new butterfly plate this one is rather bent , a good used plate is easier than trying to straighting out bent plate. Im sure one of the group can hook you up one way or another.

 

test the screws that remain see if they are magnetic if so you could fish it out with a magnet if it is still there.

when the valve cover is off check to see if the valves in that cylinder are stuck open screw could be trapped in the valve.

 

Yeah I'll give that a shot. Thanks for the tip! I just read a how-to on doing the valve adjustment. Looks pretty simple, just need the tool.

 

the tool is useless on a 550 you use a wide zip tie folded over or a 12 gauge insulated house wire wire works great.

AIRHEAD VALVE ADJUSTMENT with Pics

AIRHEAD VALVE ADJUSTMENT Part 2: The Tool vs. ZipTie -w/pics

VALVE COVER REFURB: Step-by-step with pics

 

Oh really? Why is the tool useless? These are the links I mentioned that I had read through. Seems like a fairly simple job. It'll give me a chance to clean and paint the valve cover as well.

 

for the xj550 it needs to be ground down to fit the cavity, it takes a long time to use the tool , in the time it takes you to secure the tool you could do 3 shim replacments with zip tie or 12 gauge wire. I have tried all 3 methods.
I have 2 tools I use them as paper weights. I would mail you one but the cost of postage to canada is very expensive for a 15$ tool

 

Hm alright, that makes sense. a bit of 12ga wire is cheaper anyways. All good.

 

I think member @cgutz has info on grinding the tool


that is solid 12 ga wire

 

IN THE CHURCH OF CLEAN

Hype on prepping the carb piston/slide/cylinder, AKA The Clunk Test.

Wire Valve tool

Plus the links in my signature.

Start a conversation with Chacal for parts.

 

Alright thanks for the info.

I didn't get any work on the bikes done today. This week I'm busy with work so I'll have to wait till the weekend / next week to get some more work done.

 

Go slow. Be thorough.

 

So took some more stuff off the bike today; the rear tire, rear brake, rear fender and lights and the exhaust.

#1 exhaust header is rusted through where it joins with the collector and the collector is rusted through where the #1 header is inserted. I've been looking for decent used exhaust on ebay. I don't like the look of the Mac 4-into-1 exhaust and also the price sucks. Can't find anything else aftermarket either, and straight pipes will be obnoxious and will probably cause backpressure issues so I'm looking for a stock exhaust I can put back on.





I got a new battery in yesterday, going to pick up a compression tester to see how the engine is. After that I'll pull the motor and get to cleaning and painting the motor. Need a new chain and sprockets I think, they're all rusted. There was also a mouse nest behind the drive sprocket cover.

 

That looks like it needs TLC. As for the chain, not too sure what your budget is, Kerosene works good if you want to soak it while you are working on other things. Then check the links to see if they freed up. As long as it cleans up well and each link bends at the riot connecting pins, I would think it is good to go. Not too sure if that chain has a master link or not? .

 

Not sure, I haven't gone through the chain yet, but it clunks real bad when turning the rear wheel and is super stiff. I'll try a good clean once I get it off the bike.

And what looks like it needs TLC? The whole bike needs a good clean if that's what you mean and is part of the reason I'm doing a full tear-down and rebuild.

Also, the tank was previously sealed because it was rusty on the inside. The sealant is peeling in around the gas cap lip. Can a tank be re-sealed? Or can the existing sealant be removed for new stuff? I emptied the bit of fuel that was in there and it was pretty gritty so I'm worried that it'll do some damage if I leave it as is.

 

Do a search for gas tank seal or something close to that, lots of posts out there of others in the same shape. It can be taken care of one way or another. As for the TLC, just that pic, most of our bikes were found very dirty and or rusty, that is all I mean. Once you get it cleaned up she will surprise you how nice it looks.

 

It's not really a great picture but it shows what I mean what I mean about the sealant that was used peeling around the edge. After reading through some posts, I'm not sure how I can fix this since its already been sealed.

I'm also going with drag bars, something like these: http://www.tcbroschoppers.com/tc-bros-drag-bars-black-powdercoat-finish.html

I'll need new handlebar controls. I'm not sure what to go with though. Ton's of aftermarket switches on ebay. I like the switches that @saftie used on his bike but I'm not sure which ones they are as I can't find them on ebay. Anyone know what they are? (http://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/81-xj550-project.55252/page-7)

And for grips and throttle assembly, 7/8" grips should work. Hopefully the stock twist assembly works, otherwise I'll have to do some finding.

 

there is a thread on that too

Fuel Tank liner(?) issues on new shiny '82 XJ750 Maxim

 

Oh man I'm not sure how I missed that one. Thanks, I'll read through it now!

 

you will need to add a ground for painted bars with stock controls . the wire runs from the control harness to main harness but there may not be a ground on the mating connector.

there may also be issues with the drag bars hitting the tank.

 

We should have a good used original collector box and header pipe, send me an e-mail for specific part number, ordering and payment, info, etc: info@xj4ever.com or use the "Start A Conversation" feature on this website.

 

Frank, check your inbox.

Also, valve tool-----my favorite too is the zip tie. You can use the wire method, too. But 'the 'tool'......by the time you get done monkeying around with one cylinder, I'll probably be almost done with the whole engine using the zipties.

Screw- Personally, I doubt it was re-installed. Those are peened on the back. If it was not removed previously, it could not back out on its own. If it WAS removed, then the PO most likely stripped the threads on the screw and couldn't get it to go back in, therefore left it out.

I have a bunch of 550 parts here.....if you're coming down for carb work, maybe I can put together a parts-package deal for you. driving down would probably be a whole lot cheaper than trying to ship lots of stuff across the border.

Cable- probably seized due to rust. Replace it.

Front brake - the reason the pads and rotor would look new is because they probably are. The caliper is most likely seized, so the new parts were put on but actually haven't been used.

Dave

 

I'm throwing a list together of what it looks like I'll need. I'll message you guys once I've got it put together.

Thanks for the help everyone. Much appreciated.

 

I'm going to be painting the engine and exhaust. I've got VHT primer and header paint but I'm looking st my options for the engine. Is VHT enamel paint what I want to go with for the engine? I can also get VHT engine metallic drive train paint at the nearby shop but I'm not sure if I should go with the engine enamel or metallic. Does it make a difference?

EDIT: Just read the can and the website. I don't think it makes a difference so I'll stick with the engine metallic paint and see how it goes.

And the master link on the chain, once I get the clip off is the link supposed to just pop off? Or do I need a tool to get it off? I have the clip off but the link is stuck and doesn't budge.

 

Penetrating oil will soon be you best friend..........

 

I've got a can of kroil and I've been soaking the link but it hasn't budged yet.

 

Give it 3 days, then dial 911.........

 

Can Kroil be used as a cable lubricant or does it need to be specifically made for cables?

 

You'll need a lubricant made for control cables. Kroil (and most other non-specialty lubes) will attract and hold dirt/dust/grit, which will wear out a control cable in short order.......

 

Have you loosened (removed the tension from) the chain yet?

 

Alright, thanks for the tip.

Yes, tension is off. Rear wheel, brake, etc is off the bike. Chain is hanging free around the swingarm and the masterlink clip is off. The masterlink itself is just stuck and wont slide off. I've been soaking it with Kroil for just over 24hrs. I'll see tomorrow if I can pop it off with a couple flatheads or something.

 

this tool and chain and cable spray works good . I was at the yamaha dealer and he had a combo deal

 

Okay sweet thanks for the videos. There's a yamaha dealer closeby. I'll give him a shout to see if he has anything.

Frank

 

XJ4EVER also carries the cable tool and lube.

Not sure if it would work for your chain, but I am a believer in the heat and paraffin trick, especially after soaking some bolts on my 3 bottom with PBBlaster with no success, went with heat and paraffin and Shazam! It really works.

Are you looking to reuse the chain? You can always sacrifice the master link and get a new one.

Glad I got the shaft. (Matti?)