possible new xj 650 owner needs advice.

Hey all,

I am going to look at a yamaha maxim 650 tomorrow that I found for a good price ($700) This will be my first bike. The seller says that the carbs need to be removed and cleaned and that it just needs general service and a tune up. I showed this to my brother-in-law (a very experienced motorcyclist) last night and his advice was to go for it but have the work done at a shop. I was planning on doing it myself but I am rather inexperienced. My question is, how hard is it to work on this engine? If I find a good shop manual will I be able to do the carbs on my own? Also, if I take it to a shop, what kind of money would I be looking at spending on this work? My brother-in-law told me that carbs are easy, but I shouldn't try to do it myself, and that the carbs on this particular bike look like there pretty tough to get to. Any info would be appreciated, I am really interested in buying this bike but don't want to end up spending more in work than I spent on the bike.

Thanks.

 

If your brother-in-law really wants to help, get him to check the compression, before you buy, if sound go for it.
A manual is a "no brainer"
Reports on this site say you can pay up to $800.00 at the dealer's for carb work, that's if they don't break off studs.
You can do all this stuff yourself, with the help of the guys on this site.
Good luck, Wiz.

 

To get you started in the right direction as far as carb access, they pull off as a unit, the whole "rack" stays together. Wiz is right do a compression test first, if the motor is sound go for it. These bikes aren't DIFFICULT to work on, they are a bit more COMPLEX than some but a lot less so than others. You need a good service manual and patience; and expect to spend a bit of money replacing parts that simply are all done after 26 years. Depending on where you're located, even FINDING a shop to work on a bike this old can be a challenge. You CAN do it all yourself and there is a wealth of knowledge here to assist; but it will require an investment in time, learning, plus a few tools and parts. If you start paying others to work on it, the price tag will climb quickly.

 

The only thing I needed from a shop was welding. The kickstand bracket was broken.

I have never had an engine apart before but I am learning how.
I took apart and cleaned my carbs using RickCo's wonderful tutorial.
I just changed wheels from a parts bike to my daily rider.

Its not a lot more difficult than taking a bicycle apart. Its just a lot more parts and the parts are lots heavier.

Where are you located? Most areas have guys that will meet to work on carbs and tuning.

 

http://www.clarity.net/~adam/buying-bike.html

 

Thanks for the info guys. Half Century, I am located in New Egypt NJ, right smack in the middle of the state. I would certainly be open to this if there really is anyone around here.

I did talk to the guy on the phone today and he said that it starts with starting fluid and and that all cylinders do have compression. I'm not exactly sure how to do a compression test myself. He said that he bought another bike and doesn't have time to work on this one but it's an "easy $1200 winter project" not sure if the $1200 includes the purchase price or not though.

I don't know if this complicates things, but I forgot to mention that the bike has an aftermarket exhaust system.

 

If it's starting with starting fluid, then it's a fairly simple fix. Check the sticky here on this forum with that in the title of the thread. A good soaking and cleaning out the carbs may be all it actually needs. I used guitar string to clear the offending passages. The only time carb works gets complicated at all is if you need to sync them.

If that's all it is, then it might just be a $20 winter project.

Doubtful that an aftermarket exhaust is going to complicate things. Worst care scenario is that it needs to be rejetted, but highly unlikely.

 

You are close enough to Baltimore to get together some time.

In the meantime you should look at the FAQ particularly posts by RickCo Gamuru about cleaning carbs.

One thing I am planning on for the future is to have a set of cleaned and bench synched carbs on the shelf to take to a bike for sale to install and drive it away if thats all the bike needs.

 

Hey guys,

Thanks again for all the info, I ended up taking a pass on this one cause there were a few more things wrong with it than was originally stated. First off he told me when i got there that the carbs needed to be rebuilt. The front brake was out, and the clutch didn't work. He also made a lot of excuses not to start it up for me. Too many red flags went up for me to be comfortable with it. I'll keep looking though, I really liked the bike. Maybe I'll find one that is in good running order and just pay the 1500 for it. Thanks again.

 

I paid $950 delivered to my garage from 70 miles away.
The fact that a PO would ride it to your place makes all the difference to me.

I would not pay over $1000 unless it was running and immaculate.

What you described would be $300 - $500 maximum.

 

mil-3 I dropped you a PM