XJ 550 Repairs/Mods

Has anyone ever changed a clutch on a maxim 550? If so how difficult is it and can i need any special tools???

 

All the 550 clutches are the same and I've done plenty.

It's not difficult, and unless you have to pull the hub for some reason you don't need any special tools.

If you DO have to loosen/tighten the big nut that retains the hub, you'll need a clutch hub holding tool. In most cases this shouldn't be necessary.

I will be posting a photo how-to for XJ clutches in a week or two; I just rebuilt the one in my '81 and I don't have all the pics edited yet.

 

Excellent, I will be looking forward to that. My i rev the bike hard it feels like the clutch gives for a few seconds.

 

Check your cable - could be too tight. Easy to do at least.

Fitz looking forward to your how to!

 

good point, this started happening when i changed the handlebars to a lower style. do you think the clutch cable is too long now or does that really matter??

 

It might not be too long, but it could be catching/pulling on something that's causing the tightness. Do you notice it more when turning, going straight, or both?

 

i notice it going straight, there is a slight kink in the cable from having the handle bars turned to the side all winter long.
it may be that i just need a new clutch cable, maybe i would change this first and see how that goes??

 

The kink might be doing it. I'd try a new cable before I started digging into the engine, myself.

 

excellent, i will try this first and let you know how it turns out?

thanks!

 

If you put significantly lower bars on a 550 you are going to need to replace the clutch cable with a shorter one. There is no way to gracefully "tuck" the excess cable anywhere without it kinking, or getting up against the hot exhaust pipes. Trust me on this, although my 550s are Secas they came with the same handlebar.

I put "European" bend bars on both my Secas; a Seca 750 cable is just about the perfect length and has very close to the same amount of "free cable" as the stock one. I'm running the 750 cable on both of mine.

You may find that you can probably also route your throttle cable OVER the frame cross-tube it's now jammed up against and have a better straight shot at the cable bracket than stock.

Both of the above tips depend on how different the bar is you fitted.

 

thanks for the info, i will attack this in the following order:

1- route cable over frame, if that doesnt work
2- replace cable, if that doesnt work
3- replace clutch