The road to recovery...

I remember it well, that day in May, 1982 nearly 28 years ago, when I picked her up in Faribault, Minnesota. My two roommates & I were in the market for motorcycles and we all settled on Yamaha’s. We looked at the competition, Honda, Kawasaki and Suzuki, but it was Yamaha that grabbed our attention. I was biased; my uncle was one of the 1st Yamaha dealers in the United States so I was brought up around Yamaha. My roommates settled on the 1981 model 650 Maxim’s that were prior year carry over’s, primarily because of the deep discounted price. I read the articles…Yamaha’s new 750 power plant was the fastest ¼ miler in production. Not one to follow the pack (literally or figuratively), I fell hard for the 750 Maxim. Just a hair more oomph and a little more style, exactly what I was looking for.

Fast forward 28 years into the future, still together road rash and all… what a labor of love it’s been.

My quest to restore La Bête began last October when I did a Google search for help on replacing fork seals. Low and behold, XJbikes contributor “Gamuru”, had a write-up detailing fork seal replacements and the info I was looking for. I couldn’t believe my eyes, a site dedicated to the old XJ of yore. The tasks ahead seemed less daunting and the time for procrastination was finally over. Enough blather already… I set a budget for the project at $650 with a mid-March completion date.

Here’s an itemized list of what a little less than $600 paid for including tools, supplies & riding gear:

Fork Seals
Fork tube crush washers
Front wheel bearings & seals
Steering stem bearings
Gas cap seal
Front tire
Front brake pads
Caliper seals
Caliper boots
Master cylinder rebuild kit
Blue instrument LED’s
High intensity red brake LED”S
German Osram H4 Silverstar headlight bulb (Sylvania not)
Harbor Freight Volt meter
Oil galley o-rings
Oil sending unit o-ring
Generator seal & o-ring
Generator bearing oil nozzle o-ring
Shifter shaft seal
Carburetor fuel rail o-rings
Thorough carburetor cleaning
Carburetor bowl gaskets
Valve cover gasket
Valve cover donuts
Dynabeads for tire balancing
Gas/vacuum line clamps
Rear brake wear indicator plate
Radio Shack fuse holder
Radio Shack 12V Relay (275-248)
Hi temp oil cooler hose (4’)
Oil filter o-rings
Oil Filter
Oil drain crush washer
12 Volt accessory power port


Tools added to the shop:

BrassCraft castle nut holding tool
YICS Blanking tool
ColorTune tool
Homemade carburetor level stand (for float setting)
Tire irons (3)
Shim tool
#2 JIS screwdriver
Homemade brake vacuum pump (for bleeding brakes)
Welding tip cleaner
M16X1.5mm Tap

Misc supplies used:

Tropicana juice container wheel protectors
3M Tank emblem adhesive
Carb/brake cleaner (4 cans)
Silicon grease
Hi temp brake grease
Moly bearing grease
Anti-seize paste
Fork oil
Marvel Mystery oil
Blue thread lock
Brake fluid (16 oz)
1000 grit Emory cloth
16 ga hook-up wire
3/8” clear vinyl tubing (12 ft)
Various wire splice connectors
Spray paint - flat black
Kroil (best $12 ever spent)
5 Minute Epoxy


Riding Gear added:

HJC CL-SP helmet
Cargo net

What’s left to do you say?

Headlight modulator
Adjust valves
Sync carbs
Colortune the Pilot jets
Helicoil 3 stripped valve cover holes (thanks to Yamaha dealership service)
Drop the exhaust to replace that darn oil sending unit o-ring
Rear shocks
Braided brake lines
TCI electrolytic capacitor replacement and solder touch-up

Epiloge

Parts and supplies were gathered from a variety of sources with our very own “Chacal/Len” as a major supplier. Other supplies came from as far away as Korea, Canada, Estonia, Japan, & Hong Kong.

Last time La Bête was started: +5 years ago

Advice: Take your time and do it right

Goals met: Under budget and on schedule

Cost of satisfaction: Priceless!

Almost forgot to mention, the new Maxim hasn’t ran this good in a long, long time. I can’t say for certain, but it’s quite possible that it’s running better today then ever before. Or, at the very least, since that cold March day we kissed the pavement at 70 miles an hour some 22 years ago. Hard to believe I know… I'm jacked to see what I can get with the carbs synced & Colortuned!

Now for the million dollar question: What do you suppose it would have cost me to have somebody do this work for me? Rhetorical question for sure, and it really doesn’t matter much anyway. Not to mention, I never really liked those grease monkeys working on my bike at the local shops either. Nothing personal, but in general, the mechanics I’ve experienced in New Mexico, can’t or don't cut it. They never seemed to get the job done right or to my satisfaction before they lifted those greenbacks from my wallet.

Many thanks to all those that inspired and helped me along the way!

The road to recovery wasn’t quick but it was immensely satisfying…

Long live the XJ and long live XJBikes.com!

Ride on,

“Ski”




La Bête 2010

 

Absolutely stunning, looks NEW. You deserve your pride.

 

VERY Nice

 

GREAT history lesson and REALLY NICE looking bike! You've a right to be proud...

skillet
BTW and like you said, if it weren't for the more knowledgeable members and their how-to's a number of us wouldn't be riding...

skillet

 

front page work!

very glad to seen such a nice example of an xj, you should be proud.

 

What a fine looking ride, Ski.

 

Every great magic trick consists of three parts or acts.

The first part is called "The Pledge".

The magician shows you something ordinary: a deck of cards, a bird or a man. He shows you this object. Perhaps he asks you to inspect it to see if it is indeed real, unaltered, normal. But of course... it probably isn't.

The second act is called "The Turn". The magician takes the ordinary something and makes it do something extraordinary. Now you're looking for the secret... but you won't find it, because of course you're not really looking. You don't really want to know. You want to be fooled. But you wouldn't clap yet. Because making something disappear isn't enough; you have to bring it back. That's why every magic trick has a third act, the hardest part, the part we call:

"The Prestige"!

Take a bow.
Listen to the every well deserved compliment.
What a great job. But, it's NO illusion, ...

YOU really brought it back!

 

Well done, well done. Be proud. We all know what it took.

 

What an accomplishment!

Great work!

 

Great job!!! she looks great! 8)

 

Thanks guys for all the generous compliments!

 

Indeed you've done the old girl proud!!

Totally agree with everyone in saying without the more learned members of our forum ... alot of us wouldn't be able to afford the bike shop labour costs involved with keeping our beloved XJ's on the road.

So Ski ... Take a bow


And also all our resident experts ... See what you have inspired guys!!!

Regards .. Babylon 8)