Me and my XJ550

Hello everyone! I'm new to the forums and while doing research on my 1982 XJ550 Maxim I just bought 2 days ago I came across this forum. It seems like everyone here is very helpful, knowledgeable, and nice... so I thought I'd join you .

Anyways, this is my first bike and, although I don't know much about bikes, I want to learn. Already I have replaced all 4 spark plugs and the battery but I know it hasn't been used in a while so I want to seafoam the bike, change the oil, get the carbs synced, and anything else I can do to get it running its best.

I already know a lot about seafoaming from doing it to my cars, but I have never done it on a bike before, so any advice would be appreciated. I know the tank is just shy of 4 gallons so I was thinking of adding 1/4-1/3 of the can in the tank and maybe some in the crank case when I change the oil. Now, when I seafoam my truck I put it right into the carburetor as well and that really gives it a nice cleaning. Now, is there an equivalent method on the XJ550? I know where the air filter is on the bike but I'm not sure if there's a hose or port I can pour some seafoam in that will get it right into the engine.

Also, I've been doing some research on the oil. I downloaded the service manual for the bike and it says above 40 degrees 20w-40 is recommended and below 60 degrees 10w-30 is recommended. Now, I've been looking on these forums and it seems that people here like to use 20w-40 or 20w-50 most of the time, and that I should look for oil specifically made for motorcycles and not autos. Is there a specific brand I should use or stay away from? I know some people use Castrol, some use Mobil, and any advice would be appreciated.

The last thing I wanted to know is about syncing the carbs. I'm no mechanic and I have very limited experience in working with engines so I don't really know much about syncing carbs except what I've read and seen on youtube :? . I do have some friends who have worked on cars and a friend who worked on bikes who lives 2 hours from me. I haven't asked him about it yet but I'd thought I'd mention it here anyways, do you think it's something I should try on my own or get a mechanic to do it? Ideally if my friend knows how he'd probably be willing to help me with it.

Wow, I didn't mean for this post to be that long... sorry for that, I just want what's best for my bike and I'm sure you understand. Anyways, I appreciate any and all advice and I'm very excited to be apart of this awesome community. I will try to return the favor when I become more proficient and will stay an active member. Thank you guys again!

-DH

 

Welcome to the site, seafoam is great just add it to the gas in your tank. As far as adding to the oil, I don't know if that's a good idea, maybe someone else will chime in.

 

i've seafoamed the lower end of my jeep (old 258cid) and my isuzu...no adverse effects to my knowledge but i've heard bad things about puttin' in the bottom end of these bikes.
as far as your bike? i think that i would just put a little in the gas and keep it out of your oil (at least for now) as you don't know how it's been treated in its previous life... i would get it hot, change the oil with some cheap dino, then fill again and run a bit...then change the oil and filter with some good stuff (name brand mc oil). i would not do anything radical with the bike...it's 20-something years old...it'll be fine with good oil.
just my .02 of course.

 

Thanks for the replies, I'm definitely going to put seafoam in the gas tank, but I heard somewhere that a guy was able to put it directly into the carbs and really clean them out well, has anyone had experience doing this? I don't think I'll add any to the oil, but changing it like you mentioned is a good idea, I'll try that. Anyone else have experience with syncing carbs? Once again thanks for the help.

 

deathaol...there is no substitute for cleaning carbs...not seafoam, not any fuel additive, not any black magic. the best way to get your jets clean is to pull them out and clean 'em.
i think the only thing that's going to happen if you put directly into the carbs is you'll be wasting an otherwise good can of sf
as far as syncing carbs...just use the search function as there are 1.327 zillion good threads on this

 

Ok, that I'll do some more searching through the boards, thanks!

 

If you've worked on cars in the past, you'll have no issues working on this bike. That includes a full-fledged cleaning of the carbs (read the whole nine yards by RickCoMatic and there are some other comprehensive guides here as well) and synchronizing.

For the sync, search for the two-bottle sync tool and you'll see it's not very difficult (maybe tedious, but not difficult) to do.

This site is the best resource out there, glad you found it! Good luck!

 

+1........