Hello

Hi XJ'ers,

Great resource here, which I intend to bleed dry :wink:

I've put a few pics up in the gallery of my 1991 (?) XJ900F, taken today along the Atlantic seaboard of Ireland.

Just a bit of background - I picked up the bike a couple of months ago. Got it home to discover...

- oil filter fitted backwards
- wrong sparkplugs
- big gouges in the newish pads, presumably to free up the seized brakes
- tank in very bad condition re rust in the lowest part
- wrong indicator lamps, so no flashing
- lots of bad electric joints and pvc tape
- totally rotten collector box

So all fluids have been changed, including brakes; new plugs, correct and gapped; new pads; tank cleaned and lined, but the jury is out on that; all obvious electrical problems fixed; alternator brushes checked; exhaust replaced wth a Motad 4into1; carbs cleaned.

To do -

Carb float levels to be checked; carbs to be balanced; oil seals need changing, in a big way; possibly change the fuse box

Lesson learned so far - don't go to look at a bike in the dark of winter, with a fistful of dollars, but without a torch, or a test ride :roll:

A problem is arising re engine noise, but I'll start a thread on that if I may.

Look forward to hearing from people, cheers !

 

Welcome to the site. Nice looking bike.

 

Welcome, just got an '82 XJ 550 Maxim, so far I'm loving it! Hope you get your issues all worked out and are ridin that thang real soon!

 

Top 'O the mornin to yer.
I just looked at the pics in your gallery and before you ride it much further I'd take the carbs off and play with the jets a bit. The pipes are really blue which is indicative of running really lean, which can lead to serious engine damage.
What bike repair level are you able to do, from your list you sound like you know a fair bit, but going from a stock system to a free breathing 4 into 1 will require jetting and a freer breathing air filter to work properly.
I'm sure there are a lot of guys here that should be able to jump in and give you a base setting to work from.
Maybe this is the engine noise you are hearing that you mention near the end of your first post.

 

Hi,

I'm pretty ok with maintenance - brake bleeding, bench synching etc.

But can you explain what you mean by ''free-breathing'' please ?

I'm going with the stock carbs and air filter because I contacted Motad with a view to buying a new system from them, and I asked this very question. I have an email from them to say that no alteration to carbs are required, that the system is designed for standard fuelling.

I'm sure the exhaust is correct, as I spoke with Motad for the relevant model code. (I ended up buying a good-as-new on the 'net).

I take your point though, they are very blue. And I think they're starting to blue in a ring around the muffler too, about six inches from the end of the exhaust. Plugs look reasonable though.

I've also got new exhaust gaskets in there too, and I've checked there are no leaks from the head.

Thanks for your thoughts.

 

Funny thing about manufacturers of headers, they all seem to say the same thing, "Oh, go ahead and just bolt them up, they'll be fine".
I put a Hindle (full) system on my bike years ago and they told me the exact same thing.
Took the old stock system off, put the new system on, fired it up and within minutes my nice shiny new chrome headers were turning blue!
Free breathing, if your header has less restriction for exhausting the combustion, then an aftermarket air filter that lets more air through into the carbs is needed. Don't know if that makes sense but it's the only way I can think of describing it.
I'm sure someone on here can give a better technical description than I can. But blue pipes = lean carburation which = bad for motor.