G-day from OZ....with a 1983 XJ650 Turbo

Thought I would say hi after loitering around this forum for some time now, finally mustered the courage.

Always wanted a Turbo XJ from the first time I ever saw one….back in 1982. My friend and I watched his neighbour drop his new silver XJ Turbo (told me he had it for only 2 weeks) in the gutter right out the front of his house, broke the mirror, indicator front and rear and scratched the hell out of the fairing…..remember the time 1982…. It was Harleys Z900 GS1000 days and then there was this thing…OMG WTF is this bike its awesome this thing was from fricken outer space (I was only 12)…..

Bought this 1983 XJ650 Turbo Seca (as a roller) with a spare bike in pieces off ebuy for $500 a while back, PO stated it was a good runner….as with all PO statements, grain of salt…

All I did was strip it down (motor untouched), cleaned it up and painted it… I did however buy another 83-turbo bike complete for more spares, so now have enough for another one…maybe one day.
Took me almost 3mths to finish, all up I think it cost me about $50-60 to do, $25 for the new-old stock side cover (all are too scratched) and $30 for some extra paint/thinners and bits and pieces…had the black and silver left over from another project…
Oh yeh and as for the condition of the motor…
This has to be one of the smoothest and tightest running motors I have ever heard. I’m not kidding it’s so quiet not a single rattle, crisp and responsive.





this is the day I got it...pretty bad hey


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the build...


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and she's done....


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Man o man,

You Aussies sure know how to rescue a bike! Nice paint scheme, do you have a youtube account *wink wink*.

 

Welcome meagain 1! You Aussies have awesome taste. That's a real eye catcher. Great to have another turbo aboard. If you haven't already, check out JeffKs thread "How many Turbo owners do we have? Went for another ride...."

 

wow, what a stunner, i have to ask, how long it took to make it that attractive? im looking at one hopefully from armidale,at the mo for around the2 maRK,im sure wifey will ruin it for me though.once again well done and i hope it goes as good as it looks.

 

sorry didnt read it all, to busy frothing at the mouth, shivers $60 bucks, cant believe it, well done,must have been pretty solid to start with?

 

Now THAT, is a miracle. Wow, looks awesome!

 

MAN!!! "3 mo. and $50 or $60" I'm GREEN with envy and WELCOME from TN...

skillet

 

That's absolutely beautiful work and a gorgeous bike. I salute you for the fine work. There must be a zero left off your total costs though or you happened to have a very, very deep parts bin with specialized parts for the brand new non-stock shocks, the GSXR pegs, not to mention the must-have-needed carbs kits, turbo rebuild kit, 2 sets of front brake pads etc.

Did you just get it finished? Looks brand new!

Definitely good to see another blown bike here finally!!

I love the paint but not sure about the windshield. Looks great from the front though. Did you get that at company in AU? They also are supposed to have one very closely resembling the stocker. I have their website saved on my laptop but don't remember their name off the top of my head. Did you find the right side exit to the right muffler from the turbo with a hole eaten through? Every single one I’ve seen here are rusted through. I elected to patch mine even though the only time exhaust gas flows is when the wastegate is open.

How did you setup your boost control? A lot of guys let the pop off in the surge tank handle the over boost but it front loads the turbo so adding a boost control valves worked really well for me and now the modified pop off is a true safety instead of primary control. I can tell you that I did a ton of research and found that the engine can easily handle 17-19psi for extended use and short bursts about 5 psi higher so I have my controller set to 17-18 and wow, it’s a blast. The fun really begins once the new boost gage swings past 12psi. You can get it to pretty much hold at 15 -16 while you blow up through the gears….pretty awesome.

WTTC,

jeff

 

I must say first and formost...thank you so very much for the warm welcome guys, I am overwhelmed by the responce, you guys are great.

The windshield is actualy the original cut down (still have 2 in original faded condition), I think they were the same in the U.S...HUGE!
The bike as you see it from the PO was complete yet stripped to the photo stage and was left in a farm shed (open front) hence all the dirt etc, it looked worse than it was, the PO stated it had a rebuid and I believe it has. The tyres and brakes were virtualy new and the carbs just needed a clean (dirty fuel). The pegs are off a CB1100 (rear pegs) that I have and due to single seat rego didnt need the rear. The turbo is in great condition, mate just balanced it and threw a kit in it for free (owed me for a steering rack I rebuilt for his car). The shocks were not on the bike in the photo and are used, they came with the other spare bike (in pieces), PO was going to fix it up to its former glory but never got around to it (like most PO's hey :lol: ).

I really didnt have to buy much for the bike to get it to this stage though I didnt include oil, plugs and filters as they are always part of the build..regardless. What i did was strip it down, choose the best parts from the 2 bikes and went from there (took a chance on the motor and it paid off)....Oh and no the exhaust is in perfect condition no rust at all, to be honest I was surprised also towards how good they actually are, pristine for their age....yet the other bikes are exactly as you descrided...guttered!

As for any turbo mods... the bike is stock apart from a turbo timer. I wanted to get it going pretty close to original....
In the future I will definitly build another from the spares I have and that one I will tinker a bit with, as I now have a better understanding of this awesome bike......fricken complicated :twisted: !

 

Fantastic work meagain. I have always been a fan of the 650 turbo and am always starstruck whenever, which is rarely nowadays, see one whiz by.
Thanks for putting the effort in, great bike!.

 

Nice, like cds says not many around anymore.
Had a 2nd look at the photo's and thats a huge amount of clean and polish looks nice.

 

OMG WTF that IS outta this world cool. Right on ride on man.

 

That one in Armidale is for sale in Just Bikes at present

 

I stumbled across the exact pictures posted in a SAAB forum. They were posted there last summer I believe..nice bike, who ever owns it.....

jeff

 

Wow.. That is absolutely amazing. And I thought mine was in bad shape when I got it. haha

 

Makes my 750 look soooo slow

 

The thread is a crock IMHO.

 

Gee Wiz, at least I was trying to be subtle about it<LOL>. For the guys that don't understand what he means..... When a guy blows into a forum having never posted before and presents "his" bike, the one he built with never asking a single question or ever even making himself known is a sure sign that "something isn't right". That's why I searched the pics and found they had been previously posted on that Saab forum nearly a year earlier. I joined the forum and wrote to the author there but he never wrote back. My guess is that "our boy" was a member of that forum and decided to "capitalize" on someone else's work. That's why I had asked him in March if he had recently completed it....he must have realized that at least one person was on to his deal. It is a nice bike though, but does have issues with the right side exhaust as I remember(I can't view the pics here at work to confirm) there was a hole in it where it leaves the turbo but unless you know the bikes and that there's usually a hole there, you wouldn't have seen it in the pics....but it's there. Most builders, including myself repaired that hole when they bui;lt their bike but for some reason, with "all the work he did"...he did not.

I give you credit Wiz....you call it as you see it.....


BTW- I have more respect for the guy that takes two weeks to adjust his valves because he doesn't know what he's doing then someone who lies about what he's built.
jeff