Introductions: another new rider on an XJ

Greetings all! I've been a lurker for several months at least taking in what knowledge I can as I got the bike bug probably a good 9 months to a year ago, and after plenty of researching, cash saving, and a little soul searching I was able to bring home my first bike this past Monday!

It's an '83 650 Maxim (an XJ650K, 618th off the line in likely late 82 if I'm decoding my VIN correctly!) and is in pretty clean shape. It has just over 20k on the clock, the PO put about 1k on it last summer so I can assume that it isn't too far from being reliable and safe. Thankfully, I have the next several months to do what work I need to to feel safe putting it on the road. This will be my first bike, but I'm looking forward to the experience of learning how to ride (safely!) and how to keep my bike tuned well and reliable. I've been wrenching for years, mostly on Volkswagens (and I've had a hole in my heart ever since letting my Scirocco go a while back), so I'm used to having a project and I'm looking forward to that aspect of it too. I'll be looking into taking a RiderCourse too if they aren't already full in my area this summer. I also have a handful of friends that ride that can give me pointers.

I intend to do all the maintenance/TLC stuff that I've seen you all suggest in the other new rider/new XJ owner threads including but not limited to checking the rear brakes for delamination, replacing the rubber brake lines with stainless steels ones, etc. I already have a Haynes manual on order and am keeping my eyes peeled on eBay for the appropriate Yamaha shop manual.

This thread was more or less intended to introduce myself, but I do have a couple of questions in regards to the first few things I intend to do for the bike:

- I've removed the seat and brought it inside to get it away from the cold, dry Maine winter air. What material is it made out of? I have plenty of Mothers brand cleaning supplies I just want to know which ones I should use to clean and treat the seat material.

- I'm also planning on filling the gas tank with fresh gas and treating it with the appropriate amount of Sta-Bil and running the bike periodically at idle for short periods of time when it's not stupid cold out (naturally I picked the coldest weekend of the winter so far to pick the bike up!). Does this sound like a good idea? And what capacity is the fuel tank, assuming it's the stock 650 tank?

- The PO already converted the fuse block to a blade style, however it's not actually a block but more a clump of wires with fuse holders crimped in. When performing this upgrade, do you all normally buy an actually fuse block like one might find in a car and wire it up to that, or is it normal done like previously mentioned? I can provide a picture if my description doesn't make sense.

- Where on the brake lines is the manufacture date stamped? I took a quick look and all I could find was a 4 digit number that in no way looked like a date.

- I'm not sure what I should do with the battery: bring it inside and use a charger to top it off and then keep in room temperature, bringing it back outside when I want to start the bike here and there, or just leave it in the bike outside in the barn?

- Along the lines of being able to start it up on a weekly basis to keep it running regularly, I'm also considering removing the carbs and bringing them inside during the cold months to take 'em to church I've never cleaned or rebuilt carbs before, but again I'm sure it's something I can handle with enough patience and time. Knowing that the bike was run regularly just this past summer, should I skip this step for now and keep them on the engine and fire it up here and there as planned, meanwhile doing the other maintenance and come spring time if it doesn't run as spiffy as I'd like worry about cleaning them then? Now that I type out the question it sounds like a dumb one and I should just man up and do it... thoughts?

I thank everyone who's bothered to read my post this far. Part of the reason I decided to pull the trigger on an XJ was this forum, a good online community is HUGE to have when embarking on a new project such as this.

Lastly, here's a picture of my XJ in it's new home taken with my phone. I would have grabbed a better camera but by the time I got it in the barn all I wanted to get was get back inside; it was way too damn cold this past weekend. I've already removed the backrest, and the flame stickers are next! Furthermore, from the factory, would the bike have had the block-style YAMAHA logo on the gas tank where the flames are? I want to more or less return it to its stock form, not that I think it's that far from it...



Thanks for reading!

 

Welcome to the forum!

You can use any vinyl/leather cleaner to clean the seat.

Tank capacity is 3.5 gallons.

The battery will actually last longer if kept in the cold and use a trickle charger to maintain it, as long as it doesn't freeze. (it could crack the case)

You might as well pull the carbs and check them out. No sense in waiting for the inevitable. Just because the PO ran the bike doesn't mean the carbs aren't dirty.

The problem with running the bike for a few minutes every week is that it doesn't get warmed up properly, which will lead to condensation. Not recommended.

But by all means, put fresh fuel and sta-bil in and run it to get the stabil through the system, or just put the sta-bil in and pull the carbs.

 

That's a sharp ride

 

nice looking bike, i bet you cant wait for it to warm up, and welcome

 

Welcome to the site from VA. Nice looking bike! I used the actual fuse block and not the inline fuse holders. Personally I think it just looks alot cleaner but it is doing the same thing so it would be your preference. If you are going to pull the carbs and clean them you might as well check your valves. That way you can get the carbs adjusted right the first time after the valve check. Spring is coming. Sounds like you will be ready. Good luck and welcome again.

 

Welcome from the Great White North. You found a great site for info and help with your ride. I too am a new owner, and finding out I have a lot of work ahead to bring my bike up to snuff. Sounds like a lot of fun though. Nice ride you got too.

 

Thanks for the welcoming words everyone

Did you get the fuse block from anything or anywhere in particular?

I'll definitely switch the wiring over to a fuse block at some point, but for the time being I'll probably just make sure the wiring was at least done competently and move that down towards the bottom of the priority list.

Goal of the weekend is to at the very least fill the tank and run it for a while getting Sta-Bil through the system, damn this cold weather! I'm all motivated for wrenching but it's simply not going to happen when it's this cold out (and NFL playoffs are on). I do think I'll be cleaning/rebuilding the carbs and doing a valve job over the winter, but for the time being I would at least like to get those bases covered.

I feel accomplished at least with the fact that I now have the hang of popping the bike up on it's center stand!

 

Hey Furman, I also live in Gorham. I have an '85 xj700, new to me also.

I'm in the middle of shim and carb work now, I can show you how (though I am learning too). Sucks that it's so cold out, I have the riding bug!

 

Hey broccili, that's great you're so local, definitely stay in touch, I'm sure we'll find ways to help each other out!

I did some pulling of numbers of various parts of the bike last night after filling the tank up and treating the fuel with Sta-Bil, I think it may have actually hit 50 degrees yesterday so I couldn't help but do something on my evening off. I ran it at idle for probably 15 minutes or so, and by the end of it I was able to leave the choke wide open and it purred along at what felt/sounded like it was running right where it should.

While checking all the lights I noticed the brake light didn't get any more intense when pulling either of the brake levers, which I thought was curious. Oh, that and my rear brake lever appears to nothing, and there's no resistance to it when I pull it. Oh well, I was prepared to rebuild that anyway.

Anyhow, with the codes I pulled from the engine/transmission casing and frame I have at least confirmed that they are original. I did however find something I found a bit alarming: on at least the bottom front brake line, the one going to the caliper, is stamped "5/82" which I am assuming means the bike still has the original 30 year old brake lines. Yikes!

 

Yeah, one of the recommended first steps on these things is to overhaul the entire brake system- change lines, rebuild calipers, change pads, bleed and replace fluid in system. BigFitz will be along to tell you all of this stuff. I think they had a planned lifetime of two years, or four years, something like that... not 30 years.

You also need to pull the rear wheel off and check the drum brake pads for delamination- they can seperate and lock up the rear with no warning. Only takes 15 minutes to check though.

Your bike is much shinier than mine, I'm jealous.

 

Hi everyone, I've made some small progress and just thought I'd throw up some updated pictures. I haven't delved too deeply into mechanical stuff yet; I've really just been familiarizing myself with the bike and how it operates in what little spare time I have. I am however very close to putting an order in with chacal to get those carbs, front brake master cylinder and caliper rebuilt. Then will come stainless steel brake lines, new rear brake shoes if necessary, etc.

I got rid of the flame stickers and wiped down what surfaces I could reach easily this past weekend when the weather was beautiful (I think it got over 40 degrees, felt like spring). The PO definitely bondoed over the recessed area where the YAMAHA emblem would go on the gas tank, a bummer, but something I can right next winter if all goes according to plan this summer.

 

Nice bike.

 

Welcome from Nashville, TN. Nice bike.