Looking for opinions, comments, death threats etc....

Alright so I figured I'd put my bike up for all to see and critique.



She may not be a shiny stocker or a period correct resto, but she's fast, loud and mean looking... to me at least. I have to give a big shout out to the guys at Cast and Salvage, all the members on here that helped me through the site. Iwingameover who rode up on his custom ride from 2 states away to get me squared away and my girlfriend for being patient with me and for trying to understand my obsession with a piece of machinery that didn't want to run.



It's pretty much done the way it sits now. I did the best I could with the budget I had. My buddy is going to bondo the dents and paint my tank for basically nothing, provided I just chip in for some paint.



Where I don't plan on skimping on the budget is safety. She gets a full brake rebuild, new signals and other than that I'm going to cut the seat down, slim it up and add a bent radius to the back end that was hacked off.



I can't wait to get a full riding season in next year, and be able to just change the oil when she needs it and fill her up when she's thirsty on long rides through the Pine Barrens.



This is what gets me high.

Enjoy!

 

Like it! Very minimalistic and almost apocalyptic if you ask me. And really, as long as the guy who rides it likes it, that's all that matters! Good job!

 

I like it, mine will be somewhat similar when I get it all done

 

Very cool, especially those custom side covers. And black exhaust. Only since you asked, why the double seat? Since it's bobbed and all...If there is one thing I don't like about my bike it's the giant seat, only reason I haven't changed it is because I ride two up occasionally, and re-covered it a while back. Buy when that cover tears, it's gonna be solo and pillion pad, immediately. But, nice bike

 

i like it! cool look!

and i personally like the brown seat, nice contrast imho.

 

so did the seca tank just drop right in?

 

Thanks for all the nice comments

That was just the seat that came with the bike originally. As for the seat it's going on a diet soon. Not a solo seat, but a slimmed version of what it is so that it continues to follow the lines of the bike while still having a 2 up application. I've even entertained the idea of taking one my little brother's broken skate decks and using that as the new seat pan/rear fender. Saw that on Bikeexif I believe.

 

The tank also came with the bike. Okay I know I said I have an XJ750J, but I looked up my VIN through Chacal's list and that was what I discovered; since by the time I got it I had no idea whether it was a SECA or just a plain ole' XJ. I love it though it's fun to tuck into on straights and turns. And I can't wait to get her painted up with a ton of flake.

 

So a few other things I would love to do to the bike: newer, lighter shocks for the rear; new headlight (LED or H4) and/or headlight bucket and a sweet rock guard on said headlight lens; more minimal wiring harness, fork gaiters would be nice since I like to ride on dirt roads sometimes, and maybe a second set of rims with knobby tires.

 

So...I went out a showed my shiney stocker your bike pics and she said "Wow...Nice Job"

 

If the vin says that is a maxim someone has put a whole lot of seca parts on it. entire front end, looks like the seca rear rim, seat which would have required new mount points, and tank

 

About time you got that thing running! :lol:

Looks good. For sure cut that seat down.

 

loose the crash bars and plug the rear frame rails

 

The Maxim 750 has adjustable front pegs and required bracketry.
You have a SECA 750 - - note the rear peg holders.
There's also a difference in where the shifter shaft exits the motor.
Post-up your VIN to confirm. (and cool "survivor", BTW)

 

The rear frame rails are actually going to be appointed a new rear end which is just a piece of radius tubing that will follow the contour and up sweep of the slimmed down version of the seat. As for the crash bars I would like to remove them, but I like to take this baby places they probably aren't supposed to be and it's saved my ass in a trail already. Although I'm not a fan of chrome and I would like to paint it to kind of hide the look of it if your looking at it from both sides. Otherwise if they make a frame slider peg or something similar I would like to check that out too. While we are on this topic I think I've seen guys plug them with .12G or .20G shells. Is this correct?

 

Thanks

Hmmm...I'm going to dig up some photos and check it out. As for the VIN: 1 JYA5G2002CA109289

 

yup 5G2 is a 750 seca

 

Thanks maverickbr77! Yeah I just spent half an hour reading the rest of Chacals write up only to scan down and finally see it, except you recognized it at once. I'm going to check the motor stamp tomorrow to make sure I still have the SECA motor. What were the major differences, engine wise, between the Maxim and SECA?

 

i think it was 12ga but shouldn't be too hard to find some LED's to go in there. you just don't want water to go in there, it'll go all through the whole frame.
if you need the crash bars for brush bust'en keep them they would be stronger than sliders. you take short cuts thru the woods ?

 

Yeah LEDs would be pretty cool. Actually as like running lights or signals maybe... And yeah keeps the brush away and my bike from sucking up sugar sand if I go down on a root infested trail. Not usually unless I'm camping its fun and easier to get out in an emergency out in the woods.

 

I don't believe there were any differences in the motors between the 750s. The seca solid mounts the motor and has the reversed shifter, but you would change them over if you were using a maxim motor in a seca

 

As opposed to rubber mounted motors on a Maxim? What do you mean by reversed shifter? I'm still pretty new to the particulars of the XJ models and their respective terms or parts. So basically the SECA just had a fancy name it didn't have any performance upgrades or suspension upgrades?

 

Is your shift lever attached directly to the shaft on the case? Maxim
Does it have a short little linkage between the lever and the shaft? Seca.

 

Ah gotcha yes its linked and not directly on the shaft coming out of the case.

 

Maxim has a rubber mounted motor (rubber bushings to reduce vibration)
You got the reversed shifter figured out
Seca had anti-dive forks that were supposed to be a braking/suspension upgrade but they don't really help all that much.
I am not sure if they changed the rake or fork length at all
Seca uses the larger rear tire which should give a bit more top end.
Other than that its cosmetic work. Also remember the seca is a sport touring bike and the maxim is a sport cruiser so both are combination bikes with a foot in the sport world.

 

That's pretty cool thanks for the great info. My suspension feels a bit stiff, given it's probably still the 29 year old tech. Any suggestions as to how to make it a bit more maneuverable? I also have what looks like it's supposed to be a dust cover for the forks that sometimes comes out of its seat. It doesn't leak fork oil on that side, but it will leave a bit of a residue of oil whenever it's compressed as does the other side. The anti-dive units are air filled right? I noticed a Schrader valve on the top of the forks near the trees. I hope I'm making sense I'm still trying to pick up on all the components in this bike.

 

If the dust seal is worn enough to come out you are probably going to need to do your fork seals relatively soon.
there is a preload adjuster on your rear shocks they may need to be turned down. On the other hand you can't go wrong with new progressive shocks and fork springs.
the schrader valves on the forks have nothing to do with the anti-dive they are for setting the pressure in your air assisted forks. If you need to add air to the forks make sure you do so with an air source with a regulator you can turn down to 10 lbs or so or with something like a bicycle pump that has a gauge on it so you don't over pressurize them and blow your fork seals.
the anti dive is run off of the brake system. there is a good diagram in the haynes on how it works.
you do have the haynes and factory books don't you (if you don't pm me I have pdfs I can send you.)

 

I have the Haynes and a factory NOS manual for a Maxim... when I thought that's what it was a lol. I'm going to start my research now that I really know what I have.

 

Okay... so I added some really nice minimal blinkers, both front and rear, from Dime City Cycles. I mounted and hooked them up in probably 10-15 minutes, I boast here because most of my "projects" usually take a year or so. So with the front blinkers wired up, when I go to test them they just stay on when I toggle to the appropriate one then off when I hit off. So the bulbs work, but no blinky blink. Now the rear blinkers weren't hooked up yet due to a shortness in wire length. 1.) Do you think my relay is bad; 2.) my wiring, or; 3.) do the rear blinkers need to be tied in as well to complete some kind of circuit for the relay to kick on? Any help is appreciated thanks.

 

if you are using the stock flasher you need the full draw of your original bulbs (i forget the wattage) to drive the flasher. your smaller flashers likely draw much less current and you will need to put an electronic flasher in place of the stock one and you will loose self cancel unless you wire in an extra relay. you may will likely need to play with the wire configuration to the new flasher to get it to function properly. Lots of reports on what flashers worked and what you had to do to the wiring to get it to work correctly around the site.

 

I believe the spec is 55 watts. One bulb in the front isn't going to do it. Hooking up the rear may. If not, new flasher time. Metal_Bob has a write up some where on it.

 

K.....

 

Yes, the rears have to work to get the fronts to flash. Like, if you have a right rear bulb burned out, the right front will come on and not blink. Mine did this the other day, loose ground connector under the seat on the left rear blinker.

 

Okay awesome thanks again fellas! I'll search for some threads, but if you happen to hear or see anything pertaining to it lemme know.

 

Okay found a really nice thread on it I'll try messing with it tonight and search for a relay that matches the wattage. The wattage is usually printed on the bulb right? If not how do you test for it with a multimeter?

 

It may be. If not a model number would be. In which case your watts spec should just be a quick google search away.

 

Original signal bulbs are 27W.

 

Looking sharp! The seat opener's a nice touch. I'm with xjpilot: minimalist and post apocalyptic. Good work!

 

So my headlight bezels were rusted to shit.... After one badly patched pot hole too many, my headlight popped out while riding. Bouncing around as it hit the front tire. I managed to pull over and it came out of the plug on its final bounce. Forgot to turn the bike off and plugged it in blowing the filament. It was a 5-1/2" sealed beam and every place I went looked at me like I came out of a time machine. One guy even asked me why I would want that. Anyway found a sweet hollow beam lamp and plugged an older style halogen into it. Moral of the story is remember to reattach old bezels or ghetto rig it into place until a suitable one can be sourced.

 

Okay, so after a thorough cleaning and rebuild of the petcock and new fuel filter, put on the right way, it seems like the bike can still only draw fuel from the tank if it's on prime. Also I'm still noticing a slight hesitation in acceleration and it backfires constantly while riding. Does this sound like it could all be a fuel delivery problem or something much more sinister?

 

Have you checked the vent in the gas cap? When it's acting up open the cap a bit and see if it gets better.

 

Sound slike a lean condition to me. Have you checked your plugs or colortuned yet? Do a plug chop at 5k on new plugs and check color. I see you have pods and dyno jet kit. If it is still lean at 5k chop, try shimming the needle to make the mix a bit fatter in the mid range.

 

The caps are vented? So just unlock it and ride around for a few? I don't have a tach or working speedo so how would I know I'm at 5k. Also no I've never done a color tune or plug chop before so once this hurricane passes I'll check her out.

 

Yeah the cap has a vent. You don't open it all the way just a bit.

You could also be lean. But it can be caused by a plugged cap vent as well as misadjusted carbs.

I've never done a colortune either. I like the plug chops. That's written up plenty on here.

 

Alright so before I messed with anything else I found the sticky on this forum about relays and finally got the Tridon EL13 and now I have blinkers. Everything was working when I was trying to find a good place to ground the black wires on my rear blinkers. The left rear blinker doesn't light up now, but the rest work as they should. Even when the ground wire from that blinker was grounded it still let every other one blink as it should. Any suggestions?

 

Did you check the bulb? If you were playing with the ground wire it'll blow pretty easy.

 

Yeah I forgot to mention that the bulb still looked good but I'll give it another look by replacing it. And if anyone was curious the current configuration was 12v 23w bulbs and a variable load electronic flasher that works around 11–15v systems.

 

Put you're ohm meter across it and check for an open. Sometimes the filament looks good but isn't connected at both ends. After that check for power in and then figure out the gound. It may not be grounding well if you have power in.

 

Alright I'll give it a try. I'm just going to make a nice clean ground point that I can screw them both too. Also is it okay to ground both of them together in the same spot or do they need to be separated/isolated?

 

If you mean both rear turn signals, You can ground them together.