Custom 1982 Maxim 650

Hello XJers. I started this post because I wanted to share my bike with you. I bought this XJ six years ago for $350. I rode it mostly stock for the first four years and then decided that I really wanted to make some forward controls for it. So I tore the bike apart, and the project snowballed from there. It took about a year to do the build, but somewhere between paint and assembly the mess of a wiring harness that I created began to act up. I messed with it over and over again probably making it worse every time. My Maxim is currently at a shop having the electrical redone. So with some luck, I will be able to ride it a bit this season. I can't find any good pics of the original bike, but I going to post what I have if I can figure out how.

 

Like what you've done! Depending on what you want to do as far as the wiring goes, do a "search" for "simplified wiring". It might help.
How about sayin' something about the rubber boots from your carbs to the filters...

skillet
btw WELCOME to the forumms!!!

 

Thanks. It was a fun build right up to the wiring. I have a few simple diagrams that I printed off of several sites. XJ Bikes was definately a huge help throughout. I'm just really bad with electricity.(I don't really know how to use a test light!) I finally caved and will be spending a few hundred to have it done right.
As far as the intake goes, I liked the pods. I just wanted a different look. I bought two identical radiator hoses that were the right diameter ('92 Buick?). Then I cut out a short and long section of each. I cut my rear boots down a bit to fit inside, then I rubber cemented them together with some button head tacks. New clamps cranked tight made them nice and secure. I also dyed a white crankcase filter black and used some small tubing to match the intakes downsweep.

 

Very cool man! I dig the radiator hose for the pod filters and your black on black paint!

Here's the obvious question - did you have to re-jet your carbs for the pods or notice any difference in performance? I might try them out next spring.

Where is the seat from?

 

I have rejetted the carbs. I also drilled 4 small holes in the back wall of each of the mufflers. Unfortunately I only had it running for a little while before I screwed up the wiring. I could tell that it would need tuning though. I got the jet kit through e-bay, from a company called 6 sigma racing. You basically tell them about your intake and exhaust mods, and they send you jets and drill bits that will (hopefully) work for your bike. I would love to put 4 shorter straight pipes on, but I just want to get it running and ride it for now. Maybe save the pipes for a winter project.
The seat is actually the stock seat. I shortened the plastic pan and carved and reshaped the foam. This dropped the ride height a couple of inches, and sets the rider back an inch or two. I put a better piece of foam into the recessed bottom of the seat foam, and then had a local upholsterer wrap it for me for $60. I plan on eventually making a detachable rear seat that would mount to the old signal brackets and rest on the rear frame. Also a possible future project.

 

I like the radiator hose idea, now that's what you call velocity stacked pods. Look's good.

 

Love the chain drive forward controls! Can we get some close ups of those? Great work!

 

thats badass, was the seat hard to cut down? what did you use to shave the faom down?

 

Hey guys. Thank you for the comments.
I left my computer at work today, so this is just a quick post from my phone. I'll put up some more details and pictures at lunch tomorrow if I can.

 

Okay, so here are a few pics of the chain drive controls. I decided to use chains because I could get the same rotation at the forward and rear parts of the controls. It would also allow me to rotate with tension in both directions for the shifting side of the bike. I used pedal bike sprockets and chains during the mockup, but I wasn't going to bet my brakes on a bike chain. I ended up getting much stronger chain at Tractor Supply. I found the sprockets online. Using both my original foot controls, and another from a bike salvage place, I cut them up and welded them in multiple parts to each forward sprocket. The sprocket is welded to a piece of tubing which rotates on the bolt that goes through the forward bracket assembly. I also cut the triangular motormount bracket and welded that to the bracket assembly for added strength. This is not in the unfinished pics, but you can see it a little in the finished ones. The front assembly is finished off with some Liberty Bell bmx pegs. The rear sprockets were a bit tricky because the spline from the tranny and the rear brake linkage were both knurled. My shift lever and the scrapyard one donated their clamping ends which were welded to the rear sprockets. Then the sprockets were cut to allow the clamp to pinch the spline. Everything seems to work well.
I used a few different knives, a ruler,a sharpie marker, and a sawzall for most of the seat work. A utility knife with the blade extended as far as possible was used the most on the foam. It came out a little rough, but as you can see it all smoothed out during the upholstery.

 

thats sick! i like it

 

Those forwards are kickass!! Great job on the whole thing.

 

Hello again. I was hoping to have better news the next time I updated this post. However, the bike is still in the shop. It has been there for well over a month with no hope in sight. On the few occasions that I have spoken with the guy, he keeps saying that it is almost done. He's promised multiple times that it would be within 24-48 hrs, and that he will call. Without fail, he hasn't finished, hasn't called, and wont answer his business or cell phone. If all that wasn't aggravating enough, the last time I stopped in the estimate went up about $150.00. I guess that I picked the wrong place to bring my bike! At this point, I think that I was getting less frustrated trying to wire it myself.

 

I've heard "there's nothing new under the sun". Welllllllll I think you just proved that wrong with your controls! Sorry to hear about the buttwipe mech and your bike...

skillet

 

I have never seen controls like those before. Cool idea. I was just wondering if there is any adjustability in the chains for the time when they start to stretch from repeated use?

 

Thanks guys. If I ever get the bike back, I'll post some better pics of the controls. When I was making them I realized that I would need adjustability to deal with the chain tension and fitting issues. The forward brackets are mounted with 2 bolts to the frame, and 1 to the motor mount on each side. Each hole in the bracket was slotted with about 1/4" of horizontal movement. This actually allows almost 1/2" of front to back travel at the forward sprocket. I definately needed that, because I had to slacken the brake side control so that it would return properly. None of this has been road tested yet, so I am curious to see how it will be after I've put some miles on the bike.

 

Arrgghhh!! It has been two freaking months since my bike went to the shop! I have been calling every day for the last two weeks to no avail. Today when I called I got a recording that said "Your call cannot be completed as dialed..." WTF!!

 

Pardon the language...

 

This could help the guy wiring your bike...

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=39992.html

 

I think you need to go get your bike.

 

X2

 

x's infinity..

 

So, I finally have my bike back! I picked it up last weekend. Haven't been around to really go through it yet. It seems like he rewired it, got to the point that I did and now I'm back to square one. The good news is that it didn't cost me anything.
This winter will be a good time to take it all apart and try to set up a simple wiring harness with the help of the forums and the helpful members of XJbikes.

 

Congrats Moose. Glad you managed to save your bike from 'modern motorcycle mechanic' hell and didn't get penalized for trusting the dweeb. How do these guys call themselves mechs???

I really like your velocity stacks-exactly what I've recommended all along for pods because you've given 2&3 their 'own' air space where 1&4 aren't creating a vacuum around their inlets-very nice.

I doubt your forward control chains will stretch much at all. A drive chain is experiencing WAY more torque on a daily basis and still takes a while to stretch.

With the wiring: It can be a real &^%$! and drive you nuts yes, but they are only wires don't let it stress you. 99% of the time the issue is really simple. The KEY is to be methodical, go slow, only change one thing at a time, take notes while you go so you know what was where or what didn't work. If you're game do a Google search on basic wiring and familiarize yourself with the way it works. Seek out information that isn't written for an electrician but is in plain language. Use a wiring diagram when you're doing the work. Stay patient no matter what happens.

If you are planning on doing a simple wiring system you will need some basic supplies/tools to do it right. If you have any questions just come on here and ask and we will drag you to the electric light orchestra!! :lol:

 

What's the latest on this? update

 

sick!! i like it!! love the fwd controls!

 

I like the radiator hoses idea, I wonder if the longer lengths will have a big effect on the fuel mixture for carbs #2 and #3, though.

 

Hello XJers.
I appologize for the long delay in updates. The reason for that is that I have done almost nothing to the bike since I got it back. Combine a busy life with a bit of discouragement, and you get... A stalled project.
We only have a few weeks of winter left up here in New England, so I guess I better get my butt in gear if I want to ride.
I'm not sure how the intake mods will affect the fuel mixture yet. The jets that 6sigma sent me are just a little different size for the two inner and two outer carbs. They did this when I explained to them the difference in lengths of the intakes. I don't recall the specific sizes, but when I get back into it again, I will find out the sizes. After running and tuning I'll have a better idea as to what does and doesn't work.

 

Looking forward to it, have fun.

 

So I've gotten back into the the wiring on the bike. I have been trying to plan out a harness based on the simple wiring diagram that was linked in the earlier post from Aloy. I am still having trouble wrapping my brain around electrical stuff. So I have questions.
Does this setup just eliminate most of the saftey relays? I don't mind, I just want the bike to run as simply as possible.
Also, is it ok that all of the grounds are in separate locations, or should the be linked as in the original harness.
One more possibly dumb question. I see a lot of single lines going between components. Are some of these going to actually have two wires going between them? For example, should there be two wires looping a circuit between the horns and the horn switch?
Any help or advice would be great. I want to ride!

 

I have the wiring mostly completed now. All necessary lights are working and the bike turns over now. It doesn't start without starter fluid, and doesn't stay running yet. So I still have some work ahead of me. Step one will be to drain the gas. The tank had about 1/4 of a gallon of two year old gas in it that I just added to like a dummy.

 

Wow, over a year since my last post!
Just a little update. The bike is running now. I've only test ridden it around the yard a few times though. There are still some kinks to work out. For starters, the rear brake needs some attention. I believe there is too much play in the whole setup. I'm going to try to take care of that, but I want to go through the rear brakes completely first. They may be frozen from sitting for so long. I also need to fix some wiring. I made a couple of wires too short. The tension changes when the handlebars are turned. That undid something and I lost my gauge and flashers on the turn signals.
It was really satisfying to have it running and ride it for a few hundred yards though! It reminded me of why I started this project so long ago.

 

Hey man I was just admiring your bike. You have allot of great ideas. I have been contemplating using my stock seat and just cutting it down like you did. Now that I have seen that it can be done I'm definitely going to save some money and cut my own. I have one question. how did you mount the seat to the bike or did you use the stock mount?
could you take some pictures of how you mount in the seat?

 

I'm away from town right now. I'll take some pictures this weekend and post some details about the seat setup when I get back. I hope to get into the rear brakes too.

 

Ok cool. I really like your build. Great job.

 

Sorry to leave you hanging, but I didn't end up spending any time on the bike this weekend. The main idea behind my seat fastener is similar to a wall clamp for a broom. I have 3/4's of some round plastic tube sections connected to the bottom of the seat in the rear. This grabs onto the crossmember. The front mount stayed the same. I promise I'll get some pictures next weekend.

 

Hey no problem man.

 

A rundown and pictures of the seat bracket:
The plastic tubing is screwed to a steel bar running inside the seat base. It's done on a ridge that rests on the crossmember of the frame. I notched the seat base ridge where the tubing will go. This allows the sectioned tubing to line up with the crossmember without raising the rear of the seat.
You can see the steel bar in the pictures. I notched the seat base too deeply at first, before I knew what I was doing. But it helps you guys see what's going on.
I definitely recommend making your bracket while the seat is apart. I did mine after the fact, and it required some fussing to get the steel bar located on the inside of the plastic, drilled and the removed for tapping, and then replaced for assembly.
The screw heads dig up the frame, but I'm sure a little ingenuity could get you past that. My whole bike is just spray bombed, so if it gets all scuffed up, meh...

 

Chain drive forwards .... Now that's neat----

I wouldn't think they'd really stretch all that much....

 

Nice job.

Countersink those screw heads. The paint is there to prevent rust; looking pretty is just a bonus. You also need gromets to protect your wiring that passes into the frame.

 

Good call on both accounts, k-moe. I have grommets in the garage, not sure why I didn't think to put any there. As far as the countersinking goes I was nervous about removing too much meat from the plastic. It's holding well though. Maybe between countersinking and using some 1/32" adhesive backed sheet rubber I can protect the paint after all.
Hogfiddles, I don't think the chain is going to stretch much either. If it does it'll be the brake side. There is a lot of tension going on there during braking. Actually, I'm still messing with that side to get the brake adjusted right. It needs a little reengineering. Your post does remind me that I never put up and closeups of the setup though.

 

did you shave much of the foam out of the seat? Looking to do the same thing as I'm over 6 ft. tall and am sick of sliding forward on this seat.