New bike, first post

Hey all, I've recently picked up a 1982 xj650 seca and this is my first motorcycle. I've decided to undertake the project of restoring this barn find back to running order. When I first picked up the bike, I could could jogthe start button and would hear the starter trying to fire. Now I've changed the oil and filter and cleaned out the tank and went for the big moment, pressed the start and got nothing. when I press the start button, I hear a clicking near the solenoid next to the battery and the red low oil light flashes as the start button is held down. The only guess I even have is that possibly after draining the old oil, the low oil float could have got stuck and not came back up when I put the new oil in. I have about 2.5 liters in right now after going off the previous threads I've been well researching. Thank you in advance for any help or advice and I can't wait to share this project with everyone as I continue forward

 

Was this one of the silver ones on cl?? What shape is the battery in?

 

By silver are you referring to the color on the tank? If so, yes. It is the silver with blue and white stripes. And i bought a new battery which I've kept on a battery tender which is showing the battery at 100%. Thank you for the reply, I appreciate any help or suggestions. Definitely going to be a journey.

 

Could be some junk in the switch on the handlebars. Pull the throttle/switch assembly apart and clean all the contacts. I had to do this for mine as well as for the horn button.

 

Love the silver ones. Nice find. Good luck getting it running!

 

Thank you gentleman. I appreciate it! I've been spending every single day I'm not working in this garage tinkering. Today so far I've found that if I tap the stater solenoid while firing I can get her to try at least. I suppose that means faulty starter solenoid? I'll start posting pictures here as soon as I get to a good point!

 

First things first. How is the battery? New? Old? Charged? Load tested?

 

starter system activates the oil light to tell you it is working when bike starts it will go out if it comes on while running you are low on oil, or switch is stuck add some seafoam to oil to clean out the switch. to check oil level look at the sight glass with bike on center stand you will see 2 lines oil should be between lines with an air bubble on top of sight glass. sight glass in on clutch cover.
first you need to check battery and make sure it is fully charged and acid is at lines only add distilled water to top off.

you can use a screw driver or quarter to jump the 2 large nuts on the solenoid to see if the starter will spin

do you have a manual? you will need one click this link and down load haynes 650/750 manual
XJ750 manuals

 

Awesome advice guys thank you very much! From what I have found, definitely a faulty solenoid so I'm ordering one this week! I bought a new battery on account of the bike not including one and have successfully changed the oil and filter. I think I might change it one more time just to be safe and clear out all that I can. The great news is she fired up for the first time this weekend! She runs really rough and dies when given throttle but I'm sure that after the carb adjustments she will be good! I also has another question to bounce off y'all. I've been researching removing the rear wheel in order to inspect and rebuild the drum brake on account of it being completely seized currently. When I go to remove the rear wheel, is it first necessary to drain the gear oil from the final drive? The only information I could find is about greasing the spline. Thank you all!

 

I didn't have to drain mine. It's a 82 xj750 maxim

 

It isn't necessary on my 82 XJ650 Maxim either.

 

The manual I have is for 650 and 750 and neither require draining. The shaft and everything stay put when you remove the wheel. I actually just did this last night. I'm doing front and back brakes while I wait for some bearings.

 

While the gear oil in the final drive does not have to be drained in order to remove the wheel, it is likely quite old and should be changed.