I guess we'll call this project the reaper

Hello y'all my name is Jared and I'm kind of sort of new to the forum here so I have a 1982 750 maxim I figured maybe I would actually try to build something out of I was going to go a little different route than most most of the maxims I see have either been chopped and turned into bobbers or they have been built into café racers I'm going to try going the opposite and build a bagger out of it this is probably going to take about a year possibly more as I have no fabrication skills and very minor mechanical skills I do have a pretty clear image in my head of what I want the bike to look like when I'm finished let's just see if I can get to the finish product here's a pic of the bike I am starting with...............

 

Is there a reason you wouldn't just leave it stock. It looks to be in pretty good shape...

 

locking chain and all, you might want to see why the master cylinder is tilted so much. maybe it's just the picture

 

This was my original idea I had started with my 700x till I wrecked it

 

Its your bike to do with as you wish.
However I really dont understand why anyone feels the need to drastically modify these bikes.
In my opinion they are pretty much perfect in design from the factory.
With the possible exception of the exhaust. The original exhaust sounds so eneamic and sad. Straight pipes make the bike sound real tough!
Either way looking forward to seeing what you do.

 

Well here's what we got after day one of me and my attempt I went through and rip that Atari box off and started trying to figure out the wiring took out the headlight a whole assembly and the fog light and ditch that and went with the Harley batwing faring the fairing is not actually attached permanently I just kind of had it marked up and held on to See what it was going to look like I put a temporary setof bags on there for a temporary solution my eventual goal is to put the rear fender off of like a Harley Street glide we're going to see how well that's going to work I have a feeling there's going to be lots of measurements and lots of fabrication involved in that and make it work and look right

 

I do have kind of a dumb question no my speedometer cable is now about 3 to 4 inches short from mounting it in that bearing I took the gauges off of my old 700 and found out they will work but speedometer cable doesn't reach so my understanding can somebody please correct me if I'm wrong it is not so much the cable that matters as it is the gears down on the front tire and the gears in the speedometer or the ratio in the spinoff correct or is the cable also bike specific????????? I was wondering if somebody could answer that before I go in and buy a cable and find out I did something stupid thank You

 

You can have a longer cable made and it will work so long as the fittings at either end are the same.

No cut frame = much love to you.
The end product is going to look good I think. You could make the ATARI work with the fairing since it'll mostly be hidden except from the rider's view.

The easy way for it to work with a different speedo and tach is to seperate the systems monitor from the assembly and mount it elswhere (again the fairing provides a good place to put it, and keep it useful). No re-wiring will be needed.


Otherwise : Here's the wiring mods to remove the rectangular instruments
The above is for the Seca. IIRC the Maxim is a little different, but the link and a wiring diagram for the Maxim will get you there.

 

I removed the the little computer box itself with all of the wires attached to it to keep it simpler on me for the moment with wiring have later intentions of looking through the forum and stripping it done to bare essential wires needed as for the Atari box itself in this particular case it was better to get rid of the gauges in it did not function at all and in my case I actually have the full inner and outer fairing so it was in my way next I'm going to have to move my key switch as it is in the way too and figure out just for sure my permanent mounts and exact position from where it's at it seems like I need to raise it another inch maybe 2 and lean it back just a little bit more I haven't tried at night yet but it looks like my light is angled way too much at the ground a good friend made some suggestions on a couple of different ways to make my mounts so I'm trying to figure out which one I'm going to try and as for the no cut frame sorry I hate to disappoint you but there will have to be some frame cutting involved I'm thinking it might only have to be that piece under the seat where the original fender mounts I might be able to just cut that out and that might work but I'm thinking the street glide fender is wider so there might be more chopping

 

Take this as constructive criticism from a tired elementary school teacher who just wants to understand what you wrote.
Punctuation matters
Thank you.

If you have to cut, then you have to cut. It's not the rarest of bikes in the XJ series.

 

Mine sits like that too; it's only level when the handlebars are turned fully.

I suspect the "adjustable handlebars" are intended to be rotated downwards at the upper bolt, but that's just weird feeling.

God, I hate the stock handlebars.

 

they should really be level with the bars straight. tilted it might suck air into the pump. at least keep the reservoir full

 

Must depend on the individuals stature.
I adjusted mine when I first got the bike. Both at the bottom and at the hand grips and found the adjustable bars to be one of the best features of the bike.
If a solid handle bar doesn't sit in a comfortable position for you then you are screwed and just have to live with it.
With the adjustable feature the handle bars become a custom fit to the rider.

 

But a new set of regular handlebars is roughly $30, so you can get a set that suits you... While the stock handlebars are adjustable, they're sinfully ugly and that bizarre master cylinder only sits properly if you leave the handlebars in a weird position and don't adjust them.

But, to each their own

The upside is, at least I know my master cylinder will work fine with my new bars till I can afford to replace it, as it's at that angle and works great now

 

OK, seeing as no one else has mentioned this....does the bike run and stop really good? I mean you say you are mechanically challenged and have next to no fabrication skills, but you are tearing into the bike and doing some mock-ups to see if it has the look you want. I know you estimate a year to finish but doing the cosmetic stuff first and tying up money for a fairing, bags, new cables and so on should come after it's road worthy and reliable.
My 2 cents.

 

[QUOTE=" While the stock handlebars are adjustable, they're sinfully ugly [/QUOTE]

In my opinion one of the best features of the bike!
Stock adjustable bars are unique and look awesome!

 

Yes the bike is mechanically sound my next door neighbor is a mechanic runs his own garage he checked it over

 

if you are going to cut the rear of the frame I may be interested in it mine is missing
XJ750J can this be fixed hacked rear end

would like to replace mine if possible

 

I will definitely keep you in mind when I figure out exactly how we are going to do it. It is going to be a couple weeks yet before I try I am waiting to be able to afford the whole ass and off of a street glide as in the fenders the actual fiberglass bags and amounts and all nine. I just want to have all of it together and then try to set it down on there that way I have all the actual mounting hardware and everything instead of trying to piece that together I figured it would make it easier to figure out if I had the whole rear end there. we have a used parts shop over near my way that I should be able to get everything just got I have the money for that LOL.

 

Question though for someone that understands the properties of metal a little better than me. Could I get away with heating the back part of the frame and bending it to fit the fender? Or would that weaken the frame too much to where it wouldn't be safe?

 

I just had someone recommend that so I was wondering if I could actually get away with that or if it would weaken the metal to much....

 

You can heat and bend it. The frame is made from mild steel, so you won't need to worry about altering the hardness or strength of it. Just let it air cool after the bend.

The trick is going to be getting the bends equal, symmetrical, and kink free. Buy a ton of scrap and start practicing before you do anything to the frame. You will need to look up how to fill the tube with bone-dry sand so it won't kink (or buy a suitable diameter spring to slip inside).

The other issue is where exactly you want to make the bend at. Bend too close to a weld, and the weld could eventually fail.

 

Sorry it's been awhile I've been busy with work... just a little update. I finally found a good fairing and have it mounted. Now just tonight I got ahold of my street glide rear fender and hard bags. So I guess this is going to be where the fun begins. The maxim is currently at a friends house so I couldn't measure for sure but eyeballing it I think the fender should fit..

 

So I happened to have the old rear fender off of my 700 here still and if the 750 fender is the same size as the 700 I know they are totally different in the way they mount but if they are the same width I might have to widen the frame

 

So been a good while since I've made any updates....... well this is definitely far from done but it's roar on the shore time here in pa so this was the quick throw together to get me threw the rally still far from done actually had it painted all nice for a whole morning but stupid me got too damn impatient and didn't let the paint cure I just threw it together so I could go. I found out the street glide fender is wider so I'm cutting and widening the frame after roar.

 

The bike looks really good man. I love the color scheme.

 

Dumb question... Did you have to tune carbs after you removed the mufflers? Or does it seem like it's running the same. How does it sound?

 

Sorry it’s been so long since I’ve been on here just a lot going on.... as for running without the mufflers no there is no real difference actually it feels and probably just psychological lol like a little more not much power sounds way better and according to my mechanic don’t need to do any tuning as long as you leave the collector he said it still produces enough back pressure he said when I pull it to put the straight pipes on it I’ll have to rejet the carbs..... now I have a dumb question for anyone that might know what other speedometer cable will fit an 82 750 I moved it up into the fairing now obviously the cable is to short does anyone have any ideas for what might work thanks in advance

 

chacal sells extentions
HCP17702 Aftermarket drive cable EXTENDER CABLE, extends the length of your stock speedometer or tachometer drive cable (at the gauge end) by 6", just the thing when using modified handlebars or re-located gauges! Saves you the expense of having to buy a completely new drive cable. Correct end fittings allows you to screw this cable "in-between" the end of your current cable and the gauge head fitting.
$

HCP17703 Aftermarket drive cable EXTENDER CABLE, extends the length of your stock speedometer or tachometer drive cable (at the gauge end) by 8", just the thing when using modified handlebars or re-located gauges! Saves you the expense of having to buy a completely new drive cable. Correct end fittings allows you to screw this cable "in-between" the end of your current cable and the gauge head fitting.
$

HCP17704 Aftermarket drive cable EXTENDER CABLE, extends the length of your stock speedometer or tachometer drive cable (at the gauge end) by 10", just the thing when using modified handlebars or re-located gauges! Saves you the expense of having to buy a completely new drive cable. Correct end fittings allows you to screw this cable "in-between" the end of your current cable and the gauge head fitting.
$

 

your current cable

HCP2647 Aftermarket SPEEDOMETER DRIVE CABLE, includes the bright plated metal sleeve nut on meter end and the metal clip-bracket on the gear end as original, for all XJ550 Maxim models, all 1980-83 XJ650 Maxim and Midnight Maxim models, and all 1981-83 XJ750 models. Wire length: 38-1/2".

or
HCP2658 Aftermarket SPEEDOMETER DRIVE CABLE, includes the bright plated metal sleeve nut on meter end and the metal clip-bracket on the gear end as original, for all XJ1100 models. Wire length: 41-3/8".
HCP2722 OEM original SPEEDOMETER DRIVE CABLE, includes the bright plated metal sleeve nut on both ends as original, for all XJ700 and XJ750-X models. Wire length: 42-3/4".

 

Asphaltcowboy74...

For the love of God, PLEASE do as the teacher requests. I have to read every one of your posts 4-5 times to understand them! lol

 

From another teacher's perspective....if I start reading a post and there's no punctuation, I usually stop reading it.

 

A panda bear walks into a bar and orders a sandwich. The waiter brings him the sandwich. The panda bear eats it, pulls out a pistol, kills the waiter, and gets up and starts to walk out.

The bartender yells for him to stop. The panda bear asks, “What do you want?” The bartender replies, “First you come in here, order food, kill my waiter, then try to go without paying for your food.”

The panda bear turns around and says, “Hey! I’m a Panda. Look it up!” The bartender goes into the back room and looks up panda bear in the encyclopedia, which read: “Panda: a bear-like mammal originating in Asian regions. Known largely for it’s stark black and white coloring. Eats shoots and leaves.”

Eats, shoots, and leaves vs eats shoots and leaves.
Moral of the story: punctuation is important.

 

See? Now I did read that.
Moral of the story is: the Panda bear never looked it up.

 

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hearssomeextrapunctuationuseitasnessasarry
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Rotflmao