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XJ550 Owners in LA?

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by Joshua Olkowski, Feb 16, 2019.

  1. chacal

    chacal Moderator Moderator Supporting Vendor Premium Member

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    You're welcome. Recognition is always the first step to recovery!
     
  2. Joshua Olkowski

    Joshua Olkowski Member

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    Quite frankly, I don't need to be recovered from anything. I'm passionate about getting my first bike to run right. I knew nothing about motorcycles and I just dived in spending up to eight hours a day working on this thing. Yes, I'm making HUGE mistakes but how else am I suppose to learn. I'm sorry if you are getting your feelings hurt when I'm trying to figure things out. I'm just speaking the truth. And that's all I'm speaking hear is the truth. I don't have some hidden agenda. And yes, I don't like being called names. I'm not using any names on anybody else. Do you like being called something derogatory? And what professional help have I been offered. What's this golden nugget of truth that I should be so grateful to have been given. You just told me to find another hobby. Is this some amazing advice I should cherish for the rest of my life. Maybe if someone is barely spending a half an hour trying to fix their bike I'd say, get out of this hobby. I also never said I wasn't grateful. Where did that come from?. I've thanked people for chiming in with my problems. What else am I suppose to do? I've even bought parts from this site. And now you have the gall to call to talk about my hubris being my downfall. What the hell man. Anybody who takes the time to write that nonsense should look in the mirror themselves. So go ahead, why don't you use the words that you feel so many people need to use on me right now because what you wrote is exactly the kind of crap that you apparently despise. Now if you don't mind, I'm going to try and fix my bike, and I'm probably going to mess up, and it's going to piss me off. Sorry for being human.
     
  3. chacal

    chacal Moderator Moderator Supporting Vendor Premium Member

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    Well, so be it. Best of luck to you. And since you can't afford to buy parts, and seemingly use "poverty" as an excuse on a regular basis, then BY ALL MEANS go spend another $1600 on another bike.


    Your passion is compelling, but meaningless in the greater scheme of things to others. Perhaps following the advise of others ("strangers on a forum" is the term I think you used, and is also the attitude you convey, consciously or not) or even a workshop manual would be infinitely more useful than any type of "passion". This isn't a coffee-klatsch (or a circle-jerk) here; motorcycles are dangerous objects to operate and poor or incompetent maintenance and/or judgement is one of the biggest killers out there.


    Although no one can ever be truly 100% sure of anything, I can assure you with almost utmost certainty that you could never hurt my feelings.


    Sure you aren't, "tiger".


    None. None whatsoever. None at all. Everything that has been offered to you is nothing but the rambling, semi-coherent musings of demented old souls who periodically escape from the shackles of their old-age homes and break free to the internet, come to this forum, and respond to your convoluted "issue du jour" (or of the hour). You're on to us now, tiger!


    Yes.


    Who's this "we" you referring to kimosabe? Wait, let me guess, that's more "green" and will "save the planet" and all that bogus, lets-dig-deep-into-everyone's-wallet claptrap? An Elon-Musk devotee? Where does all the electric power come from to power those electric vehicles? "Clean" nuclear power? A reactor on every street corner?


    You already know what you are. What's really bothering you, I suspect, is that everyone else does too; like Jussie, you let your mask fall away.
     
  4. fiveofakind

    fiveofakind Well-Known Member

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    Joshua,

    "What professional help have you been offered here ??" ....you ask...

    Well, if that is the way you feel about the advice that you receive here......then....

    I highly suggest you trailer you bike or walk beside it and push it to the nearest "professional bike shop" who works on 35+ yr old bikes and charges an labor rate of $80-100 / hr......I am sure your next $1.6k will get well spent.....because what you are doing now surely is not working for you.

    Anytime I need professional help, I turn to my brothers here on this forum for their first rate quality parts and their professional advice.....they know who they are and I know who they are.....and then I turn to my Yamaha workshop manual for a truly enjoyable learning experience......I am 35 + yrs. into my bike and I am still learning from others here on the forum.......

    Joshua..remember the professional advice you receive here....

    Wise men heed it, fools don't need it....
     
    Last edited: Feb 22, 2019
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  5. Jetfixer

    Jetfixer Well-Known Member

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    Joshua, please don't give up , we are having a little humor ...sometimes you have to laugh. I once bought an 82 Yamaha Virago 750 with 4000 miles , but had sat since 84 paid 400$ put another 400$ tires,carb kits, battery, braided brake hoses, 3 starters ...I know more about the starter system than I care to recall, but I got it running GREAT , was a really fun bike took 2 months to get all sorted . Put it on Craigslist sold 2 hours after I posted it for 1500$ guy loved it ,I told him if he had any problem to call me ...he never did:) . I have not owned but about 8 different bikes ,but I tend to own for extended periods of time, I try to keep bike stock with tasteful mods , at my age (52) I do not need speed , my seca is plenty fast , winter seems to be hanging on and not giving up ...I just started bike and let it run started right up stabil/ marvel mystery oil is good stuff ,for sitting since late October ..I'm just counting the days till spring.
     
  6. Polock

    Polock Well-Known Member

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  7. Rooster53

    Rooster53 Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    The cams to the Seca are Seca only, they can be changed to Maxim but that requires different jetting for the carbs I believe.
    The heads are common across the 550's. The cam caps are part of the head and should be compatible between the Maxim and Seca.

    If your cam caps threaded holes are stripped a new head may be in order. That sure shouldn't happen. Was a torque wrench (a correct known good one) used to secure them?

    You can verify cross compatibility on parts by checking one of the Yamaha websites or using the wealth of information from Len.

    One yamaha website

    https://www.partzilla.com/

    And checking the head this is what was listed:

    Related Fitment

    This Yamaha 4U8-11101-00-00 CYLINDER HEAD ASSEMBLY Not Available fits the following models and components:

    Yamaha Motorcycle 1982 XJ550RJ Cylinder Head

    Yamaha Motorcycle 1983 XJ550RK Cylinder Head

    Yamaha Motorcycle 1981 XJ550RH Cylinder Head

    Yamaha Motorcycle 1981 XJ550H CYLINDER HEAD XJ550H J K
     
    Last edited: Feb 24, 2019
  8. Joshua Olkowski

    Joshua Olkowski Member

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    Thanks Rooster. It seems that the bolts were over-torqued. I decided to remove the head and I'm just going to helicoil all those holes. Will the helicoil have an effect on the torque when I use a torque wrench?
     
  9. Joshua Olkowski

    Joshua Olkowski Member

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    Thank you for your kindness Jetfixer. I don't plan on giving up.
     
  10. Rooster53

    Rooster53 Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    Details on this would be nice and could help others who happen to read this thread. For example, it could have been I used a defective torque wrench, or the improper torque wrench, or thought I could do it by feel - we all learn from others mistakes.

    Torque should be the same with the helicoils.
     
    Last edited: Feb 26, 2019
  11. Joshua Olkowski

    Joshua Olkowski Member

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    Hi Rooster. I had never used a torque wrench before. Everything I was doing was by feel. My only experience to mechanics prior to my XJ were on BMX bikes back in the eighties. So I got a torque wrench and after experimenting with it it does seem that the bolts to the cam caps were over torqued. According to the manual the torque specs are 7.2foot pounds. I messed around with that torque specification on some other things and when I compared that to the bolts that were still in place I could tell that they were tightened WAAAAY more then that. I figured they needed to be extra tight but I'm learning that heat expands and all that other stuff. With bicycles you don't have to deal with heat and engines and all that fun stuff.
     
  12. Rooster53

    Rooster53 Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    Normally you need at least two torque wrenches when working on an engine. The reason is the bottom 20% of a torque wrench is not very accurate, so using a torque wrench that starts at 5 ft-lbs would not be advisable to torque the cam caps at 7.2 ft-lbs. In that case, an inch pound torque wrench should be used preferably with a range that puts the required torque near the middle of the range of the particular wrench being used.
     
  13. Joshua Olkowski

    Joshua Olkowski Member

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    You are right. I only purchased a torque wrench that starts at 5 ft-lbs. I'll get another one. Thanks again for your help.
     
  14. Joshua Olkowski

    Joshua Olkowski Member

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    It was recommended to me that I post some pics of my cam caps, cams, and motor head for inspection. I have included two sets. The set with only four cam caps are from the original engine. The picture with the complete set of 6 cam caps are from the head that I bought off ebay. All of them seem to be smooth to the touch inside with the exception of one which I singled out. You'll notice that there is a mark possibly from the cam getting wobbly inside. This cam cap is from the original engine head. I also included
     

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  15. Joshua Olkowski

    Joshua Olkowski Member

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    Here are the rest. As far as I can tell the cams look fine but what do I know. Also, both places where the cam bearings rest on are also smooth to the touch I didn't notice any severe marks, scrapes, or dings. My question is, do I stick with the original head and try to make that work or should I use the head I found on ebay with it's original cam bearing caps. Does it really matter?
     

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  16. XJ550H

    XJ550H Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    you get some plasti guage strips to measure clearances. if you trans plant the caps or cams
     
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  17. Joshua Olkowski

    Joshua Olkowski Member

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    It turns out something got caught between the tach and cam sprockets thus damaging the cam and bending the tach sprocket which may be the reason why my cams went crazy and busted the bearing cam bolts loose. If you look at the picture I attached you'll notice one of the teeth on the cam have been damaged. Is this cam still usable? I have acquired cams from a Maxim 550. I know that the cams can be interchangeable but would mean I would have to rejet the carbs if I went ahead and used the Maxim cam. Does anybody know what the main and needle jet sizes would be if I changed them? Can I use the Seca cam on the exhaust and the Maxim cam on the intake? What's the worse that can happen if I change to the Maxim cams and keeps the carbs with the stock jetting?
     

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  18. Xjrider92117

    Xjrider92117 Active Member

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  19. Joshua Olkowski

    Joshua Olkowski Member

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  20. Rooster53

    Rooster53 Well-Known Member Premium Member

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    Hoping you go for it. Just about all the pictures you posted earlier shows scoring on the cam caps on both heads. Add to that all the charging system issues you are having, the busted cam caps earlier that likely filled the engine with debri, and just the general condition of all the parts the complete engine might be cheaper in the long run.
     

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