XJ500 "Cafe" Build story :)

So I posted about getting an XJ500 recently. Well today I got it! I thought I might as well just create a thread about working on the bike so here it is. Just hauled the bike home today and put it in the garage. It "runs" with a few rough sounds, but knowing how dirty the carbs are, hoping thats the problem. I've read about how thats the biggest problem of these bikes. So, first step, figure out how to get the carbs off, read more and more and more about cleaning them, and watching more and more videos (I'm more of a visual hands on learner, reading lots of technical things with no pictures just gets me confused) Clean the carbs and try to get them sync'd and make sure to take it somewhere to get synced as well.

Next will be all the papers. The guy bought it in Austria and never registered it here in Slovakia, by the way I'm American haha. So I'll have to get it up and running well, swap tires, brake cables, and then take it in to the Technical Inspection, and if they say its' ok to ride on the road, then take it to the Originality place to make sure it's not stolen or whatever, since it's from another country, and then finally register it. I think after that I can start the next mods. Two biggest ones I will start with are the seat/frame and the handlebars. I say "cafe" cuz the seat will be a brat style with a removable cowl for the cafe look, and also the handlebars will be clip ons so more cafe look. I know there are plenty of purests out there to rip on me for what is and isn't a cafe build, so call it what you want lol. After those two alterations, I'll also be changing the paint job completely, to something just crazy, cuz that's how I roll. Also learning what I can eliminate or move to make it more simplistic looking.

Anyway here is the first pic of it at home! I'll be posting about the carbs and stuff on here as well. Enjoy! And I'm very much a first time at working on bikes at all, or anything mechanical. Didn't have my hands on this kinda stuff till now and no one to help me but the internet. I've worked on my 79 Lada quite a bit so that gives me some experience

 

The XJ550 'Seca' is already styled as a 'Cafe Racer' so I'm not sure what you are hoping to achieve. Do you know?

Please get it running and stopping correctly first then plane carefully what you want to do next. In my experience most cafe builds end up abandoned or looking like a stack of shit.
Commitment, skill (or a lot of cash) are required to pull these off effectively.

 

I'm diggin' that front fender marker light. Good luck on your bike, a great way to learn bike mechanics and have fun doing it.
Cheers, 50gary

 

I also love the front fender light! It currently doesn't function, but I want to keep it and make it functional even with the "cafe" build

 

It's so funny, sometimes the most corny, oddball, I'd never do that weird thing PO's mod becomes the coolest thing, just because it's part of the bike that makes it's own history. My '75 Suzuki T-500 came with an aftermarket electric cigarette lighter (period correct) too funny and too cool not to keep. Even though I don't smoke.
Cheers, 50gary

 

I bought an XJ550 last weekend and it came with one although aftermarket

 

Is it actually a 500cc variant?

 

If my memory is correct the T500 Suzuki was a 2 cylinder, 2 cycle that pre-dated the 3 cylinder 2 cycle GT family.
John

 

the Titan.

Back to the XJ of this discussion I believe it mentioned previously it was an XJ500.
If this is indeed the case then it is a rare bike outside of Japan.

 

Thats what I thought as well. I found this on German version of Wikipedia. It has been translated so the grammar is unique.

The XJ 550 was introduced by Yamaha 1981 in the German market to round off as the smallest model, the sporty XJ series down.
In contrast to her big sisters, she had, instead of the gimbal, chain drive and a six-speed gearbox. It was available in the colors red and black. Compared to the Yamaha XJ 650 , it was much more gracefully built and 30 kilograms lighter. Also, the seat height was lower, which made the XJ 550 particularly interesting for beginners and returnees. Nevertheless, she was a popular driving school machine. Because of their lower weight, she was in the driving dynamics barely behind her big sister 650, as they had to fight with their long final translation. Since the sales success was below expectations and also 600 cc engines came into vogue, the XJ 550, along with the XJ 650, from 1984 by the Yamaha XJ 600 replaced.
In Austria at the same time a technically closely related version, the XJ 500 (for tax and insurance reasons) with 499 cc and 54 hp sold (chassis number 5N4).

 

Yep. As LarryMC posted. The parts manual says “Austria, Finland, and Ireland” so must have been those 3 places.

Anyway I’ve done quite a bit of work on the bike lately. But I’m a crazy person and none of it is normal. I’m afraid to post pics because I don’t want to get ridiculed for my ridiculousness haha.

 

Go on then, show us what you've done..

we won't be judgemental..

probably.

 

One small detail to be aware of when you get to the carbs (and other parts that use crosshead screws); JIS screwdriver, not Phillips.

 

Unless you put dual chrome Stebel horns on it like I did on my XJ, it can't be as strange

 

Haha alright man. Well everyone here it is so far. I got a new battery for it. A lithium ion so I can turn it sideways in a tray under the seat, but I wasn't paying attention to the cca, and it is only 97 or something. Not sure if it's going to be enough. So right now I'm hooking everything back up to try and check to see if the battery will actually start the bike. We'll find out soon enough. The design came from Into the Spider-verse, which came out recently. I'm also an artist and working on illustrating so I have the artbook, and one of the villains has a "cafe racer" he created, and I couldn't help wanting to recreate it.

 

oh my …………….. but its your bike no one can say its not

 

'Individual ' I think is the word. The pink looks like it pink mark easily, and pick up grease. What kind of paint is it? Paint job aside not too radical so far. Are you keeping the OEM side panels?

 

Hahahaha, glad you guys love it so much... jokes It's just some universal metal paint. It will pick up a few marks here and there, and I'm going to go over spots after all the random marks I've put on working on other things after painting the frame. Side panels? Like the big plastic ones over the original battery and air filter? Nope. Definitely not.

Also hooked everything up. Well most everything and tried to start it today. And nothing. Not a click or anything. I'm guessing some cut off sensor is wired wrong somewhere. Maybe the clutch safety cable, neutral switch, or side stand? does this bike actually have a side stand relay? I don't even have my kickstand hooked up at the moment haha. So maybe it's that.

 

side stand relay is under the seat at the cross bar marked with blue.
clutch safety switch if disconnected bike will only start in neutral.
look at your neutral switch if that's not there and clutch safety switch is disconnected it wont start.

as far as your choice of paint and mods as long as your bike runs down the road I will ride with you without a snicker,


this link talks about the relays and bypasses also how to id the relays for correct location.
The Ultimate Relay, Switch, Sensor, and Diodes Guide

 

You're Euro spec bike doesn't have a side-stand relay/safety cutoff I don't think, not even sure if it has a clutch switch...

 

I didn't think it had the side stand relay either, because I didn't see any switch where the stand goes, however the relay still exists in the spot that is described. The clutch relay for sure exists. I'll be messing around with it later this evening and see what I come up with. Basically just going to follow all the wires and see what I find. Right now I don't even have the sidestand on, so maybe somehow it actually does have the switch and I just didn't look very carefully.

 

I couldn't see any switch in your original picture. On US bikes it's up by the stand pivot.

 

So quick update. I was messing around trying to find all the relays and switches that could possibly stop the bike from starting. Well then I remembered that when I bought it, a couple times with the guy it wouldn't start. So he put it in 1st gear rolled it back and forth a bit then back to neutral and it started. So I hooked up my rear end and gave it a shot. I finally heard the starter turning some but every so faintly, then I checked my new lithium ion battery and it was completely drained haha. Clearly 96cca isn't enough. So I'm charging the original battery and we will see what happens tomorrow. So does this mean that the neutral switch in the engine/transmission is actually faulty? No idea how to check that.

However, there was another weird thing that happened. Before I got the starter to actually work. I plugged in the headlight, since it's been unplugged for rewiring the new gages, and when I turned the light on and tried to start the bike, it blew a fuse... So no idea why that happened.

 

Hey guys. You've probably seen some of my other post about my '81 XJ500 I'm working on. First build and all. When I was buying it, I noticed there was a couple times the bike wouldn't turnover to start, and the guy put it in first rocked it back and forth then put it back into neutral and it would start. The guy I was with didn't exactly translate to me at the time why he had to do that. Anyway, I've had to do it a few times to, but it seems its getting worse. Do you guys think it's a faulty neutral switch? Also, where the heck is the neutral switch? Maybe I should just replace it, or take it out and it needs cleaned or something. Pics are always helpful

 

The neutral switch is on the oil pan on the left side of the bike, near the gear lever (sort of). Thre is a single sky-blue wire hooked up to it. To rest the switch you can connect the wire to the frame. The curcuit is completed when the wire is grounded, and a faulty (or dirty) switch will prevent the circuit from completing.
If the circuit works when the wire is hooked directly to ground, you can use a solvent added to the oil (Naptha is prefered (about 25 ml per 950 ml of oil, so around 100 ml to a full sump) to help free up any oil sludge that may have accumulated around the switch. The switches do fail mechanically, but that is uncommon.

 

Ok so the indicator works fine. So if the indicator works fine could it still be a mechanical issue? I mean... does this sound like a neutral switch issue or something else? I really have no idea. It’s strange that it doesn’t always happen. And when it does I just have to put it in gear rock it back and forth and then it’ll turnover. But it doesn’t have to be in neutral to turnover. It’ll do it in first as well.

 

If the indicator is working then the switch is working.

I think we need to do some diagnosis treating the starting system and safety interlock system seperately.

Are there any indications of a prior owner making changes or repairs to the wiring?

Does your bike have a sidestand switch? (not all models and years do).

 

No side stand switch. Also took the starter off and took it apart to see what was up. Here are some pics of it. I cleaned it up, and pretty sure I put it all back together the right way. Good news is the starter runs every time I push the button now! Bad news is, its not starting the bike. I checked the plugs for spark, and they are getting little to no spark I just cleaned them the other day before messing with the starter and they were sparking fine. Thoughts? Did I put something back together wrong?

 

Also I realized this has a broken piece. Not sure if it is a huge problem or not.

 

That insulator is quite important, and new ones are included in the rebuild kit (I think they can be bought separately as well).

A cracked or broken insulator for the positive stud can (often will) result in a starter that does nothing and a blown fuse.

 

Thanks Do you think it is also the issue of not pushing enough current to the plugs? Just weird to me that it turns but the plugs suddenly don't get much current. And I'm in Europe at the moment, having a hard time finding a rebuild kit, any ideas?

 

The electricity all comes from the same place, and a starter can grab enough of the juice that there isn't enough left over for the ignition system (it can even keep spark from being made at all). If the battery tests good (load test) then the starter is the next suspect when you have a no/weak spark contition. Keep in mind that a TCI has a lower voltage spark of longer duration than a CDI or points system has, so it will look weak in comparison.

 

Decided I'd go back out and check the sparks again in the dark of the garage. Almost all were sparking except one, so I swapped it out and the bike started up with spray. Ran pretty rough then died out almost immediately. I thought perhaps it wasn't getting enough fuel because I know it was running rich before so I adjusted the air/fuel screws pretty low. So I unscrewed them back out to about 3 turns for all 4 of them. Started up, ran for a little longer with choke and me revving it, but it was putting out black smoke (too rich right?) let it idle for a bit and then it died. I pulled the plugs and sitting on the bike from left to right which I think is 4,3,2,1? Either way, the left two were wet around the plug and and the right two were super black. So I screwed the left two air/fuel screws to just 2 turns out and the right two to 2.5 out. Result was pretty much the same. Just for some info, I changed the main jet size, because of putting pod filters on, from 105 to 115. I never adjusted the pilot jet, although it is a 40 and I have a 42.5 I would like to try, and maybe put the main 105 jets back in. I also lifted the needles up 3 notches (so the highest notch). Maybe I should just drop those back down. Also I did all those carb fuel adjustments before all of my membranes got holes and I repaired them. It wasn't running rich then. Then after I repaired those holes it seemed it was running way too rich. So now that those are repaired I think I just need to start back at stock and go from there. At least now I have a few different main and pilot jets to work with also here are some pics of the plugs after did that air fuel adjustment the second time. In my hand the left two are from the right side of the bike when sitting on it, and the right two are from the left side of the bike. So I think in the pictures the plugs are 1, 2, 3, 4.

 

left to right sitting on bike is 1,2,3,4
have you cleaned out the enrichment wells in the carb bowls and enrichment tubes?

did you soak enrichment plungers in carb cleaner? the plungers have rubber tips and should not be soaked in cleaner. make sure the plungers are closing when you turn off choke.

your 550 should will start and run with out an air box ( you have pods) with normal jets and exhaust removed . this is for getting it running .

what do you have as an exhaust?
why are you using resistor plugs?
are your spark plug caps resistive?.
your plug gap looks wide to me check the gap.


under 2000 rpm the bike runs on pilot jet circuit and choke (enrichment circuit when used)

if it does not run and idle you may not have got every thing clean in those circuits.
did you bench sync the carbs?
did you wet set fuel levels?

are your valves in spec?

you are trying to do to many changes at a time.

first is to get bike running with stock jets. set mixture screws to 2-3/4 turns out from a soft seat.
set your idle, sync the carbs

you should have no problem moving pilot jet up 1 size from stock .

 

main jet sizes (just to 125 there are larger jets and smaller jets)

HCP6900 OEM Mikuni MAIN FUEL JET #105
HCP6901 OEM Mikuni MAIN FUEL JET #107.5
HCP6902 OEM Mikuni MAIN FUEL JET #110
#112.5
HCP6904 OEM Mikuni MAIN FUEL JET #115
HCP6905 OEM Mikuni MAIN FUEL JET #117.5
HCP6906 OEM Mikuni MAIN FUEL JET #120
HCP6908 OEM Mikuni MAIN FUEL JET #125

.
the main jet is the jet that you work on first when happy adjust pilot if it is needed.

you need to buy a color tune to adjust mixture screws and change pilot jets.
you also need to sync carbs build or buy the tool

every thing else is guessing


this link after spec tells how to decide whatmain and pilot jets to start with

http://xjbikes.wikidot.com/carb-specs

 

Thanks for all the info and questions. Yes a lot of these things I have done. Others I haven't. I haven't posted the entirety of the build on here for certain reasons and hesitations I have about forum sites which have alredy proven true on this one. The reason it seems I'm doing too many changes at a time, is because some of the things haven't been posted. Also, there were things that seemed like they were going well and were fine, i.e. the bike was running and even sounded great, and as I got further into the build I discovered I needed to go back and change what I had previously done. Usually because things were adjusted with a flawed piece that I missed, and when that piece was fixed everything needed or needs to be adjusted again. As it is my first time doing any of this, and I'm working with an XJ500 which is slightly different than the xj550 it has also been difficult to find certain info. I won't get into all the reasons why I've changed what I've changed and so on. So there is that.
But, to answer your question about plugs and caps, I just used what was on the bike when I got it and replaced the plug with the same one, as it seemed they weren't a problem. Should they not be resistor plugs?

The next part in this whole process will be putting back the original main jet, dropping the needle back, and upping the pilot jet from 40 to 42.5. Also doing a wet fuel level set. My original jets don't line up with those in the links, because it's an xj500 but I have a parts catalogue so I know the original sizes.

Because I don't post everything I do on here and just bits and pieces, it is harder for you guys to see those gaps in the build. It also doesn't help that when I fix something or figure it out I don't reply back, especially if it was a stupid fix like "battery wasn't charged enough". Thanks again for the replies.

 

Stock mian jet needles do

If the factory-spec plug caps are used then the plugs need to be of the non-resistor type.
If the plug caps are resistorless, then the plugs must be of the resistor type.
Total resistance of the plug cap combo needs to be 5K ohms.

 

if the plug caps are resistor caps you do not need the resistor plugs. non resistor looks like the standard.

I do understand you are working on a 500, 4 cylinder. I do not have a manual for that so I do not offer any sizes on jets or such.
the jetting formula in the link should be the same process for your bike for finding a place to start.
in theory your original size jets should burn lean. with the pods what you will be looking for is proper running at the speed/rpms you like to ride at.

 

And that is what XJ550H means by making too many changes at once. Do exactly one of those changes, test, then evaluate before making another change.

Start back at factory baseline, then go from there.

 

will do. thanks again guys.

 

Hey guys so here is the update. I did mostly a factory reset. Got the original plugs that aren't resistor, also checked the gap, quite different than the ones that were on it. Original 105 main jets are in. Put the 42.5 pilot jets in, just one step up from the original 40. Dropped the needles back down 2 notches from where they were. Then decided to try to do the fuel level setting with the clear tube and all. One was spot on. The other 3 were all about -5 mm. Adjusted them, and then #3 decided it didn't want to shut off. Opened them back up and the pins and everything seemed fine. Blew it all out just in case. Still didn't shut off. Thought maybe I just adjusted the float too far, so I kinda went "extreme" and adjusted it back. Well then I checked the level and it was actually about -2mm. So all 4 carbs were right around -1 to -2mm.
So I put it all back on the bike, primed it, and set it to run. Boom the bike started right up no spray. This is huge for me, considering I've had to use spray basically every time. It actually sounded pretty good, minus this super loud sound like a dolphin haha. Here's a link to the video.


I realized that it was actually the far right boot. Must have air escaping so I didn't get the carbs back on super well which I'll fix next time I go out. could also be the fact I replaced all the gaskets from the boots to the manifold cuz they were shot. So maybe I just didn't get it on right. I found out by kind of "lifting" the carbs some and it would change sound and I realized where it was coming from.
Well... on top of that I checked the plugs after running it. None of them are black so thats a plus. However #1 was pretty clean #2 and #4 were a light brown, and sadly #3 was completely clean. So I felt the pipes and #3 wasn't even warm That was the same one having issues with shutting off. I checked the drainage screw while on the bike and it had fuel in it. So not sure what's up. I need to check for spark, and also I'll take them all off again to make sure it is shutting off and randomly isn't too low suddenly. On top of that my turn signals randomly decided to stop working hahaha.

But!!! it started without spray which is huge!

 

Good progress your persistence is paying off.

but this

May well be due to the fact you no longer have carb support at the rear from the airbox..

 

Ummm, you may wanna take a look at the frame... it seems a little... pink!
Just kidding. Great progress!

 

Yea I wondered about that, but it didn't have the issue before, and plenty of people do it no problem I think it's mostly the gasket not being on correct most likely and causing a small gap. I'll mess with it some today.

 

Do you guys ever post something then realize you're just an idiot and the fix was stupid easy? Welp.. that happened. Took the carbs off and realized after replacing the gaskets for the intake boots I never screwed the 3rd one in... nice. Anyway, I did that. Then also checked fuel levels again just to make sure it was all good. Started the bike up ran pretty ok. It has that thing where when I rev it takes a bit to drop back down. Which I was told is running too lean. Took a pic of the spark plugs for you guys. 1,2,3,4 from left to right. You can see number 3 isn't too colorful. Could be because it has the lowest fuel level. 1,2 have the air fuel screws out only 2 turns, 3,4 have them out 2,5 turns I believe.

Turn signal problem I haven't figured out. But haven't tried too much either. As the bike was turning over to start the turn signals worked normal. But not when it was actually started or just in the on position. Only when the bike was turning over. I should let you know I switched to LED's and had to run some diode stuff in the front so they all didn't light up, then get a new flasher relay so they would actually flash. The flasher relay has a negative wire ran to the negative on the left starter coil, cuz that's what was shown to do to make it work. Thoughts on this?

 

This thing is awesome

 

Do yourself two favors.
1. make a bracket to hold the carbs up. The intake boots will not do the job reliabaly for very long.
2. Get a length of hose and relocate the breather filter up under the tank or seat so it can't get wet, and so the oil mist that comes out of it won't cover your leg.


The stock turn signal flasher is unique, and the typical workarounds you find for other bikes dont work.
Do this instead: page-2
The flasher you need is a two-pin, no-load (or adjustable) positive ground, and it will plug right into the stock location. The second relay is only need if you want the auto-cancel feature to work.

The plugs look sooty, but 3 almost looks like there is oil on it.
Do you have, or have access to a Gunson Colortune plug?

 

Thanks man much appreciated. It’ll be more awesome when it’s running well ☺️

Weird thing is the way I had flashers set up it worked. It just recently stopped after I cleaned up the starter. I’ll check that other post. Thanks for the heads up on the bracket and relocation of the breather.

Plugs 1 and 2 are definitely a little sooty. 3 didn’t have oil on it. And 4 was brown. I don’t have a colortune plug but I may order one soon.

 

Since #4 was brown you can use the setting for it as a guide to set the other mixture screw (the other cylinders should not be far off unless they have lower compression than #4, or a fueling issue not related to idle mixture). Set the others the same and then read the plugs again. Nudge the mixture screws about a dimes-width each time you adjust until the plugs all have good color. Pay close attention to the color line on the ground strap, and where it is in relation to each end of the strap.

Soot can be a sign of being either lean or rich, so listen for popping under off-throttle deceleration. If you hear that then you’ve got too lean.

 

No. I never make any mistakes.
PS. There's an "edit" button.