New fuse box and some progress

Good evening all,

Well, I'm making some progress on the old 82 XJ650! I took the day off and just worked on the bike. Chacal sent me some neat parts so I started out by ripping the old fuse box and wiring out and installing chacal's new little gem. I put dielectric in all connections when I put it back together. Haven't gotten it bolted down yet but thats next. The old wiring was all corroded where they had made the connections, it was just all crap. Now, when I have sufficient voltage, the bike starts beautifully when cold. Wouldn't do that before!

I had charged the battery about the first or second week of November and its been sitting in the utility room on a piece of 2x6 since then. I was going to check it for voltage before I reinstalled it but I forgot, much to my later chagrin. Anyhow, I put the battery back in and thought if it started I'd run down and get plates and insurance and go for a ride. Hah! Now it will fire a bit while cranking but still no start. Well, I farted around for quite a while with it and decided I'd pull the battery back out and put it on the charger while I removed the tach and did some other work on the bike. A couple of hours later I put the battery back in the bike and engaged the enrichment circuit, key to on, hit the starter button, and the thing fired right up, just like a new bike! Boy was I happy, but it was too late to go get plates and stuff so it may be spring before I get to ride it. It was over sixty degrees here and we ain't gonna get too many more of those. If we do, I'll be ready for sure.

A question on batteries: Does anyone know anything about the gel batteries that are supposed to be so much better than the lead/acid jobs? The reason I ask is the battery thats in this bike is a new (about last October just before I bought the bike) but from Wal Mart. I can't find any specs on it but it figures it can't be anything spectacular. I was getting some wire connectors at the local Auto Zone and they had gel batteries but they were about $75.00. I looked on their web site but didn't find anything on them at all. I was trying to find the specs on them, and also the Wal Mart battery but can't find anything on either battery. I did check the charging system with my analog multi-meter and it is charging ok, I think the Wal Mart battery is marginal for the XJ to start with and the voltage loss from sitting for two months was just enough that it wouldn't trip the ignition system.

Thanks for the help guys, I appreciate it. I'll get this thing up and running yet.

Cheers,

Phil[/img][/img][/img]

 

hey, where do you live? I saw a bike just like that down the street from me in Bay City,MI...

 

I live in Huntington, Indiana. My old neighbors are from Bay City. Did you know Bob and Kris McFarland? His dad owned a bar there. Small world ain't it?

Cheers,

Phil

 

Oooooooh! Love the lathe! Want one too!
As for gels, they are great if you can find one that fits the application. They don't leak acidic vapor and you can tip them over without spillage. $75 is very reasonable. A whole lot of up-sides, no down sides.

 

where did you get your fuse block? im having a hell of a time finding one.

 

Get one from chacal on these forums. His business is XJ4ever. Thats where I got the one in the picture above. Chacal is a great guy and has great stuff at great prices and ships quickly.

Here is a link to his parts list: http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic ... t=135.html

I gotta warn you, looking at that list is addictive and can become expensive. About everything you ever wanted to repair your XJ. >) GREAT parts supply.

Cheers,

Phil