Just bought an XJ650LJ and have some questions

I just bought an XJ650LJ Seca Turbo is it an 82 with 14,500 miles on it. I have been reading that upgrading the brakes and adding a fork brace are a must. Is there a good site online to find these? Also does anyone make an after market exhaust for this model?

 

Welcome ! How about a pic or two of it ?
I've seen a few fork braces on Ebay for them. Nothing for an aftermarket exhaust. You'll probably have to fab one up to the flange/pipe that comes off the turbo if you want something different.

Still got both pipes on it ?

By now you've probably found Vinces Turbo page: Vinces Turbo Page

Pm sent

 

There it is, the guy I bought it from had taken very good care of it. Still has both pipes on it. As far as I know the only aftermarket part it has is Braided brake lines. I heard that the fork brace was a big help along with the brakes so I figured I would look into those next. Also I did see Vince's page, very helpful.

 

Is $95 for the fork brace a good price?

 

Nice looking bike !

A bit high for the brace I'd say... I've seen them for around $45 somewhere. If I run across it again I'll post it.

 

Are there any other things on the Bike I should be paying attention to?

 

Sounds and looks like the PO took pretty good care of it.

I wasn't so fortunate. So some of the things I had to check to make sure they were working properly were the check valves on the oil lines for the Turbo, Valve clearances, Clean carbs, and exhaust - Mud Dobbers made a nest in it. Clean the Tank, Install inline fuel filter, Change oil & filter, rear drive oil. Last thing is to rebuild the fork seals. Then paint it.

Here is another Turbo site thread where a guy was making fork braces:
Fork brace thread

 

very nice bike. too bad it's silver.

I'm a fan of the black and dark grey colors, not so much the silver.

mines black.

as far as breaks, they are a bit weak, but due to the master cylinder. The rubber hoses if original, probably should be replaced. Old rubber will expand and crack more.

The reason people say 'steel braided lines' is so the hose doesn't expand giving you less pressure at the calipers. Replacing these with new brakelines helps.

Just imagine a car. It has alot more breaking pressure, using the same lines. people under high breaking siturations, use the steel to help pressure under heavy breaking.


the breaks on mine, with new rubber hoses, work fine. Sure it's alittle soft under hard-breaking from high-speeds. But seriously, should you be doing what your doing if you need to stop suddenly?

Front & back break always stops me intime. and I don't feel that there's any 'give' with the breaks.

as far as the fork brace.. i guess i'm not experienced enough to know where this comes into play. They are a bit thin and could wobble. I just think that's due to 25+ old bearings and seals and such.

other things to pay attention to, wastegate & right hand exhaust. Moisture can build up and rust these items which can cause an open wastegate.

if you want more boost from your bike, DO NOT DISABLE THE WASTE GATE. Use a manual boost controller.

any other questions, just ask i'll try to help as much as possible.

 

also, glad to see another turbo owner!

 

Where can I get a manual Boost Controller?

 

make one

ebay

googe 'manual boost controller'

it's just a valve that you open and shot to allow 'pressure' to go from the turbo to the wastegate.

 

Do you know of a site that is going to have pictures of where to set it up on the Seca, this is going to be my 2nd bike I have ever worked on so I just want to make sure I am doing everything right.

 

you're going to want to research

turbocharger
wastegate
air pressure
CFM
and also learn how your xj is setup to handle the boost

Pressurized carbs
Pressurized Petcock
Fuel Pump
Boost Sensor


but you put the mbc, inbetween the wastegate outlet, and the wastegate.

the 'upgrade' more-or-less disables the wastegate. so you might not have the needed tubing and such.

 

Also, is there a boost gauge I can get that will tell me the PSI by numbers instead of just the stock one with colors?

 

YES!

google and ebay

my friend.

google and ebay.

I prefer the Greddy SBC-II spec b boost controller. Digital gauge, with lots of options on controlling the turbo. but it's a 300-400 dollar item.

sometimes your local auto parts store or such will have a boost gauge. You don't really need to know negitive boost (though the stock gauge does show it). So any 'pressure' gauge will work. You can use a tire pressure gauge with some modification. Hell i'm sure one of those digital gauges would also work... i have a few cheap ones, i should test and see.

 

I would really love to get something like that, but realistically a 300 part on a bike I can't lock down just doesn't seem like good idea. Of course I could make a clip so I could take it off with me when I leave the bike. Ideally my goal for this bike would be to get the boost controller and raise it to the upgraded level, would love to get exhaust, but need to look into more on the bike and how I could make sure the back pressure would be okay with the turbo. And a new paint job. Would like to make it Matte black with blue accents.

 

Welcome to the club
The Few The Proud The BOOSTERS
Had mine for 8 yrs now and runs great
if u dont know how find yourself an old skool mechanic and check the valve clearances and sync the carbs made a world of diffrence on mine.
I run a cheapo boost controler on mine and a mechanical boost gague. I keep it set at 12-14 lbs with no problems but I use 94 octane with 104 octane booster in it. If the fuse holde is still stock i would recomend upgrading it to blade fuses. And i rebuilt the calipers and that made a world of diffrence in stopping these heavy bikes.

 

Pics

 

Well first of all let me just say, your bike looks great. Like I said before I am very new to the whole motorcycle thing. I just started riding last year and I am 19 now. Today was the first day I actually took my bike out for a ride because of the weather here in minnesota. When I went to the guys house I bought the bike from he told me that the lady that had the bike did get the free upgrade from Yamaha to up the boost to 12PSI and also he had the aftermarket fork brace in a box which me and him installed there. Now I guess the question I really have been wanting to get answered. For the Boost guage, where do I hook it up? Also if you have some pictures that would be great or could take some of where it is hooked up. Also the Blade fuses you were talking about, is that a whole new unit or just the fuses themselves. And if it is a unit is it just plug and play or does there need to be modifications?

 

Man Phillyturbo, that's one nice bike.. Like the dark grey too.

really wish i had gotten one in that good of shape.

 

:lol: Thanks for the complement. It Was alot of blood and sweat in there, oh yeah CASH too. It took me like 2 yrs to get all the tid bits to make her complete. The bike was laid down on the rt side and i rebuilt the farings back up with carbon fiber, repainted it and lots of tuning and tweaking to get it in its current state. As for the boost gague i tapped into the line that goes from the #2 intake boot to the boost sensor ( thats the most accurate to get a good reading). And for the fuse block yes it takes a little modification bit not much and u need to solder also. heres a few pics that may help. Search in the forums for fuse block for some good how toos ans sources for a fuse holder( I got mine at a boat supply store as well as alot of stainless nuts and bolts [shint and no rust EVER)

 

Can you put up some pictures of where you sent the tube to get the guage set up so I know where I am gonna run it. I plan on doing this week either monday or tuesday.

 

I used rigged a coupler from some rubber line than ran from the t fitting to mate up with the tubing that comes with the gague then followed up the backbone if the bike with the rest of the wires to the dash. i just left some of the tubing coiled up under the faring so theres room to work if u need to take it off later. i dont have any pics and id have to take the farings off to get some Sorry but thata a pain in the ass. Just be creative and youll figure it out its not hard.

 

I was the one that had made up the forkbraces for the turbo.. I made them up last year when I had free machine time. Unfortunately I do not have time right now to make any more up. I have had a few offers and have had to decline on all of them, Heck I sold MY forkbrace last year.. However I might make some more up in the future but no guarantee's.

Good luck and get that turbo back on the street!!! you WILL not regret it. It's still my go to mode of transpo when I have to go long distances. Hard to get almost 50 MPG out of a car at 65 mph.


Sean