Almost ready....

been awhile since i posted anything , had been wrenching for the last few months on the XJ700 and figured id post some updated pics . mods to date : took 6 inches off the rear fender , led brake light , more compact turn signals , shaved passenger seat and recovered both , relocated plate , took 4 inches off the front side of front fender ( running a wider front tire and had clearance issues ) , clubman bars installed upside down , bar enders , and i just finished the paint ( Duplicolor red/blue mirage color shift ). just wanting to see what u guys thought of it at this point

 

Nice Work...

 

is it just the sun or do your headers look gold? running rich much?

 

Amazing paint job!

I'm pretty sure any passenger would appreciate even a tiny backrest pad, though!

 

That's pretty nice paint. Is it the kind that changes shade depending on how the light hits it?

 

Stock Yamaha headers are double-walled and shouldn't be discoloring at all. If those are stock head pipes and they're turning gold, the bike is running LEAN (way too hot) and the condition should be investigated.

The only other reason stock Yamaha head pipes turn color is if the inner pipe has become compromised in some way letting hot gasses between the walls. But it's highly unlikely that all 4 would do it evenly and together like that.

 

oops i did put rich, i need to think before i type

 

My son in law put a 110 tire on the front, had to put 1/8 inch thick washers on the bolts between the fork brace and the fork lowers to eliminate rubbing. Worked great, too bad you already cut the fender unless that was the look you were going for.

 

Have upside down clubmans on mine, like them a lot after foaming them and adding bar end weights. Paint looks good. did you apply some clear over it?

 

sorry been away from the pc for a bit it is a color shifting paint red / blue and has quite a few coats of clear , haven't buffed it out yet , as its still curing . is my fist try at a non flat paint job and has some orange peel in the lower tank sides atm . im honestly not much of a mechanic when u guys say lean what else would i notice , its ridden daily and id hate to be damaging anything , they are stock pipes and its not trick of the light the first bends are definitely evenly light gold , it seems to idle well off choke once fully warmed up and it revs pretty freely. when i first bought it it had a nasty air filter in it and a leak in the valve cover gasket , both were immediately replaced tho along with front / rear brakes ( front brake fluid also ) and tires , i also put new plugs in it although the old ones looked just fine , could the golding be from a problem maybe rectified in the past before i purchased ? ive owned it for 12months and put 3k miles on it ( had 14,000 mile - has 17 ,000 now )

 

Have you checked your valve clearances?

Done a compression test?

What type of air filter did you install?

What do the plugs look like right now? Lily white?

The gold color indicates something is causing it to run too hot; this is generally caused by a lean condition. Thing is, you won't "notice" anything riding it because the motor LOVES being lean--- right up until it blows up.

Yes, it's possible the discoloration came from an already-resolved condition, but if you haven't personally attended to the items I've listed above, you probably should. If it's happening now, you could be in the process of cooking your motor.

I recommend that you investigate.

 

no i haven't done a compression test nor have i personally checked my valves , the valves had supposedly been done just before i bought it , at least that's what i was told ( and their reasoning behind the valve cover gasket leaking ) i purchased the air filter from a yamaha dealership it was identical to the filthy one i pulled out in shape and such . i pulled the plugs this morning and they did have a slight white coating at the base but the contacts seemed normal . i havent rode it the last 20 days tho due to it being painted . seems as tho ive probably bitten off abit more than i could chew , i dont have a proper garage or mechanincs tools and i havent been able to find a shop in the Dallas area tht would touch my 27 yr old project id hate to be damaging the motor tho , it really is a nice little bike

 

Valve clearances need to be at least checked every 5000 miles. They get tighter with wear, so neglecting them will eventually cause damage. They were often neglected on these bikes; it's the first thing to check. (It's also the very first "maintenance" item in the factory books.)

A compression test is a good way to verify the viability of the motor; and stay ahead of an impending problem.

The problem with old bikes is that they are pretty much a "DIY" proposition; not many shops will touch them and of the ones that do, only a small percentage actually know what they're doing. In our case, 4 carbs and shim-over-bucket valves tend to exacerbate the situation.

Lastly, never believe any stories of previous maintenance told by a PO. Unless you have personally verified that the work was done, don't assume it was.

I would strongly recommend you minimize the mileage until you've investigated the health of the mill.

 

i really appreciate the info , i wont be putting it back on the road if there's a chance ill end up cooking the motor, i watched a video last night on shimming the valves , its intimidating but nothing like our carbs lol , ill be attempting to at least check clearances this weekend before moving forward ... in hindsight i should have sorted all this out before doing any of the work I've already done but i bought the bike specifically because i wanted to play with paint and upholstery , o well live and learn i guess

 

Valve clearances, photo how-to: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14827.html

Part Deux: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=29209.html

 

very nice , ok now u got me nervous .. are the valve shims something the fancy new yamaha dealerships around me might stock ? seems like i need to tear it down , check clearances then make a trip to buy the specific shims that i need , or is it something id likely have to order from the net ?

 

You will probably be able to swap some shims from one cylinder to another, and most likely you will need three or four shims. In any case, post your readings here and someone will help you finding what you need. There is no reason you'd pay big bucks for shims.

 

In the 2nd picture (the one taken in front of the garage door) the bike appears to be floating in air............

 

WHOA chacal, once you said that I noticed it too. makes my stomach turn wow that's a hard image to get outta my head now. Plus the striped concrete makes it more illusionist

almightyn8; you should tackle the shim clearance check without much hesitation. have some confidence, you've got a lot of free help from us here online. PLUS, some of us (myself included) have a lot of used, spare shims available for trading. member "hogfiddles" will acquire a large assortment of yamaha shims from me very soon to keep the "shim-pool" in stock. send him a message once you've got them checked

 

Hey Fitz...
Nice write up on the Shim Service...Great Photos as well...

 

some of the golding was pitted chrome rusting ,i cleaned it abit with some sheila shine but there is still a fair amount of an even gold cast to the first bend on all 4 pipes , i also rode the bike for a few mins around my shop then killed it at 3k rpm and coasted to my parking spot and pulled each plug , picture included

 

Looks like the right color to me. I think you should perform this chop test again while accelerating over 5000-6000 RPM or so to get the picture when main jets are more involved in the mix.

 

i will tomorrow when i get back to the shop , my only hesitance in getting involved with shimming the valves is time frame , im about to be listing it for sale so i can snag a 86 x off a friend, but on the other hand i dont want to sell a timebomb i don't believe in much but i do believe in karma . im pretty sure it was running lean when i bought it due to the old air filter it was an oily mess , i replaced the filter and the valve cover gasket which is where i was leaking from so theres a good ? chance i may have already addressed the issue . the one thing that is getting me is i do have a hard time starting in the cold ( 30F) but i assumed that was normal otherwise it purs