Few questions, new owner.

So I bought myself an 1983 Maxim 750 2 days ago for 500 and Ive started work... making new bob tail rear fender, removing rust, re painting, and Im going to totally rewire the thing. But I have a few questions.

1) air cooled aluminum block= I see a lot of you guys have it painted but how does this affect heat transfer since paint is an insulator... I know painting an air cooled steel block is a no no, but what about an aluminum block?


2) Where is the computer and what all does it control? Is it JUST the Canceling unit under the tank or is there another computer that I missed?

Im going to LEDs and cut out all that crap of wiring that shouldnt be there on a carbed bike.


3) Whats involved in removing the engine from the driveshaft? Is there a slip joint in there or do i have to open and drain the case to undo a pinion gear?

4) What is the primer function? I have fuel leaking out the hoses coming from the carbs and i cant tell if its only when the primer function is selected or always.... From what im told the floats may be clogged?
Ill post pictures tommarow

 

Also, anyone have a spare Clutch cable?

 

Welcome to the forum Mr. Fox. We'll start with
#1. There is no appreciable difference between the painted and unpainted engines. The factory painted them, why not? A few folks had this discussion two weeks ago (hit the search function at the top of the forum pages) and one member reported that his temperatures remained constant when he applied the paint. Concensis is go for it!
#2. I am not all that familiar with your year of bike so I really can't answer that question. My apologies. I'll go out on a limb and suggest they have similar systems as my 81. That would mean that there should be a self-canceling turn signal relay under the tank, the TCI (transistor controlled ignition) unit which controls the ignition, and a voltage regulator to control voltage rectifiying. Other than that, if you have the electronic dash, there would be a very basic processor to run all of the instrumentation but it wouldn't control anything else.
#3. Pulling the engine requires the removal of 4 bolts that bolt the output flange from the engine to the input flange of the drive shaft, thats all there is to it.
#4. The prime setting on your fuel petcock allows fuel from the tank to flow without the need of a vaccum signal from the motor to allow the flow to begin. Basically it allows gravity to feed the carburetors. You do not want to use this setting for anything except start up. Once the machine is running, turn the petcock to On and leave it there for the duration and subsequent storeage at the end of the journey. Above all, I HIGHLY recommend you purchase an repair manual and the site's XJCD ($10). The manual I use is the Haynes (about $15) but you can find the factory manual as well (just a bit more expensive). The manual will answer all of the questions you have asked in far more detail than I could here but with much clearer verbage. Best investment you could make for your new toy. Good luck to you!