Finished Valve Adjustment on XJ700X - It RUNS!!

Not too bad for a girl, right??

I am so excited! My Max sounds so good! Got it all back together after about 5 tries (and learning much each time!) and had a bit of trouble starting it. Sprayed a bit of starter fluid on the air filter elements and voila! Fired right up!! If it wasn't so late and so cold outside, I'd be taking it for a ride.

But I did want to throw a couple of questions out - hoping someone has had some experience with this...

1 - What causes the starter relay to "click" and do nothing? It did this a couple of times when I tried to start it. I'd push the starter button and it would turn the engine over, then the next time - click! - and nothing. Like it just stopped there. Then I would try again and the engine would turn over. Weird. Hoping someone has some knowledge in what I should do with this, if anything???

2. What would YOUR next step be? I'm going to try to start it again tomorrow, but I'm going back and forth on if I should tear the carbs down and clean them thoroughly, or ?? (I'm really REALLY itching to ride it!!) While I had it idling (sounded really good!!), I tried revving it a bit, and the response was pretty poor - stumbled a little, but caught up (and purred!) Does that sound like dirty jets to you? Oh, and one other thing - the choke/enrichment circuit seems to do absolutely nothing...

I've had a hard time starting it since it got colder, and I've tried many (easy) things first to try to remedy it. So I felt it necessary to adjust the valves - and I was SO GLAD I delved into it. They were BAD. So many of them had 0 clearance, and I spent a wad on new shims. But now it's done, everything within specs, and I'm a little bit wiser for it. So happy! And it really did sound good when it was idling...

Any thoughts you have would be greatly appreciated!

Katherine

 

It sounds like there could be a bad earth and also that the battery needs a bit of charge.
A clicking solenoid suggests a battery that needs charging, but the fact that it fired up suggests some of the terminals and earth points need cleaning.
Try both and see what happens.
The stumbling when revved and the idling does suggest clogged or dirty carbs. It will idle with dirty carbs but when openned up needs clean jets to rev out.
Keep at it, you'll get there.

 

1: As above, generally a flat battery. If not, then wiring, ground connections, etc. Or it might be time to clean out the starter.

2: Since you had a bunch of valves at zero clearance, I would suggest the next step should be to get the battery fully charged and run a compression test to ensure you don't have any valve damage before continuing to spend money.

You said "air filter elementS" does this bike have individual "pod" filters on it?

ANY intake or exhaust mods?

How many miles are on it?

 

yup to the battery condition

yup to the carbs need to be gone through

Pm', too.

 

1: As stated, either the battery is low or there is a bad connection. That clicking noise is the starter solenoid not getting enough power.

2: I believe that the choke is not working. If the choke is not working, it’s hard to start as you mentioned. And when it finally started (with starter fluid), it won’t rev up because it’s running too lean. Look at the choke plunders on the carbs, and make sure they all come up when you turn on the choke. “ the choke/enrichment circuit seems to do absolutely nothing...” it should be doing its job.

Get the battery is good condition and do a compression test, before you do any else.

 

I too agree, With Kingston. I believe the stumbling is being caused by a non functioning enrichment circuit, so it still could end up being a case of stripping the carbs down to rectify the problem, and if thats the case then clean the carbs to the "Church of clean", and make sure they pass the "Clunk" test too, whilst apart

 

Thanks, everyone!!

Appreciate the suggestions and the encouragement, FJ - I'll have to check all the terminals and grounds...

and BigFitz - checking the starter HAS crossed my mind - is it very hard to do? Any suggestions or pointers on how to go about it? I've seen some diagrams, doesn't look too hard - I just worry about springs or parts jumping out and I'm not too familiar with starters... And yes, the guy I got the bike from had put individual "pods" on it, but that's the only mod on it. It's got a bit over 33k miles... and I will see if I can find the right fitting to do the compression test.

Hogfiddles - thanks for your input! I am impressed with the number of projects/bikes you have - amazing!!

Kingston - I had my hubby help me test the battery, since I wasn't sure what kind of shape it was in under a load. I have checked it several times, and usually it's got about 12.85 to start. Last night, the hubby watched it get down to about 10.5 while I was turning it over, then it would climb back up to 12.65+ after a couple of seconds. I read somewhere that if it got under 9.5, then the battery was toast - any ideas on this?

Another thing I forgot to mention - my hubby pulled the solenoid up and looked at the wires, and he touched the posts with the screwdriver at one point, and it sparked. The next couple of times I tried to start the bike after that, the selenoid did NOT click at all, and the bike seemed to turn over much better! Could I be dreaming on that? Could that part be going bad?? Ideas??

Oh, and today, it wouldn't start on its own. Had to use the starter fluid, but it fired up. After ignition - it revved pretty high, and had me worried for a second, because it had never done this previously. THEN realized I had the "choke" on, so I brought it down, and wouldn't you know it - it actually DID work! I wonder if the sea foam I put in there actually did some work??? Evidently I was wrong, previously, when I said the enrichment circuit didn't work, because it certainly worked today!!

And Smurf - thanks for your input. I'm a bit nervous about stripping the carbs ALL the way down, but I think I need to do it. Thanks for including the links on that - I'm sure I'll need it!!

OK, so today was a beautiful day - a bit cold, but sunny, and I HAD to take it around the block. LOVED IT!! Froze my buns a bit, but it was totally worth it. It idles better than ever, and was responsive. I didn't get very far, though, because the speedometer began to make some VERY LOUD noises! I unhooked the cable from the gauge, and was able to ride it still, but need to check things out. Anyone ever taken one of these things apart? Experiences on this???

Once again - thanks everyone for you input! I appreciate each one of you!!

 

Point your browser at xj4ever.com -- there's a bunch of illustrated writeups Len and I have put up... one of them being an illustrated breakdown of the Mikuni carbs. The carbs in question happen to be from my own X... come to think of it, there are a few you'll be wanting.

Cleaning your Mikuni carbs
Setting the fuel levels
DIY carb stand (Comes in VERY handy)
Maybe this one if you haven't flushed your coolant...

Not on the X, I haven't. Bigfitz did a teardown for the 550, and I did the same for my 750J.

BigFitz52's breakdown
750J cluster teardown


Every time I see your username, I keep wanting to call you Lady 3Jane.

 

Once you get TO the mechanical instrument's guts, here's what they're all about: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=15303.html

If you have an electronic tach, this would only apply to your speedo.

 

Dammit, that's the one I thought I was linking to... (sigh) You'd think I'd have actually read the post I was referencing, but noooooooo...

 

Hi Katherine.
Can you take pictures when you adjust the valves! That would be very helpful for newbies like me. There are plenty of people here in the forum that inquired about the valve adjustment on maxim x. Tnx!

 

The forum given for the speedo repair is not the one you need for your Maxim X. That forum tells you what a usual assembly looks like. HOWEVER, the speedo and tach assembly for the Maxim X (and others that have the same type of gauges) are, for the most part, sealed units and you can't do anything in there. Except.........DRUM ROLL, PLEASE_dbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbdbbddbdb Cymbals crash now!

I did a write-up a little while ago for Hap, and here is a link for you. NOW, you CAN get inside them. I'm working on another way, but for now, this works.

http://www.maxim-x.com/pix/gauges/gauge_repair/

What you will need to do, I'd recommend opening the same page in two different windows. Now, in one window click on the PDF file near the top of the list. This is the PDF is written instructions, You can open the jpg with the same number as the step to see the pic.

 

Hogfiddles, thanks for the speedo write up!!!! I spent a long time trying to figure out how to get mine off the bike, with no success, never thought of popping the ring off the front :/ . In the end I Squirted some white lithium grease in there (probably not the best way to go about it), and that seemed to do the trick, no more howling. Once I'm finished with other things I will go back to the speedo and do it right.

Schmuck, thanks for all the links!! I just tore into my Maxim X last night for a valve check (I'll be posting in the "What did you do to your yamaha today" soon explaining all the things I found/did). Your links supplied a lot of confidence, as I'm going about this with only a pdf of the manual . FYI a ratchet strap around the pilot mixture screw housing and hooked onto the grab bar made carb removal EASY!

Lastly, KatherineJane, congratulations!!! I was a bit nervous at first as well, but once you make the plunge it's not so bad. I have yet to measure the clearances and swap shims, but the bike is all apart and ready. That being said, clean your carbs! As long as theres less gunk in there when your done (ok, there should be NO gunk when done), and you put everything back where it goes, your carbs will be better off. Keep up the good work! Enjoy your bike also, these things are FAST!

 

Anybody has photos or videos on how to adjust the valves? If anybody is adjusting their valves, PLEASE take videos or photos. It will be a big help for the newbies, me included. Thanks!

 

Commander, you might have already seen it but this is what i went by, haven't replaced any shims yet.... This guy seems to go pretty much by the book, but i included the link to the manual anyway, it includes the specs that 85maximxx omitted

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=16298.html

also,

http://www.scribd.com/doc/32149084/yama ... ice-Manual

ALSO, make sure your feeler gauge has all the right measurements (mine only went to .006") and cut them down cause they won't fit otherwise...

 

Thank you so much for the link Rhett! I've been searching for this for a while.