Mildly modded XJ 700 X 1986

Bought non-running last summer, my daily driver this summer (thus the dust, squashed bugs and dirt). I'm a Virago-guy, and have drivven a XV 535 the last years. It has a fueltank under the seat, and is known for it's low center-of-gravity. Once I got the Maxim running, I was a little dissapointed regarding stability and low-speed handling. I spent the last winter doing a little handy-work:

Forward controls are from a 535. Gives me 90 degrees in the knee, and a lot comfier ride. Rear is lowered 50mm, by mounting shorter shocks. Stiff and predictable, and lots of ground clearance left. Both seats reworked, with gelpadding under leather. Rear fender and baseplate for rear seat shortened 50mm. Custom bag rack, luggage rack and mini-sissy (to avoid passengers to fall off). Final seat-height is 10cm lower than stock.

Carb rack reworked, but still not 100%. Things to do next winter. K&N airfilter and Dynacoil coils. All bling removed. Only non-funtional thing left is the radiator guard. It rattles a bit on bad roads, but I'll keep it untill further. Protects the radiator on dirt-roads.

Bike runs good, handles well and looks good. Feel I've got the lines flowing in a nice way, and the bare mechanics of the engine gives the ride a potent look.

 

Great job getting it back on the road! I have two Xs myself; do yourself a favour and put a small piece of foam weatherstripping on the inside bottom of the rad cover. It'll snug it up when you put it back on and get rid of the rattle!

 

Bike looks good , keep stock airbox , forget about the k&n filter . The PO of my bike had one in the airbox, after I did carbs had trouble synching , switched to paper filter viola carbs synched right off and pulled like a train . A few months ago for giggles I put K&N back in ran very poorly . I always had good results with these filters in cars , but not so much with the bike .

 

The K&N is due to a mysterious carb problem I've been struggling with; every weekend I've had to clean the plugs, the engine runs way to rich, and on all four. The idea was to get more air in. It didn't solve the problem, but anyway, I like the oportunity to wash and reoil. And the original was a bit scruffy. Syncing is no problem.
Have pulled the carbs twice, can't find any logical fault. Have solved the problem with some "creative plumbing" at the time being. Some rubber hose and a couple of fuel filters connected to the connectors on the rubber boots. I've made some air-leaks.... The engine has a devlish pull, and idles well. Plugs looks nice. Not by the book, but it's summer holidays, and I need to ride it. I'll look into this issue when the snow lies meter-high.

 

The poor low-speed handling is to be expected. It was built for drag racing on the street