My new 23 yeard old XJ650LK

I just got an '83 XJ650LK on eBay. Here's the link if you're interested.

XJ650LK on eBay

When I saw that there was a buy it now of $600 and it was local, I was powerless to say no. My wallet jumped up on the table of its own volition.

When I went to pick it up, I found, naturally, that the pictures were a little deceiving. Still, pretty good overall though. The battery wasn't in the bike and the guy didn't want to go through the trouble of taking off the fairing and installing it. I immediatley thought it probably wouldn't start and he was hiding something. I still thought it was a good enough deal though so I paid him and took it home.

The next day, I put the battery in and low and behod, it did start. Almost immediatly. It even runs fairly well. It seems to be running very rich. Lots of white smoke frome the left pipe and the plugs are wet and black. I think the choke is stuck though, so this may account for the richness. It idles fine though and is definitely hitting all cylinders.

I know very little about this bike though and I made a few observations. I was hoping that you folks might be able to answer a few questions for me.

1. I noticed that there is nothing coming out of the right pipe. I took a look at the whole exhaust and I have to admit I'm a little confused. Is this a fake pipe? It looks like maybe there shouldn't be anything coming out. I suspect that this may have something to do with the turbo, but I'm still mystified at this point.

2. The warning light on the dash comes on upon starting. Two clicks of the top 'Warning' button seems to clear it. Seems odd though.

3. The booster gauge is exhibiting some strange behavior. When idling, it stays close to the minimum. When the engine is gunned a bit, it actually goes down! I'm thinking that there may be a turbo problem. Maybe just a vaccum line is disconnected and that might even account for the warning light.

4. The engine is filthy. It's so filthy that I can't tell what if anything is leaking. Can I pressure wash the engince (lightly of course) or will that damage the electronics?

Any info you guys have would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks very much,

Greg

 

The warning light is probably for a missing battery level probe. Look at the center LCD panel, it will show you why the warning light is blinking. There is a bypass for the sensor on Vince's Seca turbo page (google it).

Some white smoke is normal for these bikes if they have been sitting awhile. Some oil will leak past the seals in the turbo charger if the bike is left sitting. This can range from a mild wisp that quickly disappears after a few minutes running (normal) to a choking cloud that doesn't dissipate (worn out seals, or a sticking oil check valve in the turbo feed line). The seals are like piston rings, which need some pressure to work properly. When sitting, these seals will relax a bit and allow some oil past. There is a check valve in the front of the sump to prevent oil from draining into the turbocharger while stopped, but some oil will always remain in the oil feed line to the turbo (you want this, since the turbo will burn up in seconds with no oil flow to the bearings).

The boost gauge will not register any pressure when the bike is revved without any load. The bike must be on the road and in gear and pulling under load for boost to build. It also will not build much boost in first gear, due to the load on the engine being fairly light. Trust me, it will be perfectly evident when the turbo comes on.

The right muffler is a dummy. It simply vents pressure from the wastegate when boost becomes excessive. The wastegate is probably seized on your bike (it was on mine), due to the fact that it is actuated by a steel rod which lies in a cast-iron housing which has been placed directly under the engine where all the crap from the past 23 years of riding has been allowed to impinge on it. If it is sized shut, you have no problem, since you will get full boost if the turbo is operating normally, and there is a pop-off valve in the surge tank which lets go at 15psi. Consider it a free power-up kit, if your doesn't have it installed already (it does if it is a 1983 model). Since my wastegate was siezed, I took the line which goes to the actuator and plumbed it into a 15 psi pressure gauge to see exactly how much pressure my turbo is making. I am getting about 12-13 psi at full chat, and I have heard the pop-off valve go off once when I chopped the throttle from highway speeds. I am getting about 3psi boost at ~70 mph.

Yes, these bikes run very rich, so I'd put some new plugs in if you are concerned with their condition. One owner says it runs so rich that he doesn't have to use any choke to start it (he lives in the high country in Colorado).

If you plan to keep this bike, Progessive Suspension fork springs are HIGHLY recommended, as is a front brake upgrade and a fork brace. I have the springs, and I will do a brake upgrade in the next few months. I will probably pass on the fork brace for now, but the bike does weave fairly substantially at 80mph or so. This may dissipate when I put on a new rear tire though.

Do yourself favor and go to the turbomotorcycles.org website. There is a wealth of information there for owners of all factory turbos. I have learned a lot from those guys. Get the XJ cd. If I keep my bike, I also plan on doing a R1 brake caliper upgrade, an XJ900 rear wheel swap for disc brakes all around, and also a windshield replacement with one from Gustaffsons in Florida.

I bought my Turbo for $500. I ran it last season without a hitch, except the camchain needs replacement (have it already). It is a comfortable tourer, but not a sportsbike by any stretch, at least in stock form. Has about as much grunt as an old 900-1000cc bike from 1977-1980 or so once it's wound up, but it tends to be pretty gutless around town, and heavy. A 900 Seca motor can be swapped in however, as well as a 750 Seca engine. I don't know if a Maxim X engine will fit, but there is a wrecked one in Montreal for $850 which is tempting me to try it out. Maybe the turbo carbs would fit? A turbocharged Maxim X engine might be pretty entertaining.

 

hey man these bike sound mad. does anyone have a sound clip or anything of one going flat out.
cheers brenton

 

BTW, keep the fuel tap shut off when not riding, these bikes are notorious for flooding carbs if left idle for too long. I'd check the oil too, just to make sure it hasn't been diluted with fuel (a very bad thing).

 

Wow! Thanks for the info! That's exactly what I needed to get started.

I have ordered the XJ CD. Should give me some good info about my XJ650RJ too!

I think my next step is going to be to clean the bike really thoroughly. The engine is covered with grease and oil, but in its current state, I can't tell if that's from leaks on this bike or from being in a bad environment. I think I'll change the oil pretty soon as well.

Before I can even think of riding it, I need to redo the front brakes too. They're pretty non existent at moment. The discs are greasy too which makes me think that maybe there's a leak in the caliper.

Where would one go to get a set of progressive fork springs? I've read all over the place that this is a critical updgrade. I'd be interested in a brace too if I knew where to get one.

Thanks for the info!

Greg

 

XJ650 progressive springs

 

By the way, I was wondering who got this bike. I was watching it on flee-bay myself, but couldn't justify driving that far to pick it up. I'm glad that somebody on this forum bought it. Congrats!

 

Thanks,

I almost hate to ask this, but I'm pretty new to the XJ experience. Did I get a decent deal on this bike? At first I was thinking that I got an amazing deal, but as I look around at prices, I'm not so sure. I certainly don't look at this as a money making venture, but it would be nice to know that my impetous ways didn't screw me once again.

Greg

 

Get it running. Don't sink much money into it until you know how it goes. That way, if it's a bomb, you can still part it out for more than you spent for it. You'll find the brakes pretty non-existent even after they're cleaned up...that's not hard to fix, but make sure the rest of the bike is up to snuff first. My bike has quite a bit of oil residue over the boost pipe from the turbo to the surge tank, so I'm not surprised to hear the engine is messy. Wash it up and then you can track down any leaks after that.

 

Considering the factory turbo is such a rare beast, I think you probably got a good deal there. Like I said, I was tempted to snag it myself, but the drive for me would have been too much. :cry:

I would advise you to do like others here say. Get the engine running like it should before you work on anything else. That is where most of the money is tied up in bikes this old. If the engine is worth saving, so is the rest of the bike.

If on the other hand you decide it is not worth the time or money to save you can tear it down and piece it out on e-bay. You can probably get close to $800 or $900 a piece at a time. Plus you get the experience of stripping it down completely without having to worry about how you are going to get it back together.

Have fun whatever you decide to do with it.

 

Hey geebake, since you own both a normally aspirated and turbo 650, could you do me a favour and see if the non-turbo 650 tank might fit the turbo frame? If I keep this bike, I might just remove the fairing and do a naked version of this bike. I'd also like to know if the seat would fit. Don't go through any trouble, just a quick check would do whenever you might be working on your bikes. I guess what I'd really like to know is if the frames are the same. Thanks.

BTW, the fork brace is a Telefix FS-10 available from a compnay called Spec II in California.

 

yeah a turbo naked bike. that what dreams are made of :lol:

 

Hey Mac,

Funny coincidence! I just saw that you're in Ottawa.

My RJ's home was Ottawa. In fact, when I got it (in October) it still had the original license plate holder on it from 'Hurst Yamaha' Does that still exist?

The bike has a funny history. The guy I bought it from told me this about it. Apparently, it was bought in '82 by some wealthy CEO type. He decided that his first ride on the bike would be to New Jersey. Something catastrophic happened on the way. Not sure what, but it sounds like he dumped it. When he finally got to where he was going in Jersey, he gave it to whoever he was visiting and never rode again. It sat in a garage until last year when it was sold. That owner tuned it up and put tires on it and sold it to me for $950. It still has less than 4000 k on it!

Being the Euro version is cool because it has the oil cooler, but that speedo throws me all the time!

Greg

 

lol the power scared him from bikes completely hey , thats not bad. any upgrades to the bike :lol:

 

The only thing I know if that's not stock is an aftermarket fork brace.

It looks like some of the fusebox has been altered, but it's pretty much stock.

There's a massive dent in the front fender that happened when it fell over in my garage. The only other issue is that most of the black paint on the heads is gone. I'd love to get it repainted, but I'm not sure I'm up to tearing it down that far. Especially when it's running so well! I will get the fender repaired though.

There was one other alteration that I immediately addressed. The guy I bought it from liked cruisers more, so he got a set of handle bars off a Maxim 750 and installed them. Luckily the bike came with the original bars and I installed them right away.

I can't tell you how much I love this bike.

Greg