My rebuild post

Hi guys & gals, thought I'd start my post to let you know how I'm getting on. I think I had a pretty good base to start from, the engine turns over (haven't actually started it) but when I wired up a spare ignition all the electrics came to life & on the starter button it was so close to starting, think I needed the correct battery (was using a 125cc bat) and the carbs hadn't been cleaned yet.

I have started stripping the ancillaries (mudguards, lights etc) got the carbs out to be sent off to my mate and his soniclean.

So, here's a few of the before pics:

 

I will post some further pics as work progresses.

 

While you wait for the carbs, get the valve clearances in spec and then do a compression test so you have an idea of what you're dealing with.

The carbs are going to take more than just cleaning; here's a Mikuni like yours broken down: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=31061.html

 

That's great thanks Big, my buddy did say that he'd strip them to clean so I'm hoping he'll go the whole hog. He had a Maxim for 15 years or so. So he's got pretty good knowledge of the carbs himself.

Compression test and new plugs was next on my 'to do' list before the engine comes out. I'm hoping it wont need to be rebuilt, just polished up and painted etc.

 

So I've finally heard back about my carbs, my buddy is having trouble splitting them because, and I quote "bastards before you have f***ed this shit up" apologies for the fruity language, but I assume we're all adults lol.

Basically, he says that almost all of the screws have been rounded off and he didn't want to try anything that may actually harm the carb.

If I can't split them, is there another bike that I maybe able to source the carbs from? I've discovered that parts for Maxim's in the UK are akin to rocking horse poo!

 

Rocking horse poo? Nahh, you wanna try an E-II...... Oh I forgot you can't try one, I'm not selling it lol The rack screws are very tight & also threadlocked, if they're already "dead" shall we say, then grinding a slot in the head if possible and impact driver them out is probably the way to shift 'em... or put flats on the sides and get a spanner on them... Very carefully applied heat could help as well, but I'd want to make sure the carbs were stripped as far as possible & washed out with something non-flammable & non-damaging to rubber first.

Tell him to be careful with the float pin towers too as they snap easily (I believe the pins are tight and only come out one way on Mikunis too)

 

He's not willing to put an impact driver on them, he's going to be binging them back to me sometime this week, doesn't want to be responsible for breaking them. Which is fair since he wasn't charging me for the strip and clean. I'll give that a go once their back and I get my workbench vice set back up.

 

Don't quote me on this as I'm far from sure, but I seem to remember hearing that the FJ600 carbs were similar... Maybe worth looking into as parts/carbs for those should be easier to get over here if they were the same

 

Cool I'll keep an eye out for a chip set. Jut invade

 

The XJ550 Seca carbs are the same. They just have different jets from the XJ550 Maxim. It should be easier to find a set of those over there. If I remember correctly, they are just called the XJ550 without the Seca designation like in the U.S.

 

:? Autocorrect battle lost?

 

Cheers Zombie. Haha true that is pretty good autocorrect fail

 

Ok, got the carbs back this afternoon, I reckon I'll be able to get them apart, the only crews that appear to be rounded off are the float bowl screws so I should be able to get the impact driver on them once they're separated.

Going to give it a go tomorrow once the small person has gone to school so I don't have to content with little, inquisitive fingers as well

Will keep you posted!

 

Ok had a look at the carbs today, some of the screws are more rounded than I thought so I haven't been able to get one stripped. I have managed to take the float bowls off and give them a clean, but I've noticed that the little wire clip from cab #1 is missing, I'm guessing it'll need to be replaced to get it running smooth?

 

Did you get a compression test on the motor?

 

Not yet, having issues funding a new battery & spark plug spanner (different to the ones I got) this close to Christmas, most of my funds have gone into presents & food, will be on the case just after Xmas though. Thought I'd try and do some of the jobs I have the tools for now.

With the carbs, you think they should be stripped & rebuilt with one of the refurb kits I've seen on eBay?

 

Ok, so the new battery & compression tester arrived. Wired up the 125 ignition like last time, put new bat on and got nothing! No lights, no dash lights nothing. I'm thinking that (even with my best efforts) some rain has got into the electrics or maybe a fuse has gone. At this point however, I could feel rain in the air so covered everything as best I could with plastic sheet and covered the bike in hope that if it is water shorting it, hopefully it'll be waterproofed enough to dry out.

Could it be anything else you think?

 

Probably not shorting unless it was totally soaked. You'd at least have dash lights. Is the battery new?

Check the fuses first.

There are wiring diagrams online, try to find one and locate all of the contacts related to the starter and ignition -even take the switch on the handlebar apart- and clean all of the contacts with a wire brush.

Get a multi-meter if you don't have one.

Might be worth a try.

 

Cheers Lac, yeah the battery is a brand new Motobatt so comes fully charged out of the box. It's difficult for me to work on at the minute since I don't have a garage (or shed big enough) to put it on to work in the dry and we're in the midst of some pretty bad wet weather at the minute! Will check the fuses when we get a dry spell lol.

 

Right, think I've found the problem, well at least one of them. One of the fuses has been replaced at some point with a bit of wire coat hanger lol.

The main reason I wanted to get the ignition back was to do a compression test, but my tester doesn't have an 18mm adaptor (stupid odd size spark)

So, I've decided to go ahead with dismantling it ready to prep the body work & frame painted and electrics sorted. I know I'm going about it the wrong way, but I have every reason to believe compression will be fine. Got the bike off a good friend who has assured me it was running perfectly until someone tried to steal and fubar'd the ignition wiring, which is when he parked it up, meant to repair it but never got round to it.

 

-You don't need ignition to do a compression test, you just need to spin the motor. You UNPLUG the TCI (ignition module) to do a compression test. All you need is the battery and a couple of cables; all you need to do is spin the starter.

-You need a 12mm adapter for the compression gauge; the plugs take an 18mm socket. They have a 12mm thread.

-You'll still need to get the valve clearances in spec and service and adjust the carbs.

 

Yeah I realised after I posted this that I could hotwire (so to speak) the starter motor.

12mm thread, 18mm hex socket, I knew what I meant lol. I was going to do valve clearances when the frame & swing arm were off for powder coating and the engine is on the work bench. I'm assuming that's possible?

 

Yeah, you can do the clearances on the bench no problem. Might be kinda hard to turn the motor without it moving around, but as far as the service is concerned, it's much easier.

 

RE: Powder coating the frame and swingarm:

Don't get me wrong; I love powder-coating and have a bunch of powder-coated parts on my bike. But not the frame or swingarm for a reason.

Powder coating is very tough; but it is also possible to chip it; as in "stone chip." The only way to properly repair it is to re-bake the item to fill in the chipped spot. NOT the most practical proposition when we're talking frame.

Paint on the other hand, done properly, holds up nearly as well as powder-coating but with one distinct advantage: stone chips can be easily repaired.

And unless you're building a trailer-queen show bike, you're gonna get stone chips on the frame and swingarm.

Just something to think about.

 

Thought so Luc, it also occurred to me that the engine might rock or move about a bit so I'll strap it down to do the test, or maybe enlist the aid of one of the father type fella's I got floating round to hold it down

Didn't think of that Fitz, the main reason I was going to get it powdered is that the fella how's going to do it is a family friend, so mates rates and I don't need to do any prep at all, he's also offered to weld any patches that need it once it's been blasted clean 2 birds 1 stone

 

On a side note, will an XJ600 (pre-diversion) wiring loom fit my XJ550? like this one...

 

I believe the alternator design is completely different; so probably not without a bunch of re-engineering.

 

Ok cheers Fitz. Might see about re-wiring the whole thing. A friend of mine has just finished an electrical engineering course so it would be good practice for him. Providing he does it properly

 

There are a few quirks about the wiring; the circuit layout is NOT intuitive. There is a "diode block" located in the headlight with all of the various diodes in it, but they belong to different circuits elsewhere on the bike. The alternator/charging/regulator/rectifier setup is rather unique as well, just be careful not to smoke the reg/rec in the process.

Do you have both circuit and wiring diagrams for your 550? PM me with your email address; I can send you the USA-spec diagrams; there are a few differences but not in the basic circuits required to run the bike.

 

Cheers Fitz, PM sent I'm guessing my wiring would be US spec anyway, it's an import

 

Ok update on my work so far, almost stripped enough for the engine to come out, my 12mm adaptor for the compression tester has arrived and been put somewhere safe by the missus, meaning I currently have no clue where it is waiting on a screw extractor set to arrive so I can continue stripping. In the meantime, I have been thinking about the electrics again, as far as I can see it's only really the ignition that needs re-wiring but I cant seem to find the little white connector boxes that Yamaha like to use, it wont hurt if I re-wire with something like this will it?

 

Oh yeah, just remembered something else I wanted to ask, I've seen mentioned by a few people upgrading the fuses, my XJ has blade fuses, 3 10amp from memory& one piece of wire coat hanger. Does this mean my upgrade has already been done and I just need to replace the wire coat hanger piece with a proper fuse?

 

Seems like a yes to me. Most of us use a fues block, but inline blade style fuse holders work too. Don't forget to make waterproog labels for each circuit.

The waterproof connector you linked to is a fine replacement. It is a newer type of connector than was availble when your XJ was new, and a lot of modern motorcycles use that type. Be sure that you choose the correct size of terminal for the current load, and wire, in the ignition system.

 

Just be sure to use a Fast-Blow coat hanger. :lol:

 

Excellent cheers Moe, Haha, O-n-B I've gold plated it for extra conductivity as well

 

Ok another question about my ignition barrel, I've seen some with 3 wires and 3 connectors, and some with 4. On my bike's wiring it's 3, however since someone tried to hotwire it it's possible it should be 4. It's an 83 550 Maxim (haven't worked out how to put into a sig yet lol) can anyone enlighten me as to whether it should be 3 or 4 wired connectors I'm looking for please?

 

looking at the wiring diagram, it looks like your bike should have a three wire switch.

CN

 

Brill, thought so cheers dude. One more thing to add to my shopping cart on eBay lol.

 

Hi guys, back with another question, I ordered 4 of these carb repair kits i ordered these ones because they seem to be the most complete at the same price as all the other I had seen. I have now received a mail from the vendor advising that the best they can do is 2 of those and 2 of these type surely with the carbs being so precise I should have the same kits on each one?

 

I think that the only difference is that the other carb set doesn't have a drain plug o ring and the cap that goes over the air fuel screw.



One thing I found out is some of the aftermarket sets have different size o rings. One came broken. So I still had to place a order with chacal.

 

I suppose the cap over the air/fuel screw is not so important, but surely I should be replacing all the o-rings? Should I look to source that else-where? It's difficult for me to use Chacal due to shipping costs & times, since I'm in the UK

 

You should replace ALL o rings. Throttle shaft seals and fuel supply o rings too!!! I hate waiting for anything I order online. But it's even worse when something comes in and it really doesn't fit or work.

Im sure someone else in the uk has bought a carb rebuild kit and it has worked for them. Maybe post something asking specifically about carb rebuild kits in the uk???

And I'm not saying that the one that you ordered won't work but...

 

Yeah that's why I ordered 4 identical kits from the same place so I know they're the same, read on here somewhere that someone had replaced 1 or 2 float needles and found they were longer than the ones already in so had to change all 4 in the end. I'll email the guy now and say I want 4 identical kits. I'm pretty sure I can source the other o-rings, going to take the carbs to my old auto-college and get them to clean & rebuild, they have 1000's of boxes of o-rings there, I'm sure they wont begrudge me a few

 

Thought I'd give you an update. Carb kits have arrived and are all identical, with all O-rings and caps, so that's good. Also spotted and acted fast to get these, dead cheap they're second hand s will drop them into boiling water for a few second to clean and rejuvenate the rubber (read here somewhere, that's a trick that works well) another tip I read and will do was to wrap them in bicycle inner tube rubber.

 

I see you have a dog. I'm curious, does it bark with an English accent?

(There's one in every crowd and it's usually me.)

 

Add a few drops of oil of wintergreen to the water. It helps restore suppleness (for a while).

 

NO NO NO. The ones you drop in boiling water are the carb-to-airbox boots.

The carb-to-head boots are a metal/rubber composite piece; boiling is NOT recommended. (It was me that recommended boiling the airbox boots.)

Since they're not new, be sure they don't have any cracks in them, at least not any that go all the way through. Flex the manifolds from the inside to check the severity of any cracks that may be present. Flush the cracks out really well with a nice "hot" solvent (like lacquer thinner) then pack with high-temp adhesive RTV. No need for the inner tube rubber unless they're horribly cracked.

Be sure to use new, proper gaskets between the manifolds and the head, and use NEW screws with anti-sieze compound.

 

Ahh ok. Cheers Fitz, saved me a a load of ball ache there by the sounds of it. Yeah I will be scrutinising them to make sure they're sound, but I have bought from this seller before and he seems pretty good. Gaskets I can pick up for around £10 so all in all, providing these manifolds are good, it's saved me about £35, which will pay for my new handlebars. Screws are easy to source, there's plenty places that sell the stainless version around my area. I was very gentle removing them, heard some horror stories about that!

Bmarz, no she actually barks with a Welsh accent

 

See, didn't I say it would quick once we had a bit of dry weather? Got my father over today and got this far:

 

Spotted and bought this little bargain last night and because I ordered a new ignition and headlight barrel off the same chap, he refunded me £8 postage. The side panel was a last minute addition to the order so only really cost a pretty great £10. I believe that's refered to as 'win' and 'awesome' \o/