New Here From Pottsville Pa

Hey everyone, New to the site, came across it looking for parts for my 1981 550 Maxim, I got it off my friend for free, title and all, She aint pretty yet but i did drive it home, major prob is odd idle and wandering, cant hold a 1200 rpm idle like it calls for, But that is why iam here to learn these things, Btw names Rob glad to be part of this forum.

 

hi there rob, welcome,good site this,looks like a bit of elbow grease will tidy the bike up well,sorry i cant offer any advice, i know very little myself but what i can tell everything you need is here ,just gotta find it.cheers ken

 

Welcome Rob
Your bike don't look to bad, I have seen much worse. The price was great. Pull those carbs to clean them and start all the neglected maintenance

 

Welcome to the site Rob. Herein lies a plethora of technical info needed to keep these 'tiques on the road. Nice find btw, however there are some important safety items you'll want to look at before proceeding down the road, such as checking the rear brake shoes for delamination, tires for cracking, etc.

 

Thanks for the heads up on safety items, The front brake don't work at all, it looked like it was filled with sand, rear brake is ok, it has a good bit of rust here and there, i found many replacement parts on ebay so far to make her look nice. I did refresh all the fluids, ran 2 cans of seafoam thru the carbs but its stiff iffy, needs work yet, Gona be a great winter project.

 

Beware the chain; quite often they will rust internally although appearing OK on the outside. Check it for wear (see this thread, I just expained to someone how to do that http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=28367.html) and keep an eye on it. If it won't hold adjustment, and/or keeps "bleeding red" when you lube it, then replace it, and the sprockets. (Always replace chain and both sprockets as a set.)

Bike looks to be a really good starting point. How many miles on it?

Your carb issue is more than likely the need for a good cleaning, and proper sync.

Get a manual, and go through all the maintenence items, don't skip any.

Rebuild that front brake system (all of the components are very simple, there is just a lot of labor involved.) When you say "the rear brake is ok" have you taken it apart and LOOKED? If not DO SO IMMEDIATELY before any more riding. Look what you may find: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=15874.html It may feel and even work fine, right up until it comes apart and locks your rear wheel.

Check and adjust the valves; initial check was supposed to have been at 3000 miles and every 5000 thereafter. (Another reason I asked about the mileage.) Often completely ignored.

Anything the books leave out (tach drive oil seals, for instance) can be found here. Welcome aboard.

 

Hey thanks again for the info, I have many items that will be replaced, New brake caliper and master cylinder for the front, new chain and sprokets, new rear shoes, new fenders, iam gona bench sync the carbs today, Iam ASE certified so this should not be to hard, iam used to working on cars etc and i went to school for small engines, i should be able to tackles this no prob i hope but thats why iam here to get help and info, Bike only has 1500 Miles on it btw.

 

Welcome to the site. There's lots of us around that area.

 

That's a very nice winter project and welcome aboard. You'll probably want to swap out the fuse panel as well. Once you get her all ready we'll go for a ride.

 

HOLY CRAP! Sorry. Holy crap! I thought I was lucky because I got my '83 with only 7100.

Take your time, "zero" it out. Build yourself a brand-new 1981 Maxim. You won't be sorry. That motor's not even broken in yet.

 

welcome man, thats a great score.

 

Welcome and nice buy.

 

I redid the carbs today, cleaned them all out really well, did the bench sync with the feeler gauge like explained in the one thread, she idles alot nicer now, just needs some tweeking, Its not perfect yet but its getting there, I did notice that the regulator on the side of the batter box gets extremly hot and the wire harness does also, i think something is amiss, i don't think they should get that hot. can some one point me in the right direction. Thanks.

 

Sure. (Disconnect the battery first.) Pop the big connector apart; betcha anything you've got some corrosion. Corroded connectors have been known to melt down at the big plug. Also check your ground straps from the engine to the frame; be sure they're not all green and crumbly.

 

Pottsville!?!?! POTTSVILLE??!!!???!!! I KNOW where that is!! We used to live there for a short time when I was a baby. My grandparents are from Lebanon, and we lived in a few towns around the area (namely Pottsville, Lancaster, Philly) before moving north.

Glad to have you aboard the XJtrain!

dave fox

 

Ok will do tomorrow, it rained a good bit this evening so i only got a little done, No garage here.

 

welcome, nice find by the way. Lots of useful info here, before long you'll be the one posting for other newbies. Trust me I've never worked on a bike before but now I really like wrenching on Franky

 

Thanks for all the info so far, Iam going to clean the connectors real well today, Seems someone hacked up the fuse box and removed it and just added inline fuses, It looks terrible.

 

Typical. The OEM fuse box is usually toast by now (plastic turns brittle with time). Most people would rather replace it with a new box that accepts the blade-style fuses rather than individual fuse holders so your previous owner work might still be good (check each wire connection for soldering and shrink wrap). You can still replace the bundle with a new fuse box (not hard - search the site for previous posts).

 

Check with Chacal.