New to bikes, new '82 650 Maxim owner

Got questions!

I've been reading and will continue but in the meantime you guys might be able to help me out a bit...

As you might have noticed right away, the carbs are completely exposed with no filters whatsoever! I'm not sure how much it was ridden like that, but it seems fine so far and I won't continue to ride it that way. Fortunately, the seller had the air box and all four boots which seem to be in nice condition. I understand installing that box is sort of a bitch, but I'll git er done. One catch here though...it looks like the air box may not be complete? Check pics, let me know if I'm missing something and maybe pop me an Ebay link or something so I'll know what I'm shopping for. And the fasteners too, I didn't get a box of screws or anything like that with the bike.

Next on the hit list are the brakes and tires. Pretty sure my tires are from the 80's and need to be replaced even though they show little if any tread wear. Referring again to the pics, maybe someone can enlighten me on the date codes? Also the front brake is very weak, but the rear feels ok. Either way it's getting new brake hoses and pads/shoes. If I could get some input on where to shop for that stuff I'd appreciate it. Looks like removing the front wheel isn't too much trouble but what about the back? Shaft drives are supposedly good stuff from what I've read, but does it make getting the rear tire off a painful proposition?

Oh yeah, and the turn indicator lights. Both the rears are removed for some reason? Looks like in my pile of extra parts I have one that came off the bike and one that came from somewhere else, lol. I'll have to do a bit of wiring there after I round up one more light. I assume they are supposed to flash, right? Currently when I throw the switch I just get a steady left or right front turn signal light. I'm hoping with the rear lights hooked up it will flash. Or does it not work that way?

Aaaaand, while I have the front wheel off, should I be doing something with the forks? There's no problem there that I'm aware of, but I've ready about guys taking them apart and putting in fresh oil or whatever... is that something I need to be concerned about as long as things move smoothly and seem to have an appropriate shock absorbing action?

Oh and a little about me...

I'm a pretty mechanical minded guy. Had a '65 Galaxie as my only car from 2010 to 2015. Had probably 6 different engines in it, 4 of them I built myself (always trying something different) swapped the original auto trans out for a 5 speed overdrive, set up and ran several different rear end gears, relocated the battery, start relay and ignition box to the trunk, so on and so forth. So I figured I could probably get into having an old bike, especially since it doesn't have to be my daily driver.

I've never had a bike before and had been thinking about getting one off and on for a couple years. Last weekend I took the MSF course and found my bike on Craigslist yesterday. 18K miles and it fires right up so I think after doing the things I listed above it should be an alright bike to get me going. Paid $800 for it, does that seem like an alright price? Seems like most all of the bikes I found under $1000 or even $1500 either were not running or were missing titles. Or both!

Or maybe I'll be $1500 into this bike by the time it's ready to ride? What do you guys think?

 

Here's the extra stuff I got with the bike. Airbox and boots as I had mentioned, the original handlebars, back rest and pad, stinky musty saddlebags, quieter mufflers, mismatched turn signal lights, and what's that in the bottom pic? Some kind of kit that was in it's own bag, but what is it for?

 

And what's this part? Looks like a battery tray or something? Battery seems properly mounted, maybe I need to take closer look in there.

 

Welcome aboard. Start with reading the first post in my signature.
You have a solid bike to start with, but she'll need going through before you have her road worthy.
The typical budget is between $600 and $800, but you might spend less since she's a runner.

 

I don't think you're looking at the right tire date codes.
Look for the DOT stamp
The date code should be 4 digits, first 2 digits are the week and the last 2 are the year of manufacture
If the code is only 3 digits, it was made prior to 2000 and should be replaced.

for example, I've attached mine 4608. Tire was made the 46th week of 2008... hmmm... almost 11 years old. Recommended replacement is 7 years I believe... now I know what to ask for on my next birthday

 

So... 33 year old tires.

But she seems to run alright, check it out... The guy I got it from said he had been a bike mechanic for a lot of years and had gone through the carbs a couple times already since the bike had been sitting 16 years prior to him getting it.

 

Thanks for the help so far guys, I've been reading through a bunch of links and learning a lot about my bike already. I see manuals or at leas A manual needs to be at the head of the shopping list. I've found this one, does anyone know if it's worth getting? http://www.servicerepairmanualonline.com/4268/yamaha-xj650-seca-maxim-turbo-xj-650-manual/
Also there are the Yamaha printed manuals on Ebay and the Haynes manual available all over. Even Autozone shows that one, but I bet it's not on the shelf at my local store...

Anyone happen to have a link for a free downloadable version?

 

She's running, but not well.
Throttle should respond faster, and it sounds like there's a misfire at first.

The engine should sound like a sewing machine, not a Harley.
Check valve clearances.

Was that a cold start? Choke on or off?


This is how it should sound.
1982-xj650-seca-ticking-sound.103497

Your's should only need minor work to get there.

Put that airbox in. That is probably where the misfire is coming from.
How -to

 

That was a cold start with no choke. They guy I got it from said it only ever needs 1/2 choke at most, and the few times I've started it I haven't used the choke at all.

Soon as I get the manual I'll investigate that valve lash.

Thanks again for the links! Let's see if she doesn't sound a bit closer to that bike in the video in a week or two. I might also install the quieter mufflers since I hope to ride to work eventually. I'd like to be a good neighbor and keep the noise levels down when I roll out of here at 5:30 AM. I'm totally on board with the sewing machine sound

 

Put a dose of Seafoam in the tank and see if things clear up a bit. With the current temps where you're at you shouldn't' need choke, but it does sound a lot like she's misfiring until she heats up a bit. If you were using the enrichment I'd say that one of the jets in the float bowls is clogged. You may have a partially clogged pilot, and the Seafoam may clean it up without needing to remove the carbs.

 

Got an e-copy of the manual (Thanks a bunch!) and did my valve lash this afternoon. Wasn't such a bad job at all and cost me $0.00! I was expecting the valve cover to be permanently glued on, requiring a new $25.00 gasket for reassembly but nope! Popped right off there no problem. I didn't bother removing the tank, I just lifted it up a little and worked under it. Also I didn't take the cover off the side of the engine, I just put the bike in 5th gear and pulled the rear tire to rotate the engine. Was a bit harder to turn than I expected even with the plugs out, but really was no problem. Then on to checking the lashes...
#1 intake, .006, Exhaust, .006
#2 intake, .005, Exhaust, .007
#3 intake, .004, Exhaust, .005
#4 intake, .008, Exhaust, .007

Found the bag of 3 lash wafers that came with the bike and proceeded to swap out the two that were out of spec so I have #3 Ex at .007, and #1 In .005.
Got everything back together no problem and fired her up (yay! Still works). I had to use the choke a bit today and I thought maybe it sounds a bit more frisky but I"m not 100% sure. I THOUGHT I took another short video to run by you guys but seems I only got a picture, lol.

Tomorrow I'll try to get an actual video and I'll probably try to get the other exhaust pipes on there with yet another quick vid. Hopefully this week I'll be able to try it with the airbox in place, though I may wait until next weekend to start that project.

 

Can do with the seafoam too. But the carbs will have to come out anyway to get the airbox in won't they? Maybe I can learn something about them while they're out. I'll look through the manual before tear any of them down, but if you have suggestions regarding what to look for I'm all ears.

 

Ya, the carbs have to come out to install the airbox.
I'd double check the fuel levels, as they can cause trouble if they're off by much. Setting the fuel levels
It may be that the misfire is entirely due to the airbox being off. Check what pilot and main jets it has though, sometimes they get changed when people make intake and exhaust mods, sometimes not.

Also check that the air jets are in the right places. The manual has them labled wrong, and they will swap.

We've even seen them swapped for the air compensator jets that go next to the carb intake.

 

Your pics don't show a cover for the airbox. Number 15 on the parts diagram:
https://www.partzilla.com/catalog/yamaha/motorcycle/1982/xj650j/intake

 

Yes sir! Bought one off Fleabay yesterday, due to arrive on Thursday. Such a deal too, only $8.50 and free shipping! Didn't have to think twice on that deal.

Oops... Duct, item #13 is MIA. none found on the big auction site. May have to improvise on that one. At least google showed me some pics so I can sort of tell what my next cereal box and fiberglass creation is supposed to look like.

 

A handy trick is to view the detail page for a part. On the, lower right corner, lists other models the part fits. That can help expand the list of donor bikes.
Checkout the Related Fitment section.
https://www.partzilla.com/product/y...?ref=71dbe36221d3c28f552354aad8b436b10903bb66

 

Can anyone confirm that these tires will fit my bike before I pull the trigger on them please?

Front: https://www.ebay.com/itm/100-90-19-...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649
Rear: https://www.ebay.com/itm/130-90-16-...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

Or I could go with a different more off-road style rear for a few dollars more: https://www.ebay.com/itm/Duro-HF904...e=STRK:MEBIDX:IT&_trksid=p2060353.m1438.l2649

My ride to work consists of about a half mile of neighborhood and side streets, 8 miles of 70MPH highway with a couple sweeping curves that would be fun at speed, 5 miles of hilly two-lane, about a half mile of hard packed gravel road (which I could avoid if I add about another mile and a half to my trip) and about a 150 yard long loose gravel parking lot at the shop where I work. Dual sport tires might look goofy on my bike but maybe they would be good for the gravel areas, whattaya think?

 

The mile and a half you add to your trip will be much more enjoyable than the half mile of gravy (not a typo, that stuff can get a little slippery!)

 

I was thinking that too. I got impatient and already ordered a pair of Shinko 712 street tires. Seems like those got slightly better reviews than the other cheapo tires.

 

i've heard good things about the Shinkos too.

 

Airbox is in! Took like an hour and 15 minutes from the time I unhooked the battery until I fired it up with the box installed. Which is cool since I was expecting much worse.

Probably helped that the box was already bent out of shape a bit. You can see where it veers away from the battery box. That wave was just right to ease it in around the corner. I did take off the #3 and #4 carb to head boots but they came off so easily I have to assume they've been off recently.
While taking things apart, I discovered that the #3 carb to head boot had the clamp installed crooked. That may have opened up an air leak I suppose. Also the choke cable was kind of twisted up and didn't allow the linkage to release all the way so I assume the choke was always on at least a little bit. I'll be picking up a new choke cable this week. The airbox top and air filter should be in later this week so I might be able to at least ride around the parking lot a bit. Won't take it out on the road until I get the tires and brakes on. Couple weeks probably.

Also that other bike pic... dayum I like that color! Not really a fan of the orange, so bit of a paint job will be coming up soon...

 

Airbox is in but no filter yet. I also installed the larger mufflers that came with the bike and I like them much better.

How's that sounding from a cold startup? No choke for sure since the cable is off at the moment. Smells pretty rich but that may just be because I'm indoors.

Checking with the PO to see if he rejetted it before I bother tearing down the carbs. I know I could have taken them apart yesterday but they seem pretty easy to get at and I didn't want to mess with pouring gas out of them at that moment. I'll get into that next week if it seems necessary.

 

Thank you!

She shall ride again! I already mostly straightened out the nozzle lips just by forcing a drill shank in and wiggling it back and forth a bit. Couple more rounds of that action with larger bits ought to have them in good shape. Also filed the burrs off the diaphragm slides so they don't hang up in their holes. Actually I had to get a little file inside the carb and file a couple of them just to get them out, sheeze... I still need to straighten and possibly deburr the needles, but I already have them where they feel like they're operating fairly smoothly. I'm pretty confident that I can get all that stuff working well if not perfectly. Or I can make some new needles if I absolutely have to, but let's hope it doesn't come to that. I got the rebuild kits that included new jets as I was concerned that PO may have swapped or drilled out the originals. Judging by the hammer marks, I think that was a good choice. My main goal for today was to get in there and see what o-rings I needed for the fuel rails and throttle shafts, which I did and I've already picked them up at the local bearing supply place. Got lots of cleaning lined up for tomorrow!

 

^^^^^^^^
Once jets and emulsion tubes, and other mission-critical parts are damaged there is nothing you can do to repair them sufficiently.

The slides have a special coating to allow them to slide freely in their bores. Removing that tends to turn them into junk. Yours might be OK for a while, but don't expect them to control fuel metering properly for long.

 

the 40$ kits from ebay have poor drain screws tend to leak use antisize on them.

 

The slides appear undamaged aside from the spot shown in the pic above. From what I can tell, that spot doesn't move high enough to contact to bore in operation. Hopefully it'll be ok for a least a little while. I got all new needles and tubes so that turned into a non-issue. Some of the stuff I've found though baffles me. Like how could it have even been running at all? No doubt it was only running on the idle circuit, but I was able to rev it up over 6000 rpm easily. Probably couldn't have actually ridden it though I suspect. There's no doubt that even if not everything is 100% perfect, going through these carbs is going to make a huge improvement.

More pics of some of the goofy ass stuff I've run across.

How about that hammer work? I actually had to carve the side of the hole out a bit to get the jet out! But it does have a nice boot retaining flange now at least on that side. #1 is similarly modified but a little less extreme.



One of these float pivot pins is not like the others! !?!

 

finish nail nice touch. got a box of them if you need 3 more to match. do you want left handed nail or right handed

 

This kit (for all four) was only $28, lol.
Seems ok so far but a little antiseize compound couldn't hurt. I think I have a tube of C5-A copper hanging around here someplace.

 

Oddly enough, I already have some hardened pin stock (music wire) .002" smaller than the stock pins. Won't take but 5 minutes to pop out a proper replacement.

 

not the copper stuff not good on aluminium.

did your kit also have a 112 jet in it and a 43 and 123 I think?

 

Post #23 - 30 moved from page-312 to preserve continuity.

This post (just prior to #230 shows the condition of the carbs once torn down: #6224

 

www.2wheel.com may have better prices.

 

Did not know that about the copper on aluminum. With all the brass on aluminum in there I wouldn't have suspected there might be issues. No matter, I couldn't find that old tube of stuff I had anyway.

Close on the jets. The kit came with #40's and 110's, which is exactly what came out of my carbs.

 

Missing some washers! #32, between the main nozzle (#12) and main jet (#33). All 4 were missing and I was able to push the nozzle and jet right up through the carbs without unscrewing anything. Unfortunately my rebuild kit doesn't have those washers so I need to make a set. I already have a nice chunk of brass in the lathe ready to go but I'm not sure how thick to make them. I'm thinking about .020" but if someone has one and can tell me the actual thickness that would be cool. Also if it's not brass, that would be good to know as well. I have a bunch of different materials here that I could use.

 

43 and 112 are for the canadian 650

 

How odd! Possibly my bike was imported from the Great White North? And that the ebay seller guessed that as well?? Whatever the case, would the larger jets tend to run more lean? Maybe I'll set my floats closer to 4mm instead of 3 to compensate. Or the other way around?

 

It'll run slightly richer, and that's fine. CA bikes didn't have to meet the same emissions standards as the US bikes did.
Floats should be set to spec, regardless of what jets are used.

 

you have the correct jets according to your post 40 and 110 US spec.
I have a kit I got to see what came in it. the kit has a 43 pilot 112 main and a 122 main. only thing I used from the kit was the bowl gaskets.
do not know what mfg used for specs as far as the jets other than it would be Canada specs for 650 and had the extra jet at 122. it was a 750 kit. I did not like the way the jets were made. drain screws leaky with out antisize very shallow slot for the flat blade screw driver.
I would rather know I had proper orings for fuel rail and mix screw.
for 28 bucks or so I had to take a look had every part needed except throttle shaft seals

 

I bought #10 O-rings from my local bearing place for the fuel rails. They're a very snug fit, but with a tiny dab of grease I was able to get the rail into it's socket. Might get a little interesting when I reassemble the rack, but it's certainly not going to leak. I also got some #11 o-rings for the throttle shafts but they are a tad too loose. My original throttle shaft seals seem to be in great shape and haven't hardened so they're going back in. They are also sort of loose, but not as bad as the o-rings. I'm kind of kicking around the idea of putting a light film of JB Weld inside the seal bores just to take up a couple .001"s and give it a nudge in the right direction. The idle mix needle o-rings seem fine. They fit with about the same snugness as the old (still pliable) ones which had to be original since I had to pop the coverss off to get at them.

I think I'll also go back with the original bowl drain screws. The screw slots aren't in horrible shape and nothing was leaking before I took it apart so I guess they've proven that they're up to the task. Uh, except for the one that WOULD. NOT. COME. OUT. The head on that one is pretty well cammed out. Rather than fool with it and take a chance on maybe damaging the bowl, I'll just leave it alone and do a little bowl-swapping to set my floats.

 

that's because you need 2 orings to replace 1 seal and real silicone grease, then it will be tight.
the idle screw o-rings are shot they're from the 80's

 

I used 2 #11 o rings on my 750 carbs the first time and they were a little snug but still worked just fine. Until a couple weeks later I went to fire it up and the throttle shafts would not return to idle position not matter what I tried. I eventually pulled them back apart and replaced them with ones from Xj4ever but my buddy did get me some #11 quad rings that I will probably try on either the carbs on the parts 650 that may someday turn into a runner or the freebie rack of carbs that I have no history on other than they are Hitachi and by looking at the jets in them most likely from a 650. Others have used o rings for throttle shaft seals with good results.

 

I tried stacking the #11 o-rings and they seemed too tight, so I went back together with the original seals. I have some #11 X-rings coming along with a few other miscellaneous carb parts thanks to another generous and helpful xjbikes member