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XJ650RJ Seca Build

Discussion in 'XJ Modifications' started by Taylo105, Mar 28, 2017.

  1. Taylo105

    Taylo105 Active Member

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    A few updates have gone into the bike over the last few months.

    I've re-wired a portion of my custom wiring harness with the Motogadget m-unit. I have been experiencing some issues with the m-button that allows you to run 6 wires for all of the bar controls in a single wire. There was some interference from the coils as the wire has to run right by it. I was able to find a solution to resolve my turns signals from randomly turning on/off. This was a huge safety hazard as I constantly had to look at my gauges to see if my signals were on. Plus, a portion of the wiring harness is MUCH cleaner than it used to be. Using some multi-pin Molex connectors, and some heat shrink tubing I've made a nice custom wire harness for the hand controls. Next step will be to re-do the other half of the wiring harness to clean up everything a little more too. I might wait until I upgrade the battery to a lithium ion so that I can move the smaller batter, and the m-unit into the battery box.

    I was able to source a spin-on oil filter. This allowed me to install oil cooler setup which I recently purchased. The install went well, after making a custom mounting plate since the XJ900 has a different setup than the XJ650. I'd recommend both of these items to anyone thinking about them. Oil changes are now that much easier, and the oil temp on the bike is now better managed with the oil cooler installed.

    I'm also going to be removing the pipe wrap which came installed on the bike. This might come back to bite me, as I'm unsure of the condition of the pipes under the wrap. But the wraps are extremely dirty, and do not compliment the bike now. So hopefully the pipes will be in a decent condition. Worst case, I can re-do the wrap.But i'm hopeful that the headers should be in a decent condition as the exhaust pipes are in relatively good condition.

    I'm still working to dial in the carbs to their perfect point. I've gone through this whole thread and re-read all of the comments. I've realized that I've overlooked a few pointers which people were addressing on my colortune issues. I will be checking how the colortune is effected when using the enrichment circuit. This is a test that I have not done yet. The issues I'm running into when trying to colortune are that some of the cylinders will not get a proper spark, or it is intermittent. I also feel like when using the colortune the bike does not want to idle as well compared to when the bike without the colortune. On my next wrenching day, I will setup my go-pro and record all of my results in case there are still any issues so that I can share with everyone here for some feedback as all of the info is greatly appreciated.

    My main symptoms of the carbs are it takes a little longer to warm up than i feel it should. And even after it is fully warmed up, if I'm sitting at a light at idle, I have to constantly give the throttle some little blips to keep it from dying. So i'm hoping if I can get the colortune to actually read proper results I can get all of the air/fuel mixtures setup correctly and resolve this issue. I've bought some replacement copper washers to use on the colortune to see if this helps with the issues I've had. I'm trying to get my MPG above 25 which i'm currently averaging after 3 tanks.
     
  2. Jetfixer

    Jetfixer Well-Known Member

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    When using the colortune plug I had number 3 cylinder was intermittent on the plug , I took off the cap and trimmed wire and threaded back on ,problem solved. I just went through mine went for a 180 mile ride ,when I filled up.and ended ride I had went 87 miles and fuel indicated on Atari 3/4 of a tank ....so was pretty happy with mileage . 3 of the plugs are brown number 2 gray so might be a little lean but want to put more mileage on to see what it looks like.
     
  3. Taylo105

    Taylo105 Active Member

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    I was able to spend a few minutes today and trim back the wires on the coil wires to rule that out. While I was trimming the wires, I took a reading of the secondary side wires of the coil (without the caps) and I have a 15.5K resistance on both coils which is way outside of the acceptable range. I did test all of my caps and I have 5.2K on all of the caps. So this is putting me around 5k over the "ideal" resistance of 21k as I am at 25.9K. And around 1k over the upper limit of the coils and the caps combined of 25.2K.

    With too high of a resistance, this would effect the quality of the spark. I assume that I should get this situated before continuing to any other steps? I will check and see if I can source some coils from an xj650 parts bike. I had made the jump to an aftermarket cb750 set per some recommendations here, but it looks like this batch may not be the best solution for me.
     
  4. Taylo105

    Taylo105 Active Member

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    9-21 update: I am now a year old, and thus wiser. haha

    I am looking into a few options to purchase another set of coils as my coils are over the allowable tolerance. I've sent out a few PM's here to get some test readings on them to see if they are good. Otherwise, we'll have to check eBay. While i'm waiting, I've tested my pickup coil to confirm that everything is in spec, and thank goodness it is. Upon a closer inspection of my TCI box, I snapped this photo. Do these solder joints look "OEM"? or does it appear that someone has been in here before?
    [​IMG]
     
  5. hogfiddles

    hogfiddles XJ-Wizard, Host-Central NY Carb Clinic Moderator Premium Member

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    It looks awful. There's as lot of green circuitry missing, too
     
  6. chacal

    chacal Moderator Moderator Supporting Vendor Premium Member

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    That's not kosher.........
     
  7. Taylo105

    Taylo105 Active Member

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    Anyone have an extra 650rj TCI (TID14-08) laying around they want to part with?
     
  8. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    It looks to me like it was painted over after the soldering was done. I've seen similar sealants used on control boards from a different sort of machinery.
     
  9. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    Use an ohm meter to check continuity on the traces. I suspect that everything's fine in there.
     
  10. hogfiddles

    hogfiddles XJ-Wizard, Host-Central NY Carb Clinic Moderator Premium Member

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    Yeah.... Gotta agree. I can see it better on my iPad.
     
  11. Taylo105

    Taylo105 Active Member

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    Okay thanks. I’ll check it out tomorrow and see what the verdict is. Fingers crossed it’s still good.
     
  12. hogfiddles

    hogfiddles XJ-Wizard, Host-Central NY Carb Clinic Moderator Premium Member

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    I do not like the solder on the 4th one down from the top, though. Looks waaay overheated
     
  13. Taylo105

    Taylo105 Active Member

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    So I tested all 9 pins from the side of the TCI to the solder posts (?) inside. All tested with perfect continuity. However, 1 item which I noticed was that pin 4 (from the top, the one which hog fiddles noted looked too hot and also cleaned up after with some work) which is associated to the Red & white wire for the coils (12v) and pin 5 & 6 appear to all be common (pin 5 is unused, but 6 is for the black wire which goes to the pickup coil, which I believe is the ground). I had around 1K ohms of resistance between pin 4 & 5/6.

    info at https://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/what-does-each-wire-do-thats-from-the-tci.24035/

    from the photo included; pin 5&6 are Pickup coil ground.

    I'm not sure if this is expected. Any one else with a TID14-08 able to verify? Ultimately looking to see if I need to spend around $100 on a another TCI, or if this is intact still good.
     
    Last edited: Sep 22, 2018
  14. Taylo105

    Taylo105 Active Member

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    Found a new/used TCI on eBay which had a better circuit board than mine. So in a week we’ll see if that helps with the problem. Now I just need to find a good set of used coils.
     
  15. MADBADGER

    MADBADGER New Member

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    What gas tank did you use? Looks great. Doing the exact same build to a 1982 xj650 turbo.
     
  16. Taylo105

    Taylo105 Active Member

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    It’s the stock tank off of the Seca xj650rj. If you’re looking for 1 in the US, hey are rare since the bike was only brought here for 1 year.
     
  17. Taylo105

    Taylo105 Active Member

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    New coils and new TCI came in the mail today. Tested them, and the. Threw them on the bike. Instant startup as opposed to a second or 2 with the old setup. I let the bike idle for a few minutes. Over the next few days I’ll take it out for a ride to fully warm up and then see how the colortune reads.
     
  18. JPaganel

    JPaganel Well-Known Member

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    Personally, I went with a brand new ignition box over a used one.

    You are still replacing one 35 year old circuit board with another 35 year old circuit board. No telling how long it will last.
     
  19. Taylo105

    Taylo105 Active Member

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    So frustration update:

    I've moved and now have access to a real garage, so I've set up the bike in a spot where I can really go through everything. So I've been determined to fix my hanging idle issue. After some intense searching for an air leak, I noticed a small leak after spraying starter fluid on 3 & 4 carb intake boot. So I remade manifold gaskets, sprayed with copper gasket maker, and then for extra assurance, put some RTV around the edge of the boot, gasket,head.

    Unfortunately I still have a hanging idle after the bike is warmed. I took it for a quick 10 minute ride after letting it warm up on idle and when pulling back into my garage the bike idled at over 4K.

    I've verified that my field levels are all in spec at 3mm, all jets are cleaned, and I cannot trace any additional air leaks. I'm at a loss of what to do now.
    - Valves are in spec (when I last checked them about 100 miles ago)
    - Compression is good across all cylinders (don't have the specs in front of me)
    - Carbs are re-built with all new parts.
     
  20. k-moe

    k-moe Pie, Bacon, Bourbon. Moderator Premium Member

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    Adjust the idle speed when the engine is fully warmed.
    Can you get it to drop down to around 1100 - 1500 RPM?
     

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