xj700 overhaul

A little background on my experience with this bike, I currently have 2 1985 xj700 Maxim X's and one regular Maxim. I bought the first one and proceeded to send a piston through the bottom of the block hauling ass down the highway. I then bought a second and swapped the motor into it and did a custom paint job with some friends of mine. That motor then bent a rod. Finally I purchased a regular Maxim two months ago with a chopped frame and r7 front end (he was attempting to build a cafe racer). I put the air cooled Maxim motor into the Maxim X bike so I could ride it and just purchased another Maxim X motor.

I plan to possibly bore the motor, forged pistons, swap to fuel injection, turbo, and any other crazy thing I can come up with. Figured I would post a thread in case anyone had advice, questions, or wanted to follow along.

 

Welcome to the Forum. We are glad to have you.
Wow, you are unique as I have never heard of anyone "blowing up" ( my words, not yours) even 1 XJ in such a manner let alone 2 of them. XJ's are susceptible to damage from neglect like sitting outside and internal rust and general neglect but very rarely die a violet death. They are very bulletproof.
Still, Welcome.

 

Welcome and good background and story. I do however wonder what is going on with all the xj700X engine failures. That is too bad.

Being they are just about the same as the air cooled bikes and the air cooled bikes seem to be bulletproof, have to wonder....just how hard are you riding these bikes?

Swapping over these engines with that tight frame is fun (not) but can be done with right tools and frame of mind. I do love the air cooled over the X only because of the ease of doing the valve adjustments. Still have a 82 Seaca in my stable that I like to ride, love the sound of the sewing machine when it is running good.

Good luck in your future cycle wrenching.

 

You know, of all the XJ engines, the only ones that I ever hear about suffering this kind of catastrophic damage (spitting rods and/or pistons) is the X-engines........is there some type of issue with these engines that is not otherwise "common knowledge"? Occasionally, with the other engines, you hear of a holed piston or a clutch basket explosion, but those are easily understandable and explainable.