1983 XJ 750 Maxim - Partial restoration and customisation

[Pernig]

As some of you may know, my XJ has been off the road for far too long waiting for some funds for a paint job. Well, a blessing in disguise happened last week when my H100 holed its piston and left me stranded at Slam's house.

I left the bike there, a good forty miles away from home, and took the engine back to my local mechanic to take the head bolts off as some numpty had rammed them on far too tight. With the head and barrel removed, the news was not good. There is a hole in the piston and play in the crank, meaning the engine will need to be fully rebuilt, and a new connecting rod fitted.

My mechanic quoted me £225 to have the engine done, including sending the crank away and a rebore once the bottom end is back together. I thought this pretty reasonable. Myself, I reckon I could do it for £150 as I would need to buy a crankcase pulling tool. The last time I had this engine apart it was awkward and I couldn't get the cases together straight, I much prefer the horizontally split cases a la the RD 250 etc.

The XJ is probably not even going to cost this much (although I am prepared for it!), so the XJ is the priority. I have begun working on it again, and I have until the 13th August (when the MOT runs out) so wish me luck!
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H100 Breaking for spares

[Pernig]

List of things to do for MOT

Replacement petrol tank with new paint job January 2011
Oil and filter change 14/7/11
Spark plug change 14/7/11
Bevel box oil change
Petrol tap diaphragm rebuild
Petrol filler cap rebuild
Upgrade head bearings to tapered roller bearings
Somehow remove RHS stuck swinging arm adjuster nut
Replace brake pads including one pair with a stuck retaining pin
Replace rear brake shoes
Powder coat frame
Reassemble entire bike


List of things to do in the long term

Acquire FZ 600 front end:
Forks
Yokes
Front wheel
Head bearings
Brake discs
Brake calipers (I THINK mine are the same as the FZ, if I can get the aforementioned old pads out)
Clip-ons
Spindle, nuts and spacers

FZ front wheel bearings (shagged)
FZ front wheel powder coat (at the moment it is bright yellow!)
FZ fork seals
Taller rear shocks
More parts powder coated such as swinging arm, stands, bottom yoke, fork legs etc
USB ports and things running alongside the loom and up to the front and back, to charge sat nav whilst it is in use, and whatever I want to charge at the back
Small oval front indicators (although I'm in two minds about this as the original fitment Belisha beacons make great crash bungs!)
FZ plastic front mudguard (chrome is shot and I'm not sure if it will fit on the FZ forks, or around the wheel)


Very long term plans (ie when I win the Eurobillions)

Some form of digital speedometer, or possibly a UK 650 model 140mph type (US model only goes up to 85, but at least it doesn't over read!)
Hard luggage (although I'm afraid about spoiling the look of the back of the bike, which as it stands I really like)
4-2 side exit exhausts
XJ1100 swingarm and rear end so I can upgrade to rear disc
Find a 650 turbo engine and fit


The back-story

Well, I bought the bike in 2008, and made a thread at the time. The bike was in very good condition and served me well. It was my first unrestricted bike, so it was nice to be able to use all the power. The bike is well equipped, and to this day it still meets my needs. The bike is a US import and has a very intriguing history, I might go into this in a later post.

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My avatar since forever.

Over the winter of 2008/9 I discovered a couple of problems with the bike. The carbs were out of balance and it was running a little rich. There were also holes in the collector box. The standard exhaust is an interesting design, as it must be the first Japanese exhaust I have ever seen that wasn't plagued with rust. The downpipes are actually double skinned and I have never seen heard of anyone on the American XJ forum having to replace the exhaust for these failing, or the silencers. The problem is in this collector box, the only flaw in what would have been a credible exhaust design.

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With the exhaust replaced, the bike was much better. It wasn't running rich, it was loud when you opened it up, but acceptable (maybe even quieter than the standard) at normal engine speeds.

The next problem I had was with the ignition coils. Apparently the plastic on the original coils develops cracks and when there is a lot of water vapour in the air, they fail completely, then resume working normally again the next day. To be safe, I changed the IC igniter, the coils, the spark plug caps for off-road style ones and the pickup coil.

One problem I could not fix, whatever I tried was under very heavy rain the bike would cut down to two cylinders. I racked my brains over this, checked all the appropriate bits of the wiring loom, tried the old and new coils, and mixtures of the two, and still I couldn't get to the problem. It turned out in the end that one of the low tenstion wires going into the right hand coil had a tiny bit of bare wire and water was dripping down from the headstock when the bike was parked up and the handlebars turned to one side.



From this point on, all was well. The only annoying thing about the bike was this new exhaust (Marshall Deeptone, would not recommend) was not well thought out, and probably designed more for the UK model 900 than for mine. I had to make a special bracket to get it to fit, I was provided with some of the wrong downpipes to start with, and once all this was sorted there was an annoying ground clearance issue when going round right handers, usually only noticeable with pillions. This problem still remains and I'm looking at changing the exhaust in the future.

In summer 2009 I changed the rear end for the US model 650 one. I didn't want to do this, but a copper pulled me up and told me I had to get a bigger number plate or next time he would fine me. It cost lest than £60 to do, including a different number plate and used parts from America, so it was all good, although I later discovered the 750 US model rear end will accommodate a UK number plate as the number plate holder is adjustable. It all fits except the plastic crud catcher, and the 750 one of those slots in OK. Just a case of drilling two new holes in the 650 rear mudguard.

In the summer of 2010 my petrol tank decided to rot through from the bottom. Because of the design of the petrol filler cap, if the o-rings in the barrel are worn, rain can drip through. The tank was full of water and as a temporary measure I had to cake the bottom of the thing in chemical metal to fit it. It's a shame that this tank was ruined, as the finish was brilliant. For 28 year old paint it looked as good as new, at the top.

I ordered a second hand tank from America that had a bad outside but had had a tank treatment on the inside, and got a friend to paint the tank in gloss black. It looks really nice and I can't wait for it to go on the bike.

In about October this year, I took the XJ to bits completely, stripped down to the bare frame. It took me four evenings and one afternoon. Unfortunately, I didn't get many images of this, as when I was working it was generally dark and I couldn't get decent shots. The idea was to get it powder coated and get it back together. However, my H100 decided to shit a main bearing and my Dad's Ka broke both wishbones, so my savings were depleted and the bike has been sitting in my shed ever since.

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So the plan now is to get the thing MOT'd then ride it until the BT45 on the front (which is nearly new) is knackered, and by this time the FZ 600 front end should be ready.
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H100 Breaking for spares