Helping out a friend...

Headed back out to RT's today to help get the carbs cleaned and put back together. The clouds kept rearing their ugly heads, but we managed to put the last carb together, and the rain never did fall. His wife made a nice lunch for us.

The carbs were pretty dirty (as I think I mentioned) and we came to the realization that these can't be the original carbs based on the repairs and mistakes made on them by the previous owner. For a bike with only 3900 miles on it, it's hard to believe that someone would replace one jet (a wrong jet, at that) and one of the float posts was broken (but JB welded back together.) RT postulated that perhaps the bike had sat for a long time, and the PO sold the original carbs, then replaced them with this set. Needless to say, the carbs are looking pretty good now.

Next up is the reinstallation (I wish I had stayed a bit longer and at least installed them back on the bike). We'll reinstall the carbs, put the boots on, oil change, new plugs (check the plug caps for resistance) change the final drive oil and put a in-line fuel filter in. Then, fill it up with gas and ... oh yeah, recharge the battery.

Hopefully, with any luck, that wrong jet won't cause too much trouble.

Looks like some work with tin foil and diet coke is in order, RT. Lots of cleaning and polishing ahead, but it sounds like he know's what he's doing.

My bike, on the other hand, ran great all the way out there and back. Great acceleration, nimble and quick. Might be hard to take it on a long distance run though. My knees get cramped up and I think if I had highway pegs on, it might make a difference.

Little things mean a lot...

So I was doing some cleaning on my bike (surprise surprise) and noticed my ignition sticker is getting pretty beat up. In fact, it's downright rubbed clean, pretty much. So, I started searching for a replacement. Not as easy as it sounds. I looked through 1,347 selections on eBay, and found lots of cool stickers, but none that would work.

A friend from xjbikes said he would send me the link to a guy who makes them, though they sound like they'll be a bit pricey.

Shine on, you crazy diamond...

I got to work shinin' up the old bike today. Bought a little buffing and polishing kit from HF and used my drill to go to town. Looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. Of course, now that it's shiny, I can see which areas need more work.

I took a short ride today, but my mind was elsewhere, not really the best time to go riding. Someone from the XJ list recently died in a motorcycle crash, which brought home the fact that it can happen to anyone, and does. In this case, he had the right of way and was killed when he hit a car that wasn't paying attention and turned in front of him. The driver was fined $125.00 for failing to yield the right of way.

What's more distressing is that I met this guy at a carb clinic a few years ago. Nice enough fellow, and loved his bike. To see it laying on the ground brought reality crashing home for me.

That's not to say I'll never ride again, but I think of all the close calls I've had, the times people, talking on their cell phones or adjusting their radio's just drifted into my lane, or outright pulled into my lane. People slamming on their brake (luckily I follow the 2 car lengths rule, and not the 2 bike lengths rule.)

I feel bad for his family. Godspeed Thom Stagno.

In other news, RT started his own blog site (an excellent idea, if I do say so myself) and you can find it here: http://maximexplosionblogspotcom.blogspot.com/ He pirated a few of my pics that I took, but no problem. It is his bike after all. ;-) I'm sure he'll be adding more of his own. I've been wanting to call him to see how it's going, but I don't want to disturb him.

I think I'll take a ride here soon...

RT and his Maxim

Made it out to Charlotte on my bike, heavy side- bag thrown over one shoulder and didn't get rained on. It was a nice ride, and the bike performed really well.

Once I arrived, we got started right away. His bike is a burgundy/red 1985 Maxim. It was missing the carb boots, although the carbs were still on the bike. After wrenching a bit, off they came. (I've had lots of experience removing and replacing carbs...) Taking the wells off proved a little difficult, what with some of the screws pretty stripped. Nonetheless, they all came off, with all but one gasket intact. Those 25+ year old gaskets really stand up to the test of time. The other was a cheap aftermarket job that shredded. The inside of the bowls were pretty dirty, with most of the circuits pretty well fubar'ed. Carb #4 only had 2 screws holding it on.

The next 45 minutes consisted of wrenching screws, until all were finally exposed. Their insides were pretty dirty, and one of the float posts had been JB welded on, a clue that someone had gone before. (and broken something). The floats were pretty dirty, but overall, in decent shape.

What was not in decent shape was that air filter. Mice had made a home in the airbox, and the filter itself was in pretty rough shape.

A number of the pilot jets couldn't be removed without stripping them so we opted to leave those in. The main fuel jets were removed and the emulsion tubes extracted.

It was probably cruel of me to just leave a one armed man alone to clean those carbs all by himself, but I told him I consider it a rite of passage. He didn't see to mind, and has big plans for painting and cleaning getting the bike back up and running.

I opened up his crank case and peered inside. It looks as if it just rolled off the showroom floor, it's so clean.

In a couple of days, I'll go back and see the progress he's made.

Rain rain go away...

Well, I was all set to head out to Charlotte to help out RT this morning when I checked the weather report. Thanks Michigan. Heavy thunderstorms expected. The storm looks to be short-lived, but funny how the best laid plans go awry.

I did some painting last night, and I like the way it turned out. I painted my "chrome" hand levers a glossy black. I also painted the green coils a glossy black and entertained the idea of painting my entire engine black, but of course, that's a bit more than I want to get into right now.

Eventually, I plan on replacing the hand levers with chrome jobs, but for now, it makes the bike look more sleek.

The bike fired right up this morning... a taunt, perhaps? I don't know. My bike is behaving so well, I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop.

I don't have a whole lot of space in my garage, but everything is within easy reach. I have a lot of organizing to do, lots of boxes to move, stuff to get out of the way. Here's a pic of my workspace. Not the cleanest of environments, but it suits my needs for now.

As cheap as the stuff from Harbor freight is, it works for me. A lot of my tools came from HF, and there are still a few more I would like to get.

I've always wanted to try welding something...

New Friends

So I was perusing Craigslist for motorcycles (not to buy, but you never know what you're going to find) and I came across a request for help. Here's what it said:

I have a 1985 Yamaha Maxim XJ700X with 3,900 actual miles. The person I got the bike from had the carbs rebuilt but when he put them back in he didn't have them hooked up right. I am hoping for someone who has a manual for this bike to PLEASE send me a diagram of the fuel and vacuum system. I dont have much money cause I am curently disabled and diability hasn't kicked in yet. If you can help me, great. If you can come hook them up for me would be even better. I have a few things I can give you for your time.

Being the nice guy that I am, and wanting play forward some of the help I've received, I wrote him an email and offered to help him out. Come to find out, it's not actually an X, but an xj700. The exact same bike I have, albeit different color and missing a few pieces. Here are some pics of the bike as it stands right now:

It's in excellent shape, although it's missing the carb boots (the fix for which is easy). With 3900 miles on it, she still has many years ahead of her.

The first thing, of course, will be to take the carbs off again and see what's going on in there. It's amazing the things PO's usually say they do to prepare their bikes for sale, but in reality, rarely is it true. The bike obviously hasn't been ridden much and appears to have an aftermarket paint job (the original xj700's only came in black and red... this almost appears orange, although that could be a trick of the light. Also, the Ignition cover appears to have come off an X (similar in style to that type of bike).

I'm looking forward to seeing what this bike can do. The guy sounds like a nice fellow.

He's in Charlotte... a bit of a ride, but I was just complaining not too long ago about not having any place to go. Now I do.

I'll post more pics once I get there and we start the tear down. With any luck, it'll be a difficult fix. :) I just hope not as difficult as mine turned out to be.

In other news, my bike is still running great! I noticed a bit of a drop in power, but I am sure it has to do with the tuning issue. My plan this week is to tune it 100%. I'm not sure why I always forget to use the YICS tool. It's running great without using it, I can't wait to see what happens when I actually employ it.

Not a lot new to report...

I've taken the bike to work every night so far, and I have to say I am very happy with the way it's performing. I still think I need to do one more carb tune, just to flush out any remaining gremlins, but overall, the bike fires up with nary a touch of the starter button, very little choke. I was showing my bike off to one of my fellow workers (who also happens to ride, I think a Kawi ninja) who was impressed with how the bike looked. He especially liked the shininess of the tank, asking me, "How many times did you wax that thing??" The bike started right up and he watched me ride away, giving me a thumbs up. Pretty cool.

I'm still considering a road trip here very soon. I haven't been to Canada since 2006, maybe I'll look up old Hap and see what he's up to.

Beautiful weather today. Sometimes, working nights is a pain because you miss out on great riding weather. Oh, I could ride all day, but then staying awake at night would be a trial.

I need to figure out a way to fashion some saddlebag brackets. I have a set of cloth saddlebags that fit under the back seat, but I fear they will rub against the tire. I know I've seen the directions for making your own. Maybe on Hap's site.

http://www.maxim-x.com/saddlebag_retainer.html

Yep, that's the ticket.

In other news, I've lost a bit of weight recently, which is only mention worthy because I've noticed riding the bike is more fun (and I don't have to stop as often for gas) and my jacket is a bit looser. I've lost almost 20#! Yay me!

I'll be riding more this week. If Michigan's weather holds up. :)