XV750 Project

[Conquiztador]

As nobody took any notice of the Project thread where a few of us asked for a place to post projects I decided to plaster it here.

Picked up a 83 XV750. Motor runs but she has no rego or WOF. No plates. So it is a start from scratch thingy. But it is all there. And not too shabby.

This project is a 4 stage one:

Stage 1: Get her road worthy.

Stage 2: Get a VIN, WOF and rego.

Stage 3: Customize

Stage 4: Get her through the legal stuff.

I have given my self 2 months to get stage 2 done (So I can ride her for Xmas)

Stage 4 is about 6 months away.

Will keep on posting here as I do stuff. Why? Well, perhaps someone learns something. And it also puts a little pressure on me to get her sorted. (Don't really want to look like a dork that does the talk but not the walk)

I don't have a pic of her, but the one here is the way she is (All standard 83 XV's are the same). And the drawn one is how she should look like in 6 months.

Apart from the obvious when you compare pics there is:
A 21" front wheel, a 18" low profile back wheel. Both wheels 200 straight spoked.
Redone electrics.
The flame paint job.
The straight pipes.
Forward controls.
Shortened forks
Heaps of bits in the bin
Some minor motor work (I am still not sure if I fit a NO2...)

:cool:

[mattimeo]

Looks pretty sweet dude. Your sketch shows lots of potential. I can't imagine it being very comfortable with such a low profile seat, but thats a style thing eh..

[Conquiztador]

Hey!!! I am not alone burning the midnight oil!!

Cheers for comment. The XV750 is a relatively light motor. And there is not much frame (motor is used as part of frame and there is no tubing under motor) so she is light. I rip heaps of stuff off and she will be even lighter. A fun bike with enuf grunt to overtake any car. U can throw her around easily.

But she will be made for the ride down to the video shop, to the corner dairy and to cruize on a sunny afternoon around town. No need for her to travel the long roads of NZ. (Have others for that) So she does not need to be comfy for 5 hours. If there is a tingle in the leg after 30 minutes I have been riding her too long one way anyhow. :-)

[Eurodave]

Hey dude, nice sketch ,shows potential, my only comment: way too high off the ground, need to either adjust ride height front [ forks up thru clamps] & rear [adjust shock] or fit a shorter back shock , or most likely, all of the above :)

[Conquiztador]

Hey dude, nice sketch ,shows potential, my only comment: way too high off the ground, need to either adjust ride height front [ forks up thru clamps] & rear [adjust shock] or fit a shorter back shock , or most likely, all of the above :)

Thanks for comment. And agree. It is part of the plan.

[dino3310]

should be a lot a fun,i look forward to seeing stage 3,will be keeping an eye out for your updates

[Wired1]

Cool idea, I have had a few of these and never quite got around to chopping one. I have seen a lot of these that have been modified, you shouldn't need to actually cut the frame, and the swingarm as is looks like a hard tail without the discomfort. Just removing all the excess wiring, relays under the seat, all the body covers and guards will give you a pretty good idea on where to start. These look good with a solo seat/saddle.
I would leave the forks stock length to get the sloped look but that's just me, you can always slip the forks right up the triple clamp. Keep us posted, and take plenty of photos as you dissassemble. Send me your email address and I'll slip you a parts catalogue for this baby :)

[Laava]

XV750 might also be a good base for that cafe racer project you've been putting off!:2thumbsup

[Conquiztador]

Cool idea, I have had a few of these and never quite got around to chopping one. I have seen a lot of these that have been modified, you shouldn't need to actually cut the frame, and the swingarm as is looks like a hard tail without the discomfort. Just removing all the excess wiring, relays under the seat, all the body covers and guards will give you a pretty good idea on where to start. These look good with a solo seat/saddle.
I would leave the forks stock length to get the sloped look but that's just me, you can always slip the forks right up the triple clamp. Keep us posted, and take plenty of photos as you dissassemble. Send me your email address and I'll slip you a parts catalogue for this baby :)

Thanks for that. Really appreciated!

No, I will do nothing to the frame. No need to touch it. And I can not be bothered to get any modifications certified.

I want a compact bike. A fun one that is easy to throw around, so will keep the rake as is. Will shorten forks as I dont want the legs sticking up from triple clamps. And as I will fit a 21" front wheel the forks will come up also. So I recon I will cut about 3 inches from the forks.

I will use original triple clamps, just strip them of all bits and lugs I dont need. Same goes for frame. So she will be clean and simple.

[Conquiztador]

Carbies are off, the starter is coming off and some odds are getting sorted. Plan is to have motor running tomorrow.

Realised when I took the seat off that stage 3 is gonna be easier then I thought. The whole back end is a bolt on thingy. Leave shaft and backwheel and rest bolts off. Sweet!

Found that to take the carbies off all had to be done in sequence. If done in wrong order you are not getting them off. Bloody japs!!

More tomorrow.

[rudolph]

That would make a pittty sweet chopper, I made a CB900 Boldor chopper, but it pounds my kidneys to much

[Wired1]

Yes the trick is to loosen both carbs in the holders, then loosen the holder bolts. One end of the holder is slotted so that bolt can stay in but you end up taking at least one holder off to get them out. As the rubber gets older it is probably safer to remove both carb holders to protect them. Keep the photos coming - but you could reduce them by 50% with "paint" to make them load quicker!

[McDuck]

Looks good mate, looks good.

[hospitalfood]

had one once upon a time.....long ago. not really a cruser rider but got it cheap after my VF750F was stolen.
put straight bars on it the day I got it and away I went, lots a fun.
stacked it into a merc at one stage doing 60 odd, supermaned before impact and I was sweet, had to replace the straight bars but aside from that the bike was sweet.
chop-on

[Conquiztador]

Spent what time I had available today cleaning the carbies. Decided to do a top job as I have no plans of taking them off again after they are back on. So have been scrubbing them on outside (bloody heaps of small hard to reach spots on the f...rs )

Used hot water with dish washin liquid and a tootbrush. Got most of it off. But then had to use some de-greaser to get some stubborn sheit off. Before re-fitting I will give them a coating with Turtle Wax. That will fill the pores and stop the dirt from sticking.

Internals in good condition, so no need to get any additional bits. Just needed some cleaning. Now happily drying for re-assembly tomorrow. Then the same treatement to the complete motor. That should leave the motor and carbies all sorted from the "look the part" point of view.

Now things are starting to happen!

(Pic from before cleaning)

[jaseman]

Does anyone know if a xv750 engine will fit into xv400 (84)frame?
I have a very tidy xv400, witch is too slow, i am ready to sell it, but if i could find a bigger engine that would fit straight in, i would rather keep it. It looks exactly the same as 1983 XV750 but looking at the yamaha online parts catalog many of the part numbers are different. Cheers for any help. Cheers Jason.
p.s watching this project with interest!! Looks great. Are you keeping that exhaust? if not, want to sell it?

[crashe]

Does anyone know if a xv750 engine will fit into xv400 (84)frame?
I have a very tidy xv400, witch is too slow, i am ready to sell it, but if i could find a bigger engine that would fit straight in, i would rather keep it. It looks exactly the same as 1983 XV750 but looking at the yamaha online parts catalog many of the part numbers are different. Cheers for any help. Cheers Jason.
p.s watching this project with interest!! Looks great. Are you keeping that exhaust? if not, want to sell it?

I have sitting in my garage on LOAN a 1981 XV750..... you are most welcome to have a look at it to check out engine size... so that way you can see how it will go.

I do have my doubts of a XV750 engine fitting into the XV400 frame thou.

Im in west ak..


EDIT: UPDATE - I took the XV750 around and it is confirmed after measuring up and checking it out....... the 750 engine will NOT fit into the 400 frame.

[Conquiztador]

Does anyone know if a xv750 engine will fit into xv400 (84)frame?
I have a very tidy xv400, witch is too slow, i am ready to sell it, but if i could find a bigger engine that would fit straight in, i would rather keep it. It looks exactly the same as 1983 XV750 but looking at the yamaha online parts catalog many of the part numbers are different. Cheers for any help. Cheers Jason.
p.s watching this project with interest!! Looks great. Are you keeping that exhaust? if not, want to sell it?

Sorry, can not help re the motor swap. The exhaust will not stay. After she has VIN, WOF and Rego she will be customized as per the drawing in post 1. That is about 3 months away according to my plan... So if you still are looking for one then, just keep an eye on this thread and it will be clear when I am that far.

The carbies are now together. Tidy!! Motor is being polished. Sadly takes a fraction longer then planned. (Bloody work!!) But will get there this w/e.

Will post pics of motor and carbies when completed.

[Conquiztador]

Time. I really must stop sleeping then I would get everything done!!
But still on track to have her on the road for Xmas. 4 weeks to go so I will make it!! Stage one and two will be done by then!

Right, today I put everything else to the side and spent the day focusing on her. Completed the carbie job. Did some adjustments and syncronisation. (Twin carbies) These carbies have a linkage that is supposed to make the throttle on both to open at same time. The throttle cable connects to the l/h carbie and the linkage does the right. But the linkage was not working that well. Some wear had made the r/h throttle open later. So I dismantled and fitted some thin washers to make it all tight. Then I carefully filed the track that the linkage wheel runs in (see pic) and made the track tighter by carefully giving it a couple of taps. Test that the linkage runs smoothly, a little more filing and then assemble. Now I was able to get both butterflies to open at exactly the same time by adjusting the syncronising screw. Brilliant!!

The diaphragm in the l/h carbie (SU carbies) at top of the vacuum piston had a few holes in it from wear. Nothing major, but could cause this side to not open as fast as the r/h. As I did not have a new diaphragm I repaired it by using a tyre puncture kit. A couple of small patches and all well. Will order two new diaphragms later when I do the customising, but the repair will do the trick until then.

OK, carbies all done. Spent what was left of the daylight cleaning the whole bike and focusing on the motor. Always found that you will see things you would not othervise have noticed when you do a thorough cleaning. But did not find anything major. Some nuts and bolts need tightening and a couple are missing. But my box of "good to have bits" had just the ones waiting for me.

So now she is happily drying over the night. Then tomorrow I will spend some more time polishing the motor in the crannies where I did not get in when washing. Then the carbies go back on and with some luck I can have a ride tomorrow... But I have had the riding plans for some weeks now. And I should really be working on the 2008 budget for work...

OK, if it is a bad weather day I do the budgets, if it is sunny I focus on her (I am in HB remember...). So the chances that I will start her is high.

Will keep U guys posted.