1982 Yamaha XJ650 Seca.

[zeocen]

Hey all, well I've snapped up an oldie but a goodie, an '82 XJ650! My father and I went halves as a project bike to get back into pristine condition, it runs amazingly well (first or second start cold with little choke, first start warm, every time) and rides _beautifully_ ... I was just wondering if anyone has experiences with XJ bikes? It's my first shaft driven bike so it would be handy to know if there's anything to watch out for in that area, or XJ bikes in particular.

Cheers!

A few pics of the beast.

[SARGE]

talk to Frosty.. hes the XJ guru round these parts

[MVnut]

My mate Sam wrote the first one off ....they don't like wet railway tracks, at least that's what he told me, and I think Frosty knows everything about the 900s, he's owned most of them

[Kickaha]

You can find out pretty much everything you'll need to know here
http://xjbikes.com/

[shafty]

Great choice, great buying - Bike of the Year in its day..................

[NZsarge]

Looks to be in mint condition, congrats.
Still a great looking bike after all these years.

[zeocen]

Thanks guys! Thanks Kickaha, I have certainly been trauling around that site looking at useful information, as well as the parts listed on it!

It really is a great bike, in the weekend I'm going to attack it with some autosol, mothers and degreaser to see what comes off and what doesn't, there is a lot of surface rust so it will be interesting to see just how it looks after some good cosmetic TLC.

Also, if anyone has any tips on getting the engine back to it's original black colour I would be appreciated it, something that can be done at home? Or sent away to be powder coated? I'm not sure!

[MIXONE]

I owned one for some time back in the 80's.It was a great bike that never let me down.Unfortunately some Ykato natives wanted it more then me and stole it!I wish you luck with it.

[FROSTY:Me]

I guess it depends what you want from the bike.
They were bloody nice bits of kit in their day.
If it were me theres a few things I'd be takeing care of.
1) change the diff oil I bet its never been done.
2)Haul the back wheel out and check the shaft spline bolts.In the first XJ's they were actually bolted and the bolts sometimes work loose.
3) get rid of the 4 into 1 Go back to the factory 4 into 2 setup -EXCEPT use the balancer setup from the 96 or later XJ900. You will not believe the difference in the 1-3k rev range. (The carbs on that model are hard to get jets for so jetting to the pipe can be a pain)
4) engine paint works well I used to lightly sandfile the edge of the fins to get that alloy look that they came out with.
5) that dinnner plate of a headlight is brilliant and the alternator can handle 100/90 bulbs no problem at all

[zeocen]

Hey thanks for that Frosty! Before I go in with the questions I'll have to apologise for not introducing myself at the KB Kids day. You were around people all the time so I didn't want to bother you, was a corker of a day though!

What I want to do is basically restore it to original as much as I can, I have extremely limited experience in bike mechanics so it's also a learning curve, which leads to the first newbie question: Where and what is the diff oil?

2) So I have to take the back wheel off to check the shaft spine bolts? This is what I was wondering, don't know much about bikes as I said, but even less about shaft driven ones! Should I check anything else while it's off?

3) It's a 4 -> 2, I think the images may be misleading. They aren't original pipes so when I find a pair I may have to do what you described.

4) What do yuo mean sandfile the edge of the fins? To get an alloy look while the rest is black? Where could I aquire engine paint, supercheap/repco? I assume the more expensive the longer lasting/better finish?

5) I looove the moon sized headlight, I was expecting it to not show anything at night but it's pretty good with an average light, definitely gonna go up to 100/90 bulb on your recommendation!

Thanks a lot for the advice mate, I really appreciate it.. the exhausts are looking particularly shiney right now, but will have to pull them off, along with the headers, to get as much surface rust off as possible.. it is looking mighty respectable though I have to admit!