'81 XJ650--Project "Maxim Destruction"

platkeyboy

Been Around the Block
I started with a bone-stock 1981 Midnight Maxim 650... BARE bone stock. It was in boxes. The previous owner's son had taken it to vo-tech to work on a hard starting/cold running issue, and well, it never made it out of surgery in one piece.

It took me a while to decide what type of project this really is, because it doesn't fit neatly into most of the established categories. It's not a cafe ("daytona" handlebar is too high, among other things) and it's not a bobber. I think it might be closer to a bratstyle, but I am not lowering the rear suspension. What it IS, is a Midnight Maxim that has been stripped of its ridiculous 80s "comfort bike" styling--stripped of the bulbous seat, heavy exhaust, buckhorn handlebar, ugly turn signals and tail light, and butt ugly gold trim pieces (including the fractured stock seat grab bar/rail).

Will start with pics soon.
 
First of all, for those who haven't seen a stock Maxim for a while, this is the '81 Midnight Maxim (not mine--just a random Bing image result):
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That is NOT my type of motorcycle (more like something you'd see Prince riding in the "When Doves Cry" music video, haha. BUT, that is also not what I had to start with. THIS is:
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Luckily there were certain factors that guaranteed that this bike would never return to stock form (at least not in MY hands).
1.) The handlebar was bent
2.) The stock mufflers were rusted out
3.) the crappy alloy seat rail was broken

So I started assembly and DISassembly at the same time. More to come.
 
Here's the engine as it came to me. It seemed to be in decent shape, and there were some receipts for rings and some other parts in the boxes of junk, so I assumed it had been rebuilt by the well-meaning vo-techers. The cam cover was a bit loose, which made me suspicious, but there was a new gasket with it, so I buttoned it up and hoped for the best. Turns out, my suspicions were justified.

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The carbs SEEMED to be complete, but upon inspection a few of them were missing critical components. This was an indicator of a rocky road ahead. The tank was in decent shape, but not really a decent SHAPE. More on that later.

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Put the engine in by myself, which possibly took a year off of my life, lol. Deleted the stock airbox and installed pods.

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Here it is with the headers connected, seat on, new headlight installed, new handlebar, brake master cylinder from a TL1000R, and all wiring hooked up:
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At this point in the project, I noticed a few things.
-The bottoms of the mufflers were rusted out
-The seat was dang ugly
-the thing had fuel and spark but wouldn't run
 
Bought a used Kerker 4-into-1 exhaust...
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...had it blasted and welded a hole in the collector... (yes, I know the weld is rough. Take it easy, I'm learning)
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...painted it with some hi-temp rattle can..
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...installed it with another set of carbs that had supposedly been rebuilt, along with a Dynojet kit, and gave her another shot. This is what I got:


I know--pretty rough. I discovered a few more things after that.
 
I forgot to mention that the son of the previous owner (the kid who had taken the Maxim to vo-tech) died several years ago, so there was no telling what he and his friends had done. To some extent it's still a mystery. One thing I DO know is that he installed the cams 3 teeth off, hence the horribly running engine. I realized this AFTER I had bench-synced the carbs at least twice, set float levels, and pulled them from the engine multiple times. It turns out that they were still part of the problem. The guy who had "rebuilt" the carbs had used some sort of cleaning solution that had worn some of the components, and I also happened to GENTLY bump on of the float supports, when it did this:
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Turns out someone had JB Welded the support at one point, and as some of you may be aware, JB Weld, which used to be good for reparing fuel related stuff, is now useless thanks to ethanol in our gas. So I was yet again in the market for another carb body (I had sold the original set as parts). I got the new body, but carb issues continued to plague me. I ended up spending a couple hundred dollars in carb stuff before it was right. I'm going to quit talking about carbs now, except to say: People talk about how reliable certain bikes are, and the XJs have been referred to as such. Let me tell you though, a 30-year-old rack of carbs can be a pretty daunting challenge to a newbie like myself. I'm as old as the bike, and I've done a decent amount of riding, but this was my first experience with an old inline 4, and these carbs made it hellish for awhile. If you're picking up an old XJ, just make sure it runs well--unless you've done something like this already and know what you're doing.
 
So, I scored a Seca tank, which I find to be much more attractive, for $15.00. Here are a couple shots of it when I test fitted it. It took a bit of tweaking here and there, but it fits well. This is also a decent shot of the Kerker exhaust, which doesn't look bad for under $100 spent.

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The bike runs very well at this point, and I was overjoyed to find out that nothing was damaged due to the cams being off a few notches. I'll have a video of it running before too long here, but some other things are happening first. I chopped up an old seat we had laying around (from a late 80s BMW K75) to take the place of the uglier-than-Al-Gore-in-a-thong stock seat.

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I also nixed the passenger pegs, stock turn signals, stock brake light and some of the rear frame:
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I've got a new tail light from Lowbrow Customs, new signals from LP USA, and a new bar end mirror from Commando Specialties on the way...
That's all for now. Crappy cellphone shots, I know. I will be taking a better camera to document the tank and fenders painted.
 
Argh! HAHAHAHA.....didn't need THAT image in my head.....

Bike looks like it's coming along though...
 
Hey, welcome to DTT. Another Western PA boy, I see AND a fellow Maxim builder! Sweet! Just finishing up my 82 Maxim cafe build. Feel free to PM me, even if it's just to shoot the shit about these bikes, and keep the pics coming!
 
It's been pretty slow going lately, but a few hours here and there have netted a bit of progress. Here's a rough-in of the new fender support (fender will actually bolt on under this) I did a few days ago. I also welded the seam at the ends of the frame to prevent rusting.

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I am in the process of finishing the bodywork. I repainted the tank, both fenders (after significantly modifying the rear), the side covers and the rear of the frame. I thought about cutting/shortening the front fender, but after riding my brother's XS (no fender, just brace) in the rain, I am a big believer in fenders.
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I fabricated some turn signal brackets for the front and mounted the new signals I ordered from LPUSA. They have a decent look to them, but most of all, they aren't the size of ping-pong paddles like the old ones, haha.
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Front fender had dried enough to install last night, so on it went. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself. I'm not giving Ringo a run for his money here or anything, but this was never meant to be a show-winner anyway--just a reliable and fun scoot.
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Got a bar-end mirror installed last night as well.
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Now, you may have noticed a few things. First of all, the garage is an absolute WRECK. Yes, and I'm happy to say that it isn't mine. Unfortunately it's the biggest covered area I have to work in right now, and it means that I am subjected to the fallout from other people's projects. For instance, the second thing you may have noticed: Everything except the freshly-painted pieces has a dusty red complexion. Yep, that would be from my dad sanding the red gel coat off of a boat in the next stall. It stuck to EVERYTHING. Having said that, his generosity in allowing me to use some space in there does mean that I'm not stuck working at my place:
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Yes, a good deal more organized, but about 100% smaller, with no welder. Beggars can't be choosers.
 
Got some vinyl for the seat tonight, and should have quite a few things buttoned up tomorrow. Hoping to get it on the road by Friday evening. We'll see.
 
its nice to see another maxim build. i need to start a build thread for mine...i having carb problems myself!
 
Bobbed_out said:
its nice to see another maxim build. i need to start a build thread for mine...i having carb problems myself!

Push through those carb problems, and post up that build thread. These bikes are good fun, once those old carbs have been sorted, and another build thread will be good--the more the better. Some bikes seem to be natural candidates for certain mods--like turning a Honda CB into a cafe racer, but with the Maxim, when you modify it (tearing off the ugly stock stuff), nobody knows what kind of bike it is, lol. I have an update on the way, as soon as I can get the pics uploaded.
 
Well, I got the seat covered, and it's not too shabby. I tried a couple of tricks to heat the vinyl, but without a heat (or even a decent hair dryer) I couldn't make it as stretchy as it could have been (which would have eliminated some of those wrinkles in the back). Anyway, I am pleased enough with the result, and it's a heckuva lot better than stock, in my opinion.

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Tank on...after getting the petcock to stop peeing gas all over the side of the engine (one of the sealing washers was missing from one of the screws). That's my younger brother looking excited there 8) , as he helps mount the rear signals. He has been a great help, and is the type of guy to give great advice after I've screwed something up, lol.

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This is where we left off. The rear fender needs to be "adjusted" at the front end, so the seat will lay down a bit more in the back, but other than that, I am pretty pleased at how things are turning out. The tank needs to be buffed or something as well--the clear turned out hazy for some reason.

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I will take some hi-res shots after the bike is actually cleaned. By the way, it hasn't been cleaned in roughly 20 years.
 
Well, I took my first extended ride today, about 1 1/2 hours round trip, and am pretty dang impressed with how this thing performed. It ran great, everything functions well, and I had a blast. And it's finally home in the spacious shed. I never did get any pictures of it after I cleaned it today, but until I do, just know that it looks approximately 100% better, ha.

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