Project Night Mare ... 80 XJ650 Maxim Cafe Build

[FatalmiztakE]

Well my names Shawn , and I am owner/operator of Raw Elegance Customs in East central MN. I am usually the one people bring their bike to for custom paint and grafix...I figured it was about time I build my own. took me a while to find what I wanted in a donor bike , I decided to go with the XJ platform because its rarely chosen for a cafe build , and I have always liked the lines of'em.
Anyways I eventually found one that was priced right , to justify ripping it apart . Its a 1980 XJ 650 , 17000 on the clock , and a cracked head (complete with JB Weld attempted fix ) I also chose this bike because I have many parts left over from customer builds (mostly chops and bobs) like tanks and forks and fenders and such. Heres what I got going so far......

Po's Craigslist pic...

getting started

harness is out...

Before tail hoop fabed out of a scrap luggage rack...

after...

donor bump stop....

and this is my stop point for today , long way to go but a solid start.( 8hrs.)
Does anyone here with electrical skills want to build me a simplified harness, willing to hire . I can chop, fab , mold , and weld like a mofo , but wiring is my Achilles heel....lol. or a nudge in the right direction to get one made . Just want the bare minimum to start ,run, and be legal . ( Headlight , brakelight and turns .) Thanks for looking...
-Shawn

 

[zap2504]

Shawn,
Good move adding the Seca tank to the Maxim 650 frame. FWIW, all the XJ650/750 tanks/seats/side panels interchange (as a set). Over on the XJ Bikes forum there is a guy who also got an early CB750 tank/side panels to fit w/o much work. The XJ Bikes forum also has a simplified wiring diagram here:http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=39992.html if you need one.

 

[FatalmiztakE]

Thanks for the info , And the guys over at the XJ site were a huge help . Got hooked up with a bunch of home brew diagrams as well as a factory one.
Well I got a few goodies in the mail this weekend , and I had the weekend off work so I got started.
Head and gasket set arrived first so I started there....

Doing a complete topend build.
Next I got the new fuse box upgrade , and I splt the harness to find the POs botched mess....

Next the tail arived , off a 74 xs650 but a little work and a prayer to the XJ godds and it should work out fine.

Heres where I ended up, rebuilding the head is about done, wiring is complete , and the motor is out for a cleaning and prep for paint, and I mean to fit the seat this week, as well as fabbing up a mock oil tank to house the gizzmos....all in all a good weekend.

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I would rather ride a nightmare that runs like a dream , than a dream that runs like a nightmare.