Talk me out of a '82 Yama XJ550

[Ease]

 

[Fox]

Put in some good quality MC branded oil of the OEM grade and a genuine oil filter and new spark plugs and just ride the sucker for a while before you attack it with an ax.The valve clearance shims should be checked by a pro,you just need a rocker cover gasket in parts.Small XJ's are great light,cheap,fast no hassle bikes.....ENJOY.....

I'm actually forced to run fully synthetic. That's what the guy before me ran so now I'm stuck. Not planning on axing it any time soon. Once I finish my CL360 I'll start looking more seriously at chopping things up. I've actually gota replace all the top end gaskets. Things leaking oil like it's going out of style.

Be warned though - they can be a bit offended by people "cutting up" stock bikes.

Haha thanks for the tip! I'll be sure to keep my "cutting" habits on DTT.

MrKil.
That thing looks stellar! How was it converting from airboxes to pods? Carbs give you any trouble? How'd it run after?

Ease
Good to know where my fellow XJ brethren are!

Working on insurance and getting my tags today. Will post pics when I get get some.

 

[hillsy]

I'm actually forced to run fully synthetic. That's what the guy before me ran so now I'm stuck.

Not sure what you mean here - you can switch back to mineral oil without any issues. In fact, running synthetic on one of these motors is pretty much a waste of money. Just make sure it's a motorcycle specific oil (no slippery additives, etc) and you'll be fine.

 

[Fox]

Pictures will be up in just a minute.

Thanks for the insight on being able to go back to mineral oils. I wasn't looking forward to finding an arm and a leg to fork over every time I wanted to change my oil. Heh. I'm so funny...

 

[Fox]

Not the best quality, but the lighting in my garage is pretty poor. I'll try and do a proper photoshoot sometime tomorrow. in the meantime, if you see any thing out of sorts, just let me know and I can get a close up.

 

[Ease]

If you're looking for a bolt on "cafe" style tank try the same size SECA.

 

[Deviant1]

^ that is a sexy tank...

 

[mrkil]

Great lookin bike all together too.

Btw thanks ease my xj build was inspired by yor bike over on the xj forum.

 

[Fox]

I actually really like the teardrop tank, although the XJR one is pretty sweet. We'll see how it goes. Been pulling a few parts here and there to clean them. Really loving this bike. Real quick but not too heavy. Just my style.

 

[biker_reject]

That XJR tank is like wow! Looked for one on flea bay, but none to be found, even on the international sites. Bummer... Going to sneak out of work right now to visit a mc salvage yard just down the street!

 

[hillsy]

Not sure why you would think an XJR400 tank would be easy to find - they are a Japan only model (mostly) with some other countries bringing them in as grey imports.

The motors are pretty damn robust too, so there's not too many blown up rollers sitting in the wreckers waiting for love....

 

[Ease]

I still vote the easy way (at least it is for the 650's)...

This is an XJ tank, same framed bike as the maxim as far as I know.

 

[Fox]

I hope Swivel comes back with some sort of crazy response about how it's not any easier to use Ease's tank.

But seriously. When it comes time to swap tanks, I'll do some searching for an XJR, but if I don't find one than I'll happily go with a Seca tank. Won't be for a while though. Too much fun to ride to tear into now!

 

[Fox]

I don't engage in engage in maneuvers involving tanks unless there is no other option.....

Is that restraint?! Swivel you must be sick!!