Another Xj650 Maxim Cafe project

[ash j. williams]

Hi everyone, i'm new here, relatively new for bikes and not so new to breaking things to my heart's content. Here is a story of my 1982 XJ650 i bought as my first bike, i was less than enamoured with its looks.

this is how it was bought.

i had bought a cheap seat

and began the fitting process

i had to narrow the frame and bob it

i've welded another crossbeam to reinforce it

and added tabs for seat mounting

end hoop bent and welded (chrome-moly is hard to work with)

rebuilding the front forks (progressive springs and new seals)

new instruments and bars

during my move back from Napa, the bike fell on the trailer and spent the entire 400 miles trip on its side, the tank was scratched, so i stripped it, and coated it.

how it looked by then

next i made a CF fender from some 12k twill carbon fibre cloth scraps and high temp epoxy.
laying it out over the stock fender

trimmed and being sanded (miserable job)

clear coated (i got lazy and didn't bother buffing it)

added a cheap fairing (still on the fence about it)

my view

added new shocks (cheap, so white they are for now)

still to do, a new tank, 16" front wheel conversion, lower the front about 3" and replace the drag bars with clip ons. considering removing the fairing and keeping it naked (it does help at speed though).

 

[ash j. williams]

i am also wondering about pods and an exhaust but have been scared by horror stories about running rough.
any advice? i would run straight velocity stacks but i need some sort of filtering.

 

[Islandstar]

Nice looking bike. Where did your seat come from?

 

[ash j. williams]

http://www.motolanna.com/ourshop/prod_1930561-Seat-Cafe-Racer-Studs-v30.html

 

[Brodie]

I would say a big "NOOOOO" to running cheap pods on CV carbs. Go for a set of K&N filters and chuck the jets up a size and you should be near the right area of air/fuel. Mind you I am no master tuner, nor am I adept. I just know what worked for me.

Check out some of Kop's how to guides, there is a heap of reading but the knowledge gained is well worth it.

Nice start by the way.

 

[ash j. williams]

I would say a big "NOOOOO" to running cheap pods on CV carbs. Go for a set of K&N filters and chuck the jets up a size and you should be near the right area of air/fuel. Mind you I am no master tuner, nor am I adept. I just know what worked for me.

Check out some of Kop's how to guides, there is a heap of reading but the knowledge gained is well worth it.

Nice start by the way.

thank you, which particular K&N filters do you suggest? why not the pods? what are the differences between the two?

 

[Brodie]

K&N pod filters are fine, it is just the cheap EMGO ones that are the problem. The reason is that they have a lip inside the rubber that blocks some of the intakes on the CV causing the slide not to lift as far.

Also bikes are harder to tune with pods on, and strong winds can affect tuning as they can cause the uncovered filter to either suck more or less air.

Any K&N is good.

 

[NoHopeBaltimore]

Any chance you have the dimensions of your frame hoop? Looking to do a similar conversion, but I don't have access to a fab shop.