Yamaha XJ750X (’85) (SOLD)

February 11th, 2007 at 9:10 am (general posts)


What’s left of my first bike
A Vespa Ciao moped


Maxine before the
bar-b-que paint episode


May 5, 2000 Here’s my XJ… note the ding on the tank. The original colour is purple but the grey looks nice. I also like the lack of emblems and logos.

JANUARY 2006 - SOLD
To Ken, who has a patient hand in bike restoration. Hopefully he will have great success getting her back on the road and back in great shape. Thus ends my XJ ownership. Now… what else is out there :-):-):-) ???

Here’s what Ken Speights of Lantz did to her - WOW! (click to enlarge)

DECEMBER 28, 2005 - as-is for sale photos

CURRENT REPAIRS - WINTER 2004

My ride is a 1985 Yamaha Maxim X - XJ750XN - a watercooled 750cc in-line 4 cylinder, 5 valve per cylinder sportbike. I bought it in June 1998 and have been riding almost continuously since then. (new paint job) Bar-b-que paint - $4.99/can

The XJ Global Relay involves two or three hundred XJ motorcycle owners around the globe who are passing a canvas knapsack from country to country. The bag is now an amazing collection of personal mementos and funny little objects, letters and photos. Friendships have been made and we’ve all been enriched by the experience. Follow the link above for more information.

We met on Friday evening the June 16th 2003, to look at the bag. Mario Grenier, David Wooten, Rich Black, Peter Perry and John van Gurp. What a blast. There is so much to see. It would have been great to have a whole afternoon but we made the most of a short evening to go through the amazing travelogue presented by the personal effects and notes and souveniers and some weird stuff that lives in the knapsack. photo album

This morning we got together again and added Guy Maugher and Ronnie Norden, who rode in from PEI on Friday evening. He just missed us for that evenings gathering. So we rode out to Peggy’s Cove for some photos. It was fun. You may have heard about Peggy’s Cove in relation to the SwissAir Flight 111 disaster.

The roads are twisty and turny and with the maniacs leading the pack we had a good time. Who were they anyway? Rich? Ronnie? On the way back David and I splintered away to go back home for other obligations, while the rest of the gang carried on the Stewiacke, Nova Scotia at 45 degrees North latitude. From there at least, Rich, Ronnie and Guy (?) are going on to PEI.

Photo Album

Mario’s video page

See the Canadian XJ Relay main page - Mike Winiarz

Oct - 04 - She’s in the shed for the winter being brought back to good condition. The plan is to strip it down and paint the whole thing in a nice colour scheme and to replace a lot of stuff; shocks, coils, handlebars, lights, wheel and steering bearings, check everything over and end up with a nice bike once again.

Here’s a page to follow the progress.

Oh and by the way, it looks like the emulsified oil was caused by water entering the air cleaner box through a dislodged carb intake boot. The water then worked its way down through the crankcase breather tube. Nothing major - phew! (Update from December 2005) I read up that short stop city riding causes emulsified oil build up in crankcase breather passages in left side engine cover. So I removed it and cleaned them up.

Sept - 03 - after almost ending up under a van a couple of days ago I added some colour. Also cut down on the seating… moved rear pad to main seat area, held in place with an old strap. My friend Norm said it was a stealth bike, and that’s why I’ve had a couple of close calls…

April 2003: The bag is on it’s way to Mario Grenier in Dartmouth! Here’s the Canadian XJ Relay page.

March 2003: Apparently a guy somewhere in Scandanavia has the bag and isn’t answering emails. What’s to be done about that?

Update: No news for over a year until September, 2002. It looks like the relay is still alive and a gang is forming to transport it through Nova Scotia to Brian Evans in New Brunswick.
Jamie's old SportsterJamie’s old Sportster

 XJ and other bike links

Rat Bikes and Choppers!

Chopper Links!

Notes:

October 2004
Pulled the bike into my new backyard shed (the Camp) and am going to spend some time on it this winter. I’ll do the steering head bearings, exhaust, maybe brake lines, rear suspension, have the forks checked out at a machine shop and will have a look at the swing arm bearings.Here’s a page with photos and notes.

May 2003
I’m pretty certain the reason I have some very odd handling issues is due to a bent Triple Tree. There’s a cycle salvage yard in New Brunswick that has a used one for $120, but I think I’ll check Toad’s Cycle first, and I’ll also check into a new part from Yamaha. I’ve been much better about covering up when she’s in the driveway. Also - time for another can of bar-b-que paint lol.

March 2003
It’s a looong cold winter in Halifax, Nova Scotia, and Maxine’s been sitting in my Mom’s garage since early December, however; spring is not too far away. I hope the minimal prep work I did back then will mean an easy startup when the weather breaks. Been charging the battery every month or so and last fall I stuck a $4.99 flange on the exhaust because one of the tomato can flanges rusted out, so as far as I recall there’s nothing to fix.

October 2002
Having a great time this late summer and autmn riding my matt black bike all over the place. The exhaust has a couple of holes and is very slightly obnoxious which makes it even more fun. Weird eh?

September 2002
The ratting of Maxine….or how a shiny bike gets mean

September 2002
Haven’t had a great interest in the bike since quitting smoking, since I now walk back and forth between work and home and try to get as much exercise as possible, still… it sure is fun to go for a blast on the weekends. The bike is rusting in spots but it still runs great, although there’s something loose in the front end and the clutch is wearing.

December 2000
Squeezed the bike through a small door into my basement. The plan is to take parts off, one at a time, and to clean and polish everything. A lot of the billet aluminum is oxidized or the clearcoat is clouded. It shines like high quality chrome after buffing. Other plans are to replace fork springs with Progressives and possibly rebuild the clutch.

May 2000
I’m embarrassed to report the emulsified oil was a result of not having spark plug #3 properly seated. It was loose enough that water drained into the cylinder and made it’s way to the crankcase. An hour of highway driving made it evaporate and everything is fine

April 2000
Clutch is still slipping on low rev hard torque. Rebuild estimate from Pro Cycle is approximately $CDN350… $191 parts and $125 labour plus tax. I might have it done, might do it myself or might let it go for a while.

March 2000
Changed plug wires from original to new NGK Racing wires… not sure why they’re “racing wires” but I can say performance has improved dramatically. The wires are bright orange and the plug caps are molded right in. The original wires are molded into the coils so I had to cut them and use NGK cable splicers… they’re easy to connect and work fine. The whole job cost about $CDN100.

March 2000
Found emulsified oil in the oil filler cap hole around upper clutch components … looks like a white cream. Changed oil twice after making sure engine was hot. Seems to be almost all gone now. I’m hoping it’s just from winter storage and the residual water will steam away through the crankcase breather tube.

Post a Comment

*
To prove you're a person (not a spam script), type the security word shown in the picture.
Anti-Spam Image