Meet my new 82 XJ

[WSL91]

Brought the bike home today. It's lived in WI since new. At one point it's original owner died and it sat in a barn for 15 years. Then the owner's brother took it and eventually used it to pay for a vehicle repair bill he didn't have cash for which landed it with the guy I bought it from today.

Odometer has not hit 10k yet, I've already gone for a ride. The side stand switch was sticking when I picked it up so after getting it home I pulled the boot down and soaked it with WD40 and now that's working. Runs pretty good, doesn't have the torque my Honda 1800 Vtwin has but above 4000 rpm is something my Honda doesn't do well but this one is like flipping a light switch on.

Plan to drain all fluids and lube the cables. Rear tire and battery are new, front needs replaced.

[BA80]

doesn't have the torque my Honda 1800 Vtwin has but above 4000 rpm is something my Honda doesn't do well but this one is like flipping a light switch on.

Welcome to the club bro'. That IS the addiction.

Good lookin" XJ.

[tv5150]

Sweet find...Enjoy the new ride and welcome...

[BA80]

Is it just me or does it seem like most of the XJs are all that maroon color?

[TopCatGr58]

Is it just me or does it seem like most of the XJs are all that maroon color?

From the Vin# thread:

1982 XJ1100J New Yamaha Black, New Ruby Red

Hey Greg,
Looks like we're just seeing the 50% that liked the Ruby Red/Maroon!


WSL91, great looking machine, congrats on your acquisition!
T.C.

[BA80]

Heh heh........just an observation.

[trbig]

From the looks of that #2 pipe, it looks like there will be some carb work in your future. That thing is EXTREMELY lean to get that double walled pipe that hot. Even the ones that are golden color are way too lean. Get that thing tuned right, and you'll have a lot more torque from idle to 4k where the main jets are getting fully kicked in. You will never get the low end grunt of an 1800 v-twin, but I'm betting you'll still get a chit-eating grin when it gets tuned right. Looks like it's missing the chrome heat shields down at the collectors? Those are easy enough to find on Ebay.

And by "New back tire", do you mean actually new, or just LOOKS new?


Good looking ride.

[WSL91]

From the looks of that #2 pipe, it looks like there will be some carb work in your future. That thing is EXTREMELY lean to get that double walled pipe that hot. Even the ones that are golden color are way too lean. Get that thing tuned right, and you'll have a lot more torque from idle to 4k where the main jets are getting fully kicked in. You will never get the low end grunt of an 1800 v-twin, but I'm betting you'll still get a chit-eating grin when it gets tuned right. Looks like it's missing the chrome heat shields down at the collectors? Those are easy enough to find on Ebay.

And by "New back tire", do you mean actually new, or just LOOKS new?


Good looking ride.

According to the PO the bike spent a day at the dealer last year and got a new battery and new rear tire. It looks possible. He even described it getting picked up by an overhead lift......The front has a lot of tread left but is developing cracking at the bead area (close to the rim) so I know that one has been on too long. We are now officially in the eval stage. I tinker with tractors and spotted the blue pipe as well. PO also stated that you have to shut the fuel off or you end up with it in the oil...yea I think a carb job is not too far off.

[trbig]

Could you take a lot closer pic of the #1 carb? (On the left side) I was wanting to see if you had what many call an Octopuss (Octo) on the carb, but also to see if the mixture screw caps have been taken off. These mixture screws will be on the top front of the carbs themselves, but the octo will be between the carbs and motor with a bunch of fuel lines running to and from it.

Also, the tire should have an oval 4 letter code date stamp on it. Look around the tire for something like this....









The first two numbers are the week the tire was made and the second two numbers are the year. So this tire was made the 22nd week of 2011. Anything over 5 years old, (Though that's debatable by some.. mainly by what the tire has been exposed to over those years like solvents, UV rays, etc..) and I'd start to get a bit leery of it.

[fredintoon]

Hi John,
nice find. What trbig sez about the tire date stamp. You say the rear is new but check how long it sat on a shelf before it was installed, just for interest's sake.
What's even more important is the front tire. The front tends to wear 3 times as long as the rear so a low-mileage-per-year bike will tend to have a front tire that's old before it's bald.
Old'n'bald is NOT what you want on your bike's front wheel.

[ddragon63]

TR and Fred are right... check the date on the tires. I just replaced both of mine, even thou they had half tread still. one was made in 01 the other in 02. the back one still looked like it could go. It wasn't weather checked and still pretty soft. The front on the other had (which was the older of the 2) was starting to crack in tread area and was hard as a rock. Tires are cheaper than the cost of replacing a bike and paying the doctor for the cream to help your road rash....

I trick I like to use bringing a bike thats been park a while back to life is buy a can of seafoam and put half in the gas tank and half in with the old oil. Run a few heat cycles in the driveway (let it get warm, shut it off let it cool about 15 minutes, repeat.). It will help clean up all the varnish and gunk in the engine. and the other half in the fuel will clean up the carbon in the combustion chamber. JAT

Nice looking bike buddy, good find

[WSL91]

Hi John,
nice find. What trbig sez about the tire date stamp. You say the rear is new but check how long it sat on a shelf before it was installed, just for interest's sake.
What's even more important is the front tire. The front tends to wear 3 times as long as the rear so a low-mileage-per-year bike will tend to have a front tire that's old before it's bald.
Old'n'bald is NOT what you want on your bike's front wheel.

I'll check the date stamps, I'm familiar with them. I was re-reading some email between the seller and me and he states both tires new and a new battery last year. I pulled the seat and there appears to be a brand new NAPA battery.

The rear looks new, the front...maybe. I know I restored a tornado damaged Honda Shadow in 2006 and put new tires on it. By the 3rd season the front was cracking around the rim already so yea the date is the only thing reliable for dating and cracking...well isn't but I'll be checking both.

[WSL91]

From the looks of that #2 pipe, it looks like there will be some carb work in your future. That thing is EXTREMELY lean to get that double walled pipe that hot. Even the ones that are golden color are way too lean. Get that thing tuned right, and you'll have a lot more torque from idle to 4k where the main jets are getting fully kicked in. You will never get the low end grunt of an 1800 v-twin, but I'm betting you'll still get a chit-eating grin when it gets tuned right. Looks like it's missing the chrome heat shields down at the collectors? Those are easy enough to find on Ebay.

And by "New back tire", do you mean actually new, or just LOOKS new?


Good looking ride.

I realize the carbs should probably be taken off and gone through. I actually won't be doing that until I get my other bike out of winter storage which is likely to be in early to mid March. No need to be bike-less when I have 2 bikes so for now its on a diet of Seafoam for a couple tanks. The XJ is going to be a daily driver, not long haul so just back and forth to work. Until then are there some adjustments I can do? I tinker with Ford tractors and even have a carb overhaul section on my site and re-jetted my Honda Shadow with 2 carbs so I'm not a complete nube, just no experience these particular carbs. Assuming they have some idle mix jet I was thinking they could be backed out 1/8 turn at a time and see what happens. I think I remember that Never dull removes the blue off the chrome so if that is true I could adjust, clean the pipes and watch for visual clues in addition to idle performance for now. My tractors all have an idle mix and power mix adjustment, the Shadow only had an idle mix and a friend has a VTX1300 with a single carb and I've adjusted the one jet on that that impacts a little of everything from idle to power.
Thanks for any advice you have, I've been reading everything I can find on the site and will be doing some fluid changing tomorrow (Monday).

[greatnw]

Adding my congrats on a great find! Nice looking machine.
I'll also add that I wouldn't let that carb tune go to long. That #2 pipe is trying to talk to you really loud.
I think you'll find that these bikes rode the cusp between 100% mechanical operation and the practical use of electronic ignitions. Add to that a shaft drive without the harsh backlash of some others I've ridden and you have a solid, reliable motorcycle that still competes in today's world.
Daily rider is why I like mine.

[WSL91]

Could you take a lot closer pic of the #1 carb? (On the left side) I was wanting to see if you had what many call an Octopuss (Octo) on the carb, but also to see if the mixture screw caps have been taken off. These mixture screws will be on the top front of the carbs themselves, but the octo will be between the carbs and motor with a bunch of fuel lines running to and from it.

Here you go, I'm guessing the caps/plugs are still in?





And here's the bike after a little cleaning today. Dumped some Seafoam in the crankcase and rode another 20 miles. Put the license plate holder on (was in a parts box) went to flush the brakes but my tubing doesn't fit so that will have to wait but I used a baster and removed the old fluid in the resovoir and refilled. I'll pick up some bigger tubing tomorrow. Front tire is 5 years old but it is cracking more each time I ride, its getting replaced. The rear is 4 years old and looks great. To me the front forks are way too soft, need to do my homework on that. Figured out how to adjust the idle down to 1100 today, was idling at 1500. I work nights until Arpil 1 so i work on the bike in the mornings then go to bed.