1983 DOHC Maxim 400 Build

[Hardk0re]

I was hunting for a project for a while, stumbled on two mistreated XS400's. The black one is being picked on right now and i'll use the red one for parts.

So far I got her running, plans to hard tail it just bridging the shock with a ridgid beam, and a spring seat. Every bolt/screw on this bike that was a regular service item seems to be rounded so far its been allot of screw out and bolt out tools required to get things appart.
All was going well until i realized why it was parked (at least this one), seems they attempted carb service and the pilot jet was rounded off in one of the carbs. Thankfully I have two bikes and the other had dirty but unmolested carbs. I need to find some small fine removal tool for such things but it looks pretty hopeless on that carb right now.

Here are my new babies:

 

[16VGTIDave]

Welcome Hardk0re! Those Maxims look to be in decent shape. Not common to see a Maxim with the side plastic's in place, never mind 2!

If you decide to part with the crash bar on the black one, drop me a PM! Keep your eye on the Lounge, we may be doing another Southern Ontario get together and ride next month if the weather holds.

Dave

 

[xschris]

Good score Welcome to the forum

 

[Lou Ranger]

Welcome HardkOre! Too bad the red one isn't the best of the two.

... Keep your eye on the Lounge, we may be doing another Southern Ontario get together and ride next month if the weather holds. Dave

I dunno Dave.
He will get the carbs just clean enough to run at 250' ASL and then have to turn back south of King Side Road when he hits 900 ASL - like all the Toronto members on our last ride!

 

[16VGTIDave]

I'm trying to think positive Lou. Maybe he can get one of the Maxims tuned to run on fresh air without smog. Maybe...

 

[Hardk0re]

They both run. C'mon. Carbs take 5 minutes to swap

 

[16VGTIDave]

5 minutes to swap carbs? On a Maxim with stock airbox???

That's a good one! I'd pay to see it done, properly, in less than 30 minutes!

 

[Hardk0re]

I've pulled and put them back in pretty quick. 5 minutes I guess is still not allot... My e your right at a but more but It's not that long. Leaving the airbox loose helps. I do want to go to pods tho. It runs decent up and down the street pulls hard to redline once she is warmed up.... Not the best idea with 13 year old tires but runs good surprisingly. Now since I know it runs from Baseline the tear down can begin....

Question: where do u guys get your jets, parts? Mikesxs doesn't seem to ship to canada?

 

[Lou Ranger]

.... Question: where do u guys get your jets, parts? Mikesxs doesn't seem to ship to canada?

I'm told XS650 Direct. They are in Stratford so there is no cross border crap to deal with.

 

[16VGTIDave]

I could see 30 to 45 minutes for a carb re and re. I can do a jet change on mine in about 30 minutes, with pods and lots of practice...

Suppliers in Canada:
http://www.siriusconinc.com/ - my main source for parts
http://aviciouscycle.ca - my second source
http://www.xs650direct.com/ - the Canadian arm of MikesXS
http://www.partsnmore.com/ - never dealt with
http://www.myoldyamaha.com/ - never dealt with

 

[Hardk0re]

So the full tear down began. Ran out of time but just had a bit of time between work and picking up kids.

Vice grips for the win:

And that's all for now not very exciting..

 

[Hardk0re]

This spring I finally spent time on it. Going to paint the plastics, polish up the chrome and call it a day. All stock. I played with the pod filters, finally I just gave in and put the stock air box, stock jets Stock exhaust and all. Man it runs amazing .

 

[bcware]

The only reason I switched to aftermarket exhaust and pods was ultimately because my stock system was trashed when I got it. Don't get me wrong, I like the sound it makes now, but that was the real deciding factor for me. At the time I literally could not get a stock style air filter; they were on backorder everywhere and aftermarket is usually way cheaper than oem. It was a lot of work to get it tuned decently with pods and 2-1 exhaust.

Post up some photo updates!