Maxim 650!

Ace45

Ace45

Original XS Chick
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So turns out he decided not to sell his XS but sold me his Maxim 650 instead for 500 bucks (decent enough) Looks the same as the XS and besides the retail price I really don't know the difference. Anyone know anything about them? this bike is frickin solid though starts on the first try and idles perfect. The Chrome is in excellent condition (just needs polished) Also came with a windshield and a padded sissy bar. (which I may sell later)

Here's the bike.*drool*

1zfrmma.jpg


Hey Travis...I know it's not an XS but since this is my home page/best forum ever! can I post my Maxim 650 build on the XS650 Forum? I tried to find a decent Xj Forum but the one I did find had WAY too many people in it everyone was just kind of posting there own thing instead of helping anyone else. those guys arn't as nice and awesome as everyone here...plus it really sucks being new to a forum and trying to follow everything that's going on.
 
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Hey Ace45,
That is a nice bike.And I do have a Xj story.
One of my very best friends had a 82 Maxim.It was a low miliage beauty and ran like clock-work.
I remember the first time we rode together,after a while we swapped rides,mine a fine running 1978 XS 650 Special and the Maxim.
Well after a while we switched back,me almost literally had to pry me off that Maxim.
It was one of the nicest bikes I have ever ridden.Smooth,nice handling and quick for a 650.
My comparison would be it was "like getting off a sewing machine and back on a cement mixer". Now although the bikes are similar in stature,2 cylinder vs 4 cylinder plus a lower seat height which improves handling,sets these bikes apart.
I think you will be happy with this bike,but the challenge will be how much you,yourself can do to this bike vs how easy and simple the XS 650 is.
And you are right about this forum,you will not find a better site where the guys and gals will step up and help.
All the best with your new bike Ace45
 
XJbikes.com was a good group and they had a parts guy that could get almost anything for it.
 
Yeah leave it posted here. We talk about all sorts of bikes here. Was the forum you speak of xjbikes.com? It's not a bad site really. Just a lot to take in a once with so many forums, sidebars and history. It's really not as active as it might first look.

Anyway! I used to have a Maxim 650 and really liked it! It was much faster than my XS650s and ran great. The carbs are a little more work because there are four of them, but keep some sta-bil in they system over the winter and hopefully you won't have to mess with them. If you have any questions about it, I can probably help. I did a lot of work to mine. That was about 4 years ago though so I may have forgotten a thing or two.

This was mine:

82xj001.jpg


I put a maxim 750 front end on it. Much better braking.

Here's a video I made when I sold it:

 
better get a 4 carb synchronizer and a shop manual. Those are *probably* shim under bucket for valve adjustments, so welcome to cam removal to set clearances..A far more complex machine to start on if you plan to do your own maint and dive in. Best 4 cyl bikes to start on are SOHC honda's. I had a cb550/4 and it was as easy as the XS for working on.
 
IMG_1653.jpg


That's my xs650 with my xj1100 in the background. the xj is fast as fuck - i've never really lost to anyone on it. it's fun, smooth, and REALLY purrs like a kitten. I've sold it - waiting for the kid to come pick it up. Stellar bikes, either way.
 
You need a special tool (not too expensive)to do valve adjustments. You can make the tool for carb syncs (yics stic). bought one for flipping. Sold it before I got it running. Some of the electrics will work on our '80 and later XS's.
 
Hella thanks guys. Yeah I just took it out for a test drive and holy shit!!...first I thought iwas going to kill myself the difference between the 400 to a 650 was crazy. It's going to take some practice for me to handle this thing but I love it. spent an hour cleaning it stills needs a little more polish but I'll post something when i get it done. Even if it is a little complicated maybe I can just do some really cool cosmetic customizations until I can get the user manual and everything together. The only down side is there is a dent in the tank on the left side but on the 400 site there is an awesome knee dent tutorial from skillzman1 (awesome guy) and I enetually want a coffin tank anyway. Thanks for letting me keep it here Travis. yeah it was xjbikes. it was all just to much to follow at once and this is my nice comfy home forum (and by that I mean my "obsesssion forum" I mean hell it's set as my homepage >.< Well I am excited to know the difference and honestly I like the shaft over the simple chain or belt and four cylinders mmmmmm....it really sounds like the new V-star 650's so I am in bike that's currently too big for me heaven! I'm sure within a week I'll have that hang of it though.

TTYL Guys It's sooooo good to finally have found a bike for such a great price
 
Great bikes! My first bike was an xj with a 750 in it than swapped a 650. Honestly couldnt tell much a difference. You can cosmetically change them however you want and though it ran great I was never happy with the lines. The shaft drive is nice and low maintenance and they run great when tuned.

My old xj
clbike0042.jpg
 
nice bike juan. Yeah and I forgot the fuel doesn't have the off switch like it sgould. I'm guessing that means he did something to the petcock? I bought some stay-bill today so I don't forget it in the later months but If I move to cali like I'm planning to I won't really have to worry about the winter so much
 
That's quite a switcheroo. The bike looks good, and mostly original. I've owned three xj750, shaft drives, and they've been solid quick bikes. I wouldn't expect anything less from the 650. There's a good support group that communicates a lot by email, they get together with yearly carb clinics in different regions you could join up at this page:

http://micapeak.com/mailman/listinfo/xj-owners

Does your petcock have reserve, on, prime? That's the standard vacuum petcock, no off setting, fuel is only supposed to flow when the engine's running. Default setting is on. Read more about them, and their problems.
 
Yup that's what my petcock says. I wasn't sure I'm used to the on off stuff. Well it works for me I'll just use the stay-bill It's a good bike so far but it's cold hearted until it gets warm so I'm guessing it needs some carb work. I'll look into how to do it myself. Other then that I just got it cleaned and polished it's missing the bolts to keep the seat locked down too. that's super small fix. so I just gotta work on the carbs and change a couple spark plugs and it will be solid. And then I can go break a leg....It's pretty funny that you would mention that carb clinic lol Thanks for the heads up on that site it seems pretty nice. Thanks Musket
 
Gang, unrelated but I had turned my 650 Maxim into a Bobber, now thinking to make it a scrambler, anyone done this? Thinking a skid plate has to be custom made? Thanks,

Pete
 
Ace get ahold of metal fab mafia or jairime nafzger on facebook he has built 4 of those bikes as long as it's chain drive. He lives in Baltimore just outside of lancaster so very close to you
 
I always thought the 650 was the most nicely proportioned of all the Maxims. I had a 650 turbo a few years ago. The motors are quite strong and long lived. You can always lever in a 750 for more oomph if you want to. I wouldn't hack that one up, I'd find a better stock tank and leave it alone.
 

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