Ryengoth

I know I can get a basic plate adapter. I want to make a custom one for my bike with a cover. I may put the Yamaha logo on it, not sure yet.

Tail lenses polished out nicely as well as the turn. No need to buy new ones. Swing arm, wiring and boxes are back on. I also added the refreshed rear peg mounts and brackets. The LH side is back on. Right side rubber is soaking in a mix of synthetic power steering and regular brake fluids. It'll go on tonight. The fuse box on the donor harness was in decent shape. Used some Lemi-Shine to clean off the oxidization then sealed the paper labels with clear lacquer. Have to source one replacement fuse clip to complete the box. Working on this spin-on filter adapter housing design. A few more design changes to make after 3D printing fitment tests. Then a colleague of mine will mill it for me. 6061 aluminum for everything but the filter pipe. Not sure if I'll paint it, polish it or have it anodized yet..

The signal bits have been polished and new stems installed. These are all-original but 3 of the 4 lenses have broken-off screw channels. The replacement O-ring # I ordered is too small for these. Not sure what's going on with that. Need to verify the lens and body numbers against the book. The replacement gas tank finally arrived and it's dent-free! Woo! Light rust and some graffiti are no issue at all. POR-15 3-step process is first for the tank. It will likely outlast the frame after this. The spare seat under the tank was supposed to be a clean replacement and apparently the mid-seat seam split. I put conditioner on it and it was gone the next day so I think one of the kids may have been involved. Oh well, good to know now so I can order a skin for whichever seat foam is best.

Eek. Sand blasting would be a cool effect if you want a matt finish but it would definitely remove the casting texture. I imagine the sanding took a while as it did with the oxidization on this one. The clear on the polished lip refused to level out properly. I may end up re-doing it, dunno yet. At this point I can't afford to get stuff coated or rechromed. The gauge housings I have are either cracked or have major road rash and the visible bits have some rust or pitting. So, it won't be the mint restore I want. What I can do with it will be what it is. Plus, the bike value is only $250 for insurance and I've far surpassed that already. ?

The rear rim is done. Lots of cleaning, sanding and buffing with steel wool. Got a bit of rash on the outer lip but it's 35 years old. Not perfect but it'll do. I wish I could take the time to grind the paint off the spoke faces but I have so much else to do. I might do it later if I have a break in parts arrivals. The engine still has no cylinders, waiting on studs.

Thanks! Yes, it's a 16" rear 19" front. Finding the front and rear aspect ratio in those from the same tire series was fun. I ended up going with a Continental Go! road tire for now. I expect I'll be wanted a larger model bike once I get this one done. I'm a noob rider so I'm learning the bike from the frame up as I restore this one. I like to learn things from the inside out. So far, I like Yamaha's engineering choices. I suspect Honda is similar. To have 18k miles and been around for 35 years OE parts have held up extremely well.

Thanks. Got more pics coming up. Working on rear rim, starter and frame re-assembly. Still trying to locate a single bs29 carb for the rack to replace #4 body. Found a full rack in the US for $200 but was hoping to not have to buy a whole carb set. Engine case is getting painted soon and I'll re-assemble the top-end.

3D printing a set to see how it fits. I think I may change up the hand grip, not really liking the square now.

Starter needs a major cleaning and new seals. Paint is curing on the body, still have the caps to do. Brushes are in really good shape to be as old as it is. The wire wheel on the drill press makes quick work of metal cleaning, ready for paint. That's one ugly sprocket cover! Clutch cover's turn. Finish pics of the starter and clutch cover soon. Waiting on more parts.

Yes, there are spin-on adapters for the XJ series, but it's just a plate like that. You still see the ugly filter sticking out the front like a wart. I'm going to make mine with a decorative cover. Similar type of construction, flange to flange plate with an M20x1.5 pass-through retainer. I'll have a cap that attaches to that plate, just not sure on the design of the plate and cap yet.

I found 4 of 10 so far and I believe Len from xj4ever has the other ones. The other 2 plastic sleeved ones are only available without the plastic. The head studs are M8x1.25 on both ends, so worse case scenario I can make some. The tensile strength of the threaded rod is 150kpsi, so I don't think it'll be too weak considering the holes have aluminum threads. I could use the rod as-is since all of the holes are a little larger than M8. The reason the shanks are cut narrower than the thread is to avoid contact galvanizing between the steel stud and the aluminum block and head. The center 4 studs are larger in the shank for more clamping force, which is why they sheath them. Working on a custom oil filter kit for the XJ. Spin-on adapter and decor cover. Tossing around design ideas for CNC/lathe ease as well as base plate and cover style. Here's the starting point.

Thanks. I may end up making my own from all-thread and cutting the mid-shaft threading off with a lathe. I found one of the inner cylinder plastic-sleeved ones on CMS in NL. Those are nearly impossible to find new (NOS). Shipping those will be expensive, though and they don't have all of the studs either. I guess I may have to piece this engine back together over the course of several months since one stud # could end up costing me $50-80USD to ship it here. That eBay block would be a bit cheaper than the few studs I can find online provided those studs actually come out of the block. I'm going to check the threading and diameter of the ones I've removed and see if I can get away with all-thread. Hoping it's M6x1.25, which is readily available by the meter.

I'm having a hard time locating all of the cylinder/head studs for the xj550 engine. It seems that half of them are discontinued and I've already pulled all but the weird bevel-bottom one on #2, without marking them. ARGH! Is it possible to locate them in the UK? All of the distributors in the US have at least 2 if not 3 of the 5 part numbers unavailable.

Ended up pulling the jugs anyway. Looks like the studs are rusted bad, guess they'll get replaced. Cylinder bores have been honed. Piston and rings look good, just gonna clean them up. Wrist pins were tight so going to re-install with new clips.

It really is an amazing and cheap treatment for bearing surfaces. The racing and motorsports industries have been using them for over 10 years to gain an edge in performance. I learned about them from researching how to increase the valve train rev limit from 6500 to 7500 on my 2013 Genesis Coupe 3.8 GDi turbo build project. With the OEM flat-tappet lifter design there was an inherent rotational limit due to friction heat as well as lifter slop at higher revs. I never finalized my head testing but based on the engineering specs; the Ferrea valve springs (40+ lbs each over stock), high-zinc synthetic oil and WPC treated cam surfaces I would be able to hit 7500 without issue even under 25psi boost. ?

I have more shiny stuff to post when I get a chance to resize them. The website does not like 4000 pixel images. Heh.

Frame has been treated and had the first coat of poly frame spray put on. #1 to 3 carbs have been stripped and painted. I need to find a body for #4 since someone broke the idle tube off. Carbs will be rebuilt with new parts as needed including new butterfly shaft seals. The clutch pack looks original and still has life. No signs of case cracks so far. I also attached a WPC treatment comparison of a polished versus WPC cam lobe and journal.

It does help some with surface tension but mainly it reduces the surface area of the metal without changing the physical geometry. It also helps with friction reduction by providing better oil layer tension, but alone it reduces surface friction by at least 50%. It's cheap insurance for raw bearing surfaces, especially when dissimilar metals are in contact.

Since this is a May production in 1981 it has the short VIN on the head stock not the full, even though the date code says 1982. They must have changed it in June 1981 for the rest of the production runs.

Frame is ready for some sanding and rust treatment. I'm going to try to get a replacement headstock sticker since the frame and engine #s match. What's odd is that the frame and engine only has the model # and last several VIN digits, not the whole USA VIN like I've seen on other XJs. Valve cover is done. Then I found this fun stuff in the carbs.

Lots of work is done and still to be done. The head and valves have been cleaned, new stem seals installed and valves lapped in. Cams will be here tomorrow and I'll finish the head rebuild. Engine has been cleaned about 50% and will be reassembled soon. The frame has been disassembled completely and is ready for sanding and paint. Someone broke the idle tube off for carb #4 so gotta find a replacement body and another idle jet. The other 3 have been cleaned and waiting for #4 before a carb kit is installed. I started on the gas tank with the stud dent gun and ended up chasing a hole with the TIG until I gave up. Too much rust causing burn-through so I'm working on a parts order for a bunch of parts including an undented tank, full harness, headlight trim, full lock set and various other stuff.

Valves are in with new Viton seals and ready for the camshafts. WPC shipped the cam and I should have it early next week to finish the head work. Well, the frame is almost ready. The plan is to replace the harness since someone chopped it up. I'm going to get a replacement headstock sticker since all of the stamps match on the bike. I think for the time savings and durability I will get the local powder coater to handle the frame. I need to pull the head apart anyway and check all of the bearings. I'll eventually get around to the forks and front wheel assembly but I want to get the engine done and rear wheel done first.