So I picked up this beast locally for a few hundred bucks. Overall in good shape, just needs a good cleaning and a thorough going over... This is the first bike that I will be attempting to do all the work on myself. I am very mechanically inclined and look at this as a fun project to get it in as good of shape as possible, by spending as little as possible on stupid things (Read as, mistakes)

To start, I need to know if the clutch adjustment screw is universal, so far, everyone I asked, has no idea, so I come to you guys and gals. This bike was missing the whole screw assembly at the handlebar, so the clutch was useless to me. (Had to truck it home)

The exhaust was drilled, which I hate (Can't stand loud bike) and the seat (King and queen seat I believe it's called?) has seen better days.

I'm thinking of doing a cafe project with this one, so any tips/tricks/where to look, would be a GIGANTIC help.

Welcome in. Firstly, best pop in to the newbie section and say hi!

Secondly, yes, AFAIK the clutch adjustment screw is universal, but if you can get to a Yam dealer they should be able to supply one for not much money!

Thirdly, I reckon it would make a great looking Cafe racer. The one I owned was ratted, but was starting look a bit Cafe Racer ish by the time I'd finished with it. In fact, so much so that I'm currently in negotiations to get it back so I can do the same thing!

Brake calipers, is there any aftermarket that fit these bikes with no (or very minimal) modification? I noticed very uneven brake wear, so I'd like to put new parts on that to be safe, if possible.

I reckon you can put the blue spot calipers on along with a 320mm disk.

check out my tracker blog on how I did it on the xs400 (they use the same original calipers as xs 750/850/1100)

Brake calipers, is there any aftermarket that fit these bikes with no (or very minimal) modification? I noticed very uneven brake wear, so I'd like to put new parts on that to be safe, if possible.

When you say there was uneven brake wear, do you mean they are wedge-shaped? If so, that's the shape they're meant to be!

Really? I'll post pictures when I get back from work. It just seems like this was over exaggerated in terms of wear. I expect a slight wedge, but not like this.

They should look like this:

wow, I never would've thought it was so pronounced. (I'm new to bikes if you couldn't tell)

Tore down the bike today, tank off, seat off, battery, wiring, carbs, airbox, handlebars/controls, headlight.

The flasher relay is bad and the reserve lighting unit is bad.

I want to totally bypass the reserve lighting unit, but I don't know how to do it... Anyone have any ideas?

what's a reserve lighting unit?

http://www.motorcycleclassics.com/tech-corner/dim-headlight-on-a-1979-yamaha-xs750.aspx

That explains it a bit.

Well I never knew that. (Probably because I never had a problem with it!) You learn something every day!

yes that's new to me too.

I think you need to study the wiring diagram to see if the wires are perculiar to the unit and can be just a case of bypassing the unit!