1982 Yamaha XJ650 Maxim from United States of America - Comments

This happened to a friend of mine once, after sitting on the side of the highway for a while, finally a good Samaritan stopped, took a quick look at his bike, turned the petcock to the reserve position and started his bike right up. I imagine he told him that he should stop for gas soon too! :)

Hello Maxim fans,

I just bought an 83 Maxim XJ650 and I love it, it's fun to ride and handles great. My question is what is the difference between the xj650 engine and the same year yics 650, they look the same and while a few minor problems have arisen with the bike (probably from lack of maintenance), I have an opportunity to buy a 5000 mi. engine cheap, but the cover says yics. Will I be able to swap them out?

Thanks, and have fun out there... after all that's what it's all about.

Glad I found this page. I've had my 82 Maxim 650 since 87. Bullet proof is right. I have only had to do routine maintenance on it.

I had the problem with the engine cutting out during riding, turned out to be a loose positive battery terminal.

I found Yamaha golf cart emblems will fit the tank by drilling another hole (in the emblem, not the tank). They aren't curved, but for $6.00 they look great.

Took her for a 1700 mile jaunt around Lake Superior last summer with no troubles at all.

Hey guys, just bought my 82 Yamaha XJ650 Maxim... bought it for 500 dollars and all that was wrong was front caliper wasn't working (which was just needing to have bleeder screw cleaned and then bled), a new left mirror, and there is a dent in the left side of the gas tank... will either try to pull it out or replace..

Other than that it is in perfect shape with a lil over 14 k miles original miles on it.. fires right up, don't even have to use the choke to crank it. Bulletproof?? Ur dang Skippy!! The power is immense and I can't wait for August to head to Sturgis on it.. later all Maxim owners.

Just found this site, wishing I'd found it sooner as I would like to ask... how long has everybody had their bikes? How many miles have you gotten on one of these. I'm looking at an 82 650 to buy as my first bike. It has 30K on it. The guy swears it's in great shape and everything. He's wanting $1250 for it. Any thoughts? Also, would this be a good bike for a woman, size wise (5'5")?

Ya, it would be perfect for a woman that tall as I am a male 5'7" and I have my feet flat on the ground with some leg room left..

As far as the bike goes, test ride it and see what you think, but I own one and it is magnificent. It has plenty of power, and yet is still smooth and enjoyable to ride, so no problems there..

But as far as the price, I can't tell ya cause I have seen these things going as far as 3000 dollars. I myself had to pay 500 dollars and the bike was ready to ride, just needing a caliper, new mirrors and the gas tank has a dent in it and that was all..

All in all, if you go for it you will be happy with your decision..

Avid 82 XJ650 Maxim rider.

Thank you for the input. I did go ahead and buy the bike. Gave 1200. Pretty sharp for being as old as it is! The only issue is the fuel. It doesn't like to idle. The guy said it had been sitting since the spring. We've put some gunk out in the tank and am working on running that through the system. We'll see what that does. If the choke is all the way open, it likes to rev big time! That may be normal.. I'm just so new to all this and I haven't got a clue!! And once it's going, there is no problem whatsoever.

So far I think I'm going to like the bike. I learned on a 250 Rebel, so I'm taking it nice and easy and just puttering around town for a bit to get used to it. I do like the size and weight of it.

Ya. It is a powerful bike for what it is. And ya the high rev on full choke is normal for warm up. The idle issue could be crap in the tank or some bad gas; clean it up, give it a tune up and see what happens. There is a idle screw you can play with.. but a lot of the time, if a tune up won't work then you need to get a valve job done on it and you will be good to go. But ya, going from that 250 to this beast is a big upgrade, so good luck and let me know how it goes..

Hello Fellow Maxim Riders!

Just took my '81 Midnight Maxim out on a 1000+KM ride (Yes I'm Canadian) and she performed extremely well! We hit some heavy rain and hail, which was brutal, but she did really well. The bike loves to cruise at 120kmh, roughly 75mph. I read a post about vibrations just over 60mph and under. I also have that, but right above it it performs quite well. Just had this bike for little over a year, and still very much a huge fan!

Great bike!

Hey everyone, I just found this site. Very cool.

My dad bought an "81" 650 Midnight Maxim the day we first saw it in the dealership. It was October 1980. I was 14 and it was too cold for him to ride it home so he let me. He-he. I was the first one to ride it. He didn't ride it much, so one day in 1988 he calls me up and says come and get it, since you just sold your bike. I've had it ever since.

It is a great bike. It only has 6200 miles on it and looks like it's brand new.

I just got it out for the first time since 1997. I went thru all the fluids and the carbs. It runs great. I get looks from younger people wondering what it is, and looks from my generation wondering where it came from.

It has a chrome header on it that my dad had put on it. I still have the OEM pipes too. It also has a Rooster fairing By Vetter that the ole man put on it...

I am just glad to see people are still enthusiastic about these great bikes. And I also still have my Yamaha car stereo cassette deck in it, and it sounds as good as the bike. Keep the rubber on the road all!

Tog.

Hi everyone, what a great read all those comments are. I got my 82 XJ650J 2 weeks ago, not running, for $750. 2 hours with a multimeter showed up a broken fuse clip under the tank on the ignition circuit that was preventing the starter from cranking and no spark at the plugs. Replaced it and she fired right up. I put fresh fuel in the tank and now realise after reading comments here that 83 octane I am using is causing hesitation when I open the throttle. I am 62 and this is my first bike. What a hoot.

Flyin Kiwi.

Hey guys just a question. I was wondering if just putting straight pipes on this bike would be too loud..? Or if it would even workout.

Also, would anyone know where to get some 4-2 headers, since mine is a 4-1 and it would look pretty weird with one straight pipe. I'm going for the shotgun look.

Thanks!

Why would you want to ruin a classic bike like this by putting on straight pipes?

That just shouldn't be done to such a rare classic.

Leave it stock, or stick to something quiet, if you must replace the pipes.

Hi everyone, I have just bought a 1982 650 Maxim. It has stood in a garage for ten years; the carbs were all seized up. I freed floats, cleared jets, refitted carbs, and it fired up for a short while, then died. Any help or suggestion most welcome.

Hey everyone!! Just tuned up my bike, oil change, spark plugs, the works. It went up 13 mpg from 33 to 46 mpg. It made me so happy let me tell ya, but ya runs a lot better now too, so anyone getting crappy gas mileage or having problems with power, then maybe what I did is what you need to do.

Thanx all for reading.

"reaper"