Sunday, March 16.

BREAKING NEWS

  • >>19-Apr-2010: XJ650 Hardtail Chopper
  • >>07-Apr-2010: The New Everything Yamaha XJ650 Site
  • >>06-Apr-2010: Hacked
  • >>23-Jul-2009: XJ650 Adventure
  • >>26-May-2009: Green with Envy
  • >>06-Apr-2009: HOW TO: Bench Synch your Carbs
  • >>30-Mar-2009: HOW TO: Install a Headlight Modulator
  • >>27-Mar-2009: Red Beast
  • >>12-Jan-2009: HOW TO: Test a Relay
  • >>11-Jan-2009: Silver Special Maxim

XJ650 Hardtail Chopper

I came across this chopper on my countless hours spent looking at pictures of Yamaha Maxim and Seca motorcycles. I really loved the clean look of this hardtail chopper. I had the misfortune of losing my muffler on a midnight ride into Istanbul, Turkey and I remember how loud it was. Looking at the missing muffler on this motorcycle makes me cringe thinking about the noise this bad boy must unleash. The owner of this Yamaha XJ650 hardtail is a g...

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The New Everything Yamaha XJ650 Site

Well after many hours in front of the computer I have given the Everything Yamaha XJ650 site a complete face lift. I hope you like the new look. T...

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Hacked

Over the weekend this site was hacked. I'm not sure why, it's not as if we have a huge following. I'm pretty sure it's the Honda CBR crowd jealous...

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XJ650 Adventure

I know alot of people just come to this site for the great 'How-To's" and to get ideas for their XJ650 restoration projects but I wanted to direct...

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Howto

HOW TO: Bench Synch your...

This is a "How-To" on bench-synching carburetors. I've noticed quite a people (me being one of them) searching for clear instructions on how to do this. At some point recently I came upon them, but I can't seem to find them anymore. So, I decided to

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Fuel

HOW TO: Bench Synch your...

This is a "How-To" on bench-synching carburetors. I've noticed quite a people (me being one of them) searching for clear instructions on how to do this. At some point recently I came upon them, but I can't seem to find them anymore. So, I decided to

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Electrical

HOW TO: Install a Headli...

Have you ever seen those motorcycles coming at you with those headlight modulators? The pulsating headlight makes them very noticeable to other motorists. Unfortunately, these units can be rather expensive. After doing some research, I've come up wi

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Engine

Readersrides

XJ650 Hardtail Chopper...

I came across this chopper on my countless hours spent looking at pictures of Yamaha Maxim and Seca motorcycles. I really loved the clean look of this hardtail chopper. I had the misfortune of losing my muffler on a midnight ride into Istanbul, Turk

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Chasis

HOW TO: Change your fork...

You noticed it sometime back, but ignored it hoping it would go away. But, it hasn't. In your embarrassment, you quickly wipe off your fork tubes when meeting friends for fear that they might say something. Worse yet, it's gotten so bad that your fr

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Travel

XJ650 Adventure...

I know alot of people just come to this site for the great 'How-To's" and to get ideas for their XJ650 restoration projects but I wanted to direct you to another side of owning a Yamaha XJ650... riding! As the administrator of this blog you can gues

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Ads

XJ650 Swarmed by Gypsies in Albania

Daily Deals

XJ650 Adventure

Posted on July 23, 2009 and filed under , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through theRSS 2.0 . You can leave a response or trackback to this entry from your site

Elvis Glazier's XJ650 Cafe Racer on the Jadranska Magistrala in CroatiaI know alot of people just come to this site for the great 'How-To's" and to get ideas for their XJ650 restoration projects but I wanted to direct you to another side of owning a Yamaha XJ650... riding! As the administrator of this blog you can guess that I'm pretty passionate about these bikes. I have a number of XJ650 and XJ750 Maxims and Secas in various states of repair or disrepair depending on how optimistic you are.

It wasn't really until last year that my hobby turned into a complete obsession. I opened my mouth a little too much over a few pints with my mates and I told them that I was going to build an XJ and ride it around the world. In my defense, it was after they spent a good half hour bad talking my bike. What could I do?

Being a man of my word I set to building a bike that would be reliable and eye catching. I had enough spare engines and frames kicking around to put something together and I had the most important thing... an impossible goal. When I began the task I didn't think I would get as carried away as I did but by the end of the build there wasn't a square inch of the bike that wasn't touched by me. The engine was stripped down and rebuilt, the frame was modified slightly and powder coated, the exhausts were ceramic coated, custom paint, and new panniers made out of 50mm ammo cans. I had booked passage to Germany and I planned on touring through Eastern Europe. My dates were firm and I was working on the bike right up to the final day before I flew it to Frankfurt. The rest is history...

Elvis Glazier's XJ650 Cafe Racer Gassing Up in SlovakiaI toured through the western part of Eastern Europe and visited Germany, Czech Republic, Austria, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Croatia. I left my bike in Croatia and in 16 days I will be returning to continue my trek. This year it will be Croatia, Bosnia, Montenegro, Serbia, Albania, Macedonia, Greece, Turkey, Bulgaria, Romania, Moldova, Ukraine, and Poland. I know there are alot of people who tour the world by bike, but I think I'm the only one doing it on this particular bike.

Elvis Glazier's XJ650 Cafe Racer in Vienna Austria with Napolean
If you want to follow me on my travels, or if you would like to read about last years trip I would really encourage you to go to my other blog Elvis On The Move and subscribe to the email feed or RSS feed. Some of the stories that come from the road are hilarious and others informative. I truly hope I see you over there.

Elvis Glazier's XJ650 Cafe Racer

2 Responses for “ XJ650 Adventure”

  1. Derek says:

    Nice looking xj. I'd love to do that ride. I've done the whole "across America" thing and would love to do Europe and Egypt. My xj was halfway to being a cafe when I changed my mind and wanted to make a raked out chopper. It's up on the chopping block in a few weeks! How does the legal stuff work with riding a foreign registered bike overseas?

     
  2. Some borders are harder than others. This year I did the remainder of Eastern Europe plus Turkey. I left my ride in Germany and I was goint to ride to Egypt next summer. Unfortunately with Libya kicing out Canadians it makes the route alot harder.

    Perhaps Russia?

     

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Recently Commented

  • Anonymous says:
    How would I get some of these parts cause I would like to do this but different color
  • Anonymous says:
    Excellrnt got bike fired up after 3 years and wiring harness replacement. Works on turbo
  • Anonymous says:
    Great how to thank you for the information
  • Anonymous says:
    I need to replace my flasher for my signals, any idea where i can get a manual?
    [[More detail]]
  • Elvis Glazier says:
    Some borders are harder than others. This year I did the remainder of Eastern Europe plus Turkey. I...[[More detail]]
  • Derek says:
    I lived in Adelaide for two years and almost bought a KLR 650 to do some bush riding. I'm back...[[More detail]]
  • Derek says:
    Nice looking xj. I'd love to do that ride. I've done the whole "across America"...[[More detail]]
  • Anonymous says:
    excellent article! thanks for taking the time to post it!!! in reference to the ? about 10w-30 I...[[More detail]]
  • Anonymous says:
    Air pressure in the shocks?
    Adjust it on the center stand or on the side stand? good blog.
  • Mark Lyons says:
    The article on how to change fork seals is excellent.
    I plan on performing this soon on my...[[More detail]]

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