A guy I know at work was cleaning out his garage and wanted to just get rid of one of his (non-running) motorcycles. Anyways I ended up picking it up from him for free today. Its a 83 yamaha xj650, and I was wondering if anyone here could direct me at a good place to buy parts to fix it up. It needs thinks like a new ignition switch, hoses to connect to the air box, a rear tire, and a seat. Probably a few more things but my plan is to fix it and then either learn to ride it or sell it off for a profit.

 

Be prepared for a shock. A 83 is way out of date compared to todays bikes. Shopping for parts will be education. Selling it for a profit is doubtful, breaking even is more like it IF you find the right buyer.

 

Dan is correct. The XJ 650, also known as the SECA, was a pretty nice bike in its day. Still worth repairing to ride IF it is salvagable without a big investment in time and parts. If you want a decent bike at minimal cost, go for it if you can forsee the cost as minimal.
If, for some reason you find it is an XS 650, grab it and give me a call! The XS 650 is in pretty high demand these days. Sort of a cult followong. I plan to buy another to rebuild...when I have the time and $$$

edit to add: if it has been sitting EXPECT TO REBUILD ALL 4 CARBS. If you aren't familiar with carbs, get familiar (they are not too difficult to rebuild) or plan to pay somebody. Ignition switch should not be too big a problem. You can buy "universal" switches that you could wire in yourself.
Check E-bay and do a Goodle search. There are used/salvage bike places that can probably help you out.

 

Thanks for the advice on the carbs, all that I can find wrong is little peices like the ignition switch so, it should be cheap to fix up. If thats the case about selling it for a profit I'm going to keep it at that point.

 

Check out:

http://www.mrcycleparts.com

They query various used parts places around the country and send the results back by email.

Ebay is another place to check.

I have a 79 CX500 and I'm hunting down a CDI module for right now. I feel your pain, but with the internet it's a lot easier to get old parts than it used to be.

 

Can't complain about it being free & the XJ is a decent bike. The older bikes are hard to find. Most have been dead & parted out. Eventually it will be worth a decent price. I think after 25 years of depreciation they tend to go up in value the older they get from that point.

Looking for parts will be a chore though. Most dealers don't waste their times with older bikes & if you find one that will then you can expect to pay for it.

Try to find a salvage yard in your area that deals with older bike or you can check ebay for parts also. I know a guy that has numeruos XJ's & XS's for parts. If your interested I will give you his phone number for you to call and see what he can do for you as for parts.

Thats comforting to know that the XS 650 is becoming rare and more valuable. I just bought a 80 XS650 Special here a couple months ago for $400.00. It is all original & looks like it would when new. I'm making a few changes to it though like getting rid of the spoked wheels & putting mag wheels on it instead.

I also have a 81 XJ650 Maxim that I'm going to be redoing after I'm done with the XS. I have bought both bike cheap because the original owners finally bought their high dollar over rated Harley.

Another place you could possibly get some help at is at the XS-650 Garage Forums.

http://xs650temp.proboards29.com/index.cgi

They are primarily for the XS-650 but do have help & discusions about the XJ's.

 

Parks,
$400 !?!?
All original and looks like it did new ???
You, my friend, got a good deal.

Watch the spoked wheels. Depending on which ones, they can be quite a bit more valuable than any other style. (shouldered rims are the desireable ones).
The web site youlinked to has lots of good knowledgable folks on it. I was a HEAVY participant when I had two XS 650s. You can get good info there.