that looks sooo mean.
also looks like your gonna have to make some custom air filter tubes and box
also looks like your gonna have to make some custom air filter tubes and box
XJ550 Blaster
- Thread starter 79xs
- Start date
I have the headers for the motor. I made sure I could fit the head pipes in with the frame. I have no idea how i'm going to do it yet, but I do want it to be quiet enough to be trail legal.
could you get some more pictures, one of the swingarm mounts in the frame and another of the exhaust section.
reason for the swinger pic, i think that you might be able to use a banshee swinger, i am pretty sure it is longer than a blaster one and since your engine does use the swinger as a mount like the blaster you might be able to make it work.
as for the exhaust system, i would suggest a 4-2-1 system with a center mount silencer. that is, if you can bend piping, you can do it yourself. have it where the header goes down to 2, then the 2 pipes twist and run along each side, then they come together behind the intake and make a center exit.
reason for the swinger pic, i think that you might be able to use a banshee swinger, i am pretty sure it is longer than a blaster one and since your engine does use the swinger as a mount like the blaster you might be able to make it work.
as for the exhaust system, i would suggest a 4-2-1 system with a center mount silencer. that is, if you can bend piping, you can do it yourself. have it where the header goes down to 2, then the 2 pipes twist and run along each side, then they come together behind the intake and make a center exit.
The swing arm pivot is free and clear of the motor. Is the banshee swingarm the same width? Do you happen to know if the sprocket is in the same location?
Oh and I forgot to say... I'll take the pics for you tonight.
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Are the number 2 and 3 pipes off that motor going to hit the frame tubes in the last series of photos? They look (at least from the side) like they might be close. Do you have a pic of the engine sitting in the frame from the front? The fit of that engine inside the blasty frame is really good compared to some of the other swaps I've seen. There's a 4 cylinder swap on Craigslist near me that looks like someone seriously frankenstein'd the frame to fit the engine in there. It's all humpbacked and wierd looking. It looks like yours is going to be fairly clean looking.
You can probably purchase a jet kit for running that engine with pod type air filters. May be the only way to get enough air into all 4 cylinders. I don't think there's enough room between the carbs and the shock to construct a real airbox. It's not going to be really pretty out on the trail if you get into wet situations but do-able.
You can probably purchase a jet kit for running that engine with pod type air filters. May be the only way to get enough air into all 4 cylinders. I don't think there's enough room between the carbs and the shock to construct a real airbox. It's not going to be really pretty out on the trail if you get into wet situations but do-able.
Yes, I will need to miter and cut some small wedges out of the center two headers to help them clear. The head pipes are thickwall tube so I should be able to mig weld them without too many problems.
The best picture I have for now is attached below. I'll take more tonight.
Thanks. This is my first time doing a full motor swap. Its something I always wanted to do. Over the years I have seen a lot of swap pictures and it gave me time to think about what I could do if I wanted to build one. The motors I looked into were the XJ550 and GS550. Both are very good 1970s/80s small aircooled 4s. A cool perk of the XJ550 is that the flywheel is really up under the carbs. That takes a few inches off the width of the crank case. Also, I knew I didn't like the look of a hacked up frame so I didn't want to cut anything that I could save. My goal is to make it look good but also be safe.
The carbs are MICs so i'll be able to buy jets. Most 1980s bikes are lean from the factory so I might go up 2 on the main and pilots then up a notch on the needles.
You'd probably be better off taking that small piece of round pipe and the piece of square tubing out that sit in front of the center two cylinders to give you more clearance. Those high RPM 4 strokes are quite particular to exhaust flow and hacking up pipes will kill the power kind of like hacking up a blaster expansion chamber.
At least if you trimmed that section of frame out and put a straight vertical piece of square behind the upper shock mount you'd have a little more room to turn the center two pipes out a bit before they head down and under ( or to the side).
I thought Honda was the only one who did the jackshaft assembly. I knew the CBX was like that but I didn't know yamaha played with it. That is really good though. Keep it narrow without sacrificing.
Keep those pics flowing because it looks like it is coming along fabulously.
At least if you trimmed that section of frame out and put a straight vertical piece of square behind the upper shock mount you'd have a little more room to turn the center two pipes out a bit before they head down and under ( or to the side).
I thought Honda was the only one who did the jackshaft assembly. I knew the CBX was like that but I didn't know yamaha played with it. That is really good though. Keep it narrow without sacrificing.
Keep those pics flowing because it looks like it is coming along fabulously.
Maybe i'll cut them out and move them forward a bit. I based the placement off having the square tube as close to the top rear a-arm mounts as I could. I could also make the part of the header that meets the motor longer. It would allow me to go past the center brace then out. Maybe I could make all 4 longer so they match. I'm still kind of stuck on how I should do the 4-2-1 setup. I would like to kick the pipes out to the side so I don't bash them under the frame. It would force me to join cyl 1-2 and 3-4. I'm not sure if the motor will care or not.
That is amazing. As soon as I have a good job and some extra money I definitely want to do something like this.
If you had gone and hacked up a CBX to stick it in a blaster frame the honda gods would have smited thee....
If you take that square piece out you can come out to the side and clear behind the frame with the exhaust. If you lengthen the straight section and go into the frame with it you're going to have to cycle the suspension SEVERAL times to make sure you're not hitting the pipe with anything that moves. Either way will work but I'd sacrifice the look of the frame before I'd mess with threaded the exhaust pipe in and out of that hole each time.
I think the frame looks excellent (other than the exhaust pipe issue
) and it should be an absolute BLAST to ride.
I really don't think it's going to matter too much whether the pipe goes under the frame or around the side, you're going to find out very quickly this isn't going to be a trail bike... You won't need to worry about bashing anything out there on the flat level ground which will be the only place you'll have enough room to do more than crack the throttle open.
It looks like the vacuum caps are going to interfere with the sump on the gastank. If you're real good you can gently heat the gastank and collapse that lowest part but I would recommend taking it by a bodyshop and see what they can do about forming the plastic. I really would like to see the factory gastank (or at least some derivative of the factory gas tank) sitting up there. I've seen people who used mini-kegs to hold fuel and stuff and they always look..... like someone didn't plan ahead for fuel storage.
If you take that square piece out you can come out to the side and clear behind the frame with the exhaust. If you lengthen the straight section and go into the frame with it you're going to have to cycle the suspension SEVERAL times to make sure you're not hitting the pipe with anything that moves. Either way will work but I'd sacrifice the look of the frame before I'd mess with threaded the exhaust pipe in and out of that hole each time.
I think the frame looks excellent (other than the exhaust pipe issue
) and it should be an absolute BLAST to ride. I really don't think it's going to matter too much whether the pipe goes under the frame or around the side, you're going to find out very quickly this isn't going to be a trail bike... You won't need to worry about bashing anything out there on the flat level ground which will be the only place you'll have enough room to do more than crack the throttle open.
It looks like the vacuum caps are going to interfere with the sump on the gastank. If you're real good you can gently heat the gastank and collapse that lowest part but I would recommend taking it by a bodyshop and see what they can do about forming the plastic. I really would like to see the factory gastank (or at least some derivative of the factory gas tank) sitting up there. I've seen people who used mini-kegs to hold fuel and stuff and they always look..... like someone didn't plan ahead for fuel storage.
I want to take it mudding..I:I
I was thinking about that. I was going to try and use a heatgun to slowly heat up the tank and try to push that bump in. Do you happen to know if that works or not? Will the plastic turn hard from it? :-/
Too much heat will turn the plastic brittle as hell and it won't be good at all.
The best thing you could use is a heat gun for heat shrink tubing where the heat is adjustable. Use a ball peen hammer and then work the plastic down with the heat until the bulge is pushing in. It's going to take a LOT of patience....
The best thing you could use is a heat gun for heat shrink tubing where the heat is adjustable. Use a ball peen hammer and then work the plastic down with the heat until the bulge is pushing in. It's going to take a LOT of patience....
I spent about an hour looking at the frame to see how the header pipes could fit... As it stands I would not be able to fit them in 100% even if I remove some of the frame like we thought. I'm just going to go for a happy medium... I will have to mod the two instead headers to help them jet out to either side of the frame. I will try and cut them in a way where they turn a bit quicker instead of getting smaller. I don't think it will be a problem if ithe motor only makes 45hp instead of 50hp at 9000 rpm.
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