My first restoration of an 82' Yamaha Seca XJ650 RJ

Hi all,

I just purchased a non-running 82' Seca XJ650 RJ for $150 and I have never loved anything made of metal more in my life.

This is the bike:


This is what I want it to look like finished:

Courtesy of Matt Bernadis of Port Townsend WA, check out other pics of his bike at (http://www.650motorcycles.com/MattBernadis.html).

I am going to keep detailed photo documentation of the whole process, so please follow along and let me know what you think as it unfolds. Also I will be looking for parts (tank, side covers, gauge cluster) right off the bat, so if you're selling anything please let me know!

Let the restoration begin!!

 

I'm feeling for ya! That's my bike too (only red with a 750 engine in it) Is yours a true 650cc or do you have a 750 also perchance? Chacal is going to have fun with us!
I also bought mine this summer and have learned a LOT fast here!
Best wishes.
Runnin' but on high revs 'cause I need a carb synch and who knows what else!
;-)

 

whatcha got parked on the other side of the seca?

 

I see what looks like a third-generation F-body in the back!

I've had many a third-gen, lol. That a firebird/trans-am or a camaro? i can't see enough of it to tell. Hood resembles a camaro though, from what I can see.

 

Wannaride,

You make a great point about the engine possibly being a 750... I will have to look tonight (stuck at work right now), but it's possible that it's a 650 bored out to be a 750. I'll post my findings with more pics tomorrow.

 

Switch263 & redfire,

I have to give it to you guys for pointing out the bike back there! Unfortunately the bike and the cars are not mine... the photo was taken by the guy that sold me the bike at his house. This is actually my very first motorcycle, minus the Rupp minibike I had as a kid.. does it count?? I guess it does

 

aw, I was hoping there was another f-body enthusiast here with me! =) Either way, welcome to the site, i'm sure you're gonna love that XJ!

 

I bought my xj non-running in June..took me a full month but I'm out and about. Mike: your mini bike counts if my 85 Honda Spree counts back in University....50Cents a WEEK in gas!!!!
This is my first REAL bike. Thanks to everyone on this forum, I'm so excited about restoring it and keeping it running myself, that I've already found a garage I can work in through winter!
;-)
So far: new/old starter, voltage meter, battery, oil and air filter change (still can't get the !@#%^ bolt off the oil filter housing to do the oil filter), fork seals, a carb cleaning (50% done myself, thank you, learning every minute) some seafoam (That's AWESOME stuff), and a seat re-covering...oh yeah..a $4.99 tube of exhaust pipe sealer to make due until my 4-2 new system comes from backorder;-0
Keep in touch!

 

by the way, Chacal, a wizard (and your new best friend for parts) told me where to find the engine stamp (it's on the front of the jugs, as you're looking dead center...had to clean gunk off of mine to see it...748cc. I guess some of the "later model XJ650RJs came with a 750 engine." Says Chacal and the Yamaha history page I came across the other day (I'm still trying to get at the crank case serial number so I can tell Chacal. Hey....if we ever have to compete for parts on Ebay, we should have a plan/take turns!
;-)

 

Matt Bernardis' bike was the one that inspired my build as well... mine ended up a bit different, haha, but he sure has a beauty lookin bike.

Good luck with yours!

 

So it's a 653 cubic cm power plant.. thanks wannaride for the tip on looking up front of the block. I took the seat, tank, rear light assembly, and carbs off tonight. After all that fun I gave it a good wipe down with denatured alcohol and little bit of brake cleaner for the really grimy parts. I took some pics, which I will post when I am at work tomorrow (gotta get paid somehow!). Goodnight everyone.

 

Okay, got the carbs off and started cleaning them:


I soaked them in a bath of denatured alcohol, which worked great at loosening the grime. I then used brake cleaner to spray off the loose gunk.

Another carb pic:


Here I used my one and only toothbrush to clean the hard to reach places.

The carbs broken out:


If your having doubts about tearing carbs apart, you should do as I did and lay the parts out exactly as they came off the carburetor. I was a bit nervous taking them apart having never done it before but it was a lot easier than I had anticipated. One tip is to lay the cable guides and little oddities out on the parts they were bolted to in the exact position they were taken off in. Something I forgot to do was take a photo of the carbs before they were taken apart as a reference, but it didn't matter as I had everything laid out for quick reassembly.

Here is the bike torn down:



I created a temporary fuel tank out of a salted peanut jar using the petcock off the original tank:


I then added the new battery and tried starting it up! No go The bike putters and fires while the starter is engaged but doesn't keep itself running. This is pretty much my road block as I know little to nothing about tuning a motor/carburetor. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!

 

Try turning the fuel valve to the prime position.

 

WOW!! ME LIKEY 8O I WANT MY BIKE TO LOOK LIKE Matt Bernadis!!

 

Well getting the bike started has been unsuccessful, but in the meantime I am modifying the bike to get the cafe racer style. BY NO MEANS AM I GOING TO KEEP THE DENTED/WRECKED TANK ON THIS BIKE! I just painted it to make it less ugly and see what the future tank might look like... and one the new tank comes, it's bye bye to the old one!

Here is what I had intentioned when I started cutting up the seat pan:


And after cutting this is what came out:


Then the frightening task of cutting the foam:


Here is an image of the foam on the bike, along with the old tank painted up to make it look a little nicer for photos (not keeping this tank, replacing as soon as I find one):


A close up:


Drawing the shape of the seat:


And the rough final product!


Another angle:


With the original seat strap:


Close up:


These are the turn signals I have in mind for both the front and rear end:


Please let me know what you think!!! And if anyone knows how to tune a carburetor PLEASE HELP ME!!!

 

here's a good link on modifying seats
http://www.diymotorcycleseat.com/modify_3.htm

 

I think you might find some Tuning Tips tucked-away in the Archives.

Performance Tuning 101:

Insure Float Bowl Starter Jets are Cleaned-out.
Insure Carb Body Emulsion Tube extracted and every Port cleaned
Flush Main AIR Passage
Flush Pilot AIR Passage
Flush Siphon Tube that extends into Fuel Bowl Well
Re-finish Diaphragm Piston Bores
Search: Clunk Test
Bench Sync using Business Card Strips

 

RickCoMatic,

I will get to this tonight after work, but could you elaborate on bench syncing with business cards a little for me? I am such a noob

Thanks!

 

Bench Syncing is getting the Throttle Butterflys all opening and closing in perfect unison.
Syncing them mechanically, so that syncing them for vacuum won't take a great deal of tweaking.

The Business Card strip is my method of "Feeler Gauge"
The Business Card strip flexes between the bottom of the Throttle Plate and the Curvature of the Carb Body letting you feel the close tolerance of the set-up.
.................
Cut across the width of a business card ... making four "Strips" about 1/4" wide. Discard the rest.

Slide the first quarter-inch strip beneath the Bottom of the Number Three Butterfly and Carb Body.
Use the Idle Adjustment Rod to Close the Butterfly of Three so that the Business Card Strip slides beneath the Butterfly creating a little bit of drag on the Business Card as it "Feels" both the Carb Body and Bottom of the Buterfly.

The Business Card Section will curve to follow the contour.
Feel the Bottom of the Butterfly and the Carb Body with light drag on the Business Card as you slide the strip in and out getting the "Feel."

Leave the strip in Three.
Do Number four.
Get the drag on the Strip to match the drag on Three by Adjusting the No.-4 Sync Screw until you have "Matching Feel" on No.-3 & No.-4

Leave the strips in 3 & 4

Do No.-1 & No.-2 to MATCH 3 & 4.

Do micro adjusting of 1, 2, & 4 to Perfectly MATCH 3.

Carbs are "Bench Synched" ...

 

So it's been a while, but I am back on track with the good weather... here is a pic of my new cafe style seat almost finished. I hand sewed this bad boy, which has turned out pretty well so far.




Looks pretty dirty since my cats have been using it as a bed lately, and it won't have any wrinkles after I pull the fabric tight and staple it. Next up is disassembling the front end to paint the wheel, get some gaiters on the fork, paint the head light bucket and company.

 

looking good, cant wait to see the finished seat

 

So I got a new tank, which was pretty rusty inside:



So I tried my hand at electrolytically removing the rust, which is essentially using the tank as the cathode of a circuit and another piece of metal in the water the anode which you "sacrifice" as it begins corroding during the process. Notice the turn signal sitting on the ground, which I used as a resistor to dampen the current flowing through the battery charger. It was a 27 watt bulb which slowed the process down considerably, but better safe than a toasted battery charger:




My camera died before I got a pic of the finished tank, but it was a hassle trying to get the rust that has been removed off the inside of the tank. I grabbed a nozzle for my hose and blasted what I could out of the tank then poured Kreem tank liner inside to coat the fresh metal. It's very important to cover the metal as soon as possible after electrolysis as the metal can start rusting within a couple of hours of the process.

I also had a chance to start painting the headlight assembly which will look darn nice: