yet another bobbed 550 (PIC HEAVY)

This past March I picked up an xj550 Seca free due to a broken screw that kept it from shifting. I started looking around here for tips/tricks to improve the bike and saw what some of you were doing with your bikes and decided "what the heck, if I end up trashing it, I'm out.......nothing." So I broke out the angle grinder and got to work


how she looked when I picked her up.


lowered the rear by cutting the shock springs. (didn't work out like I'd hoped)


cut the back off the frame and relocated the rear fender.


New fender, solo seat, maxim 16" rear wheel, shorter shocks, and start of painting.



As she looks today, added straight pipes, led tail light and finished paint. Needs a new rear tire, and looking for a maxim style tank for it. I don't really like that huge hump on the back of the Seca tank, and think the maxim tank would look much better.

 

It's lookin' good. I liked the Maxim tank better myself. I traded another member his tank for mine. Couldn't be happier...

skillet

 

if I knew for sure that the tanks would interchange from my bike to yours I would offer a trade but the whole shipping thing across country and having my bike down due to no tank turns me off a bit...

 

very nice. I love that you kept the side covers on it. Bad ass, dude

 

jeffdodge, I see by your sig you have an xj650. I already know a 650 tank won't fit as I already have one. bought it off ebay, tried to sell it, at a loss, to get some of my investment back, but seems no one wants it. I understand not wanting your bike down for the duration of shipping as well.
Thanks to everyone for the positive comments.

 

NICE project. What else is on the to-do list other than a Maxim tank?

 

this season, I'm thinking a different set of bars, paint the pipes, ride it as much as I possibly can.
Off season, strip to the frame, extreme cleaning, paint the frame (gun metal blue), clean up/paint the heads and motor, minimize the wiring. I'm open to other ideas as well. We all know they're never really done.

 

what bars are you thinking of going with?

 

Probably something similar to the gold wing bars. I believe they have a little more rise and pull back than stock, while still being 7/8 bars. I have a local motorcycle salvage yard nearby that will let me test fit before I buy. comes in real handy. he's also keeping an eye out for a maxim tank for me.

 

good deal... I need to find something like that. I think the gold wing bars are equivalent to 12" mini apes. I'm going with 15" apes from TCBros.

 

Made a few more changes to my Alternate Reality, Picked up a Tank from a Honda Shadow and a set of mini apes at a garage sale for 5 bucks, went with shorter, 2" straight pipes, added bullet style turn signals and headlight. I had to change paint due to a friends kid dropping a box of parts on the tank and the other color being dis-continued. Also changed the kickstand to a shorter one so it doesn't stand nearly vertical when parked.

 

Motor still has the same wear patten, i wasn't fooled.
They clean up nice huh!! Nice job, just paint the motor black, she be bad ass..

 

looks good

 

looking great man. The Shadow tank looks sweet on there. Can you hook me up with a close up of the exhaust where you pieced that section on there? Did you just weld it on or what? I love the paint. The only thing I'm not sure about is that new headlight. I think I like the bigger old one better. Still looks sweet though. This winter you should tear it down and redo the motor and frame. That's my plan for mine right now, but things change, so we'll see.

 

Yes, they DO clean up nice don't they? My plan is still a winter tear down to paint the motor and frame. Koolaide, the exhaust is just a 1-1/2 to 2" adapter welded to 12" of 2 inch pipe, then clamped to the 4 into 2 stock collector. then I put a 1" "lollipop" baffle in each pipe for back pressure. I agree with you about the headlight, not quite what I expected when I ordered it. looks kind of cheesy, but will have to do until payday when I can get a better one. I'm looking at a 5-1/2 inch bullet to replace the current 3-1/2" that's on there now.

 

Ok, so 1/2" to 2" adapter. I was trying to figure out what I needed to connect my stock exhaust to the screamin eagle slip ons I picked up from a fellow member. What clamps did you use?

That headlight is only 3.5"? THAT'S why it looks goofy. I think a larger one will look a TON better.

 

and how about a video to hear how those 2" straight pipes sound?

 

Oh, and have you thought about putting a slash cut on the pipes or anything? That would look pretty cool

 

Posted a vid on youtube so everyone that's interested can hear the pipes.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bhwc3GSpirA

 

looks and sounds great man.

 

Winter in N. Idaho seems to have finally come to an end. I've done a bit of work to the old girl, and she's back on the road. Stripped it to the frame, cleaned, painted and re-assembled.

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more info on the headlight please...

 

Love the "fuel gauge". Very innovative.

 

I also gotta show love to the "fuel gauge"!!! Very impressive.

 

The headlight was an Ebay purchase. it's a 4 1/2" bullet with H4 Halogen bulb. Be careful if ordering from Ebay, things are not always as advertised. This was the second I bought off ebay, the first looked like something that belonged on a kids scooter.

 

The fuel gauge was actually an idea I got from a guy selling universal petcocks on ebay. Saw the photo on his auction and thought "I like it, I can do that"