Drawing a Crowd

I've become accustomed to my Norton drawing a crowd of onlookers virtually everywhere I stop; I wasn't quite prepared for it to start happening with my XJs, especially my daily rider.

I pulled into a party store on Friday to grab a refreshing beverage and check my cell for messages, and a guy coming out of the store absolutely FREAKED OUT over my '81. He took pictures with his phone, called his dad, and was totally enamored with it. Apparently he'd never seen one before.

Ten minutes later, I'm getting saddled up to leave, and ANOTHER guy comes along with his kid and also has to take pictures, as his first street bike was an '81 Seca 550.

I was expecting my restified '83 project bike to draw a few comments, but I didn't expect it with my "daily rider." I've given so much attention to the project, I've overlooked my "workhorse." So I decided maybe I sould share a few pictures of that one, too:




De-fairinged; Hella H4, simple drop-in conversion (from chacal) and Dunlop D404's.




Progressive Suspension 12-series shocks; Sargent Cycle Products redid my seat;




And I installed Euro bend handlebars with Gran Tourismo-style grips; other than that it's pretty much stock.

 

Fitz, that's a great looking bike. If I saw it out and about, I would probably gawk at it too.

 

both of your 550Rs look great...

ive not had either of mine out yet and the 900 is still in plymouth...

i dont have the 750 together completely since i found ive got a broken part in the headlight bucket that ive NEVER seen anywhere, it some sort of plastic bushing that is shattered...

the 550 needs a battery put in it and then i hope it starts because it was in the 'not gonna start' mode last fall....

i dont have any insurance on the 550 so i didnt title it. the 750R is all tagged and waiting on me...

 

can you get me a part number for the piece that's broken in your headlight? I might be able to help...

 

LOVE the finish on your engine covers (plus alternator and tranny).
That's my 2009 winter project, along with valve cover.

 

LOVE the finish on your engine covers (plus alternator and tranny).
That's my 2009 winter project, along with valve cover.

 

Fitz she sure is a beauty. No wonder it draws crowds.

 

Your daily driver is a dang clean bike for sure. I have had a few comments and guys come over this year already and my bike is leaps and bounds behind yours in appearance. It still makes a guy proud when people give nice comments and looks.

 

no part number but here is what it looks like...

the white part fits inside the black rubber grommet. i BELIEVE the white plastic parts function is to A) keep the grommet from being deformed when the bolt holding the headlight bucket is tightened and B) keep the headlight bucket from rotating around the mounting bolt axis...

they are side specific. this is the Right side. as i went to get it for the picture, i could NOT find the left side. which just about figures, the way my luck runs...



here is another picture to show how its broken...

 

Hey Fitz,
My first XJ looked just like that without all the extra red. I also had the fairing but took it off.
I traded it for an 81 Maxim.
I do miss the 550 Seca but That's when I road 1 up

 

It's sure nice to know the blood,sweat,and money that goes into these bikes doesn't go un-noticed.I've had a few nice comments about mine(pics in my gallery) and it's not nearly finished.

 

Fitz,
You are the master, (or one of them anyway) that bike looks better than when it rolled out of the showroom. How about a set of pics of the other one?

Dave-I got one of those plastic pieces you can have, PM me with address.

 

Thanks but i got a pair on order from speed something and sport ...

'fitz found me the source and i called straight away...

thanks again...

 

You doin' okay LtDave? Hope you have a great (and safe!) Memorial Day man....

and the same to everyone else here.

Semper Fi

 

If that's your daily driver, then the 83 must be a museum piece! Yes, please do post pics of the 83! Not nearly enough of them in your gallery!

 

Fitz, you do good work.

 

Hey Lt, are you still working for the 'big 1' ?

 

Fitz, have you got any 'before' pictures?

 

Somewhere. (Different PC.) It had a horribly rusty Kerker 4-1 with no baffle on it; the seat was an absolute disaster; it was missing one turn signal altogether and two of the others were seriously broken; and it looked exactly how you'd expect a bike that had been kept outside here in Michigan for 4 years to look (it had.) There was a lot of rust and grey corrosion; and like your Kaw, it had done a lot of dirt road time and it showed. Plus PO was a sincere, well-intended twit. I still uncover his signs from time to time.

All better now.

I'll get some new pics of the '83 up shortly.

 

These are the only pics of the '83 I have up in Photobucket right now; once I get the sidecover stripe, put on the other 3 black carb hats and finish the luggage rack mounts I'll take a bunch more.




Fork boots, EBC rotor, Avon Roadriders, Acumen horns... the cylinders still need to be repainted...




The headlight is a Candlepower "SuperBlu" H4; headlight bucket & ring, mounting ears and handlebar replated with black nickel; the boots are a Kawasaki part (thanks again Wiz.)




Those were taken before the seat came back from Sargent's...