Opinions on early Seca value.........

I am blessed (or cursed, depending on what day it is) with an '81 Seca 550; 42K on the odometer. With the exception of the exhaust it's all pretty much stock (you can see a picture in my profile). In a previous thread I'd mentioned some rather ambitious undertakings for this bike....sort of a wish list. I don't really need to do anything except ride it and maintain it; I've got another bike if I want to go fast & flickable (and I frequently do). One of my buddies who knows bikes and is familiar with my Seca mentioned that due to it's age and nearly original condition(including all-original paint), he would just leave it alone as any mods would tend to devalue the bike and detract from it's "collectability".....I have my doubts that there is much of either in this machine, but maybe some of you have better information regarding this?
BTW, my younger brother bought this bike only a year or two old and put the majority of the mileage on it with several trips from Chicago to North Dakota (!!!) and Minnesota. I am only the third owner.

 

Tough call on that one. Personally, I think it looks pretty good and I would normally leave it as stock as possible given the current condition.

On the other hand, collectability of then 550 is a very small market as they were not as popular as the 650,750's.

But, In saying that, anybody who has ridden the 550's usually loves them and if it's original then you may just find someone willing to pay quite a bit trying to regain his youth by buying the bike he rode as a teenager.

Leave it alone and look after it IMO

HG

 

I agree with Hired_Goon

 

I also agree. Leave it alone. I wish I could get my 81 back in that condition. as for flickablity, the steering is pretty good, ground clearance kinda bites. I was going around a corner and scraped the foot rest. The bike is plenty of fun in the twisties. Not as agile as my SV but then again the bike is over 20 years old and suspension technology has improved since then.

 

I agree with the other opinions, Nice looking bike ! 10 years from now you will be glad you kept it as close to original as possible, who knows- it might even be worth more in 10 years. Think long term.
Have Fun!

 

To add to the previous comment- In high school I had a Kawasaki 750 H2
Tripple 2-stroke. THis think could fly! If I had kept it (25 years ago) I would have had a real collector and it would be worth some money now, you can't hardly find these kow tripples anymore. I still kick myself for trading !


Happy Riding!

 

I vote:

Keep - tweak - pimp!

It's already a Classic ... and a fine looking one; at that. Put whatever it needs into it and enjoy every minute you are out on it with the blacktop moving quickly beneath you.

Keep it nice. There's somebody out there that wishes he had that in his stable. Right now ... it's in yours!

 

Bikes almost never end up better looking when the urge to modify can no longer be resisted. You have a very nice, clean, original example of an older bike. How many of them still exist? How many other bikes of this age have been completely fugged-over by owners looking to "improve" them with exhausts, rattle can customizing, airbrushing etc.? You are far ahead of the game leaving it alone.

 

I say do what you want with it, just do it right. Not to put down your bike or anything but it is not a rare model or a super low mileage showpiece. I personally don't see these bikes as being real collector’s items unless it is in near new condition. At this point you have a nice bike but it is still a full restoration away from being a collector’s piece.

As for overall resale these bikes bring so little anyways and you sure won’t get your money back that you put into the mods so make sure it is a bike you want to keep around for a while so you get your monies worth.

 

Given the bikes history and condition I'm voting to leave well enough alone. If you want to mess with it, pick up a basket case and have at. Can't detract from it, only way is up.

 

Best case, you might get $1500 for it in the Southwest as stock. If you do the mods nicely, it'd still be worth a grand. So there's not much downside to cutting it up.

Out here, any nice-looking, rust-free bike that runs well can always be sold for around $1000, regardless of year/make.

Now, if you stored it for 10 more years, there might be some collectors value, maybe. But it's still just a UJM to most people, regardless of how much we love them.

 

Who knows wether it will be a collectible someday.

Who knew that 1957 T-Bird I wanted to buy in 1968 would be worth what it is today?
I shoulda bought it!!!

I'd just ride er and keep er in good shape.
:lol:

 

I wish my '81 Seca 550 looked that nice. If it did, I'd ride it and not mess with it.

However, I'm the third or fourth owner of my Seca and it looks like each PO did some mods to the bike. It has an aftermarket exhaust, aftermarket suspension, and until recently had short drag bars on it.

It also has seen some neglect over the years. A dented tank, scratched up front fender, faded paint.

I'd originally thought about restoring it to original condition, but after talking to those that know about these things and discovering that there's not much of a collector's market for the 550's, I decided to custominze my Seca.


Performance-wise, other than the aftermarket exhaust, I'm leaving the bike stock. For what it is, it's got plenty of power. The aftermarket suspension already on the bike works well, so I'm not messing with it.

Most of my work will be cosmetics. New paint, new turn signals, redo the seat and polish the engine cases. I've already changed the handle bars and mirrors.

Anyway, you've got a great looking bike, enjoy it.

 

Knowing what other site you belong to I'll add this.
I have a 1972 340 4spd Demon, These have become some what a colectors item. So what to do. Restore it and have a trailer Queen?
Nah 8O
Pull the piddely 340/4spd out, Drop in a 446cid automatic tranny, had to put some holes in the inner fenders to run the exhaust.
Has a 12pt cage welded in it, subframe connectors welded in, fuel tank is gone and now has a fuel cell, fiberglass hood etc....
It's my car , I don't plan on getting rid of it in the near future, and it's how I want it.

 

Link to a similar threadHere's somting similar I just read. Don't know if you saw this or not.

 

I know I'll feel really stoooooopid when I get this answered, but what is UJM?

 

I'm thinking
Ugly Japanese Motorcycle

 

Well, so far, the "leaveitalones" have it. I liked the suggestion about finding a basketcase orphan to experiment with. Anyone got one they'd like to donate to the cause? LOL :lol:
I realize this bike has a limit to it's collectability value, besides, I have no intentions of selling it anyway. It's a keeper; a classic in my eyes (even if nobody else sees it that way!). I just want it to perform up to it's potential (which I don't feel it's doing) I'll continue to monitor the poll and your comments before I make a decision.
Stormin'- yeah, I had seen that link and I feel the same way you do about my Duster. (I'm sticking with the 340/4speed 'cause it's a wicked little motor and has left me with a busload of memories, if you read my thread in the restorations section) I would have no qualms about shoehorning in a hemi or a big block if the opportunity arose.............
Keep the comments comin'- I love it!

 

UJM = Universal Japanese Motorcycle

Used to descrbe the 70s & 80s metric bikes as they all looked pretty much the same to anyone who didn't own one (Harley riders).

 

Sorry Secagirl but I disagree with the term UJM as applying to bikes in the classic category.

Take for instance the classic Kawasaki Z900 and Z1000's. They were sold brand new in the late 70's for around $3300 AUD. Nowadays a fully restored one will fetch around $8000+ AUD with a low mileage mint condiotion original fetching up to $15000AUD. One went on ebay a few monthes ago that had 5 miles on it and hed been stored minus all fluids in a temp controlled environment for 26 years. It fetched $25000USD.

They key to any classic is it's condition. CapnKirk may very well have one of the last few unmodified original paint XJ 550's around. Slap an original exhaust on it and look after it for a few years and you never know what value will come out of it.

Of course the Z1000's and Z900's gained a bit of popularity due to movies such as Mad Max but the investment opportunity is worth thinking about with any classic bike.

I wonder whether any one will care about an R1 in twenty five years time and how much will our classic XJ's be worth then.