83 Seca 550 - Never Had the 1/4 Fairing?

Hey, all,

I recently bought an '83 Seca 550 and it doesn't have the 1/4 fairing as my old '82 had. I thought it was just missing.

Then, I came across a comment that made me think that NONE of the '83s came with the handlebar fairing. Is this true? Did the '83s not come with the fairing?

If they didn't, I guess I'll be buying one from an '81 or '82 and painting it black, cause I really like the look of it WITH the windshield.

Thanks,

Kirk

 

It's true.

Yamaha dropped the fairing for the '83 model year.





Although I would have removed it anyway like I did on my '81; it affects the handling and changes the personality of the bike, IMHO.

 

+1 on the personality change.

But, I never noticed any difference in handling. Back in the day, when I had my '82, I ran it with the fairing, without, with a large clear plexiglas windshield, and even fitted it with a big Windjammer for a season.

The big plexiglas, and of course the Windjammer made a significant difference, but I never really noticed a handling difference with or without the little quarter fairing. Then again, I was (and still am) pretty unsophisticated about handling characteristics. I'm a pretty sedate rider.

Thanks for the reply.

Kirk

 

Can someone comment on how a Windjammer fairings affect the handling?
Positive or Negative? This being my first ride and not having installed my used Windjammer V yet, I'm curious how it's going to change (standard short plexiglass I think).

FYI: I'm far enough from Chicago that most "country roads" are 45-55 mph and I'm minutes form the highway at 65 mph so my riding out of town (30mph) would be in those speed ranges.

 

It's more the weight and its affect on how the bike steers than it is the wind deflection.

If your bike has a front suspension that's up to the added weight, then the handling isn't affected as much as it is by a handlebar/fork-mounted fairing.

My complaint with the stock 550 Seca "bikini" fairing we started out discussing was that it made the front end considerably heavier causing the bike to lose a lot of its "flickability" plus (to me anyway) changed the look of the bike too much. The very original XJ was the XJ400, which was outwardly identical to an un-faired 550 Seca. Without the (and the factory called it) removable fairing, it handles like an RD. I removabled mine, and sold it.

 

kirkn: Check your inbox. I am selling mine. Waiting for word back from another XJer wanting to buy it. If that deal falls through...

 

btw, it's not the fairing on my bike in the picture. It's the stock fairing I'm selling.

 

+1 on the impacts (or lack of) of the frame-mounted Windjammer and large bar-mount plexiglas windshields.

But, IMO, the bikini fairing on the Seca 550s made a negligible impact. Flickability impact, from the addition of a four-pound fairing? I wouldn't even be able to tell the difference. I think you'd get a bigger impact just by filling up an emptly tank. The differnce between 30 extra pounds of fuel is more noticeable than that bikini fairing.

I've never heard of an XJ400, though. An overseas bike? The 400 Yamaha available in the US in those years was the XS400 twin, an upsize of the XS360. Not similar to the Seca at all... :?:

In those years (late 70s, early 80s) a factory bikini fairing SCREAMED high performance! Think of those that had em: the Kawasaki Z1R, the Suzuki GS1000S, the Kawasaki GPz 550 and 1100, the Seca 550. That bikini fairing was THE styling THING, back in the day...

Of course, polyester leisure suits fall into that same category, so, what do I know...

Kirk