81 seca 750 quit running and will not start now

don't have too much rust problem here, even in old tanks. But I definitely see your point.

Thank you for the description, but a picture is worth a thousand words. if someone could take a picture of theirs, since everyone has one installed , i could get a better idea of what i need to do. like if i need to take the tank off or buy new hose.

Thanks again for your help and suggestions.

 

First off: the rust in the tanks. Yamaha had a problem with their production of bikes in the early eighties: They were built quite a bit ahead of time, in large runs, and as sales lagged they SAT for months at a time, often on the docks. As a result they also had a widespread problem with rust in the fuel tanks on the brand new bikes. There were a series of tech bulletins advising the dealers on how to deal with the rusty tank issue, eventually requiring the process be performed on certain lines of bikes. The XJs were one of those.

In other words, these bikes CAME WITH rusty tanks in a lot of cases. The effects of ageing often just exacerbate a "pre-existing condition."

Neither the nylon gauze thing in the tank nor the beanie screens in the carbs can do anything with super-fine rust particles; I'm talking about paint-pigment fine particles. Hence the need for an inline fuel filter. It's pretty much a "given" on these bikes.

Inline filters come in different sizes and configurations. I have the straight-through, smaller diameter ones on both of my 550s; and the larger, 90-degree one on my 650 Seca and had no trouble tucking them in so they not only look "factory" you can't really even see any of them unless you're looking for it.

Here's the one on my '83 550 after I first installed it:



(I have sinced trimmed the "downstream" hose a tad to put the filter in a slightly more "downhill" orientation.)


The filters in this pic are the ones that chacal carries; they're very effective and are the ones I use. That being said, they are also available from a wide variety of sources, although some work better than others. You want the "bronze stone" type, not the paper element type.



As mentioned above, I use the smaller straight ones (on the right) on the 550s and the larger 90-degree one (on the left) on my 650 Seca.

I'll get you a pic of the one on the 650 in the next coupla days. (the above pic from my petcock how-to)

Highly recommended.

 

that is awesome. thank you so much. where do you source your filters? can you purchase them anywhere locally?

p.s. the 750 filter is a little different for those with 550/650 who aren't aware.

p.s.s. DAMN that is a clean bike!

 

Forum member chacal is the proprietor of XJ4Ever.com, our resident parts source. See the logo in the banner at the top of the page.

I got my filters, plus the OE fuel and vacuum line, from him (those are some of his other parts in the pic as well.) You can sometimes find that style of filters in an auto parts store as well. Just avoid the paper element type.

And thank you, that bike was a year-long recommissioning and updating project that resulted in:



One of the sweetest and without a doubt most comfortable bikes I've ever owned and I would not have been able to do it if not for chacal and XJ4Ever.

Honestly.

 

that is very nice. i have bought quite a few things from Chacal as well.
here is my project. not near as good as yours but its ok. :lol:

 

It's more than "ok." Very nice. +1 on the stock exhaust.

 

Look great, just be careful of the tire dressing as centripetal force will
work its way toward the tread.

 

thank you for the compliment. I spent a lot of time working on it. This is what it looked like when I got it.



I just did that for the photo. I wipe off the extra when I am done. Besides it all comes off when i peel out..... :lol:

 

You've done a lot of work.

Might I recommend a couple of additional appearance-care products that will help you improve it even further?

First off: The original black Yamaha wheels-- love original Armor-All, just keep it off the tires. Scrub 'em clean and use original AA on them, I use q-tips to get the nooks and crannies. I used my Dremel on the shiny parts of the rims.

For all that blasted faded-to-gray black plastic: Mother's "Back-to-Black." Apply, rub into surface, WAIT. Buff. Repeat if necessary. If the black plastic is really badly faded to where you can scrape the dead plastic off with a fingernail, careful use of gray Scotchbrite to remove the dead surface beforehand works wonders. The airbox, rear fender and plastic side trim pieces on my bike in the pic were as gray as could be; I brought them back to life using the method outlined above.

 

thank you so much. I will try those suggestions as soon as I can.

A question about your bike, those plastic covers over the part of the shocks that move, are they stock? or how do you get those on? or where do you find them?

also, how did you get the black on your wheels so black and the shiny part so shiny? is that what you were talking about above?

Thanks again.

 

You mean the fork boots? No they're not stock. Why, escapes me. They used to be standard on everything, back in the day. Every single bike in the 1968 Triumph and BSA catalogs has them.

In my case, they're a Kawasaki part (thanks, Wiz!) that happens to fit the 550 Seca perfectly, just by pure coincidence. That particular part number probably wouldn't fit the 750's larger forks. HOWEVER, somebody, I think it's Polock, has a set on his 750.

They're known as fork "boots" or "gaiters" and come sized by ID top, ID bottom and length. Relatively commonly available with some digging.

You do have to remove the forks to install them.

And yes, in regard to the wheels that's what I was talking about. As long as the black is still there and hasn't been scrubbed off the high spots, all you need to do is get them nice and clean (a soft nylon brush and car wash soap, you don't want to scrub the black off cleaning them) and then Armor-All them. Use a q-tip to get into the nooks and crannies. OK, four dozen q-tips (and about 3 beers.)

For the ribs on the wheels, look closely at the way they're made. The machining to cut the tops of the ribs back to silver is rather coarse, leaving a series of machining grooves perpendicular to the spokes themselves and a beotch to get clean once grey and stained.

Dremel to the rescue. I use my "extendo thing" because the handle is quite a bit smaller than the Dremel itself, and allows me to get the head of the tool nice and parallel to those machining marks. Then the spokes can be polished in the direction of the machining and you can get them nice and clean.

You have to be careful not to over-do it and clean off the black on the edges of the sides of the spokes; you just have to take your time and be precise.

I use a flat stitched-cotton (not the pressed felt) mini-buffing wheel on the Dremel with Solvol Autosol polish (German import, widely available) to get the initial cleanup, then finish up with Mother's Billet Metal polish.

The same technique is used on the rim area, but it's much easier, and if you slowly spin the wheel "into" the buffer it works quite well. Once again, be careful not to clean the black off the immediately surrounding area.

Once polished, they can be easily maintained by hand.