Hello Everyone...

Hello, and it's nice to "meet" everyone.

Newbie to the forum, NOT a newbie to XJ's. Had my Seca 550 since '00 and did quite a few mods to it since then. Put it on a diet and it lost close to 50 lbs. Gone is the center stand, exhaust, rear fender. Only downside is that it's been sitting since '04...now I have the task of getting it back on the road.

 

you are in the right place... these guys know their.... errr... stuff


Welcome.

 

Thanks Bill. I'm looking forward to chatting and learning more 'bout XJ's. Hopefully, I'll have my Seca back to 100% by spring so that I'm able to ride, ride, and ride some more. Been outta the seat for too long.

 

Thanks Bill. I'm looking forward to chatting and learning more 'bout XJ's. Hopefully, I'll have my Seca back to 100% by spring so that I'm able to ride, ride, and ride some more. Been outta the seat for too long.

 

There are a bunch of us on here that love the 550 Seca. You came to the right place.

 

Glad to see you representing the Seca 550 contingent...nice collection! This is my first XJ...my last bike was an '82 XZ550 Vision. Another nice bike, but a lot of inherent gremlins. Mine were electrical.

Anyway, thanks for the welcome. I look forward to learning all I can from those that know.

 

Post up some pics. We always like pics of fellow member's projects.

 

I posted some in "My Gallery"...should I have posted them elsewhere?

 

Bike looks good. The yellow on the rear footpeg mounts is a little distracting though. Get a photobucket or imageshack account for your pics. Link to them there. The gallery is very limited in how many pics you can post and their size. What are your plans for the bike?

 

That's an interesting comment about the rearsets. I tried them with the natural aluminum, black, and finally yellow. The aluminum looked too bland, the black blended in with the rest of the frame, but the yellow gave it good separation. If I can locate a decent FJ belly scoop, it will make the rearsets seem to be "in place".

Plans are: New front tire, new carb manifolds, rebuild/sync carbs, new steering stem bearings, new drive chain, new brakes, rebuild master cylinder, new throttle & choke cables, new battery, elimination of airbox, tune, clean-up

Another plan is to get a buddy of mine to fabricate a solo seat pan in order to give it a more "cafe" look. I always liked the Cafe bike look and Seca 550's are already part-way there...from the factory. Only downside with that idea...I'll loose the tail cowl, and I like the look of the tail cowl as it is.

Have a Photobucket account...will add pics to it and link it here.

 

Seca album...
http://s460.photobucket.com/albums/qq32 ... adTJ/Seca/

My other "hobby"...
http://s460.photobucket.com/albums/qq32 ... p%20Stuff/

And another...
http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq32 ... lClone.jpg
http://i460.photobucket.com/albums/qq32 ... J/MySG.jpg

 

Trust me keep the airbox if you want to actually ride the bike.

 

The FJ belly scoop would probably look great on it. Might help balance out the yellow rear mounts as you say. Don't let my comment get to you though. I believe we need to make our bikes into what we like and not worry about other people's opinions even though they are nice to get sometimes. Overall I really like the bike. I own 3 right now.

 

Unfortunately, a family of rodents destroyed the airbox a few years ago.

I've heard of the airbox thing before, but what are your thoughts on airbox versus no airbox? A bike mechanic friend of mine swears that he can make my bike scream through proper jetting. I trusted him with my bikes for the past 20+ years.

 

I Photoshopped an FJ scoop onto a pic of my bike, and I thought it looked good. However, a scoop would be getting away from the minimalist Cafe Bike look that I'm ultimately after. Besides, finding an FJ scoop-in good usable condition and THAT'S FOR SALE-is next to impossible.

Comments, good or bad, are always taken into consideration. I won't get bent outta shape if someone tells me that my bike looks lame. I can take it! And dish it out, too!