New guy old problems

Hi i recently just joined the forum although i have been lurking for a while. I have a 81 550 seca that is barely broken in. I have lots of questions due to that i have decided that i want to fix somethings and do some upgrades. I have lots of experiance working on cars but not alot on bikes. Im a little nervous about the whole four carb deal, with syncing and just four things that are just waiting to go wrong.First what sizes are the three screws that hold on the sprocket cover on my have all dissapeared some how. Second i want to change my exaust to a mac 4-1 would this require rejetting from stock. Third is it possible to put say a 650 600 or a 750 cylander and head on the 550 bottom. And finally is it possible to upgrade the altinator on these bikes

Issues im having im getting a a rattling sound coming from i would guess the 1 cylander and i have oddly enough gas coming out of my 1 cylander exhaust gasket not fast or noticeable but it seems to weep abit. I think i need to adjust my valves ( i really really dont want to mess with and my local shop wants $500 to do it) or rebuild my carbs( which i dont want to do either )

 

Welcome, take it one step at a time, Big Fitz will jump in & help you, he is the 550 specialista.

 

Doing the valve adjustment on these bikes is easy. Just take your time and you will be fine. Here is Bigfitz's writeup on how to do it.

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14827.html

Here is a link to a good carb writeup. Cleaning and adjusting your carbs must be done with properly adjusted valve clearances. Valve clearances must be correct in order to properly adjust the carbs so do the valve clearances first.

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14692.html

The Mac 4 into 1 exhaust may require a rejet. It really seems to depend on the bike. An FZ600 top end will fit the 550. Instead of going to that trouble, you might as well just drop in an FZ600 motor. They are basically the same motor only 50cc's larger. Not really worth it in my opinion. The FZ600 exhaust is a direct fit on the 550 Seca to the 550 head. You will need to fab a rear mount if you go with that setup. I have run one on my bike for over 20 years. No other XJ exhaust will fit properly.

Unfortunately, Adjusting the valve clearances and proper cleaning and adjusting of the carbs are required. No getting around it. It really isn't that difficult. It just takes a little time.

Add your location to your profile. A local member may be willing to help out. Make sure you ask questions if you have them.

 

Your basic mechanincal knowledge on cars will carry through to working on your bike. The procedures may be a bit different, but the basics are generaly the same.

Get a service manual For your bike, and have at it. You should have no problems.

The 550 is a breed of its own. While there are a couple parts that are compatable (oil pump covers). There are very few other parts that will interchange from the 650, or 750. The XJ600 Seca II was totaly redesigned and not compatable.

I haven't seen any upgrades to the charging system as yet.

This sounds like possibly a loose camshaft chain. I am sure Fitz will be able to confirm, or give other possilbe causes.

Do not take your bike to a shop for those items. They are both doable, and it is more than likely that a shop will not be able to do them correctly (Hence the high price quote). Follow the writeups that zombiehouse posted, and ask questions if you run into anything that you do not understand.

Ghost

 

You asked some odd questions and the ones I might have a partial answer probably aren't the ones that will move you forward.

You asked what size some screws were. The bike is metric, as with just about any motorcycle, so the threads will be M6. Did you want to know the right screwdriver size or length ?

Motad sold the same exhaust for the 550 and 750 in the UK, but as the pipes arrived separately to the silencer, you had some adjustment. I'm not familiar with the pipe you mentioned.

Why do you want a new alternator ? If you want a brighter headlight, it is better to upgrade. Not as bright as you'd expect headlights may be down to a poor earth or pwer route with too much resistance. If it is so that the starter motor spins faster, you may be better off with an upgraded battery (ie agm)

 

Thanks for the advice on the write ups. I have just added my location. And i was wanting the screw length the only thing holding the whole cover on is my shifter lever. The cams on these kinda worry me i had almost checked into getting a whole new head that was properly adjusted so i had a good one and one to try it with. Im pretty picky about how i do things if i do it i want to do it right the first time. And the part about the gasket for the valve covers being $90 also makes me want to do it once.

My local shop is very good the have been sence the late 70s, my bike is actually from my local shop when it was new so i trust them.

I want a larger altinator mostly causei want brighter lights with out over doing the system. I also want to add silly aftermarket neons to im getting the bike painted kinda like a kenny roberts rz350( dream bike btw) so its getting a cafe fairing and a belly pan and gold rims or i might just leave those black for now.

But today i noticed my chain had alot of slack so i adjusted it and oddly enough it now makes a binding shound even tho the chain is straight and has about an inch of slack +- so ill fiddle with that some more.

 

Quit fiddling and get a manual.

The chain needs to have between 35mm~45mm of slack; adjusted at its tightest point with the bike on the centerstand. I prefer to run mine at 40~50mm, it seems to hold adjustment longer. If you only have an inch of slack you got it way too tight.

Valve clearances are a critical maintenance item; they need to be done every 5000 miles. It's certainly not a reason to replace the cylinder head; and you can't very well replace the head every time a valve needs to be shimmed. The parts are only that expensive at the dealership. Check with XJ4Ever for a much more reasonable quote.

If you want a brighter headlight, upgrade to an H4 Halogen unit. They're pretty much "plug-n-play" as long as your electricals are up to snuff; and the difference is dramatic.

Depending on the mileage on the bike, you may need to have a peek at the alternator brushes. They're mounted in the alternator cover.

 

I dont want to replace the head everytime i just want tone i can practice on or swap out so i can practice the re shimming. My bike just rolled over 18k miles i have a manual but it dosent seem to be as good as other manuals i have had in the past.

 

Crappy manuals are why I did this: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14827.html

And this: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=29209.html

And this: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=31061.html

And at least a dozen more, all done on one of my 550 Secas. You'll find them in "XJ FAQ Suggestions."

"Swapping out" your cylinder head just because you need "practice" shimming is completely unnecessary. Again, it's a simple maintenance procedure; one you can easily learn even without a spare to practice on. Swapping cylinder heads is one WHOLE heck of a lot more major surgery than adjusting clearances. If you're nervous about checking and adjusting your clearances, I wouldn't recommend you attempt replacing the head. There's a lot more involved there; a LOT more. I suspect if you truly understood what was involved, you wouldn't even consider it.

At 18K you do need to look at the alternator brushes. And if this is the bike's first valve adjustment, I suggest a compression test afterward. Just to be sure you don't end up having to pull the head after all.

 

Doing the valve job is SUPER easy. I too only had experience working on cars and suprisingly alot transfers over. It's alot of instinct. Kinda hard to explain but once you tear Into it you'll be comfortable. The hardest thing is starting, lol.

Plus then you'll be doing it and then wonder to yourself how the hell it's fair for them to try charging you 500$.

Only 20 bux in tools for the bucket holder, small non-magnetic screwdriver, hemostats, and a set of metric feeler gauges and you're set for adjustments for life.

New after market shims are around 8$ from xj4ever, or for 5$ you can pm Dave (hogfiddles here on the forum) and you can swap out yours for the sizes you need. Real slick.

The valve cover should only be around 40$ from xj4ever if I remember correctly. Be sure to install it right with gasket glue and also replace the rubber donuts that hold on the cover as they are actually what makes the seal right as they are collared bolts.

You can do it, I have faith in you, and more importantly you should have faith in your self! If you can change brake pads on a car, you can swap shims on an xj!

Getter goin'!

 

Im feeling a little better about the carbs and valves thanks fitz i was looking through the xj parts catalog and i was not able to find the boots from carb to motor and i found a lower rebuild kit for the carbs but not a upper kit.

Syncing should be a breeze im not worried about that. I did read tho somewhere not to use tradional carb cleaner on the bike carbs due to the rubber parts is this correct?

And what kinds of fairings are people using i would like to use the memphis shades bullet fairing but dont want to order it without knowing before if it is even a possible fit. I know it clears a 7 in light but beyond that idk

 

If you are looking at the XJ4ever parts catalog. It is a bit out of date. Chacal carries far more than what is listed in the catalog. Just send a PM for a parts quote.

It is not recommended to to soak the rubber parts in normal carb dip as it will usually destroy those rubber bits. Common carb cleaner spray will work fine.

Ghost