1982 Seca 550 Cafe Racer Build for Rockerbox

Here is a picture of a 1982 Seca 550 that a purchased last January for $500. The plan is to turn it into a British looking Cafe Racer and take it to Rockerbox in Milwaukee on August 4th. I bought one just like this one brand new in 1982 when I was in college. Traded that one in on an 1986 FZ600. I had two more 550's when I club raced in Hawaii. So this would be number four. Seemed like the right bike for my next build. Over the next few weeks I will post pictures of the build and pass along some of my lessons learned. Most of you will already know this stuff but if I can help one person than that will be pretty cool.

 

Cool, welcome. Have fun, I will be watching.

 

Welcome to the party Greg. Great lookin platform for your build there. BTW if you need any new parts, we got a great supply guy here, Chacal @ XJ4ever at the top of the page. Good luck with your build.

 

Three days after I got it home. Came apart really easy. Took my time and put everything in labeled plastic bags so I know what is what during reassembly. The bike had not been cleaned much by the previous owner so I think the road crime kept all the hardware in good shape.

 

All the parts that are not going back on the bike.

 

thats a good pile, nice start mate

 

Frame de-tabbed and ready for the new battery and electrical area.

 

New Seat mocked up. I made a mistake and mocked up the seat with the bike on the center-stand. When I dropped it down on the tire the seat was to low and I had a clearance problem with the new battery area. Recommendation to anyone doing this. Mock the bike up on the tires or run rods through the axle mounts and use four jack-stands. This will keep font and rear of the bike at ride height. You will see later that I had to get one inch long shooks to fix my mistake.

 

New area for the battery and all of the electronics. Also the new seat mounts. Later I add a hoop over the battery for the rear cowl to rest of and give it some strength.

 

Starting the assembly.

1. Frame Panted Black with Martin Senior black bumper paint
2. Body work done on the tank, primed and ready for paint
3. Rims Cleaned Up and painted with Eastwood Company Cast Iron Ceramic Paint
4. New tire and tubes
5. Fork Gators from Dime City Cycle

 

Norm Hyde "M" bars. Nice compromise between drag bars and clubman bars.

 

Martin Senior Rootbeer Brown three stage paint ready for stripe and clear coat. First time I have used three stage. More work but a lot nice than single stage.

 

Glad to see the airbox in the do not need pile. Youre gonna catch shit for it, but there are a few of us here on your side.

 

Been taking the air box off bikes since I was in college. I understand the cons but if done right it is no big deal. Plus it's hard to get the cafe racer look with the airbox.

 

this bike is looking real nice, I can't wait to see more.

 

Engine cleaned up and painted. I used the same Eastwood Company Cast Iron Grey paint that i used on the rims. The valve covers and some of the small parts are satin black powder coat.

 

Engine installed in the frame. You can see the K&N air filters and more of the small parts are powder coated.

 

Paint is finished - cream color stripe with red pin strips. I wanted the bike to look like a rootbeer float. I remember when I was a kid the two main hot rod colors were candy apple red and rootbeer brown. I wanted and old school look. In this picture you can see the exhaust installed with new titanium exhaust wrap.

 

Another shot of the paint.

 

A better picture of the titanium exhaust wrap. I used the stock exhaust because I like that balanced look of two mufflers.

 

New Progressive Suspension shocks. I went with 13.5 inch shocks instead of the stock 12.5 inch. This gave me the needed clearance after my mistake during mock up of the bike.

 

What did you do to prep the engine for paint?

 

Cleaned, scrubbed, cleaned some more, wet sanded everything I could get to with 320 grit. Prepped with Eastwood Prep Spray and then painted. The ceramic paint is the most forgiving paint I have ever used. Painted my sons CB500 spoke wheels with satin blank. I would recommend it for engines wheels and frames.

 

New Tarozzi rear sets went on real easy. They fit up perfect. They really improved the seating position with the Norman Hide handle bars.

 

Wiring came out OK. I may go back and clean it up later. For now everthing works. It did get a little crowded under the seat.

 

Tank knee pads and Yamaha tuning fork badge. This is the same tank badge that is on my 2009 FZ6R.

 

Looks fantastic. Do remember the length of roll it took to wrap the exhaust? I have the same wrap in a 50ft and i cant figure out if im going to need more or not
Also, where did you get the knee pads?

 

It takes 7 to 8 feet per pipe. I did all four with a thirty foot roll.

 

This shot shows the lights and controls. Norman Hyde Bars, Bar End LED Turn Signals, Brown Grips, Two Inch Dime City Bar End Mirrors. I used the stock clutch perch and this picture shows the stock Master Cylinder. later I plan on changing the master cylinder with one from Dime City. The Acewell all in one gauge is one of my favorite things on the bike. Does everything in one small package.

 

Tail light from an old model A Ford. The all in one unit, tail light, stop light and license plate holder made everything real easy. The tail light is the most polarizing thing on the bike. People either love it or hate it. So far it is about a 60/40 split.

 

I love the tail light. I also really like how you put the battery in the rear fairing. That's an amazingly clean look.

 

Thanks

 

What tank knee pads are those?

 

I bought them on-line through J&P Cycles for $30. They carry two different sizes. I used the smaller of the two.

 

Nice work.

 

Finished. I took some pictures to send into Dime City Cycle. I really appreciate the help they gave me.

 

Finished Seca 550 sitting next to a Yamaha Radian 600 I fixed up last year. The Radian is not an XJ but hey it shares the same case. I have now owned six motorcycles that share the same lower end. Did not plan it that way it just sort of happened.

 

First Bike show a few weeks ago. Took the trophy for "Best In Show" home with me.

 

Great bike, i love the paint. I recently bought a radian similar to yours and was wondering what you did for exhaust and how it sounds? i've searched the internet extensively and am having trouble finding an aftermarket exhaust system, or even some simple slip-ons.

 

On both bikes I used the stock four into two. It's to hard to find an after market pipe and I am not good enough to make an exhaust yet. I wrapped both bikes headers with heat wrap and that really ads to the look. The Radian has EMGO mufflers from Dime City. They sound great, really loud. Does not sound like an in line four, actually more like a big twin. Gets a lot of attention and everyone likes the sound. I am planning on making a video of both bikes so you can here the sound.

 

Turned out great man, good work.
You work fast, I'm jealous!

 

Very cool, i checked out DCC's website and there are a few choices that i like, but ultimately i think i'll end up with the 17" reverse cone style, i just love that look. A video or sound file would be awesome, i'd love to hear how they sound. Again, great job on both bikes

 

Which acewell did you use? How did you set the rev counter up for our wasted spark system?

Awesome looking machine almost making me give up on mine cos it'll never be that good.

 

This is somewhat puzzling. Being a four stroke you would set the tach at 2 rpm's per spark. Being a wasted spark system you would set the tach at 1 rpm's per spark. I have mine set at .5 rpm per spark and seams to be working fine. Still playing with how many wraps around the plug wire. I also had to play with the speedometer. Had my son ride next to me and I kept adjusting the numbers until it was right.

 

Thanks for the info. Looks like the acewell is the best option.

 

LOVE the build, and how it came out!!

Trying to make rockerbox this weekend, but depends if the gf is off work and if she is then i/m committed to a camping trip.

But next time i'm in miltown ill be hitting you up to see this beauty in person!

 

Thanks, it sounds like you need to get the GF more interested in motorcycles. Hope to see you thier.

 

haha she is, she loves riding. Its just that when she does happen to get a weekend off work, its nice to escape to the woods for a weekend :wink:

 

Amazing build! Truly my kind of bike!

That color makes the tank look perfect! Knee dents/cut-outs looks exactly like they should with that color.


Is the tank badge an OEM article?

 

Build came out awesome man. Tackling something similar myself this winter. Love the rootbeer color, will be using your project as inspiration!