1982 Seca 550 - inherited bits

I got this bike in non-running condition with a spare rack of carbs, spare exhaust, and a bowl of screws.

It also has:

-wrong front fender (from a Maxim?)
-round turn signals in the rear and square ones up front
-clutch cable hanging outside triple tree and frame and horribly misadjusted
-fusebox with three out of four clips loose
-loose wire to the starter
-loose airbox with a corner of the lid broken
-headlight mounted completely cockeyed in the housing
-missing seat hinges

At least it was cheap.

 

So what are your plans for it?? I'm still looking for the fairing mounting brackets for that bike...

BTW, I can't make the VJMC meet-up next week, because I'll be out of town.

Cheers!

 

I wonder if the motor in it is from a maxim as I think you said you have 2 sets of maxim carbs with it.

 

Yeah, it might not hurt to see if the shorty VIN on the top of the trans matches the label on the steering head.

If the motor's a "4U8," then it's a Seca. Maxim would be a "5K5."

Good thought.

 

Aaaand one more:

-right side engine cover is not from this engine. Only the top two screws are i, the bottom holes don't match up.

I'm not sure. I'm sorta liking the flat black/lowbar/rat look right now. Maybe get a black fender and a dual headlight and call it a "streetfighter"?

 

The right side engine cover is actually a left side cover. Not sure about the other engines, but on the 550 the front ears are closer together than back ears. The holes match if I flip it upside down.

One more for the list:

-The headlamp retaining ring (what holds the sealed beam in) is split and duct-taped together. Literally. With black duct tape.

 

Jpag..........

My understanding is that the 550 Seca was a one-year bike. I'd recommend that if you have the place, the time, and the inclination........keep it and do a rolling restoration on it. You'll end up with a nice rare bike to ride and show. Look at Bigfitz's bike for example.

Dave Fox

 

The spot welds break on the head light rings quite often. They can be spot welded again or maybe pop riveted back togeather.

 

I very much want this thing to run. It has decent rubber, too. Right now, though, it looks like I will need to do some creative financing for this to happen because I have to refit the carbs to be correct for the engine.

And yes, I've looked at Fitz's bikes.

 

Refit the carbs ? Thought you had a spare set that came with the bike. Should be able to make one good set out of two you would think. Unless the other ones are junk also. In which case you will need to fix the post on the first carb set. A good machinist could make a pin to replace that post.
Search float post repair , there is a thread from someone at the Yamaha triples form that did a nice job.

MN

 

It was a three-MODEL year bike. All 3 years were virtually identical; '81 and '82 had the fairing which got deleted for '83. But it was pretty much a one-model thing, produced over three years (for the USA.) The rest of the world got a similar appearing but quite different XJ550; and for more than just those three years.

There are a lot of very small "detail" differences between the three years, as Yamaha made "running production changes" to some parts without changing part numbers. Other than minor details, the only discernable differences were in the paint schemes and colors of the forks, fender, valve cover, etc.

The 550 Seca was sold in far fewer numbers than the Maxims here in the USA, and because it was a "sport" bike many of them aren't around any more.

It's a worthwhile resto. The bike is exceptionally functional, reliable, economic and fun. Highly recommended.

The smallest pop rivets you can buy do work, depending on where it broke. When I did it I reinforced the join with JBWeld.

 

I do. They aren't junk, they are the wrong carbs. Both sets I have are for Maxim, so I have to re-jet and replace the main jet needles. Not particularly hard, but it costs money. The set of needles alone is $80. Plus, there are things like gaskets and o-rings that should get replaced just to avoid going back in there.

Seen it. So far I got a carb from the other rack, I might fix the broken one later.

I haven't taken off the duct tape yet, so I don't know how it's broken.

Wouldn't the headlight, or at least the bezel, be the same as, say, Maxim?

 

Oh, ok. I knew it was rare, anyway. So, it's a 'one-model' bike, not a 'one-year'bike. Go for it anyway!

Thanks, Fitz.........

dave fox

 

A quick search shows the headlight assembly to be part 2J2-84310-60-00. This seems to be the same as XJ650, XS850, XS750, XS1100 and a few other Yamahas.

 

Yep. The trim ring, inner headlight mounting ring and headlight retainer ring have a great deal of "across the board" commonality.

 

The part number is for the whole thing, bucket, light and rings.

 

And some more:

-Completely plugged pilot circuit in the carbs
-Wrong size fuel line (too big) squeezed down with clamps
-Loose taillight

 

Adding to the list:

-Wrong mirror attached with something like bicycle mirror mount
-Delaminated rear brake shoes
-Chain stretched beyond adjustment
-Cut off wiring for the fuel sender
-Wrong size bolts in air filter cover
-Pieces missing from intake manifolds
-Broken clutch lever

 

Damn. And I thought I had a basket case on my hands.

It's pretty neat how quickly they improve with constant fiddling though...

 

Well, I'm as far as having it start and run. It didn't do that when I got it. Still need to fix brakes, get a new chain and straighten out the idle.

 

According to the PO, mine hadn't started or even had spark for at least four years and two baffled owners that he knew of...

I had it running the second day :lol:

But every aspect of every little thing since has been a problem. I just gotta keep telling myself I have a good motor, clutch, and final drive, and a solid frame...everything else can be dealt with little by little....and I mean everything....groan.

I need some square front turn signals...you gonna use those? I might be interested if not...

 

Have to disappoint you on the turn signals. Just installed some matching square ones in the rear.

Little bit by little bit...

 

That's OK...I was either gonna match some squares to the ones on the rear, or use these little chrome bullet ones I got on the rear and some old round XS650 ones I have on the front...

 

Aaand the list goes on...

-The chain master link was installed in a really awesome way - with the removable plate between the other plate and the rest of the chain. The only thing on the outside was the spring clip.

-The outer headers were mixed up. There is a left and a right, and they were backwards.

-The screws in the headers (are those drains? ) were missing.

 

Screws in the headers? You must be looking at the plugs the factory used for air/fuel ratio testing for emissions.

MN

 

Yeah, that's gotta be what they are. Why anybody would pull those is a mystery.