And so it begins.......

Actually, it began five years ago, when my Seca's chain chucked a couple rollers, mid-season.
Since I have other bikes to ride, no big deal. The Seca sat out the season and I ordered a chain and few few gaskets & other doo-dads over the winter.
Come spring, I fitted the chain, gaskets, etc and fired it up to find fuel pouring from the carb bank. Harrumph. After pulling the carbs and opening them up, the fuel rail o-rings were found hard as a rock and leaking like a sieve. Plus, the carb manifolds were hard, cracked and non-pliable, battery done for, and tires dry-rotted. So, it sits.....I have other bikes to ride, remember? And they break too....
Fast-forward to 2013.....I've had enough of my pearl-white baby sitting and collecting flies and spiders.....a few bucks come my way, I order tires, intake manifolds and carb o-rings. Change the manifolds. Change the o-rings. I hang the bank last night and put fuel pressure to them......now fuel is pouring out of the inlet tee! Pull the bank and notice the throttle cable has broken strands by the bleeding holes in my fingertips...ouch! Sigh....email Chacal again, more parts on the way.
Note to self...DO NOT let Seca "sit out the season" ever again!
More as it happens.........

 

New manifolds

Here are the new manifolds installed I got from Len (Chacal). These are the aftermarket ones and are very high quality!


IMAG0374 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr

 

Nice!!!! U polish the aluminum??? I started rubbing on mine couple days ago. Got a long road but she ll be worth it. 83 sec a xjr 750

 

Nice!!!! U polish the aluminum??? I started rubbing on mine couple days ago. Got a long road but she ll be worth it. 83 sec a xjr 750

 

Nice!!!! U polish the aluminum??? I started rubbing on mine couple days ago. Got a long road but she ll be worth it. 83 sec a xjr 750

 

Yes, yes, and yes.
I use Flitz and polish by hand. Actually, they need a touch-up.....it's been several years now and the aluminum is sort of spotty.

Here are a few pix of the bike several years ago:

 

Save yourself a rude surprise and replace the gasket between the cam chain tensioner body and the back of the cylinders NOW while the carbs are off. WHEN (not if) it begins leaking it will make you think you have a base gasket leak.

 

Good looking bike, and good luck!

 

With parts on order, I decided it was a good night to spruce up the aluminum bits with a little Flitz.......


IMAG0375 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr

 

Good Looking bike. I just started a similar process on my 81 SECA 550. Its been sitting out the last 3/ years because I have other bikes to ride, STUPID STUPID STUPID. Hope to have learned my lesson this time. The only problem is that its already May and I don't think I will have the bike ready until end of season. Good luck hope you have her up and running as soon as possible.

best.

 

Oh, don't make THAT mistake! You sound just like me three years ago.....work on that damn thing like you were gonna ride tomorrow and KEEP THE ENGINE RUNNING! Your gaskets and seals start drying out in a few short weeks, and just when you think you're ready to blitz on it, you thumb the starter and;
a) it doesn't; or
b) it does, but it leaks like a sieve or runs like crap.
Same goes for fork seals, tires, exhaust.....you name it. The most dangerous time for a bike is when it sits. A bike can be ridden for twenty years with nary a drop leaking from the forks. Let it sit one season and they're pissing all over. But you probably know all this. I'm merely prodding your memory.

 

Tick, tock, tick, tock.....

Playing the waiting game now. I'm fully aware of the pitfalls of 'taking a break'; i.e losing the momentum, in other words, so I manage to keep myself busy with some trivial tasks......

Polishing the aluminum bits, part deux:
Front wheel rim and spokes

IMAG0376 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr

More:


IMAG0377 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr

Hell, as long as we're doing the front wheel:


IMAG0378 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr


IMAG0379 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr

Every girl likes new shoes, right? Here's some for my L'il Banshee...



IMAG0380 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr

 

damn d00d, that polish. Now you've got baller rims

 

You need to lose those original shocks.

 

Why? They work. Is there something I don't know about, Fitz? :?:

 

I had to wear shades..... 8)

 

The old intake manifold rubbers, once removed, showed more problems than were visible from the outside.....

IMAG0384 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr
Here is Chacal's new brass tee with o-rings, compared to the original non-o-ringed tee......

IMAG0385 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr
New tee installed and ready for assembly....

IMAG0386 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr

And then the shit hit the fan. More later........

 

And then the s**t hit the fan. More later........

And so it did.
Knowing better than to forge ahead with slapping on the carbs, boots, etc, I propped them level on the lift, hooked up fuel from my overhead drop tank, and turned it on. Within moments, #3 and 4 carbs were spewing fuel from around the main needles and no amount of rapping on the float bowls for stuck needles would stop it. I hooked up my home-brewed fuel level tubes and.....yep. Fuel level crept up above the bowl casting surface. Not sure why at this point, but it's too late tonight to rip into them. Does anyone happen to have the measured float height spec for an '81 550RH? My Clymer manual uses a much less precise method of measuring fuel level in the tubes rather than actual float height.

 

No Joy in Mudville tonight.
Tried checking physical (measured) float height with the known good carbs (#1 and 2) and doing a comparo with the two leakers (3 & 4)....all is good. Reassembled and tried doing a wet-set with a home-made rubber tube-thingie I concocted; #1/2 sowed fuel level slightly lower than parting flange (all good there!) but 3 & 4 fuel levels kept creeping up until they were over half an inch above the parting seam and fuel would begin running out of the needle jets. Almost appears that the needles are not sealing. These are the Viton-tipped needles from a K&L repair kit. Bear in mind I had no issues with the carbs when they were removed a few years ago other than the leaking fuel tube seals. Is it possible the Viton tipped needles have dried up and are FUBAR'd? Seems like I take one step forward and two back, here....

 

That's a bad way to finish the day don't blame you for walking away tomorrow is another day it will be sitting there waiting for you good luck

 

Here are a couple view of the "wet-set" shots on #4........


IMAG0393 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr


IMAG0394 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr

 

Between BigFitz and Chacal, they called this one straight up! The O-rings on the OUTSIDE of both needle seats were hard as a rock and allowing fuel to bypass the needles and flood the bowls. Fortunately, I had a couple MS28775 o-rings on hand approximately the same size, and I've been patient enough! I slapped them in, hastily threw the bank back together and put the fuel to 'em. Not only did they NOT leak, but the wet-set levels were damn close...close enough for Mr. Impatience to throw the bank on the engine and roll it over.....SUCCESS!!!! After a bit of coaxing the li'l Banshee howled once again...(but not for long; low on oil so I shut it down). Granted, I'll have to get the right o-rings and replace all four, and then fine-tune the float heights, but hey...the Captain is one happy camper tonight! It won't be long now, folks!

 

It runs good!
Still a tough start, though. Needs a shot of starting fluid to get it rolling, but once on line, it's rarin' to go! (up on the lift, anyway)
On a more disparaging note, I can't believe that Castrol 4T Motorcycle oil is up to $5.99 a quart..... 8O
Also, the start button seems to be misbehaving. Never did THAT before.
But, not having run in (at least) three years, it sure is a good feeling to roll it over and have it light!

 

Seca gets new shoes!

THE OLD:


IMAG0379 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr


IMAG0377 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr

BAREFOOT:


IMAG0415 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr

DOROTHY'S RUBY RED SLIPPERS:


IMAG0380 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr

NEW FRONT:


IMAG0420 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr

NEW REAR:


IMAG0419 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr

"CLICK YOUR HEELS THREE TIMES AND SAY; "THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!"


IMAG0422 by buellosaurusrex, on Flickr

Much more aggressive tread and stickier compound...I'm hoping the new Shinko's will improve the handling as I am a fairly aggressive rider.

 

Oh yeah....forgot to mention; she lights with a touch of the starter button now!

 

I just had to.
I really shouldn't have (how many times have we heard THAT line?) but I just couldn't resist.....
She's been running so good on the lift, my prissy little bitch. So tonight, with a little time on my hands to kill, I started Putting Things Back On. Things like, Airbox boots; check. Air filter and side covers; check. Front fairing; check. Once around the block, says I....just to scrub in the new tires. It had just sprinkled but the roads were dry, and darkness was soon falling...so, once around the block we went. And then, another, longer circuit. This time I cracked the throttle just a bit more....and then the little bitch showed her claws....rrrrrrrrOOWWW! Sheeeeeeeeeit! The tach jumped right on up to 7 grand...I'd forgotten how fast this brazen little strumpet could rev! I pulled back into the drive with 9/10ths of a mile on the clock and a perma-grin on my face..
"I kept my promise, didn't I...you sassy little bitch"
"So did I", she purred, and I thought about that little 7 grand promise of Fun Things to Come and rolled her back up on the lift grinning like the village idiot the whole time.
I'm far from being finished, but now it's all clear again why I started in the first place!

 

I shouldn't have yesterday, and I shouldn't have today either, plate being expired and all...but I took her around the block a couple times after dinner despite the gloomy, overcast skies that looked ready to split wide-open any second. Enough to make make me realize the chain was loosy-goosy (which was quickly remedied) and the fact that it's been waaaaaaaay too long since I elbowed this little tramp in the ribs. She wants to run...I can feel it. I'll have to run down to the DMV and get new plates, and soon. I can't tell who wants to ride more; me or the li'l banshee! It won't be long now 'til she's back on the road, all legal-like and etc. I still have a rather large laundry list of Things To Do including replacing those carb o-rings, adjusting the valves and replacing the cam cover gasket, final wet-setting float height, carb sync and Color Tune, oil change and replace filter cover seals, replace shifter and foot peg rubbers, replace clutch lever bearing......whew! If I waited for all that, I'd never get it on the road this year. And I mean to rack up a few miles regardless, because sitting is what brought us to this point in the first place. Ride now; wrench later. That's the payment plan I'm on!

 

What size are the wheels you got?