Introductions

Hi guys and gals, just thought I'd say a quick hello as I'm a new member and it'd be rude not to!! Just brought myself an 84 seca 550 which, as seems to be the norm, is getting the bobber treatment!!! I already have new drag bars and pod filters are on their way, my new 700 maxim tank arrived today, no idea as of yet if it'll fit or not or why there seems to be holes for a secondary fuel tap but I'm new to this so will figure it out as I go!!!!! I'm from the westgate area of kent if anybody is near by give me a shout, look forward to chatting to you all and will post pics soon, that's about all I can think of so will leave it there!!!!

 

Welcome Mr Pain, I'm a new member to, been here a few weeks now and have found these guys to be an extremely helpful & supportive bunch, so don't be afraid to ask anything, even if it seems pretty basic, as I've found you don't ask, you don't know!

Looking forward to some pics of the build

 

Hi Newb21, just posted some pics of how she was when I got her, will see if this new tank fits tomorrow and hopefully post some more then!!

 

Welcome. The 700Max tank has 1 mount for the petcock and 1 smaller mount for the low fuel warning circuit. All on the left side, petcock to the rear and the low fuel circuit to the front. The only tanks with 2 petcocks were the XS/XJ 1100 and the XV Virago.
You will have to make some mods to fit the tank because the 550's are different from the bigger CC bikes. 650's, 700's and 750's will interchange, 750 is the larger tank, Max tank will fit a Seca, but a Seca tank won't fit a Max because of the way the rear of the tank is designed
Hope all that helps, good luck with your build, post pics.
P.S. Keep the airbox boots, you may need to use them between the carb and pod to smooth out the air flow. Pods are difficult to tune on CV style carbs, but can be done with the right amount of knowledge and patience.

 

Cheers dude, really helpful advice, especially about the air box boots!!

 

Those are nice bikes, you'll have fun with it. I'd never bob it myself, but I restore, not mod. Make sure you've caught up on all the maintenance the POs didn't do!

http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=43470.html

 

You have the right side cover on there which is a hard to find piece. The original tanks are hard to find in decent condition too. Both of those parts can be sold for some decent money towards the rest of your build.

 

Hi zombiehouse, I had no idea side cover was hard to find, the right side specifically? How odd, also didn't know the seca tank was worth money, good to know, cheers for the heads up

 

HOLY RUSTED BIKE BITS BATMAN!!!! Just looked on eBay, seca tanks are going for some bloody good money, right then, that's going up for sale ASAP!!!!!!

 

Why anybody would "bob" a 550 Seca beats the heck out of me.

Seriously?

 

Fitz I don't know why a person would do that to any classic!!!

 

Sorry to kill a classic guys, it's just not really my " look" , if it had come as standard when I brought it I may very well have just restored it but it'd already been messed about with when I got it, if I could figure out how to post a picture in this link I'd show you!!!!!

 

No worries. And we have seen some quite tidy cafe bikes done from the 550R. Mod away; just remember that some things that look cool don't necessarily turn out to be all that practical.

 

Like the air filter > pods conversion you mean?

 

Pod Conversion is our forum's equivalent of Godwin's Law. :lol:

 

I was more referring to front fender removal; and the fact that most new-to-bikes guys have no idea of the value of being able to MOVE AROUND on the seat.

Tractor seats may look cool; but it means one riding position and one riding position ONLY. No sliding forward or back. Not necessarily all that practical if you ride for more than 1/2 hour at a crack.

You only need a front fender if you EVER plan to run through a puddle. We could discuss how long wrapped pipes will stay looking even halfway decent with no front fender. But we won't.

And we won't even bring up the whole "hard tail" thing.

Function can be cool too. Maybe too subtle? I dunno; I'd rather be able to ride all day and not be sore after 400+ miles. But I still like chrome on motorcycles.

 

Well not to worry, I don't plan on having a tractor style seat and will still have plenty of movement space on it, also the front fender stays put, maybe becomes shorter but definitely stays put!!!!!

 

I don't know why you would take the front fender off
I know the bobb theory is less is more
but I would not want to get wet when riding
Fitz has a nice bike
as for the seat I am opting for a Vstar 650 seat, it has a bit
more sliding room..
and not to sound like a dick
I hate the look of my Maxim
I just hate the look of the seat and the sissy bar
that is just me thou

 

My take on motorcycle esthetics: I can't see it while I'm riding.