new guy with an 82XJ550 Seca

Hello from sunny Arizona. Bought my first motorcycle in the beginning of Feb. $400 with a clean title a spare engine, carbs, forks, 4-1 exhaust and some spare ignitors...needless to say I lucked out! oh yeah it runs too! Don't get me wrong, it needs a TON of work, but I figured I'd get something cheap and easy to work on to learn on. I have some good freinds that are riders/MMI instructors/former students so I am in good hands if I need help. Anyway, here is the bike...


The jacket was a gift from my friend Jon that found the bike and the helmet was just for the picture, Jon also gave me a full helmet as a gift, so I don't need too much more riding gear.



Funny that this was the bike I bought because "XJ" is the chassis code for my Jeep in the background.

The bike has about 91k miles, the PO swapped out the cluster so the mileage says 62k but he said to add 27.5k. he also said he put xj600 pistons in (I have no idea how to tell) and forks from a different Yamaha bike, maybe the Maxim? Also no idea how to tell! It's a Frankenbike for sure, but it's a lot of fun. My plans for it are to make it safe to ride and fix some other things on it. It needs, tires, brakes, fork seals, petcock leaks, a few oil leaks, rear shocks, front brake line, carbs needs synched, I'd like to replace most of the lights with leds to make them brighter and use less juice, figure out what is causing the loud rattling at idle until its in gear (clutch related I'm assuming) and i guess paint.. all of this after I learn more and take the MSF class and get licensed and all that. After all that I'd like to make it a cafe style bike and maybe get another bike to ride while that project is going on. I'm a car guy, therefore I have several car projects as well as 4 wheeling in the Jeep so I'll have to figure out a way to distribute the time and money accordingly. Anyway thanks for reading and I look forward to gaining more knowledge from everyone!

 

oh and the paint, yeah it's custom. HD orange (at least thats what the guy I bought it from said) with some AZ sunfade!

 

Welcome aboard Bimmr! Very cool bike! I would say you have done well. Like you said, get her safe. Sounds like you are on the right track.

 

Wow, 91k is some killer mileage. Good luck with getting her cleaned up and safe, and have fun.

 

Straight out... check the valves, sync the carbs, replace the brake lines up front and check the rear brake shoes. It may also need the bearings to be replaced on both of the wheels. Oh and check the skin of the tires....
This will make it safe!

 

Bimmr2002; The "loud rattle at idle/in neutral" you described is a characteristic of the 550s due to their oil-pressure operated hydraulic primary chain tensioner. When oil pressure is low it allows the primary chain to go slack and thus "rattle" the transmission and clutch. (In the 550s, unlike the shaft-driven bikes, the primary chain is a "true" primary in that it drives the transmission. The shaft-driven bikes' primary chain only runs a jackshaft with the alternator and starter on it; primary drive is via gear.)

If you run the correct oil and get the bike properly tuned, this syndrome can be greatly reduced. The biggest help is to get the idle set so that it won't go "lump, lump, lump" it can idle like a sewing machine if you get the carbs properly synched.

But by all means check the valve clearances. Somebody had to have done it a few times somewhere along the miles or it would have blown up by now, but it's uber-important to keeping a motor that old healthy.

Plus you'll never get the carbs right until the valves are in spec.

But you've come to the right place. There's more than a few of us 550 Seca lovers here.

 

Nice,

I would like to have a 550 seca at some point but I guess that will have to wait until I get my 650 seca on the road.

 

Oh I am so tempted but don't want to hijack the new guys' thread... 8O

Dragon Warrior, here's the thing: Chain driven bikes just simply accelerate more quickly and less "linearly" than shaft-driven bikes. In a shaft-drive system with a transverse-crank motor, you're taking the rotation of the crankshaft, turning it 90 degrees to run the shaft, then turning it 90 degrees back at the rear end to turn the wheel. It takes time for all that stuff to get "wound up." And more than a few HP gets lost in the translation.

With a chain drive, the rotation of the crank/transmission is directly transmitted to the rear wheel without having to change direction twice. Which is why race bikes are almost exclusively chain-driven. No unnecessary power-robbing drive transitions, gearbox to wheel, rotating the same direction.

"Streak-flash-BAM!" versus winding up a gyroscope. The 650 Seca is 100lb heavier and a foot and a half longer than the 550 Seca pretty much because of the "transfer case" and shaft drive. (I have the luxury of being able to park them side-by-side.)

But then again the Fitz has always been a chain-driven kinda guy.

 

BigFitz52, thank you for the info! I have noticed that in some of the few youtube videos of the 550's that there is the rattle so I kinda figured it was common. Makes sense as far as running the correct oil, God only knows whats in there now! With that being said I will follow your and OldBikerDude's advise and get the correct oil in there asap, adjust the valves and sync the carbs. Also no worries on the thread hijack, it's all good!

I couldn't be in better hands with you guys and my biker friends! Thanks for the info/help!