1981 xj 550 seca

I have 1981 xj 550seca, picking it up tomorrow, curious on if an engine off a 81xj 750 seca will be direct bolt on swap, cause i know that mine is a chain drive and the 750 is shaft???

 

nope, nada, no how, no way. if you want a 750 cc bike get a 750 cc bike. oh, and welcome to the forum.

FU

 

Real informative thanks

 

you're not the first to ask that question, and simply put, it's a chain drive bike and a shaft drive. they don't intermingle. is there a problem with the 550 engine? if you are just bent on having more cc's on your 81 seca, you can swap in a 600 cc 86-90 yx600 radian engine, but good luck finding one. they are akin to hens teeth.

FU

 

The bike was given to me for free it has sat for over 10 years needs torn down and went through wanting to make into partial cafe racer but wanting little extra behind it cause i can get the 750 engine with carbs for 400 and body work and paint I'm doing all the work myself trying to build on a budget Lol

 

has it been stored indoors or out? if it has been indoors, you may just need to go through the carbs and update all the maintenance that hasn't been done. the first thing I would do is a compression test to see if the mill is worthwhile. if that's good then it gets an oil change and a carb rebuild. and if it runs well after that it gets new brakes and tires before it hits the road. wheel and head bearings and chain and sprockets too. how many miles are on it?

FU

 

You're NOT going to put a 750 engine into the 550 on a budget----- unless you have reeeaaallly biiiiig budget. As was told to you, the 75o is not a direct bolt-in swap, it's chain vs. shaft--- which also means the rear is different: the output on the 550 is a sprocket on the left side, the output on the 750 is a u-joint on the rear: the swingarms are different, the 750 Probably won't fit in the frame to begin with, the engine mount are probably different, etc..... Wiring harness issues may plague you: you'll need to swap tci modules---

You're gonna go in waaaay deep if you try to do this.

I don't care if you can get the engine and carbs for $400, if you try to put that engine in there, you'll end up putting 4x that or more into the bike before you even get to cleaning carbs, doing brakes, tires, etc.... And all the regular things you'll have to do to make it safe..

Then you'll be do frustrated, you'll sell it all cheap just to get way from it ...... And you'll take a loss on it, too.

So in short, the original reply was clear and direct to the point.

Dave f

 

The 550 is a very fast bike in stock form (as compared to other bikes of the era).

 

You should ride a good running 550 before "wanting little extra behind it". I think you'll be impressed the way those little buggers poop and get.

 

Plus, the 550 has 6 gears vs the 5 gears of the others....

 

This is it as you can see no carbs will have to get carbs for it says 19xxx miles was kept in garage btw

 

sad seca. definitely start with a compression test. if that's no good, it's worth more money as individual parts.

as a reality check, make a list of what it needs and then get prices for said parts.

FU

 

Wow, that's pretty rough..... Must have been kept in the garage only after it got beaten up. It's missing more than just the carbs, too-----

 

Yeah but it's free though lol when i pick it p I'll keep you guys posted

 

nothing in life is FREE.

FU

 

For free.... I'd grab it too----- I can build it on a budget, but then I have a lot of parts around, and can really do it fairly cheap for myself. But I do the work myself too---

Seeing all the broken stuff, check to make sure the frame isn't bent

 

Always remember the ancient proverbs:

There is an East Indian proverb:

"If you have an enemy give him an elephant; at first he will think you are his best friend".

The cowboy version is give him an old horse.

The motorcyclist version is give him an old bike......

 

That's a shame, the 550 Seca didn't sell in large numbers here in the states, and could be considered "rare". Check ebay, I would be willing to bet you could source a replacement 550 engine for decent money shipped to your door. But yes, given the condition of that bike you would be looking at $1000+ just to make it safe and rideable before really digging into the cosmetics. And you would have an awesome vintage sporty UJM when you were done.

 

Actually for a free bike, I would check the engine out and see if it was salvageable first. Then you can get a baseline for what else you need (carbs obviously, maybe a new ignition). You would still be looking at a hefty bill to self-perform the necessary maintenance and safety updates, but don't assume yet that the engine is an anchor.

 

Yeah, those are pretty much my thoughts. Slowly and methodically work through it all (or even have a local shop check it out for a general bill of health) and see what you have before recycle-binning anything.

 

YOU can check it out yourself.... YOU can do it---- we're here to help you learn how.

 

I can get all the bearings, brakes, seals, etc for pretty good prices on eBay I'm not keeping it original though, I'm going to be doing all the work myself so I'm going to bee saving alot in labor just parts

 

I plan on just stopping it down to the the frame I've got access to a sand blaster, also i Am looking for both side covers of anyone knows where i can find some that would be awesome tomorrow I'm going to do compression test probably work on engine removal,

 

Sidecovers for a 550 Seca? Good luck.
Before you rip this bike to pieces, why not test the engine, get the parts you need to get it running, and go from there? Yes maybe it will need to have the frame blasted at some point, but if this is your first bike, and first time wrenching, don't make this more of a project than it already is. Get it to work first, then decide where to go. It may not seem like it now, but having a motorcycle in pieces can be intimidating.

 

I know this lol just curious on how hard are they to find. I've been a mechanic now for over six years definitely not my first time wrenching!! Lol this is just my first time working this deep into a bike, and of course the first thing on my agenda is check over the engine.yada yada I'm just tying to get an over all price on things as well