My first bike

Hey I thought I would create a thread here of my restoration of a 1982 650 Seca I bought a couple months ago and have been working on as time and energy permits. This will be my first real motorcycle (I have a 50 cc scooter right now.) I am very excited to build this bike and get her on the road!

I bought the bike for 300 dollars on craigslist with a title

So far I have Cleaned the carbs (although not as thoroughly as I should have) and got it running!
checked compression (good results, between 135 and 150 psi)
bought a new gas tank (see photos)
bought a new speedo and left footpeg
bought 4 into 1 exhaust (bike did not include pipes)

It was in pretty good shape except for the gas tank and missing parts. The previous owner had too many projects and needed to sell it. He had the seat re-upholstered a few months before he sold it, but other parts of the bike could use some touching up. Parts of the left side were damaged in a crash from the owner before him.

Anyway, thanks for looking and I'll try to post as I go!

Here are photos of the hole in the old tank, and the new tank before repainting.
Sorry to the artist who made this, but the punisher skull just isn't me.

Thanks ecologito for the tank!

 

I am going to pull off my Inner Fitz

Have you checked the valve clearance yet?
also how about the brakes, aka front master cylinder and brake lines
don't neglect the rear brake shoes for delamination?
also check the rubber on those tires
look for dates and cracks

good luck with the build

 

Well... I have not checked the valves yet, but I did buy feeler gauges and intend to do it before I do anything else with the engine.
The front reservoir had gummy stuff in it, and no liquid. I have not dealt with that yet either.
The front tire was just replaced by the previous owner, but the back tire is completely bald and was the caw I just want to ride down my alleyway.use of the accident that got the bike to the previous owner in the first place. I am aware of all the safety stuff but right now I just want to ride up and down my alleyway so I am motivated to keep working on it.

 

cool cool
just don't skimp on the important stuff
honestly these bikes are very easy to work on
I am getting surgery today and will be out of commission for a few
months.. but as soon as I am able too, I am going to redo everything I neglected last yr
or need to replace
new rear brakes
new front pads
valves will be the first thing I check
and I am planning on a huge ride, I will need a new rear tire before that
also going to add a gel pad to my seat and re-upholster it
as well as new paint on almost everything
I can't wait

 

Very nice man, best of luck with the surgery. I hope you recover soon!

 

Just finished checking the valve clearances.

All were within spec except 1 exhaust valve, although almost all of them were very close to the tight end of the range and often the feelers did not want to go in right away.

the one out of spec valve was an exhaust valve which measured out to about .11

I will have to replace that .280 shim with a .275

 

As long as they are in spec. In spec is in spec. BUT....just make sure that you've written them all down. This time, you have only one that is out of spec. It's a pretty good be that many more will be out next time around. Even then, it's just a matter of putting them back in spec. It'll be easier next time, as long as you have the sheet that you've written everything down on. Because then....all you have to do is measure the clearance and figure out the new size since you have a list of all the shims that will already be in the bike!

Dave Fox

 

Well it is time to get the rust out of the inside of the tank!

I have prepared myself with:

1) Toilet bowl cleaner (9.5%HCL) to remove the rust.

2) Water/ baking soda rinse (to neutralize acid)

3) Isopropyl alcohol rinse followed by hair dryer (to remove water)

4) Marvel Mystery Oil and Seafoam to prevent flash rusting

Any thoughts?

 

A Phosphoric acid wash would put a protective counting on the metal and prevent the flash rusting too ---

 

Dave, you are right, I should have bought phosphoric acid right off the bat.
The toilet bowl cleaner removed some rust, but it is still not completely clean, and it flash rusted a bit as well. Getting all the water out quickly after rinsing is hard, and I didn't want to put the mystery oil in there with the water.
I bought some concrete etching solution with phosphoric acid today so I will try that out next and report the results.
However the scoreline right now is Rust 1, Colin 0.

 

Phosphoric acid concrete etching solution has worked it's magic on the inside of my gas tank and it is now petty much rust free except for a few spots where it looks like condensation caused a little tiny bit of flash rusting.

I could not find ingredients on any etching products at Home Despot, but Sherwin Williams had some with phosphoric acid, although it was almost $30. ouch.

 

I know it has been a long time since I posted but I got it ride-able! The tank is rust free, and repainted, new clear fuel line and filter, and voltage reg. was bad so replaced that too. probably several other things too that I can't remember.

I still have lots of work to do to make it road worthy and perform correctly but I am proud of myself for getting it this far!

Thanks to everyone who helped me and everyone who makes this forum continue to exist.

 

photo

 

more

 

You're getting there!

What's with the horn?
Your header pipe on cyl 4 looks awfully blue... Running hot-- checked valves yet?

 

All the pipes were somewhat blue when I got them from the previous owner. I checked the valves recently, and even got a shim from you!

As for the horns, only one of the old ones was working, and it was pretty wimpy so I got 2 new ones at harbor freight for 10 bucks. They point sideways now and neither of them works because of the wiring, but they should be good once I sort that out.

There are quite a few other things that need to happen before I can confidently go on a long trip but right now I am having fun on my 3 mile commute to and from work.

 

Sounds like you're on top of things then...... Carry on

 

I rode the bike some more today, and it just keeps getting better! Thanks to everyone for their help.

 

Currently cleaning the bead seats on the rear wheel, they have some pretty bad oxidation on them.

The phosphoric acid from the tank de-rusting adventure doesn't seem to be doing much, and neither does the old sponge and pine sol.

extra fine steel wool is probably the next step.

 

Got the tire on there, I ended up using a tube though.

Also the new brake shoes barely fit into the drum, and there is almost no free play in the system before the breaks engage.
The wheel does spin freely though, and the drum was still cool after riding around for a bit.

I took the bike back to the guy I bought it from last summer, and he was happy to see it on the road again. He showed me all his 7 other cars including a '39 ford he's owned since he was a teenager.

 

hey, super neat! looks like yer having a blast.

 

Yeah it's been really fun!
I'm glad you like it.

Just got the front tire bead seated properly this morning. Before there was a very noticeable flat spot on the left side.
Also noticed there is currently no air filter element so going to remedy that! Good thing I am in the PNW.

 

Met a guy down the road who has an 82 550 seca, and we went on a ride today.
What a blast! He also had a set of vacuum gauges so I synced the carbs and that helped out power delivery a bit.
I rode his bike and wow! It was so much snappier and more responsive than mine, and a much smoother power delivery and more low end torque.
and he has pods...

 

he probably has re-jetted for a tad more low end and bigger thrust.

 

I went out riding again today with a buddy and my battery died after about 35 miles and now my baby is stranded on the side of the road!
I had to ride b**** home. What a shame! Maybe the voltage regulator I installed a while ago isn't cutting it. (original one was toasted)

Also I got to ride this guy's BMW r850r around for a while, and I have to say it felt quite a bit faster than my bike. I looked up the specs and it is supposed to be about 1/2 second slower 0-60 time (couldn't find 1/4 mile times on it) Which leads me to think I have some serious tuning issues. The experience with the 550 seca is also pointing to this conclusion.

Looks like I'm going to have have to spend a lot more time in the carport.

 

Time to be honest with yourself. If you didn't like wrenching you'd have bought a newer bike.
Welcome to classic motorcycle ownership.

 

I am having so much fun!

 

Well a plug examination has revealed 2 pieces of bad news.
1. I am still running lean despite restricting the air intake to try to richen it up before I re-jet
2. Cylinder #1 has oil leaking in from somewhere and fouling the plug.

I suppose a leak down test is in order.

 

Ouch, hope that turns out okay!

 

I did a compression test because compression testing equipment is free with O'Reilly loan a tool.

The oil fouled plug was cylinder #1.

The results were all good #1: 150; #2 145; #3 140+ #4 145
The results for #3 are uncertain because the tester got stuck in cylinder #2 and I had to use pliers to twist it out. After that I did not want to deal with screwing it in tight. I could hear air leaking out through the threads when I tested #3 but I did not mind since 140 is not too bad, and the plug looked good anyway.

After this I added oil to cylinders 1 and 4 and got 155 for both.

I don't think this test really shows much about the health of the engine. According to the test results above this engine does not leak, even though it does. Someone elsewhere pointed out that there can be gouges in the cylinder wall that do not go all the way up so the piston will seal well near the top of it's stroke and build up good numbers despite the problems.

Another problem is if a cylinder is leaking oil, every compression test is a wet test, since there is already a good amount of oil inside. That could explain the small improvement in cylinder #1, since it is already oily inside, while cylinder #4 was dry.

All in all this test was not helpful to figure out anything, but while I still have the tool, and I know cyl. #1 is leaking I have a plan.

Instead of spending $50 on a leak down tester I will just screw the compression tester hose into Cyl. #1 and use the quick connect fitting to blow air in, and see if I can find where it is leaking! I think I will test the cylinder at TDC and also a bit below, to see if I can pick up on any defects farther down the cylinder wall. Hopefully it is a valve problem though. Valve grinding looks doable and relatively inexpensive.

Also I could continue riding anyway and ignore any problems until they make me pay attention to them. This may end up being the best option.

 

If it ain't broke, don't fix it!

 

I am going with MattiThundrrr's advice and leaving it alone. I did not do the fancy leak down test.

Are Dynojet's jet kits recommended?

I don't want pods, but I would like to make a smaller and less restrictive manifold and use a car style cold air intake. bad idea?

Also what is the little separate passage in the side of the carb bowl for? It looks to me like part of the choke. One of these is clogged and this little passage is not getting fuel from the main supply in the bowl. I was not able to unclog it.

 

The compression test tells us that the rings are sealing and the valves are sealing. The MOST LIKELY cause for your fouled plug is a cracked valve guide seal. That is a very minor issue and can be left alone until it really needs the head to be pulled off for some other reason. You can run a hotter plug in #1 if it fouls to the point of not having spark.


Leave the intake one for now. There are few modifications that are more troublesome to get right.

The passage in the carb bowl is for the enrichment circuit and needs to be clean.

 

Thanks K-Moe!

 

New developments: Blew out the blockage in the little pressed in jet in the side of the bowl, now every passage in my carbs is totally clear.

Ordered 4 #116 jets from jets r us; received 1 #116 and 3 #122. We'll see what happens when they get back to me.

I added a tiny voltmeter to my instrument cluster, now I can see if my battery is dying on me before it happens.

I moved to the country and sold my scooter, so now I have no transport except a bicycle and the bus system, which is actually pretty good.
I really don't mind all the waiting around for buses. It is very zen. I also watch all the people driving by, and many of them do not look happy.
It does suck not to be able to go where I want when I want though.

 

Very interested to see where this bike goes, man. Good luck!

 

Seems like yer on the right track!

 

I made a dumb mistake. The idle and main jets were switched on cylinder 1. This explains the gratuitous fouling of the #1 plug, strange throttle response, smell of gas coming from the exhaust, and the other cylinders plugs still showing lean even though the exhaust was popping from richness on decel. Thankfully that has been fixed and the new #116 jets arrived from jets r us after I had to pay to ship back the order they filled wrong. However they were courteous and apologetic so I am sort of OK with it. been installed. I don't really have a baseline to compare with the 110's but I am going with chacal's rejetting tips and they should be close. I rode for about an hour today and everything went well. I have yet to do a plug examination, but I am going to guess the fuel air mix is pretty close to right. I did "check" the throttle shaft seals, and on the outside seal on cylinder #4 I could feel my finger getting sucked on, while cylinder #1 was OK. I guess I'm going to have to replace those soon since some of the inaccessible seals are likely leaking as well. Also I tried to wet set the float levels, but succeeded only in stripping the bowl drain screws. I think the levels are probably OK, but I would like to confirm that. Two new valve shims have been installed, and all valve clearances are totally in spec!!! The carbs should probably be synchronized again but I'm not going to sweat it for now.

Another thing: I removed the inline fuel filter I had installed because it required a lot of pressure to get fuel down to the carbs, and once my tank got a little below 1/2 the bike would die. I think this is partly because of the angle I had to run the filter at to get it to fit between the carbs and the tank, but either way I plan on getting a different and smaller filter soon. In the mean time the screen that plugs into the petcock inside the tank is still in good shape.

Anyway now the bike is totally reassembled and ride-able once more.

O XJ Gods, please do not judge me too harshly!

 

I rode the bike about 50 miles today, and everything went fairly well, but when I was about 5 miles from home the headlight and dash lights quit working. Fortunately the tail/brake light and turn signals continued working. Also as of a few days ago the neutral light comes on any time the clutch is pulled in, in all gears. The headlight fuse filament was black and crispy looking, but not broken. I put in a new fuse and it still did not work. This may have something to do with me jumping the powerful side of the headlight relay since the hot wire to the low current side of the relay is not working. Just another footnote in the long and woeful but also strangely exciting saga of my transportation history.

 

I figured out what was wrong with the headlight. The grounded end of the jumper I was using to jump the high current side of the headlight relay had come un-clipped and was shorting to the frame occasionally as it flapped in the wind. This is what made the fuse crispy without completely blowing it. I also figured out what was wrong with the headlight relay circuit. . . nothing! After testing the relay, (worked fine) and all the wires feeding the relay (both grounds were good, and the high current hot wire was good) I figured out that the low current hot wire was not getting power. I verified this by probing the wire with a lead connected to the hot side of the battery and the relay installed, and happily the headlight turned on. Next I traced this wire back to the diode block with the trusty schematic in my Clymer manual. Probed it up there with the hot wire and the diode block taken out and the headlight turned on. Then I used their diode block testing procedures to check the diode block, and it checked out, although there was a lot of resistance. I figured out which wire going into the diode block connected to the wire to the relay, probed that one and the light came on. Traced that wire back to the three white wires coming off the generator, probed all three of those, and the headlight turned on. This left me scratching my head since I had verified proper functioning of the generator a while back when I was having charging problems. Later I thought "Hmm, the generator must be getting electricity when the engine is running" so I plugged in the relay, started the bike, and the headlight came on. In the almost year I have been working on this project I never tried turning the bike on with the relay plugged in. I thought the key being on would be enough. Anyway it is a relief to know that it all works fine, and I can get back on the road without worrying about my lights going out again.

 

Grounds will do it every time.

 

You figured out that the relay is designed to prevent the headlight from coming on until after the engine has started. Excellent. I'm sorry that you had to find out the hard way.

 

I wrote down the prices of everything I can remember for parts, accessories, and title, registration etc. Basically just things that are necessary to use the bike, no tools or chemicals. I think I have spent about $700 on top of the purchase price to get the bike where it is today. It irks me to know I will lose money on this bike when I sell it, since I am still not finished spending money on it, but it has been a pretty fun project.

On a side note I was able to buy the scooter mentioned earlier, ride it for 10 months and 4000 miles, and sell it for the same price I bought it for. In the mean- time I did 4 oil changes at about $6 each, and re-soldered a wire that broke inside the headlight switch. I also had to pay for the title transfer and tabs for a year, but a good scooter that holds its value is the thriftiest form of motorized transport out there.

 

Ok, here's an idea: if you think you'll lose money on the sale, don't sell it! Keep on XJing, or sell it to one of us! This has to be about the enjoyment you get from it. Otherwise, you become one of those investment bankers buying Shelbys or Ferraris and never driving them cuz you're worried about hurting the investment. You spent that money on you, not the bike. You're a better, smarter person, and a cooler one too!

 

Well said!

 

I am definitely keeping it. I think it is going to be a very reliable vehicle once I rebuild all the systems and keep doing scheduled maintenance. It is also really cool to show up to places on something I obviously did myself!

 

Pride of ownership should be derived from work put into the item as opposed to the amount you spend on an item. YOU built it that way, not bought it that way! It's a good thing!

 

Headlight was not working today, but it was just a loose fuse. The fuse clips in my box are a little bent. Blade fuses would be a good idea, but I probably won't do them for awhile.

 

Honestly, it only takes about half an hour and it's an amazing difference. The PO of my bike luckily didn't mess with my wiring harness only the fuse box. But it was disgusting lol

Very easy to do, inexpensive and looks great.
IMO...

-EM

 

wooooooooooooooow, that looks great!