Not new here but havent posted in a while (picture heavy!)

Hello all, I am not very active on here but I thought I would share my story and pictures. I bought my first bike last year in February and absolutely love it! It's a 1982 XJ 550 Seca, it has over 90k miles on it (engine has been rebuilt from what I was told when I purchased it). Bought it from the second owner, clean title, and it has been all over the U.S. which to me is pretty awesome! I bought it for $400 in running condition, needed tires, brakes and a few other things to make it safe to ride which I took care of before I started riding it regularly.

So I started riding late in the game (29 years old, now 30), I started on a 70's Honda CT70, learned how to shift and all that, then rode my XJ once I was comfortable riding the CT70, absolutely loved it! Once I "mastered" riding, the next day my friends thought it would be fun to put me on a Honda CRF230 and ride 30 miles in a sand wash...not really knowing what I was getting into, I agreed and off we went. I did pretty damn good, only crashed once and fell over once, both with no injuries to the bike (most important!) and none to myself. They were all surprised that I almost kept up with them and did pretty good.

Fast forward to now, several thousand miles on the XJ and a lot of hours on my dirt bike, here I am with 4 bikes and an addiction to riding that can't be cured! I mainly ride to work but sometimes I don't go straight home, I live in AZ and we have year round riding weather as long as you can stand the heat (which isn't horrible, I hate the "winter" more than anything and don't like to freeze my ass off!) So there are a few areas by me that are scenic and fun to ride, and sometimes I need to clear my head, so I take the long way home and just ride!

I picked up another XJ 550 a few months ago for $200 as a parts bike, however looking it over it may be a good candidate for a spare, ride-able bike (which I will try my best to make happen, I am a huge car guy and I have a VW Corrado which is a rare car to have and I always hated seeing Corrado part out threads on forums, so I am going to try to get the other XJ running and ride-able and gift it to my father, who had several Hondas back in his youth, and he loves riding the XJ!) Or I will get it running and ride it since my first XJ needs a ton of work, leaks oil and smokes a lot, so I have my work cut out for me. My plan is to do a "frame-off" restoration with the XJ and make it just a little more badass than it was stock.

Anyway, if you actually took the time to read all of this, thank you! Any comments and advice is greatly appreciated! If you didn't read it then I am wasting my time typing this out right now but maybe you are reading it and then you may read the whole thing because you think to yourself that "man, this looks like a good story!"

onto the pictures!!!

first day with the XJ, Don't worry, this was just a photoshoot, I had full gear on while riding!


made a few modifications, sanded down the tank and rear fender, no more front fairing and front fender didnt fit after I ordered the wrong size front tire (too big) but I like it!


dirt bike! '05 Honda CRF 150, I know, I know, it's kind of not a guys bike but I am short and got a smokin deal on it, and I have done some pretty badass rides on it that surprised the guys that I ride with!


the $200 81 XJ, soon to be on the road under my dad's control!


Did some tail lamp modifications, brought the tail lamp flush with the rear fender, lost a little storage space but I think it looks damn good! Also, moved the handlebars, bar end mirrors, and a MAC 4-1 exhaust with a modified baffle, sounds pretty damn good!



'84 XL200, I will ride this while I am rebuilding the XJ...one of these days


All 4, hanging out.


it now says 67k, then add 27.5k...I'm no math major but thats about 94,500 miles...


took this last weekend, the latest picture of the XJ.

Hope you have enjoyed the rundown of my story, all of the work has been done by me, I work on cars for a living so I love to tinker with mechanical stuff. The bike isn't perfect and needs some work but it starts up everyday and rides great. One day it will be mechanically sound and aesthetically pleasing, all it takes it takes is money...which one day I hope to make enough to make the XJ how I want it!

 

Great story!
I did read it all lol.
Your post doesn't really say what kind of tinkering mechanically you've done on your bike. It's great to hear it runs well but there are a few important things you should check.
Valve clearances, compression, and brakes.
Other than that both bikes look decent!
Good luck in your future!
-EM

 

I like your 'other' XJ - the Cherokee.
It's a jeep thing . . . . . .

 

Great post man - you can always tell when someones been bitten by the motorcycle bug. Someone's probably going to tell you to put the front fender back on. Wait - I just did!

If you don't mind getting stones and crap thrown up at you and never ride through any water that could splash up onto the electrics that's your bag dude but it also functions as a fork brace. I believe the front axle is clamped so you might read that it's not necessary to have a fork brace - this is not true. You're putting a lot of stress on the axle and it's 30+ years old. If you don't want to put the fender back on or modify it I would recommend adding a custom fork brace.

 

Glad to see the 2 wheel bug got you. Plus to dirt riding, does great things for riding skills on the street. Help you big time when dealing with balance and sliding tires on wet or dirty roads.
Keep posting and riding !
RB

 

Ear machine; thank you! I'm glad you brought that up. I got an extra set of carbs with the bike so I took them both apart, some of the jets and adjustment screws were seized and stripped so I made the best set of four I could. I checked the valve clearances and they were all in spec as well as compression, then replaced the carb boots and did a carb sync. I really need to do a color tune and get a YICS tool soon. Tires I replaced, replaced the front brakes and the rear brakes are good. I have replaced the clutch cable, tach cable, a few other things the I should have written down!

Stumplifter: it is a Jeep thing, and I love mine!

Ribo: I never would have thought about the front fender, I will definitely look into making a custom brace.

Toomanybikes: dirt riding has massively helped me on the road for sure!

 

No worries - If you still have the fender you can turn it upside down, you'll see there's a re-enforced section that's the brace. I believe you can remove it from the actual fender and just use it as-is on it's own but I've never done it. I've seen people just chop it down also.

Regarding rear brakes - when you say good, do you mean you replaced the shoes? If not I would. You've probably read the horror stories of de-lamination. If not you should. This is a serious issue - think rear wheel lock-up at 80mph.

 

Unfortunately I read about that after I put the tires on. It's something that I have been meaning to take care of, after payday I am going to order them

 

Rear pads on order as well as a master cylinder rebuild kit since mine crapped out on me while I was moving the bikes around in the garage. Glad it wasn't while I was riding!

 

Yeah as much as people shout about the read brake issue here I think the replacing the 30 year old MC and rebuilding the caliper(s) is also something we should all do. You can refurb the MC too but IMHO it's better to get get a new one so long as you get a decent make. This is your main way of stopping your face becoming your main way of stopping.

 

Yamaha makes a very nice master cylinder. It even has the correct bore size (unlike the Brembo M/C that a friend bought for his bike instead of the rebuild kit I had asked asked him to get).

 

It's not the size of your bore but what you do with it that counts...

 

That's a lie. Size matters. Lol

 

I'm not saying this just because I have a tiny penis but vagina's differ in size too. I've known some ladies that have exceptional acoustics. :O

 

1. TMI. Like WAAAAAYYYYYYYYY TMI

2. Where hydraulics are concerned the bore size ratio between the master and slave cylinders is critical. The wrong size can make the brakes either prone to early lockup, or totally useless.

 

k-moe your message made that sound dirtier.

 

well speaking of mc's, mine actually crapped out on me while I was moving the bikes around in the garage. Glad it didn't happen while I was riding it. Rebuild kit is on the way for the mc and caliper, and new brake lines are next. I just swapped out the brake lever and all that from the other XJ for now.