New member here residing in SW PA.

I'm new to this forum,I'm Bill.I have owned a few different brands of Japanese only motorcycles but haven't purchased an XJ550 yet.I have also worked as a small repair shop owner and have been working on all different Japanese bikes since the late 70's.I plan to purchase a 1981-82' Yamaha XJ550RH Seca when i find the one I can live with sometime this year.I live in SW PA. right now but will be moving out West shortly into a little apt. when I can finally get going.Would any of you 550- Seca owners tell me how reliable the 81-82' 550 Seca is for you ?
I fixed up one for a former customer when I had my small repair service on Cape Cod and I enjoyed the many features of the bike:stock oil cooler,fuel gauge,volt meter,etc.

 

The XJ series of bikes are about as tough as they come. With decent maintenance the will run over 100,000 ( my xj750rl has 99,000)
As long as you start with a decent one your good.
And welcome to the club Bill.Many members with tons of help and advice.

 

If you're able to properly clean carbs, you should be fine. All the information in the xj universe is available here... lots of knowledgeable folks willing to share!

 

my xj 550 maxim has been a very reliable.
it sat outside for 10 to 16 years had 30k miles on it. bushes and trees were growing through it .
I cleaned every electrical connector and greased them with dielectric grease. went with new wheel bearings all around.
brought the shims for valves into spec. needed too change tach seals also changed shifter seal and sprocket seals oil sensor seals for good measure.
rebuilt entire brake system front and rear. fork seals changed new throttle cable new clutch cable. new tires. needed new donuts for the valve cover replaced gasket at same time.
new fuse holders went with 4 inline ones
rebuilt carbs.
bike runs strong with no problem hitting redline .
the only problem I had when I put it on the road was with the spark plug caps and pick up coils. replaced them with new caps. got a new pair of pick ups.
i would ride my test loop and the bike would die at the same point in the loop and limp home. took a while to track it to the pickups because when the bike would cool down pick ups read fine
finaly one of them failed completlly.
I have a second set of pick ups.
the bolt upright sitting position took a while to get uesd to on a Seca you can sit farther back on the seat.
I now have a seca which will go on the road this spring I have gone through it all.
both of the bikes were non running when I got them and the crank case was full of oil and gas which kept the internal parts of the motor oiled

I have a third maxim 550 which is now running, first thing I did to it was oil the cylinders to make sure they were free used atf and acetone for this 2 to 1 mixture let it sit a few days re oiled and afyer a week I tried turning the crank , it was free.
adjusted the valve shims removed the carbs and put me freshly rebuilt seca carbs in it. it started and ran. so I proceeded to rebuild that set of carbs. now working on the rest of the needed things for the bike to be safe.

once you have the motor turning free I would advise a compresion test then check valve clearances and correct them and retest.this is to check the viability of the motor.
once you confirm it is in good shape you can start rebuilding the carbs.
do all the labor stuff first ohm out the charging system. ignition system , clean the ignition switch , clean gas cap and replace the o rings at minimum.
check your wire connectors .
check wheel bearings for run out. check chain and sprockets. then figure out cost vs budget

 

I certainly do appreciate your posts here to me.
I've looked at some other brand bikes/sizes,etc. over the yrs. and I do like the 81-82' XJ550RH the best for my needs,especially the 81'!,it's a classic w/ that nice fairing and style. I have a friend in the St. Clair Shores area of Detroit,MI. who looks on CL a lot and he's going to look for this model Yamaha for me.I can't afford much as i'm older and on SS Only w/o any other retirement $ so I will be slowly shopping around and hope i find a fair seller w/ a nice bike I can purchase similar to the last post from you 'XJ550H' I would follow a similar repair plan to make sure I get it all 100% road ready.I hope to find the bike stock w/ good orig. exh.,etc.I like just how it came from the factory and the only changes I might make would be to put handlebars on it that are a little lower and possibly remove both horns from the fairing and install some round turn signals that would look nice to me.I would also like to know if they ever had any factory racks or hardbags ?
I plan to move out West in the next couple months where the air is dry as i have allergies and problems w/ my upper lungs(nodules)and feel the atmosphere will help me quite a bit.

 

turn signals from a 550 maxim are round
my 82 seca has smaller bullet connectors for the light
81 seca is nice with the chrome fender

 

I'll sure look forward to finding it once i do;the 81' w/ the white and red is what I'd like to find.

 

https://harrisburg.craigslist.org/mcy/5947262021.html
you could do worse
go here and search xj550
http://www.searchcraigslist.org/

 

Hey thanks Polock,
Nice looking Maxim for the right price ! I want an 81' Seca because of the flat style seat.
I'll keep patiently looking,it's a labor of love.
Someone once told me "Good things come to those that wait" I'd like to slowly look for about 6 months and then get serious as I'll be settled out West by then.

 

Gee, thanks Polock, now I have to try not think about that thing so close.

 

That Maxim sure looks like a nice bike and this is a good time of yr.,you could take a look

 

Love that 'Red Bike' XJ550 Seca at the top of the forum page here That member really did it Right !

 

Thanks.

 

Did they ever have Yamaha brand dealer installed rear hardbags for the XJ550 Seca ?

 

I don't know of any that were specifically for the 550rj

 

Welcome.

Plan on spending at least another half a grand or more on parts (brake lines/pads/shoes, carb boots/seals, petcock kit, plug wires, shims/valve gaskets, tires etc. Even if doing your own maintenance, unless the bike is really well cared for and has had much of the planned maintenance done, you will be putting some money into a 30+ year old bike to get it safe and running well.

For example, I'm the original owner, and have done all my own maintenance on a well maintained, garage kept XJ550. Knowing how well it was cared for, and its maintenance history, in the last few years I still put well over $750 in this or that parts to get it back to reliable and safe running. That amount didn't include some cosmetic items like replacing a cracked seat, etc.

Don't even think of buying parts from online sources other than XJ4Ever (link at top right of screen). I made that mistake twice and got a barely compatible clutch cable, and brake shoes for the wrong model xj550. Len (Chacal) has all you need, and knows what you need for your model.

Enjoy the journey.

 

Thanks for that 'cgutz';I agree w/ all you've wrote,especially about XJ4Ever,I'll check them out.I hope Yamaha still makes oem parts for when i finally find a good candidate. I'm certain I'll invest what ever that bike needs to get it completely 100% UP. I'd like it to be a 'turn key' bike that i can jump onto and go coast to coast,etc. if desired.I love a fine-tuned bike w/ like new performance.I hope I can find one that hasn't been too badly neglected,left outside w/o the tank,etc.Hope to find one that's a 'barn find'.

 

You can get one stuff if you want, but if you want better, just order from Len and be done with it---and sleep well knowing the right parts are on the way..... the FIRST time