New guy in Alaska with an 82 Seca Turbo, will be looking for odds and ends

Good evening folks,

My name is Jay and I just picked up an 82 Seca Turbo with 4200 miles here in Anchorage, AK. It was sitting for a very long time so I need to go through it and see if I can rejuvenate her. I realize that support for these bikes is small but this looks like one of the only active places with members posting things so I will appreciate the help and support along the way and maybe just the consolation that there are others as crazy as me still messing with these things.

It will need some cosmetic things like a left turn signal , mirror boots...a few other odds and ends then I'll move to the mechanical stuff and see what all it needs. I want it to at least look pretty not running in the garage.

I also have a 73 Triumph T140v and a 67 BSA 411 Victor Special that I tinker with in the garage for our long winters.


Thanks,

Jay

 

The Seca:



The Brits:

 

Nice find with that Turbo Jay, very low miles, looks to have been stored properly all these years.
You'll find lots of expert help here if/when needed.
I to have a Turbo and a 67 Victor, LOL.

 

Nice find and welcome to the forum, lots of great folks and good reading. Looking forward to seeing you get her road worthy.

 

I decided before I started digging in to this bike I needed to get the 22 years of dust and filth of it. Thankfully I didn't find any rodents.



So. Much. Dirt.



New battery, plugs and a little lubricant in the cylinders:



I couldn't get the gas cap off but after soaking it in graphite lube and PB Blaster it finally turned and I got it open. Empty but pretty clean.



I moved the sending unit around and watched the gauge work so thats something.



I put a little fuel in the tank and when I turned the petcock it started leaking (from the petcock) so I need to look in to that a little closer.


I have some questions though for you all. I'm not hearing the fuel pump at all. When would you normally hear it? Key on or when the starter is activated? I didn't see a fuse for it and so I'm assuming its just frozen.

All in all it was a pretty good first day of getting to know the bike.

 

I got the Turbo bike running for the first time since 1995 today. I filled the tank with a mix of Marvel Mystery Oil and new premium fuel and primed everything before leaving on vacation for 2 weeks. After I got back home, I hit the starter to see if the fuel pump would come to life and to my surprise she started right up.

First impressions are she sounds healthy!

Tachometer is not working so I'll need to investigate that more. Just a little drop of oil coming from up front somewhere.

Fuel overflow from the line from the surge tank was dripping a little bit of super old fuel. Any thoughts?



All in all I'm super pumped to hear this thing running.

 

To further clarify, I did do the newb thing of leaving the petcock on PRI and got some gas spillage last week as well. After using the petcock like normal with just OFF and ON I havent noticed any fuel spillage except for the old fuel still dribbling out of that overflow line. Perhaps that's just residual from that?

 

Welcome to the site your bike looks good, as to parts , go to the upper right corner of the page click on xj4ever, Chacal offers great service and the correct parts , kinda different how you order but after a couple of times it is easy. Send him an IM or email quick replays. Good luck

 

Boost gauge installed over the weekend that looks pretty close to factory. Autogage 2310




Old seat from the 82 "customized" by the previous owner. No thanks, also may name isn't Robert.


New seat from an 83 installed.

 

Now that the snow is off the road and I knew the Turbo was running I needed to address the the rest of the neglected bike. Only 4K miles but it has been sitting for 25 years albeit inside a heated garage.

New tires and brake pads and all fluids changed. Then all 3 bikes rolled into the yard for a deeper clean. I put about 2 miles on the Yamaha and it was so comfortable compared to my old British bikes.


I did notice something odd with the bars and the faring. It’s mid aligned slightly and I don’t know how it’s tweaked. The left side clears everything but the right side at full lock left and right will touch the body work. Any ideas? That needs to be a priority and then I’ll get more miles on it this summer.

 

After a quick adjustment of the brake lever and the plastics, all is well with the bar interference. After a couple mile ride all I noticed was a drop of oil under the turbo. Given the fact I wasn’t intending to ride this bike this year at all with the work I was anticipating, I am thrilled.

Coming from my current mix of British bikes, the speed isn’t the biggest thing I notice with the turbo, it’s the comfort. Holy crap, the air suspension and cushy seat are really really good. I’m used to rock hard suspension and thin seating. Boost is just a plus.

 

Nicely done! Looks like a good refurb and cool you have it back on the road. That custom seat is.....well it is just a little weird....OK maybe a lot weird. Everyone has a different take on things and that is cool but I am glad you found a replacement.

So why the aftermarket boost gauge? Is the OEM one in the instrument cluster not working? Or are you looking for something that would provide more detailed information?

Again, nice job!

 

The factory boost gauge just doesn’t tell you anything. It moves but when you have increased boost pressure it’s just way more peace of mind to see it reading 12 psi instead of maxing the factory gauge out and not knowing if it’s 24 psi. I have the power up kit and eventually the pop off valve will get shimmed so safety first.

The only thing that is not working is the tach. It seems like the connections are are secure on the back of the cluster and I’d rather not replace it but does anyone have any pictures of the tach pickup lead on the motor side? The factory diagram just wasn’t too helpful and looked like it was on the motor on the carb side and I’m hoping its just loose.

 

Nice work Jay and congrats on getting it running. Most...95-98% have issues with their carbs....looks like you have more than a clue. My guess is enough hours fiddling with Dellortos has taught you well.

Simmy(member) has a great thread over in the "Modifications" folder where in the last couple of pages, he discusses the obligatory-leaking scavenge pump which allows oil to seep back into your turbo body then onto your garage floor.

The fuel pump is only activated when the starter is engaged making it nearly impossible to tell. Best to check it with the tank off and most OEM pumps have bitten the dust. You will likely want to replace those horrible coils too...many have installed Acells with major success.

The Turbo forum is here: https://www.tapatalk.com/groups/tmioa22687/yamaha-seca-650-turbo-f10/ and there are a bunch of talented, helpful guys there.

++ on Chacal....he knows these bikes better than most and won't steer you to wrong crap.

Let me know if you need a manual for your bike....I can shoot you a pdf copy.

jeff

 

Thanks Jeff. I mostly fiddle with the Amal’s on the Triumph and actually the BSA has a mikuni thrown on it.

We don’t have ethanol in our fuel at all here so I think that’s why the carbs survived sitting that long. I’m sure they could be better but it runs pretty darn good now.

I’ve purchased many things from eBay and an order from Chacal already and it’s been a great resource.

I think before I dig in to the scavenge pump I will ride it this short summer and see what it needs for this upcoming winter.

I’m over at TMOIA as well but it seems pretty dang slow over there these days.

 

Reporting back to say @JeffK 's oil check valve solution is proving to be working amazing and I'm telling anybody I come across with a turbo that has a few drops of oil under it to try this first. Many of these truly need a turbo rebuild but some of them were likely rebuilt when really the problem was that drain back.

 

I put 30 miles on the Seca this weekend. Boosting strong and running good for the most part. Tach is still not working and I haven’t pulled the cluster yet to investigate further.

I’ll probably do a front caliper rebuild this fall after the season is up but until then I’m enjoying cruising around on this thing.

 

I didn’t want to jinx it but the last 4-5 times I’ve ridden the turbo bike the tachometer has shown signs of life. Halfway through the ride the needle would start to move sluggishly and then settle back down til now where the tach is working like new the entire time. It’s almost like it had to be coaxed out of its slumber. I’ve put over 100 easy miles on it so far and it’s doing great.

 

That background looks to be a little cool, I know that is still snow on the ground. You might get used to that this later into spring but not me. Great looking bike but the way.

 

It was mid 30s with flurries at 2200 ft elevation that day. Today was 63 and sunny with green grass and snow only on the mountains. Our season is short so you just have to go for it on some days.