Where did your bike come from?

My bike used to belong to my father. He passed away two weeks ago. I had forgotten all about the bike until the family and I were cleaning out his garage, house and shed. As I was cleaning out the shed I noticed something shiney in the back corner. There it was, a total mess. Almost an inch of dust on it and it was the home to I don't know how many spiders. After pulling it out of the shed I noticed an envelope between the tank and seat. Inside the envelope was a letter and the title to the bike. The letter said...Jasen, I have no idea if you want this old P.O.S. but incase you do, here is the title. I already signed off on it, all you have to do is have it put in your name. Love dad.

I plan on keeping this bike until it is completely used up and I can no longer find parts for it. I am hoping to have it on the road by this spring.

 

Sorry to hear about your dad. We can help you to get it up and going.

Thanks for sharing.

 

^^^Neat story. Nice that you have a connection with your dad. I found mine at a local dealer via cycletrader.com. I was told it was being sold on consignment by an older couple, along with an 81 XS1100. Apparently they used to tour together, but decided to sell the bikes for whatever reason. I opted for the 650 because I felt the 11 would be too big for my first bike. I still think I made the right choice.

 

on e-bay from west salem, ohio 600$

 

Craigslist in Greensboro, NC, found it at 7am on the list, had it home to Boone, NC by 5. Best purchase in years.

jchevelle70 - sorry about your dad, great way to remember him though.

 

From a guys back yard ... across town.
He paid me with the signed Title for hauling it away.

10,000 Orig miles on a '83 Midnight Maxim that was completely sprayed Black with a rattle can from about 4 Feet away.

It took me a whole winter to strip the paint and polish the aluminum.

 

I bought mine from a couple who were selling off most of their stuff so they could snowbird to Arizona. My wife's was purchased from a guy who was cleaning up his property. Both were had for a very decent price.

 

That is about the coolest bike-purchase story I've ever heard! Hope you get it running in a way that would've made him proud. And I'll be happy to help any way I can.......

 

Very cool story.

Mine isn't quite as interesting... I had a "loan" of a 650 seca that I was considering buying... Drove it for 2 weeks before I made up my mind.
Absolutely loved the bike and wanted it bad, but on the final inspection found a chunk missing from the case... It was cosmetic, but I knew I wanted to do some cusomization and needed a closer to perfect bike...
So I gave her up and the next day got a line on another one... Paid $500 more for a bike that was 1 year newer, same color had a 4-1 exhaust, and was harder to start (has obviously been fixed).

Worth every penny.

 

WHAT A SPECIAL BIKE!
Let us know if we can help, your dad would be proud.

BTW my bike came from Japan (Yamaha Corp)

Seriously now, I was asked to haul mine away. It had no keys, title, seats, fuel tank or handel bar controls. The engine was locked up from sitting for about 10 yrs.
Total now I have about 700.00 wraped up in it and wouldn't sell it for any amount!
One day I'll leave it to one of my sons too!

 

It was a freebie. Well i paid 10 bucks to have it hauled 7 miles to my house. My two friends and i showed up to get it at 6:00 a.m. Great timing i know! And here's a day one pic.

 

That's a touching story. He was a good man I'm sure.
I got mine from a friend for $300. He just wanted to get rid of it and go to a good home. The bike had sat for 4 years in a barn and he never did anything to it except for a new battery. It would barely start and needed carb work real bad.
After getting it home (a wild ride just to keep it running) I tore into it to find the carbs were all but shot. Two of the float pins wer broke (rotted off) and if it were't for the YICS curcuit, it probably would never have run on all cylinders. I had to replace the entire carb bank and go from there. >PD<

 

that is a great story. you need to hang on to that bike forever. i found mine on craigslist. guy in nj was selling it cause he moved up to a bigger bike and his wife wouldnt let him keep two bikes.
jchevelle70: im just outside philly. let me know if you need any help or wanna go for a spin when the bikes running.

 

depending on where youre at in PA.

 

Great Story,

I bought mine following Desert Storm. When I got back I thought we needed to get out and start doing some things so I bought it. We rode it off and on till '97 and then stored it while we took on many other things. I'm back to riding it after a 10 year layoff.

Good Luck with yours. There are good people here to help with it.

 

Got mine off craigslist 10 minutes after the guy posted it. He bought it a week earlier (the original craigslist ad was still up) for $700 with a torn up seat, old tires and broken rear brake light lens and side mirror. He spent the money to buy Yamaha brand replacement parts and new tires, and I bought it from him for $850 (parts cost him $250 alone, saw the receipt).

His wife had just lost her job and some other expenses came through he forgot about so he was forced to regain most of his money back. He said that as long as he got more than what he paid for the bike itself, he could justify losing the parts money.

Granted I had to drive an hour away to pick it up (I drove out 10 minutes after it was posted, test rode it, and put down a deposit to pick it up 2 days later when i had a flatbed truck), I still feel like I got an excellent deal. And being my first bike, it was definitely a lot cheaper than I had ever thought possible. And he was happy to pass it off to a beginner rider.

And now I love that bike!

 

e-bay 72 quid (£) picked it up 9 miles from where i live from the sellers garden where it had sat in the open for 13 yrs covered by an ill fitting plastic tarp

 

Got mine from Craigslist as well. I watched it for a couple of weeks and finally emailed the guy... Got it a week after that for $600, came with brand new tires( front and rear. installed), spare rear wheel with drive assy. spare rear brake assy w\ new shoes, Spare front forks w\ trees... blah blah blah, in other words a WHOLE BUNCH of other stuff. The bike has been running fine since the day I bought it and has required no money or real time to keep running. Needless to say for 600 I am VERY satisfied. I LOVE my XJ. Someone missed a great deal but it wasn't me this time!

 

Got mine from "KIJIJI", pretty good deal for the shape it was in, came in under $900. Hopefully won't cost me too much more to get street ready. I will have to paint it though more for me then anything else!

 

I got mine from my best friend. He bought it new and crashed it the first summer he had it. It was a total write off. He bought it back from insurance for $1000.00,(which I paid him) put $1000.00 worth of new parts on it and I've had it ever since.

 

Sorry to hear about your dad... But you now have something fantastic to remember him by.

I bought mine sight unseen off a local auction site for $1k NZD, bike in a box that was 3 quarters restored after sitting for over 20 yrs in a guys car port..... It was the 8th XJ900 off the production line in NZ in 1983 and had 14k original kms on it... Owes me a bit more than what I paid but no regrets here

 

following a military move after GW1, i bumped into a couple of other Air Force guys. they both rode, one a newer 89 FZR the other an 82 Seca Turbo. the 2nd guy had picked this maxim up from yet ANOTHER guy who had run it into the door of his truck while moving it around his yard...

after he replaced bent forks and banged out the fender relatively well, and mudding up the tank and rattle canning it, he slapped some jbweld on the clutch cover to keep the oil from running out...

it looked fair but the $600.00 was a good price considering it ran really well and started right up...

i rode it until i got out of the Air Force in 1993. rode it twice after that and just now (last july) decided to put it back on the road. had the carbs done and it idled high but started within milliseconds of hitting the starter. put the pipes on and now it wont start for crap...

ive got a line on fixing it this spring though!

d

 

Mine is a "family heirloom". My grandfather purchased it brand new back in 1981. He only put about 2000 miles on it from then until he sold it to my father in 1995. Even tho it wasn't ridden much, it was meticulasly maintained. Then comes in my father. After he purchased it from my grandfather, he rode it about 300 miles. After that, it was parked in his garage. Luckily later that year, I was able to get my motorcycle's license. I had put another 1000 miles on her within the next two weeks. From there, it was placed back into storage. It hadn't seen the sun from that point on until I finally convinced my father to let me have the bike. In July 2007, he finally gave in and let me have it. So, I placed it on a flatbed trailer and hauled it from PA to NV. From there, I've rebuilt the carbs, removed the airbox, rejetted the carbs, installed a new battery, and rebuilt the front brake hydraulics. Today, it's sitting outside my front door, just begging I ride it every day.

 

Sorry about your Dad Jasen. That's a great story about how he thought about you. Get that baby running and enjoy it. BTW, mine came from the original owner who ran it for a few years, then parked it in the deep recesses of his garage for several decades. In 2006 he gave it to his friend (who owns a local bike shop) to sell. When I was looking for a bike, my neighbor told me about this mint old Honda the shop had for sale, but when I showed up the Honda had ben sold, and "all he had left" was the Seca. Would've never known what I missed out on had I bought the Honda!

 

Got mine from the original owner, sight unseen, off of the KIJIJI Quebec website for a city nearly 1000 miles away. The shipping was more than the bike cost, which was kind of heartbreaking. However, this wonderful 75-year old fellow was suffering from prostate cancer and had to give it up. He took great pride in the bike and while I had to do some work, it was the result of normal wear.

Even with a few miles, it is mechanically a good ride and should last as long as I need it to. That may be a long time because I'm addicted to her wail.....

 

I bought my xj550 from Some Guy on Craig's List. I was looking at a couple of bikes, but this one was the best value (based on a week of internet research)... It also happens to be a really great bike! It is my first, and I bought the thing with out ever riding it... I stood next to it while it was running. I twisted the throttle, but the first time I rode it was about 5 minutes after I paid for it. Five minutes later I narrowly missed being run down by a Buick

It was terrifying, but it also reminded me that the stuff they tell you in the MSF class is not BS, and that I'd better be paying attention. A good lesson to learn right away, i think.

 

Won mine on july4th off Ebay. Southern Ga.
$1300...5500 miles Cream Puff.
New fork seals, new steering head bearings, new air filter, cleaned carbs, new exhaust.

 

Bought mine brand new in '85 from the Yamaha shop in San Louis Obispo, CA. Had her ever since. Still runs great.

 

At the time I worked in the office of the local waste hauler. A guy called the office wanting to throw away two motorcycles. After I told him how much it would cost for us to pick up the bikes as garbage, I told him that I had been looking for a project bike and was willing to take a look at them and might be willing haul them off for free if they were salvagable and of interest. The guy was not a biker at all and all he knew was one was a Honda with a faring and the other was a Kawasaki he thought. I was hoping to find either a dual-purpose bike or sport bike. When I got there I found the Honda was a CM400T Hondamatic that needs a major restoration.

I was much happier to find that the "Kawasaki" was in fact a not too bad XJ550 Seca that was in much better shape than the Honda, even though every piece of bodywork was sprayed with a crappy semi-flat black rattle-can paint job. I told him that I would take the Seca off his hands, but he insisted that I take both bikes or none. Then the guy had the stones to ask that I pay $100 for the bikes. Now I was getting annoyed and reminded him that I was doing him a favor and of how much he would have to pay to have them picked up. He finally relented and let me have the bike. The best thing was that he had open title certificates for both bikes and registering the Seca was a breeze.

I hope to have the Seca back on the road by the end of the month. The carbs are rebuilt, front brake system rebuilt, and it's running great! I am in the process of prepping the bodywork for paint. I'm going to paint the body parts Indy Blue to match my MINI.

Anyone intrested in a small Honda?

 

Ebay £225 from Maidenhead UK about 125 miles south of me. Two owners from new with the last owner having her for 19 years and after a big BIG read on here and me actually kicking myself up the ar*e to get something done I have replaced the fuse box with a blade one and tore down the carbs again but paying more attention to enrichments this time and she starts at the touch of the button, best she has ever run. Thanks to all....now PLEASE lets have some dry weather over here!

 

My '81 XJ650 came from a guy who got it on a trade and rode it for about 20 miles. Oddly, that inspired him to buy a new Harley and park the XJ in his garage for the next four years. I gave him 400 bucks for it even though it was not running. (cause it looked so nice) I put several hundred dollars more in it and now it runs fine.

 

I won mine last july 4th off ebay. 5600 miles $1375. From Valdosta Ga. Yamaha so says key fob
Carbs, steering head bearings, fork seals, brakes, battery, airfilter,.........

 

bought mine new from a dealership in Ark City, Ks in 1980.
me, my riding buddy, sheba and my new bike.


my bike now after setting 10yrs i know i mistreat her badly lol.

 

Craigslist $300 ran great. (keyword: RAN)

 

Wow! I didn't know Saddleman mad seatcovers for XJ's!

Oh, and Energi2er, we'll get yours running. Patience, Grasshopper.

 

hummm Gamuru if your talking bout my seat that would be saddlegal teri that made the seat cover for mine.hehe

 

Naw, I was talking about what looked like a Saddleman seat cover draped over the front fender.



On closer inspection, they actually look like throw rugs.

 

Got my YAM 650 off my best friends girl friend. Its real Purdy .

 

Found my XJ650RJ Seca in Buy Sell Trade newspaper. The guy I bought it from said it was in great shape and he had just "overhauled" the carbs. Now I know from this site that not all carb service jobs are the same. My first clue should have been that the guy didn't have the manual for the bike. So it ended up being more of a project bike than I had expected. But I have learned a lot, and it runs pretty well now.

 

Mine came from the local buy & sell.$450.Am told it has been in the local area since new.Original owner dumped it on a corner and then sold it to friends from which I got it from as they had too many projects on the go.

 

I found my xj 750 in the garage of a diary farmer 2 miles down the road. Last plated in 1989 1027 original miles (not a typo) bike is untouched maintenance wise original oil plugs filter tires and so one my best find ever!!!! MIKE

 

My bike was a 750 Midnight Maxim that the PO gave to me for free for hauling it off his property. He let it go to heck sitting outside under a Pine tree.
It took me two years of going through the whole bike to restore it to minty-like condition and de-black all the things painted black and de-gold all the things plated with the flaking-off gold stuff but I managed to do it.

It only had 10,000 miles on it when I grabbed it for nothing. So, I did The Full Monte on it and came-away with a sweet-running 750 Max that has years and many miles of fun left in her.

 

I saw my bike next to a house in a neighborhood that I know has a crazy home-owner association rules so I left a note on the guys door offering to help him out. He called me back and I was right. He had been gettingnotices to move the bike to the backyard or get rid of it. He had hit an elk on it years before and quit riding shortly after. I offered him $200 but he said I was a nice guy so he talked himself down to $100. A new battery and a carb cleaning was all it needed to get her going.

 

I got mine from my Uncle at 60K, he bought it from his neighbor with around 15K on it. the Neighbor bought it new in 82

 

Found my '82 Maxim XJ1100J on ebay. I'm currently stationed in South Korea, so I got a hold of the owner and arranged pick-up with my family who drove about 175 miles to get it for me. It's waiting on me for when I get home on leave in March! :-D

 

I traded an old ford for it.

1982 yamaha xs400 maxim

 

Mine is a kinda plain Jane story. Due to loss of job (shoulder injury) and continuing bills, I was forced to sell my last bike, a 2001 Kawasaki 800 Drifter. I paid the mortgage, lights etc, and had about $600 left. I began looking for a bike (can't be without one or I go insane) and found this 1982 650 Seca on Graigslist in Durham (NC) for $800. I called and asked if he would consider six and he agreed. Borrowed a trailer and went to get it. Talked him down to $550 (I have to wait on for hime to get a replacement title), and loaded the bike up. He then told me he had some other stuff for it. a new clutch sidecover, timing cover, front fender (needs painting), and a fairing (small Cagiva fairing) with windshield. Brought it all home and only had to replace the vacuum hose to the petcock to get her running right. The carbs were done in July and new tires went on then also. I've done a little cosmetic stuff to her and am waiting for a few more items from ebay and for the title. Can't really wait. Anyway...that's the story of my Seca. If it is anywhere as good as the Maxim 650 I had years ago I'll be happy!

Dave

 

The original owner of my bike ran it into the back of a hay wagon around 1990. The front end was bent up so he sold it to a friend who was going to strip it down and use the motor in a mini sprint car. By the time the second owner got around to making the car he bought a bigger engine so the Seca continued to sit in his garage. He decided to get rid of it back in '01, one of my friends saw it and told me about it. The original plan was to strip it down and put the engine in a lawn mower :roll: , after stripping the bike down and my buddy lost interest in the project and I was feeling guilty about parting a clean 9,000 mile bike so I put it back together, found a strait front end and had it ready for the road in the spring.

It will be hard to sell the bike when/if the time comes. In the time I have had the bike I am on my 3rd auto and even went without a car for 2 years.

 

Purchased new from Nassau Cycle, Hicksville, NY in 1982. Now known as Long Island Kawasaki.

And maintained in *mint* original condition.

Marc the Librarian

 

Three dheers for you, Marc!

Not too many ORIGINAL Owners left. But I salute all of the Original Owners for knowing a good thing when it came along!