Carb clean ?

Hi,


I want to buy a 1981 Yamaha Seca 750 that is in pristine condition and very well taken care of by its owner for the last 20 years. He has 12 other bikes as well. He says that he never takes apart the carbs and just uses sea foam. I am a new rider and not handy at all, do you think i will ever need to take the carbs apart to clean them ?


Thanks !!!

 

Welcome to the forum. Where are you in Canada? There might be a member near you that maybe able to help you.

 

thanks for the welcome ! =)

im in quebec

 

Will they ever need to be serviced? Yes. Eventually somebody will need to clean and replace worn out bits.

that being said, if they are in good shape and the bike is running well, then just ride and enjoy!

 

Thanks for the info ! I only had a honda cbr250 before with was fuel injected, i admire the Seca because I know they built things better back in the day. I was considering a virago 1100 too. Do you like carbureted bikes more than fuel injected ones ?

 

I don't trust 10% ethanol gas on older vehicles/boats etc. The bowl needle and other O rings/Throttle shaft seals will eventually fail IMO.
I don't see how anyone who is not willing to work on the bike would be happy.

Just went to a shop today that specializes on older bikes, They have a sign $200/hr for bikes 1999 or older.

 

i know what you mean by working on your bike yourself. I am not handy and dont know anything about motorcycle mechanics so maybe i should find a fuel injected seca

 

I have worked on 70's cars, 90's jet skis, car brakes, more simple part replacement like alternators and such. Now I did a lot recently to this 80's motorcycle. Just getting a Fuel injected bike I don't know will get you away from maintenance.
I'm not sure about Fuel Injected bikes but my boat engine needed fuel injectors cleaned after 5 years. Had marine mechanic do it cause he was already working on so I can't compare working on Carb vs FI.
I think any older bike needs more work than a new bike. DIY to me is easier on older stuff. Good Luck what ever you do. If I was going to have someone else service this bike and do all the things I had to do it, It would have cost me way more in labor than the bike was worth.

 

i came to the realization now that i should embrace this bike and learn how to do repairs on the Seca. It can be a positive and enjoyable thing. Not sure where to start though =) Love all of you !!

 

but does anyone know what would make this bike stall while in motion ? that is my fear with a carbureted bike, while I'm driving or shifting or braking, it just stalls and i am in an accident compared to a fuel injected bike

 

Any bike that relies on electrical systems is just as likely to cut out while riding, and that includes FI.
Carbs generally don't suddenly stop working, you usually get some warning.

 

Several reasons a bike might stall while in motion, what exactly happened? Did it restart and run after?

If the carbs are in good shape now and you maintain them going forward they may never need to be removed. There are fuel additives to prevent ethanol problems and if you don't let fuel sit for extended periods of time you should have no worries.

Fuel injection is nice but honestly is only really noticeable on cold starts/cold running (I have a FI Honda Shadow - it had old fuel in it when I bought it and ran like crap). Once the machine is up to temp there's probably some emissions improvement. There are still tens of millions of carbureted vehicles on the road for a reason - they're simple and they work.

 

Several years ago, when I got back into riding after many years, I wanted a fuel injected bike so that I would not have to deal with carbs. Turns out, my budget didn't align with my expectations. That's when I bought my first XJ.

I have since made peace with carburetors. I wouldn't say I love them, but I now understand them enough so that they are not a cause of anxiety for me.

I don't think the carb vs FI debate is so much which is better - they are just different.

I think if someone started with a nice clean set of carbs and treated them properly and stored the bike properly they could provide at least as many trouble-free years of service as a fuel injection system.

The problems always seem to arise with bikes that have been sitting outside for years with old gas clogging up the works and corroding. In that case, I don't know if FI would fare any better. And many times the reason the bike has sat for years can be traced to somebody messing up the carbs, in my experience.

At the end of the day, carbs are not overly complex devices (especially on the XJs), but they do require precision. In other words, you can't be surprised if the bike runs like crap when parts are missing, passages are clogged, or seals are leaking.

 

Thanks for all of your advice and knowledge. The owner for 19 years along with 12 other bikes that are all in pristine condition. He said he never had to remove the carbs and all he puts is seafoam and a filter in the gas line. I am just worried if I can maintain the cleanliness and functionality of the bike as he has done since I am not handy at all with mechanics. Here are a few pics of the bike. I am buying it for $ 1800 canadian dollars. Go Vikings !

 

Thanks so much. I love Texas !

 

Fuel injection is great but is more complicated if a fuel pump fails, injrctor fails or electronic system fails , your electrical system needs to be spot on . Carbs on the other hand are simple to work with as long as jets are clean and synched will . Rebuild the carbs right the first time they should last a long time. Read the church of clean under xj4ever on tbe upper right tab of home page. Lots of good info .

 

Right on, @Jetfixer. Not so much better, just different. As in a whole new set of things that could go wrong.

 

Just to be clear - fuel injection as a thing, in and of itself, is fantastic. I really appreciate that I can buy a car for my wife that will dependably start every day, get 50+ MPG, and last hundreds of thousands of miles if properly maintained (Toyota Corolla Hybrid). The technology and ability to produce precision internal combustion engines has progressed so far in my lifetime that it's amazing.

That being said, motorcycles are a different thing, especially when cost is considered.

 

thanks ! i couldnt log in for like a week, maybe because i put 3 photos of the bike, i got booted out

 

Welcome to this forum first, if the owner took great care of his motorcycle not even clean or open once the carbs then probably you would never need to open them in near future but conditioned to look after it as its previous owner did.

 

FI is amazing for performance and reliability IMO. But just like a carb, it can need maintenance (or at least attention). I'm more familiar with marine outboard 4 stroke with FI than I am with Motorcyle but Every couple years, we will have to have the Fuel injectors serviced which is not that hard.
After finally watching the marine mechanic clean and test my Fuel injectors on 3 outboards, I think I could do it myself if needed (my marine mechanic is cheap though).
Starting up a FI engine say on a car where you don't need to warm it up to get going, in some respects masks things. IMO any auto should be warmed up a little before driving it if you want it to be reliable and last longer. Same with Motorcycle. FI often allows you to do just start and go. I feel that with a carb motorcycle, you can tell that it needs to be warmed up and thus, you are more in touch with its condition.