Thinking about buying my first XJ! (83 Seca 750)

Hi, new here. I've been lurking the past few days reading up about the Seca 750. I'm currently planning on picking up an 83 model this weekend about 6 hours from me! I currently have a 2000 Bandit 1200 that's an awesome bike, but ultimately its not the right bike for me. Uncomfortable, all my weight rests on my palms and too much bike for city commuting. I have had a few other bikes in my past, started with an 84 450 Nighthawk, a 650 Radian, then a 2017 Yamaha FJ09 (my favorite and most comfortable) that I was in an accident with in 2020. Went on a hiatus until this year when I purchased the Bandit.

I was wondering if there's any wise words you guys could give me about the Seca. The bike is owned by an older retired guy and looks to be immaculate. Talked to him, seems honest and cool, and the bike is loaded with all the fairings. He's getting rid of it because he says he's a bit too tall for it at 6'2 and has a newer cruiser. I'm very excited! Like I said, if there's any advise you can give me or anything like that, let me know. Thanks!

 

Welcome! These are great bikes, when maintained. Since you've purchased used bikes before, don't assume everything is good till you've checked yourself and don't overpay. I know that's super generic advice, sorry. I'm not sure about the 750 specifically, but check brake lines and tires... they have date codes and unless they were recently replaced, you probably need to do it. Carbs are a frequent source of running issues, so there is a high chance you'll be doing a re-build. This site has tons of how-to articles. If you've been looking around, you may have found this: https://www.xjbikes.com/forums/forums/xj4ever-supporting-vendor.23/ You can spend a lot of time there. Church of Clean is a great dive into the carbs.

 

Welcome to the forum. Boy I do love the XJ bikes, but I have owned (1200) and currently own a Bandit 1250s and not a XJ for a riding bike. Have you ever thought of putting risers on the Bandit? I still want you to get the XJ but just saying, night and day when it comes to power and maybe even handling, braking for sure. My riding style used power to get out of sticky of emergency situations sometimes. That is just me and why I have high torque and HP rides.

Make sure the head bearing on the XJ are in good shape, turn the bars side to side. Front brake MC is an interesting engineering feat, make sure that is also in good shape. See if the bike still has the older style bus fuses, if not you will want to change them out. Of the XJ, the Seca is my favorite riding position.

I hope it works out for you, they are great bikes. Finding one in good shape with all the bags is wonderful. We need to see pics when you get it her home.

 

Thanks yo! Yeah the bandit I have already has risers, still just awkward position for me, im about 5'10 at 240lbs, so idk if that plays into it? Anyway, cool, I'll check over the head bearing and brake. I'll also probably get new shocks and put in a gel layer in the seat, looks like a fun easy project. The Seca has 5k miles on it, guy is asking $2700, he had the tank repainted by a body shop, and said he wouldn't hesitate to ride it to California and back! (I'm on east coast) I'm going to try and talk him down, I can sell my Bandit for that much anyway so I'm looking at it as a trade, which I was originally trying to trade for it anyway.

You mean just buy a new old style fuse box or update the fuses to those plastic ones that cars have? I read the original fuse box falls apart so I already have a replacement old style one in my ebay cart. And yes, I'll totally take pics and post em when I get the bike!

 

New fuse box with blade type. Might just as well go with something that you can find at any gas station and auto store. I am sure you will love the bike. Make sure you keep riding it as much as possible, as cleaning them carbs is really something else. So if she is running good, keep her running good.

 

I got er.

$2500.

After I got home, learned the backlights for the speedometer and tac don't work. And high beam is out. No blown fuses (has updated fuse block)

 

Very nice looking bike. Need more pics of all sides when you get the chance.

Sounds like a wire came loose or a ground, maybe even a flow fuse. Look it over and remember when in drought, take a pic, do some research and don't throw money at a trouble. Isolate the trouble before you throw more money at it.

 

The backlights, license plate light, and tail lights are powered by a separate ignition switch circuit through a blue wire that runs through a 5 amp fuse - the fuse is inside the headlight bucket.

Y0u can just look to see if the tail and license illuminate when the key is switched to on to verify ignition switch and 5 amp fuse is working. You can also switch the key to the "P" position and the backlights, license, and tail should illuminate.

If the high beam is out you should be getting a warning light - red light flashes and HEAD displayed on the CMS monitor when the bike is running

 

Here's some more pic! Just finished a first detail.

 

Nice bike

 

Dude straight up that is one nice SECA. I see it's also super low miles. Wish mine was that clean! Nice score!

 

Very Nice! Good Score. Much nicer and cleaner than the one I rehabbed and traded for a Turbo Seca. It was, however the most difficult bike I have had to get up on the center stand!
Good luck with it and Enjoy!!

 

Man this thing is weird! Didn't realize it was totally built different on the front for the front fairing.
I bet this is where my gauge light issue is coming from. The wiring harness from the bike to the fairing looks to have damaged pins. Also lol at this brake reservoir design and placement. I'm going to bug the hell out of a few of you guys with questions I'm sure! (Sorry if the picture format looks weird, I'm on my phone)

 

Very nice. The shadows on the gas tank make it look like it's taken a beating, but it appears to be very nice in other pictures.

Yeah, those pins need to be re-set in their cavities (if possible).

 

This headlight adjustment setup in the fairing is also weird! (And seemingly installed incorrectly)

 

Ha, yes it does look like that. But not one dent in the thing! Previous owner had it repainted at a body shop. Looks good in pics, but up close it's a pretty crappy job. Infact, the guy was so displeased with the job they did he said he couldn't even go back and look at them he was so pissed lol
Weird clear coat bubbles. But it's fine for me.

 

The headlight adjuster looks correct, actually. That big black KNOB at the base of the windscreen (on the "inside" of the screen, towards the driver) adjusts (pulls or pushes) on the yellowish-white plastic rectangular headlight frame, and makes it pivot up-or-down around the side "pivot bolts".

 

You really got a nice bike. Hope it bring you many yrs and miles of happy safe riding.

 

Is that your Pinto wagon in the background?
I had one when I was 19, sold it and bought a Triumph Spitfire

 

It is. It's actually my first car! It's about twice my age haha! Have two now, same color, same year. It's a headache trying to find brake parts for that car now I tell ya.

 

What do you do about the exploding gas tank?

 

I just slapped one of these bad boys on the back glass and called it a day

 

You can never have too many Pinto's or XJ's...................

 

XJ yes Pinto... I think they built the car around the starter motor! I do like the AFB parking tag, we have a long USAF history in our family.

 

Very nice 750! Even nicer than mine was. I envy your stock exhaust.

Looks like it was standard practice to just bend the headlight bracket arms to mount the fairing. Lame. I ended up doing something to make it look less "hackish" on mine, but I forget exactly what. Might have just cut them off. Or maybe removed the bracket altogether.

Mine also had a burnt pin on the fairing connector. The wiring was a mess too. There were wires spliced in circles back to themselves. Got it all working, but would love to find a new connector as the plastic tabs on mine are broken so it's a pain to get in.

I had trouble with my headlight adjuster too. The square nut pops out of the bracket and no longer works right, making the headlight bounce all over. Looks like yours might have done the same. I was fortunate enough to find a "rectangle" nut from a counter top bolt that fit better and solved the problem. IIRC that is actually a 1/4-20 nut so I had one in my part bucket. Or maybe I re-tapped it to metric. But I don't think I did. See image for the nut I am talking about, though I don't think the one I used was quite that wide. That was 10+ years ago though, so memory fades. I just remember it was a perfect solution for the problem.

You even have the handlebar emblem. First one I've seen still intact.

I found a really long skinny funnel to fill the master cylinder. They are a pain to get to.

Mine was cheaper than yours to start, but by the time I got everything up to spec I'm sure I've invested at least as much. Good deal.

They are great bikes. Did an 1800 mile ride on mine last summer and it never skipped a beat. Enjoy it.

 

I use a 60CC syringe to fill the master cylinder and another with a short hose to pull the brake fluid thru the bleeder ports, they also work great when filling the forks as it's far easier to measure the correct level and I just screw the end in where the air valve normally goes and push in the oil. Works super slick.

 

My brake lines are infact original. So will be doing that! Been very off-put by the idea of working on the brakes after reading the nearly 2 dozen threads about the hell of doing so. Oh well!

 

Update: Brake lines are original. Will be replacing. Do I have to replace the anti dive lines???? General maintenance on this great running 6k mile bike is getting expensive fast!
Carbs, tank, and headers off. Bikes at my stepdad's at the moment and he's tinkering on it. Valve cover leaks, got a replacement and the "donut" washers.
Been bugging Len, I assure you. Should probably start another thread but this will at least document my journey real time start to finish.

 

Short answer is YES... I know it's more $$$ but unless you replace them remember to dress for the slide not the ride as they will eventually fail.

 

Our project bikes do get a little costly, the first one you do for sure will make you wonder why you even started it. The outcome and the path are why I chose to put myself through the refresh of these older bikes. The cost of the refresh also depends on your outcome. If you are going for showroom new and a show bike, yes, you are talking a lot of money. If you are talking a safe bike that runs good and puts a smile on your face, well, that should be a happy price you can live with.

The bike looks supper clean in the pics. You also have a very nice work area. I only had issues with the front brake MC when I did my last Seca, it just takes a lot of time, and you might learn some tricks along the way.

I see you have also removed the OEM petcock, good on you. I try to get away from the vacuum assisted petcocks any chance I can. For me it is second nature now to turn every carb bike's petcock to the "Off" position every time the bike is turned off. I mean anytime. Taking another fail point out of the fuel system just makes good sense. If the OEM is working correctly, well you should not have any issues either, until if fails.

 

I didn't remove it! Guess previous owner did. Good to know though, glad its done. They also had the updated fuse box in it when I got it. Unfortunately the brake lines are from 1982, so those will be replaced. Engine is being pulled, the paint on is looks pretty bad for a 6k miles bike (wonder if it is the original gauges even), so got some eastwood 2k primer and gloss black engine paint. Going to cut down the windscreen, the goober who installed it used automotive windshield adhesive on it so I'm afraid I'd destroy the whole damn fairing trying to take it off.

 

Oh, you are going to do a frame refresh on the bike? Taking the motor out and all that good stuff. Well, good luck and keep us up to date will pics.

 

Will do. Will probably get some tasteful pinstripes on it too. Not like the western Harley kind, gonna sketch it up. Will probably get side cover plastics repainted since the fairings and tank were.

 

I might do my tank & trim this winter as I do have half a quart of the correct color that is a 1:1 mix with the base builder, motor comes out first so I can replace chains and clean out the oil pan. Bike has almost 45K miles on it now and I'm OCD when it comes to crap in the oil pans.