1982 Seca 550...brat?

Hey all. Just thought I'd stop in and post some pictures of a project I've had going for a while. Still not finished, but it's on the street!

I bought the bike as a fairly clean Seca, but wanted to build something more cafe/brat/flat tracker-ish. The night that I finished the bike, I went to start it for the first time in about a year. It fired right away, but backfired through the carbs (pods off, no airbox) and caught something on fire. I didn't have a fire extinguisher handy, and by the time both fire departments had finished, the structure was saved, but the bike was burned down completely.

That was mid April this year.

About 6 weeks ago, I started to rebuild the bike with support from a clean 1982 Maxim 550 (donor bike) and huge support from our very own Chacal.

I just had the bike out for the very first time, and after working out a few bugs, had an amazing ride with a few friends. Thanks to all for your posts (I mostly read up on other peoples issues/solutions to solve my own). This site is an excellent resource.



Thanks again! It was a rough road at times, but the juice is definitely worth the squeeze!

-Justin

 

The other bike in the last picture is my brothers '77 Suzuki GS750.

 

Nice job dude - is the frame on the 550 seca straight back like that from the tank or did you make an adjustment - except the loop?

Are those clubmans? Any issue with clearance?

 

Thanks!

The frame on the seca is not at all straight. It humps up under where the passengers seat is. I ended up cutting everything out from the back of the tank out. Welded in some straight tubing and the hoop.

The clubman bars work great, but I'll probably swap them for some clamp ons before too long. No clearance issues.

 

Yeah I didn't think the frame was like that - biggest issue with making a brat out of these bikes but you got some good skills there mate!

 

Great work, it looks cool

 

I am glad you seemed to be struggling with the Brat-tracker-ish style, I didn't know what to call mine, its pretty funny, we're on the other side of the world and both doing similar to similar bikes. Bummer to hear about it burning, I know how you feel, I had a brand new ride on mower about 10 years back, the day i got it, it caught fire and burned completely. Cheers

 

Thanks Ribo! That means all the more coming from a perfectionist.

Bernie, sorry to hear about your mower. It's a pretty helpless feeling watching something burn. As they say, "once bitten, twice shy". Never more true than in the shop. Two BIG fire extinguishers adorn the walls!