Drawing a Crowd

Nice couple of bikes! The biggest difference in our '81's is that, if we met on the highway, you'd know what I was riding from a mile away. The Seca 550 fairing is a unique beast! I know you don't like them, and to be honest, some days I don't like the look of it either. It does look it's best from the riders seat though.

 

Ranger; It's not so much the looks (although I don't think it really fits the lines of the bike all that well) but the effect on handling that actually put me off.

The silly thing is so heavy PLUS has an "aerodynamic personality" all its own that for me it really attenuates steering response. I find the bike is much "crisper" handling with it off.

I agree that it's a "spotting feature" for the 550 Secas, but it was advertised as "removable" by Yamaha. So I removabled mine.

 

Very nice work. :wink: You've got a pair of beautiful Seca 550's!

 

Thats a GREAT looking bike fitz. I'd approach you if I saw that on the street! How the heck do you get everything so shiny!
-SLK

 

the quick answer is lots of careful work.

 

That's a nice pair of Secas fitz.
and I like the "toxic asset" title for it.

I can't even imagine how many hours of blood and sweat you have poured into them.

 

Nice lookin' set of wheels! I love the black color scheme.

 

Fitz. While I've had the fairing off numerous times for maintenance etc., I've never ridden the bike without it on. It does throw "dirty" air at head level for me and makes for a lot of wind noise. On the up side, I've tucked in behind it during rain storms, more times than I care to remember. They are great little bikes though, with or without a fairing.

PS I still wish I had a luggage rack like your '83 does.

 

Fitz, those are a couple beautiful bikes. Mine doesn't leek nearly as clean, however I'm always getting questions and compliments from passersby when working on, or riding the bike. From the big round headlight, to the flowing lines, I guess Yamaha just nailed a solid design.

 

True, I get asked about the bike all the time.
Guys get real enthusiastic about it.
Most love the header saying, they had one too.
People remember the Seca's.
Mine is not mint like Fitz's but it's pretty nice.

 

Hey Fitz,
Did I ever ask you how you were able to replace your exhaust? I used to have the Kerker, but it was old and ugly... sounded TREMENDOUS though. I can't decide on a 4-into-1. Any suggestions?

 

It took three ebay deals and a salvage yard to source the collector box, round up 4 nice head pipes and track down mufflers.

Mufflers are the most difficult; I actually had to replace (just) the mufflers on my '83 too. In both cases, I signed up with http://www.uneedapart.com/used-motorcycle-parts.php (I'm pretty sure I used them both times) and waited for my parts to come to me. I did have to send one set of mufflers back to one place because they had been drilled out; they took them back with no fuss. I eventually heard from a guy who had a clean set.

I still need a pristine #2 head pipe though.