Fast Taker Secaha - a blog

Hey fellas! The name's Erman, and I've just gotten myself a 1984 XJ750 Seca. I've been looking around the forums, and thought it was high-time to join.

Short intro here and I have lots of questions that will pop up in the days to come..

 

Re: New guy in town

Welcome to the forum. Great people here with a lot of knowledge. Post some pictures of your bike we'd love to see them.

 

Re: New guy in town

WELCOME from TN!!!

skillet

 

Re: New guy in town

Welcome aboard Erman!

 

Re: New guy in town

This reminds me of something that came up with a friend of mine that got an 82 Seca 750 not too long ago. The seller said it was an '84 XJ750RH and neither of us could find anywhere saying that such an animal was ever made that year. He checked the vin and found it was an made in 82. What gives?
My best guess about this situation (assuming a lack of previous owner(s) misunderstanding) is that old stock was left in a warehouse and wasn't shipped overseas and thus issued a title until later. Is there some part of the fascinating vehicle history that I would like to hear?

Oh and Welcome to the addiction Erman

 

Re: New guy in town

i thought the XJ750RH was an '81. or, more precisely, i thought my '81 was an XJ750RH . . .

 

Re: New guy in town

The years confuse me too. The guy I got it from says it's a 1984 model, but the short VIN gets me to 1982 (11M). I gather this may have something to do with the bike sitting in-store until it was first-time registrered in 1984.

Oh btw, pics will be posted once they're ready :wink:

I'm using the bike for the purpose of training for the driver's licence. I was thinking about riding it for a year or two, then sell/swap it for a cruiser. Needless to say it didn't take long before this baby grew on me.
I'm new to MCs and wrenching, so all things not "normal" on the bike are considered to be "character traits" until I get them sorted. And according to that wording, I guess you could say that my bike is quite tempered.

So, here are some things I consider "not normal" on the bike, and I would like them explained / fixed. If you guys have any tips about parts etc., feel free to

- Changing the handlebars for heated ones

- There seams to be a "sweating" from the centre of the engine, right behind the oil cooler (and possibly from the overlapping engine parts on the leftmost cylinder)

- The gas handle needs to be fastened. I'm guessing the wire here

- The tach is going wild at speeds over 100 km/h (60 mp/h). I'm guessing maybe the bearings inside are worn

- Onward from 2nd gear, the bike coughs below 2000 rpm. Shifting down resolves the problem (something to do with the carbs maybe?)

 

Re: New guy in town

all the manuals and yamaha info I find on them indicate the 750RH was made from 81-83.

Erman,
#1, beats me, new tires one out in my budget last fall and nobody got me any for x-mas. In general my friends tell me heated gloves work better and they're easier to take with you to another bike on down the road. Only one guy I know prefers heated grips for the convenience factor but he does admit they're not quite enough on some of our colder days here in the pacific northwet.

#2 I assume by sweating you mean oil leaking from the valve cover gasket. This is common. The bolts that hold down the valve cover have little rubber donuts under them that are responsible for putting just the right amount of pressure on the gasket (a nice reusable unit). These donuts (they're not quite O-rings nor are they bushings) get old and tired and hard as all rubber does. They're cheap from Chacal. The dealership will look at you funny if you ask about them then sour when you have to explain.

#3 you mean the electrical wire for all the switches?

#4 I had to dig a few generations of dead spiders out from inside my atari when I got it. Could be a lot of things causing your problem but my money is on loose or corroded connector plug somewhere.

#5 does it appear to have a stock exhaust and intake set up? whether it does or not your issue likely lies in the carbs but the answer to this is the first thing to help narrow it down for you.

 

Re: New guy in town

Welcome to the site !!
Carb cleaning may be in order- - it's like a hobby/ritual around here.

 

Re: New guy in town

Thanks for all the information guys!

I will definitely go through the holy cleansing of the carbs at one point in time

Update:
I've now gotten the throttle fixed. It was only a matter of tightening the wire by the handlebar insert. Idling at about 500RPM now.

- I spent the latter part of yesterday taking off the GIVI luggage holder that came with the bike and the seat.
- Also the plastic covers were removed and cleaned (man I wish these were made of metal... :roll: )
- All the rusty parts are sprayed with WD40.
- The bulb housings were cleaned too. I noticed two diagonal screws on the main headlight that adjust the beam elevation. Do any of you guys have a "favorite" position for this?
- When taking apart the covers, I noticed that the rubbers in between were quite worn. I guess I have to put in an order at Chakal for these?


Next up will be to clean the sweaty engine and put shine to it..
The color of the covers and the tank don't match, so I'm looking to repaint them in the ruby red color of the gas tank.
Do any of you know the correct mix for the original red color?

 

Re: New guy in town

Bump

 

Re: New guy in town

Check your tach cable. If one end is coming loose, it can cause the needle to bounce around. They need to be tightened from time to time.

 

Re: New guy in town

Thanks man, will do!

 

Re: New guy in town

So, I was out with the bike again yesterday.
I've been playing with the idle screw to get the idle to about 500-1000 RPM, and it seemed to help a little.
That is, until we got on the road. The engine was jerky below 2000 RPM before almost as if it wasn't getting enough air, but yesterday it did the same at about 2500 RPM... Maybe I opened the idle screw too much?

 

Re: New guy in town

A friend and were doing a safety check of the bike on Sunday...

I gotta say, the idle is very nice now. I just need to open the choke 1mm or so, and se purrs like a little tiger cub ;D

But there's a catch. We put it on the center stand and took it up to 1st gear, and there was a banging sound coming from what we could gather must have been the drive shaft. Once we gave it more gas and let it rest, the sound disappeared.
But it could very well be the engine/carbs that's out of sync. I've ordered one unit of Colortune to check how the engine fires...

I'll be back with more later.

 

Re: New guy in town

Erman, as long as your brakes are safe, your next area of attention would be checking your valve clearances and start planning your carb cleaning by reading the 3 long, long threads - - Church of Clean, Nine Yards, and Old School.

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic ... lshit.html

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic ... vious.html

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=14692.html

This is required reading for your Doctorate.
For now, you can do a running sync and adjust your Pilot screws to get a good color on your plugs.

 

Re: New guy in town

Thanks. Gotta take a few photos to plan things first...

 

Re: New guy in town

Went out again yesterday. The weather was very warm, and both the idle and the run went well.
A funny thing happened though. I managed to empty the tank completely on the way back, and had to switch to the reserves. I have no clue how much that is though.
Anyway, I struggled to open the tank lid and took it apart for cleaning. Turns out the springs were pretty rusty. Well, not anymore, he he he.

 

Re: New guy in town

Okay, so my first bike has been in my posession for a little over one month. Thought I'd list some of the fixes that have been done, and the ones to come.
As always, if anyone got any tips or bright ideas that would make the fizes better/easier/cheaper, you're welcome to post them =)

Done:
- Changed oil to 10W/40 synthetic (the pamphlet did not specify mineral or not), and the oil filter with gaskets
- Changed air filter
- Cleaned out the battery connectors (still some dirt on the stator/charger thingy)
- Cleaned out the tank lid (was rusted on the inside), still have to replace the rubber gasket on the inside though...
- Changed grips to sweet chromed ones
- Small fixes on the footpegs (straightening bent stuff etc.)

To be done:
- Change control cable (clutch), throttle wire, speedo wire
- Repaint to color code Brilliant Red (currently two colors; BR on the tank and a horrible burgundy color on fender+fairings)
- Put a shine to the alu. throughout
- Change clutch rings(?) and springs
- Clean and sync the carbs (ordering carbtune later this week)
- Install fuel filter
- Tighten cam timing chain (faint rattle can be heard when driving)
- Clean engine & change gaskets

 

Re: New guy in town

What's the clearance between the seat rim and tank on you guys' bikes? Mine is sitting very tight, and I suspect it may affect the amount of air coming in...