Have you ever wanted to just sell the damn thing and be done

I'm at my wits end fellas. If you're not depressed then read my woeful tale and laugh.

I bought an '82 seca 650 about two years ago. I'd always wanted a bike and having just turned thirty it was time. I'm poor so I bought a junker and a haynes manual. She probably should have been put down, but I was dumb and optomistic. I'd never touched an engine before, but after major carb work and tinkering with just about every other system I got her to run. She won't start in cold weather and her alternator's never wanted to work at maximum efficiency, but I love her anyway. I just got used to carrying jumper cables.

I recently found a stellar deal on another '82 seca, this one a 750, but otherwise a perfect twin. This one had been garaged and taken care of so it was much more reliable. Then I started getting creative ... big mistake. I tore the junker apart with the intent of bobbing it. I also attacked the wiring system since it was in shambles and pulled all the useless switches and relays out. She's beautiful.

Here's where it gets ugly. Bobber starts on the first fire now. runs great though it backfires quite a bit (I'm thinking fine tuning with the carbs), but the alternator is completely done. I made Ohm measurements and deduced that the stator is fried. I decided to check my theory by yanking the stator and rectifier/regulator from my reliable ride and swapping them. Now it appears that I have two burnt stators. I only rode with the good stator for maybe ten miles, How in the hell did this happen? And what's more, what do I do next? I've got two bikes with NO alternator and no cash to get even one of them back up and running.

Shed a tear for me if you want, post if you've got an idea what I'm dealing with or if this sounds familiar. In any case, learn form my mistake and don't swap parts if you're not prepared to lose them.

 

Re: Have you ever wanted to just sell the damn thing and be

nube...

i can appreciate what youre going through...

my 550 maxim has never really run right. after i had the carbs gone through and finally got it tuned up it ran really well for a little while and then within a couple of months, were back to the no start, kill the battery, etc etc etc...

take a step back, breath deep and look at it again on another day...

just stay with it. maybe not this summer but work it through the winter if you need to...

 

Re: Have you ever wanted to just sell the damn thing and be

When cleaning the carbs, make sure you clean the enrichment circuit, or it will be near impossible to start without starting fluid. Here's a link
http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=8918.html

Worked for me. Good luck.