Hey from Chitown.

I've been riding mostly offroad since I was 13, and raced harescrambles for a while back in the early 80s. When the euro 650 came out, I really wanted one, but didn't have the coin. Instead I settled for an FT500 Ascot. Been away from bikes for a few years, but still wanted a Seca 650. Been looking 2 years on and off now, and in the meanwhile found a fun little TW200, a hard starting TT500 titled for the street, and looked at a couple Ducati Monsters. But I still kept wishing for that Seca. Well, I think I may have found the one. I am hopefully going to go look at it tomorrow with 9 hundred dollar bills in my pocket. Wish me luck, it is a one owner bike with just over 10K mi on it and a bit of cosmetic blemishes. If anyone can come up with anything I should key an eye out for before I head out, let me know.

 

Welcome to the board, Cooter. Nothing wrong with "settling" for an Ascot-those were great little bikes. In my totally biased opinion, however, the Seca 650 was the best all-around middleweight ever built, so I hope your prospective purchase works out for you. If the bike is in decent shape, buy it. You won't be disapointed.
As far as things to keep an eye on, I would suggest that you look closely at the "externals" first of all. Because very few of these bikes were sold in the U.S., things like fuel tanks, body plastics, saddles, forks, triple trees, swingarms, center stands, mufflers, collector boxes, etc. are hard to find and expensive to buy, if and when you finally locate them. If the bike you are looking at has a rusty fuel tank, a ripped up seat, and a beat exhaust system, for example, be prepared to spend some time and money replacing those things.

 

To continue:
As far as engine and drive systems go, there's not a lot that typically goes wrong with these bikes if they have been even half decently looked after. If neglected, the carbs can be fussy, and the fuse boxes have a history of degrading over time (although I have personally never had an electrical problem with any of the three Seca 650s I have owned over the past 26 years). Overall, these bikes are about as close to bullet-proof as you can get. Barring obvious physical damage or severe long-time abuse and neglect, your engine, transmission, and final drive systems should function well, especially if the bike only has 10K on the clock.
Happy hunting, and keep us posted.

 

Thanks for the info, XJ4Keeps. I asked him about the cosmetics for that exact reason- I know how rare they are, and parts really don't seem to show up all that often. I was going to buy that one off Detroit CL for $400 just to have parts, but I was a little too late finding it. The seat is good on this one, and so is the tank, but it does have some scratches- looks as though there may have been a tank bag on it. The side covers were painted black, though, and they may be difficult to find. The exhaust was decent, but not perfect. I hope to be leaving in a bit, and as I was rechecking CL, a beautiful Storm Trooper Seca 550 popped up for about the same price just a few miles away from the 650. I am going to need to check them both out- I loved the 550 until the 650 came out. I am also afraid I may be a little cramped on the 550- I am 6'2", and long limbed.

 

Just picked it up and rode it 130 miles home. The seller took $800 for it!



It ran excellent, and I had no issues with it, other than the windscreen. (It has to go- all it does is buffet my helmet and make my visor want to lift above 60 MpH.

Shifts great, good power, and no quirks, other than the tach sometimes getting jumpy around 5K RpM. The clutch lever and rear brake are both adjusted with way too much play, so I will take a look at them.

And I want to see if I can find a matching paint so I can repaint the side covers.



Then maybe eliminate the rear fender and mount less obtrusive turn signals. That should do it for a while.

 

Cooter, you fool, you stole that bike! Welcome to the forums and congrats on the bike. For sure, if you're gonna chop it, this is THE place to be.

If you need parts, Chacal is the way to go. You can PM him. He's the go to guy with exceptional prices, very fast service and pretty much EVERYTHING XJ.

I'm in the western burbs of Chicago. Looking forward to see what you're gonna do with the bike. BUT do yourself a favor, don't start chopping till off season, or you'll end up like me and Zookie Not able to ride mid-season because "...as long as I've got the bike apart, why don't I do..."

Good to have you d00d.

 

Looks like a good score.

 

YOU BASTARD! Sorry, I didn't really mean that, I'm just jealous because That's a steal! Congratulations and welcome to the forum, you're in the right place if you're going to begin a project on an XJ. I paid that much for my basket case 750! I'm in the same boat as Barzu, my bike is in pieces all over the garage!

 

Ah, but not for long. Tomorrow is color tune day and then final tune. (Rickomatic's method) Saturday is ride day, for the first time since I chopped her up. I'm so pumped I could pee myself!

 

BTW, Fode, me and a couple friends of mine are doing a cruise to Vegas this coming Spring/Summer. If you're down, come on down.

 

If I can get the time off, I will try to swing it.

Looks like we have a few from Chicagoland here. And none of us seems completely sane. I like that. We need to do a M&G and ride sometime before it gets cold.


Just got back from another trip on the Seca. I like more every time I ride it. Have to get rid of that %#@&^ windscreen, though.

 

So jealous. The bike looks beautiful. I'm in Chi town too, I'd be up for a ride if I'm not working.

 

Are you guys from Chicagoland weenies? Meet & Greet before it gets cold???

Us manly men in the Pacfic Northwest ride nearly year round. Well, except for the couple days each year when their MAY be a dusting of snow on the ground.

BTW it never gets even close to zero degrees on the west side of the mountains of Washington and Oregon.

You guys get slammed with cold temps and snow. We get rain. Lots and lots of nice warm rain.

Have a great time on your new ride. Stay safe and enjoy the ladt vestiges of warm weather.

Loren

 

That's a great score for eight bills, Cooter. Congrats. Even the engine paint is in good shape, which indicates that the bike was gently ridden, and the mileage is probably accurate. That little honey is gonna clean up real nice!
Cosmetics aside, these bikes can be substantially improved with a few (relatively) inexpensive mods. First of all, get yourself a good set of tires, and I mean do it right away. Some may differ, but I think Pirelli Sport Demons are the best sneakers you can get for this bike. They wear very well and are ultra-grippy, hot or cold, wet or dry. They also track straight as an arrow on the highway and steer beautifully when the road gets wiggly.
Next, upgrade your stopping power with SS lines, sticky pads and shoes, and drilled discs. You will thank me for this advice, especially after your first wet-weather ride with the OEM momentum arrestors.
Finally (for now), I would strongly recommend that you 86 the stock suspension, because it severely limits what is otherwise a great-handling bike. Progressive and Ikon's websites are good places to start for improvements fore and aft respectively.

 

More unsolicited advice:
Move the rear turn signals back to the tail light bracket (go "less intrusive" if you must). This will allow you to mount saddlebags and your significant other on the same ride. No small consideration, IMO. 8)

 

I'm down! Hey Motorduck, when we do this, I'll bring my colortune if you still want to borrow it.

 

Let's set this up. I wanna ride the wheels off this thing!

 

Real manly men know that zero degrees is 32 degrees below the temperature that water freezes at! :wink:

I know the best way to get a turn out for a M&G is while the weather is still nice. Not when we have 10" on snow on the street. I will be riding this thing as long as there isn't snow, and would every now and then when there is, but the salt they put down here is murder on a bike, and I want to keep this this nice a long time. I have wanted one since '82, and have been looking for the right one for 3 years.

Hopefully, I can take a long ride out to the Pac NW sometime and visit- I have been wanting to ride out there since I was up in AK back in '83. Need about a month to do it, though.

 

What day, what time? Where are you in Chicagoland?

 

I will be looking into the upgrades, especially the drilled rotors and SS lines. As for tires, I have some pretty fresh Dunlop 404s on it, and from the reviews I am seeing, I'm pretty sure it won't be too long before I am in the market for those Pirellis.

What would you recommend as far as suspension? I am about 6' 2", 200lb. Would lowering it an inch or so help? I don't need to, obviously, but would it help handling at all? If I am going to replace the rear shocks, I might as well decide if I am going to lower it before I buy them. I also like the idea of the USD forks, and I am willing to go through some trouble to make them work. Has anyone swapped any on the 650? I have a set of 2002 YZ forks that I am going to adapt to my TT500 to get some of the flex out of the front of it. If no one has done so yet, I guess I am going to need to start measuring. (This will all be done in the winter, so don't worry, barzu.) :wink: