My SECA 750 Restoration

Hello all!
I've been doing a lot of work on my 82 XJ750RJ to get it running the way I'd like, so I figured it's time to stop lurking on the forums and dedicate a thread to my project.

First I'll tell you a bit about myself. I'm 23 years old, currently I drive a forklift for a living, and I'm going to school to be a mechanical engineer. I like fixing things, problem solving, and I like trying to understamd how and why things work. I like to speak up and debate things so dont let me get to you.

Anyways, I bought the bike 2 years ago from my cousin. It was his learning bike and then it became my learning bike. I had helped my stepdad restore a couple early 80's Honda Goldwings and Silverwings and I also used to be a bicycle salesman/mechanic(and I rode +350 miles a week) so I was familiar with two wheeled vehicles before I had never owned or driven a motorcycle.

Originally I got the SECA for $600 but I ended up trading a Lemond bicycle and $300 for it. My cousin had just meticulously rebuilt the carbs but he was having all sorts of idling/running issues so he sold it to me.
I rode it for a while and fell in love with it, but after the petcock started leaking and flooding the motor 1 1/2 years ago I parked it in the garage vowing to rebuild it.

Fast forward to this year.
So far this year I first checked the valve clearances and got them within spec. I had to grind the oil filter bolt off last month so I replaced the bolt. I did a week long Marvel Mystery oil and Seafoam soak on the piston rings by pouring small quantities into the spark plug holes and rotating the crankshaft every few hours. Compression is low at 120psi(I have PO's receipts from 1994 with the same readings) but within 3 psi across the cylinders.
I removed the exhaust and airbox to clean every nook and cranny. I then undid every electrical plug on the bike. I cleaned each plug with spray, scratched the contacts with picks/sandpaper and then apllied DeOx It($30 for two 1oz cams!) and dielectric grease to promote a good connection in the future. The headlight housing and airbox were sanded with 80 grit sandpaper to remove the oxidized plastic, then wetsanded with 120, 200, 400, 600, 800, 1000, 1500, 2000, 2500 grit sandpaper in that order and then finally buffed with rubbing/polishing compound and wax to make them glossier than a mirror(the headlight housing is spectacular but the airbox turned out dull maybe the plastics are different).
The carbs were rebuilt by me three times. I keep getting a hanging idle so I keep pulling them off and double checking my work. The final time I polished the slide bores even though they have always passed the clunk test, and I pressure tested(submerged in the sink with my palms over the ends) the manifolds.
I've also removed the front forks to rebuild them. I ordered all the recommended seals from chacal, and upon dismantling I noticed the bushings are worn so hopefully those arrive in the mail today from chacal. The front brakes are locked up so I'm going to rebuild the calipers and replace the cable(parts arrive today) and hope its not the master cylinder or I'll be ordering a kit for that as well. Right now I'm trying to rebuild those darn antidive components but its hard to find support or information.
Last night I installed the rear wheel. I put a new Bridgestone Spitfire on the wheel and polished the exterior of the drum brake while I had it off.

I'll add more details and some pictures of my various escapades later when I'm not typing on an android phone, but this should get the ball rolling on my progress thread!

 

Sounds like you're well on your way to getting that baby in tip top shape!
Keep up the good work.

 

PICS!!

 

second the pics..always wonderd would that bike would look with drag bars and standard gauges.. 8O

 

second the pics..always wonderd would that bike would look with drag bars and standard gauges.. 8O

 

Thanks for sharing. It's fun though, isn't it? The mechanical journey that in many ways, are our own journey of self actualization. OK, I know it's getting deep, but bear with me here...

We are all flawed as humans... some of us are even broken. Maybe there's a little hope in all those in this group that, as we repair something others would of abandoned, in the process, we repair something in ourselves.

Or perhaps, like me, you are trying to recapture something from 30 years ago that you missed out on. I'm still a big kid at heart.. and in practice. As I'm fond of saying: I might not be able to be young forever, but I CAN be immature forever.

 

There's a big chunk of me in that thought there, I find working on bikes therapeutic & helps to forget other problems in life. Especially so with the XJ as this site proves there are still good, honest & above all "still giving a damn" people out there...

Anyway, sorry to derail, agree with others, we wanna see the pictures 8) Hoping you're still seeing good progress with the ol' girl

 

I like being creative and making things but there is also something nice and therapeutic about rebuilding something. Especially with something like a motorcycle where you 'cut once, measure 37 times' and make sure every last detail is 'race prepped'. I intend on keeping the bike long enough to make it worth the cost and effort Ive put into it. Hopefully I'll be back on the road soon with new brakes and suspension plus properly tuned carbs . Lol I'll try to get pictures up, I started a new job pulling orders in a -20 degree freezer at night plus I've got community college.

Today was my only night off this week so I rebuilt the master cylinder and started on the calipers. The remote master cylinder isnt that difficult to get to, you have to pull 7 bolts total to get it exposed and removed. It really looks like a brilliant design how its wedged in there. It didnt look that bad inside but there was alot of debris in the piston o-ring and a little rust around the relief valve. I scrubbed the MC and reservoir surgically clean, buffed/polished the bore of the MC, wirebrushed the circlip area with a shotgun bore brush, baked the entire disassembled components in the oven(lowest setting) to remove the moisture and then reassembled the MC/Reservoir with all new seals and orings. I even polished the pivot points on the actuating arm. It's installed on the bike with a new brake cable(I lubed it with white lithium grease, hope thats okay) and it is silky smooth with zero stiction(of course its still dry of brake fluid). Now I just need for my Stainless Steel lines I ordered from chacal to arrive.
Oh and as for the calipers, they along with the antidive valves(the portion attached to the brake lines) were disassembled. I had to thread one of the caliper mount bolts(requires a 14mm wrench?) into the brake union hole and then snap my grease gun nozzle onto the bleeder nipple. The grease gun got the pistons out of the calipers and omg the antidives but its a mess trying to get all that grease out. They went for a quick dip in a pot of purple power and then I gently honed the bores out. I still need to polish the caliper bores, sandblast the calipers and then find out some way to get them powdercoated or painted. Is there a good paint I can get for my HVLP gun that will handle the temperature of the calipers?

My valve tool arrived in the mail(I broke my old one) so now I need to replace some shims again(cut once, measure till you lose count). I also got a new valve cover gasket with all 12 bolt doughnuts. I dont like my vehicles to loose a drop of oil.

I have to find time to pull the shifter cover off. Some dumb broad dropped a can of paint and it splattered onto my engine. So I ordered replacement gaskets for the cover and Im going to try polishing the aluminum while its off.

The carburetors need their floats reset again. Once I get the floats set and the proper valve shimming I can install the carbs and get the motor purring. I also need to find a nylon bushing of some sort to replace the two that just uttery deteriorated inside the antidive valves(fork portion) and the wave washer that went missing out of my RH fork. After those issues are handled it will be time for some riding.

Anyways, I want this thing going in a week or two cause Im dying to ride it but I wanted to update the progress.

 

We must have photos special ed

 

One tip in regard to polishing the covers: You'll need to remove the original clearcoat first. The easiest way to do this is with Aircraft Paint Remover from the auto parts.

 

aircraft paint remover from where ?

 

One thing with what Fitz said thou, I believe you said that you were polishing plastic parts. If so, don't use the Paint remover on those as you will melt it. If metal by all means +1 on what he said. That stuff is awesome.

 

The shifter cover is what he's polishing

Good point on the paint stripper anyway & it bears saying yet again Don't get the stuff anywhere near plastic!!! yuck it makes a mess (and on a polishing note, don't polish any plastic "chrome" with metal polish or any abrasive type of polish at all as the shiny chrome just wears through)

hope she paid you for the polish to clean the spilt paint off too!

 

Ok so I got the bike registered today now I need to put the forks back together and carbs on to go get it inspected.

With the forks, brakes and headlights off my bike it feels like there is a notch in the head bearing at the very center of the steering. It doesnt feel like its the wiring/cables that are doing it. Do I need to remove the head bearing and replace it before I go about reinstalling the front end?

 

May as well get it done while the bike's stripped down IMO, the bearings only cost a little & a notch just off dead centre will give you the most butt-clenching head shake as the bike tries to fight to line it's wheels up...

 

Ok so the update is that I got the forks fully reassembled and attached to the bike. Here's some pictures of the forks apart http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=41895.html. I spent over $400 with XJForever on my forks alone I think, I'm starting to think the reason its so hard to get parts for the XJ at the dealer is that len put them out of business. I also have to give a shout out to TIMEtoRIDE for sourcing me some critical pieces.
I had to fabricate some nylon bushings for the antidive valves, I'm thinking I need to manufacture a few more incase anyone else needs them.
Next I need to find the time to go over to my friends and use his glass-bead rig to media-blast my calipers before I reassemble them. I'm seriously considering taking them to a powder-coater rather than trusting rattlecan caliper paint to hold up. Anybody have any experience with caliper paint? Once the calipers are painted I can rebuild them install them on the bike. Everything in my front brakes will be new or rebuilt except the rotor and pads(Ive got to save up for those floating rotors!).

Oh and my valve clearances are as follows

Intake
.114 - .127
.127 - .150
.150 - .160 Shim is 2.85
.115 - .127

Exhaust
.150 - .165
.200 - .230 Shim is 2.80
.200 - .225 Shim is 2.80
.180 - .200 Shim is 2.75

Should I change the one intake and 3 exhaust out?

 

Why do you have two measurements for each valve???

 

I'll assume it's a go-no go reading; ex. Intake #1 0.114 slips in,0.127 does not. Seems like he's using an SAE set and converting to Metric.

 

Actually, they might be all in specs but it is a wild guess because there are big gaps (sort of) between go and no go.
Intake #3, as well as #2 and #3 exhaust could be a bit loose (nothing to worry about), but exhaust #1 could be a bit on the tight side. I would measure exhaust #1 more accurately to make sure the clearance is at least 0.16 mm. This is the only one to worry about.
If a 0.16 mm doesn't go, you will have to go down one size on the shim.

 

Agreed, nothing seems scarily tight but maybe one or 2 a little loose & 1 or 2 toward tight. Save yourself & all of us a major headache though please special & buy some metric feelers. After all, in spec is in & out of spec is out & it's nice to know exactly where you stand (actually it's essential to know exactly where you stand when it comes to tolerances like this!)

You'll thank yourself when you re-check them & can work out in your head what shims you need or don't need