My Seca II Scrambler Project

It's been a good while since I've had an update. Recently, I decided to replace the steel rear rack with a cut aluminum one to carry the design of the headlight brackets and side mounts through to the rear. I drew up the new rack in Solidworks, converted it to a CAD DXF file and sent it off to Big Blue Saw for cutting:


The rack ran $140 for 3/8 6061 aluminum:




I mocked-up the rack to make sure I liked the look of the side-brackets. they looked good so I decided to mount them:





My drill press wasn't tall enough to fit the rack into, so I had to get creative. I added a strip of pine to the edge of my old worn-out shop table and then clamped the rack using screws and more wood. I leveled the rack to ensure it was straight.

Then I removed the bolts holding the drill press to its base and rotated the base so it was out of the way. That gave me room to get the press over the rack. I leveled the press and screwed it to the table.



That worked and I was able to drill the first two holes, straight and in proper alignment. I then oiled up an M5 tap and tapped the two holes. I clamped the side piece in place while doing this to ensure the tap went in straight.



The edge pieces are held on with two M5x25mm socket cap screws.



I repeated this process for the other side. Once done, I washed the cutting-oil off the rack and then gave the aluminum a grain to match the rest of the aluminum parts on the bike:



It's cold-as-crap here in Denver right now but when it warms up, I'll get it mounted.

 

Thanks for the update. I think the suggstions from the folks on ADVrider make sense, but I like how the rack turned out as it is now.

 

I set out this afternoon to get the Scrambler from my garage in Denver to my workshop in Broomfield. It was in the low 50's for the first time in a while and it seemed like a good idea.

When I got to Denver, I realized that there was about 4" of snow in the driveway. Well, what'cha gonna do? So I pulled the Scrambler out anyway.




The battery was mostly dead so I improvised a jumper cable using some Romex and the XJ fired to life after a few attempts:



The ride out of the driveway in Denver was the most precarious. The street was hard-packed snow covered with a melting layer of slush. Super slippery. So I shoveled the sidewalk from my house up to 44th St (which was clear as its plowed). I then rode the bike up the sidewalk that short distance until I reached the curb. When there was a break in traffic, I slipped the clutch, hopped the curb and hoped for the best.

The ride to Broomfield was uneventful until I got to the driveway. Here, about 3" of slushy snow covered the driveway. The XJ did just fine as I covered the 800 or so feet of driveway from the street to the workshop.


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I've been chasing an oil leak on the left-hand side of the bike. I replaced the stator seal, its o-ring, the primary chain oiler o-ring, the output-shaft o-ring and the shift-shaft o-ring and yet the leak persists. So the first thing while at the workshop was to start tracking down that oil leak. I used a tracer dye and a UV light to help follow the leak to the source. I added the dye to the crankcase:




I then let the bike idle near the garage door for about 10 minutes to mix the dye into the oil.




After 10 minutes of idling, I could see oil dripping off of the side-stand mount, but none coming from any of the sources listed above. The stator, output shaft, shift shaft and crankshaft seals were all dry with no evidence of oil. There was some evidence that suggested the neutral switch might be the culprit so I pulled it off and had a look:




Upon inspection, I noticed that the sensor was cracked on one of the mounting bolts and had a slight warp to it. Not entirely sure its the cause of the leak so I'll look again after replacing it.

I also started the process of modifying the rear of the frame and the ABS covers for the rear rack:

 

That rack fits so nicely. Super tight! I love how it follows the lines of the seat. Feel like the crash guards are blocking the view a bit, though...

 

I'm late to this party . . . Just went through the whole thread.
Generally I prefer a stock, old school bike . . . but my goodness - 5 stars for this ride!
The whole story of pulling pieces out of the rear of an Escape and making it into what it is today is beautiful.

 

I am strongy of the opinion that Yamaha could build copies and they would be the new hot bike for 2017.

 

Really nice of you guys to say. Thank you!

BTW, I'm working today on converting the tail and headlight to LED. The tail is easy; since its a trailer light, you can buy copies of the existing light which 24-LED's built in. Super bright. The headlight will require replacement; I bought a TruckLite headlight for it and will convert the Delkevic housing. Hopefully the modern lighting won't detract from the look and feel of the bike. More on that, later, with pictures.

 

sort of like the FAST version of the Scrambler 950 they built off the Bolt platform!

 

The LED tail light I ordered cam yesterday so I worked on fitting it today. Had to modify the bracket and rewire the thing. I'm quite happy with it.

Modified bracket and new gaskets cut:




New LED tail light installed:





I bolted on the new tail assembly and fitted the rear rack this afternoon. The rack went on without a hitch and I think it looks good:






Here are some photos of it outside in the light:




This is what the new LED tail light looks like when on. The photo is deceiving; its quite bright.



And a quick video showing the light in its glory:




I also installed the pair of Progrip 698's and I like 'em:




Here's how the bike sits as of this afternoon. Looking good, I think:




Oh; also, the Trucklite headlight came. The level of quality in it is amazing. I can't overstate that. Now the problem is, it won't fit in the Delkevic headlight housing that's on the bike. So I need to find a housing that fits a sealed beam headlight (H6024). Any help/suggestions in a 7" headlamp that will hold a sealed-beam headlight? Any experience with the EMGO housing (Kawasaki replica)?

 

Exceptional work!!

 

Really liking the way this bike has gone together, like others have said something Yammy should have done. The rack looks great but you have gone with standard bolts to hold the rack on the back. Yet on the rack itself you use nice clean looking cap screws, same on the frame inserts, tail light even the headlight bracket. Just think it would keep the "clean" look if you replaced those bolts with caps.
2 cents worth.

 

Good eye! Yep, the bolts you see there are just temporary until I can get over to Ace for a proper set of socket cap screws. With all the Christmas shopping, I thought it better to wait.

 

Nice work!!

 

A couple new goodies for the Scrambler. FZ600 side stand (about an inch longer than the XJ side stand) and a later-style waffle-type rear brake lever. Added red heat shrink to the foot knob on the side stand so that I can see it more easily in the sea of black.

 

Here's the side stand and foot lever installed. I think the black looks really nice and the brake pedal is going to work out perfectly. The side stand, not so much. I think its too tall but we shall see. Some modifications are in its future.






This came a while ago. I ordered a Vessel JIS driver from Amazon. It shipped from Japan and took a while.




It's an awesome tool. VERY high quality and one I think I will use often. If you aren't in a hurry, I recommend getting one for all those JIS screws on the XJ.




And in case you forgot what the bike looks like, here's a reminder, taken last night. Why the hell not? :?:

 

Trucklite LED headlight in an Emgo 7" (Kawasaki) housing. The housing is quite nice. Much better quality than I expected. Coupled with the Trucklite headlight, the whole assembly feels high quality.










Headlight installed! Here are some photos (taken in 21F weather). All photos taken at 1/25 shutter speed with an F-stop of 3.5 (so that they can be compared; apples to apples):

Delkevic halogen headlight (which I was running), low beam (didn't get a shot of the high beam, sorry):





Trucklite LED headlight, low beam:








Trucklite LED headlight, high beam:








In my driveway, low beam:




In my driveway, high beam:



In the street, low-beam:




In the street, high-beam:




And a video showing the light cycled low-to-high and back:




Most importantly, how the bike looks with the new light and bucket:

 

Looks awesome!

I'll be doing the 7" LED Headlight upgrade for mine as well. I got a Suzuki Bandit 1200 housing because it's deeper to help fit the "Rats Nest" wiring on my model.

Thanks for making the video. It shows that it will be well worth the trouble and expense.

Tony

 

I'm on my second front fender and still not happy with it; mounting the Ducati fender to the stock XJ fender brace causes it to splay outward and pull the leading edge toward the tire. I only have about 3/8 inch of clearance there. With that big front tire picking up rocks, I need more clearance. I found a good deal on a Triumph Scrambler fender and I think it'll work out. I knew from the photos that it was nicked/scratched and scuffed pretty heavily:










After about 30 minutes of elbow grease and 3M rubbing compound, it's looking good enough for the bike. No painting required (hell yeah):










I need to fabricate an XJ-fender-brace to Triumph adapter bracket and then i'll get this one bolted up. But more on that later.

 

It's really ez to do all that work with all that space!

Again the bike is looking really nice.

 

I bought the house with this new workshop back in early July but remodels and repairs have kept me from moving in. Just wait until I have a fully built-out motorcycle workshop.