newb

heya everyone. still reading the faq-to-be and everything as fast as i can. first week (after 15 year hiatus) with a motorcycle and itching to make use of it. my face literally hurt from smiling and i guess i don't have to explain to you guys how good it felt to be "free" again. anyway, thing was sold as '81 seca but ??? insurance-person said maxim and dmv didn't know or care, previous owner remains cagey and not so helpful

have a haynes manual on the way but didn't dare buy factory manual because i'm not sure what i have and don't really know how to figure it out yet. frame begins JYA and motor starts 562. hopefully this works and some eagle-eyes can spot stuff:

http://xjbikes.com/coppermine/displayim ... pos=0.html

no tail lamp & brake lamps okay, no license plate lamp working (which taught me about the fuse blocks the hard way--some electrical tape got me home and taught me the importance of the headlamp circuit). both lamps in rear housing work for brake but no-go otherwise. looking at RickCoMatic's wirewerks steer for new fuse block but can't find specific part (anyone?).

sorry if all this is ridiculously boring repeat stuff for veterans--i really _am_ trying to search and read before posting but also itching to ride with what's supposed to be working working if that makes sense (alternatively, itching to ride w/o worrying about a ticket).

psyching-up to look for/at altenator brushes...wedged it in the garage in advance of storms last night.

thanks for your patience (and thanks for sharing all the knowledge)

 

Welcome Grindstone, SECA is right, is it a 750?
After 15 years lay off a couple of weeks to get things squared away ain't going to hurt, be safe. Wiz.

 

thanks, wiz -- you make a good point and i'm with ya on that. appreciate you taking the time to look.

 

Yep thats a SECA alright. Not bad looking.

 

welcome aboard!
as for the fuseblock, you can use just about any fused connection (block or inline fuse holder) to replace that shoddy block you currently have.
personally, skip the haynes manual. I used to be a cage mechanic and haynes were ridiculously inaccurate for me.
if you want the end-all, be-all manual....
get the XJ CD. between that and this forum, you will learn so much that your brain might make a small popping sound from the overload.
enjoy your stay

 

Thanks! I've just found chacal's brain-bending VIN thread and it's pegging my noggin but I'm happy to have tripped over it looking for the CD. my exp with the haynes stuff is similar to what you were saying, too, but right now I have nothing and some electrical stuff to grok so I can ride legally Hopefully I can figure out what this thing is in the next day or so but...it's hard to explain and I'm green with these things.

Basically, there's just "stuff" that feels like a parts-box project; that's okay (everything is just parts anyway), but...yunno my first hint was getting 5 keys with the thing

Example: I gotta lift-up the whole cluster to turn the key to on position. No big deal in terms of fixing that, but it's...one of those things. Some plastic was basically gnawed off and some remnant interferes. Two, the handle bars, well, they're not like other secas I see. Again, I don't care and am happy to have it but I feel like I need to know what sort of motor it really has to be able to get parts, etc (please correct if I'm off-base). that's sorta what was behind my plea for review of the pic.

thanks again for taking the time and thanks for the great welcome.

 

If you found chacal's VIN thread you were VERY close to his parts catalog as well. XJ4ever (chacal) STOCKS just about every part you'll ever conceive needing, and at prices better than you'll find elsewhere.

You've got a Seca 750 there; nifty bike but it had a few features that were "ahead of its time" that will make life interesting for you. Looks quite complete.

Get a manual and go through the maintenance section step by step; catch up on 26+ years of neglect.

Immediately check your rear brake: http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=15874.html

And welcome aboard!

 

wow...that's sobering. okay brakes on the list and thanks for the steer to chacal and for the sane advice to work the neglected maint list. will do.

"thanks" seems a little understated but it's all I have so THANKS

found the CD and will get that coming as well.