New XJ owner

I'm the proud new owner of an 1981 XJ 550 Seca!

Just shook hands on it last night and will pick it up on Saturday. It reminds of my old 1973 RD350. Just a brisk little sidewinder of a bike. A pony bike.

I also have a 2003 Venture for the open road.

I sold my VStar1100 and was picking up the buyer so he could ride it home, and saw this bike. Since I was already holding the expendable cash for the VStar, I popped for this little beast.

I'm looking forward to having fun.

 

Welcome Gitarzan,
Nice bike! I really like the white color scheme!
P12

 

Wow! Flashback!
Love the bike.......I'm not really sure why.
Welcome to the forums!

 

Love it! A deffo keeper...congrats on the find and purchase!

 

That is a really nice bike.

 

Thanks,

I spent the weekend with a wrench in my hand.

I adjusted the rear brake (it actually works now.); fixed the tail light switch for the rear brake; refilled and bled the front brake; adjusted the chain (it had about 5 inches of slop in it.); the headlight was buzzing, so I replaced the pads behind the lens and that took care of that; replaced missing trim on the windshield; shot a can of carb cleaner into the carbs; glued the filter back together (one of the metal end caps had come unglued); and cleaned; cleaned; cleaned; and waxed. Tires are in great shape.

It looks respectable now. The seat is in perfect condition, no tears, holes or rips. A few nicks in the paint here and there, about what you would expect on a 25 yeard old bike. Some paint peeled on the failing, I suspent that might be from kicking it around when it was off the bike.

It still has an idle issue. To start you need it on full choke and when I received it, you needed to run about half choke to keep it running. I adjusted the idle and ran carb cleaner spray thru the carbs and have a can of SeaFoam in the gas right now. The was a lot of improvement, but not 100%. It starts without choke when warm, and will idle for about 30 seconds before it slows down and dies. There was a valve tapping, but the SeaFoam cleaned that up, indicating that there's dirt in there. I'm going to run out this tank with the seafaom, and run the next tanmk with carb cleaner, and see if liquids can clean it up.

Later this summer I'll adjust the cam clearances, pull the carbs and do it right. Resynch the carbs and hopefully I'll be set.

 

Congrats gitarzan, I have the exact same bike. Enjoy it, they're a load of fun, and they love to rev. Stick around here and you'll get some great tips and info.