Newb

Hello everyone. Been looking around the site and figured I'd sign up. I just picked up an 83' Seca 900. it looks to be in really good shape for having 50000kms on her. Currently not getting sufficient spark, as it only sparks when I let go of the starter button. I'll start going through the electrical in the next few days, hoping that it isn't the TCI. The signal lights have been swapped, as well as the rear shocks. Attached a couple of pics. I hear these are hard to come by.

 

Welcome to the forum. It sounds like a weak battery . All the power is going to spin the starter. You could jump from a good battery. If you use a car be sure the car is not running . Another test is to do a voltage reading across the the battery. It should not drop below 9 volts. Is there any curvy roads in Saskatchewan? Nice looking bike .

 

Thanks. Ha ha, it's pretty flat where I'm at in the south, so pretty much all long straights . Someday it might make it back to Cape Breton and get run through her paces on some more spirited stretches of road. I tried connecting a fully charged car battery (not in a vehicle) with booster cables last night, without success. I ran out to the garage to have a peek at coffee time, and noticed I had my spark tester opened up past the typical range. I tried again and there's spark, but just a weak thread of white/yellow, not like my Sabre's fat blue arc. Maybe it just has weak coils. I'll know more when I tear into her tomorrow.

 

Do not underestimate the value of going through all electrical connections and verifying they are tight and clean. 35 year old wiring...

 

Spark plug caps ? Should be 5k ohms.

 

I'll check these out this evening. Whenever I test coils on a bike, I disassemble the caps if they are resistor type to get accurate measurements. I also discovered that the bike has the anti-dive bypassed/locked out and it has a frame mounted front fairing instead of the fork mounted one, like an 84'. I also discovered this is bike #359 for the production year. Hoping I get it sorted out so I can ride her before we're blanketed in snow.

 

@hogfiddles has a registry for the xj900rk and will be checking in on your bike

 

IT'S ALIVE!!! Turns out all four brand new NGKs were junk. It fired up when I swapped over the coils from my V65 Sabre and reinstalled the old plugs. I installed the original coils back in after trimming 1/4" off the plug wires, and it fired right up again. I still think she'll need new coils (and some better plugs), but what a huge relief.... Usually, I won't buy a bike I can't hear run. Glad I made an exception this time.

Is this registry hosted on the site somewhere? I have read several threads that referenced it, but don't see it anywhere.

 

Honda CB750 coils are suitable too. I read that on the forum.

 

Small dent on the tank, inside the blue decal "c" shape. It isn't creased though, so I'll try to pop it out over the winter.

 

I'd appreciate a private conversation so I can let ou know the info I need for the registry

Dave Fox

 

Man. I’m sick at not being able to locate a decent or a “bad” example of a 900 locally to buy. Grrr!