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Sure have missed riding.

Discussion in 'XJ Technical Chat' started by dinoracer, Jul 22, 2022.

  1. dinoracer

    dinoracer Member

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    Long story short, I used to race a Seca 550 in the late 90's and the bike has sat. My wife asked if I was ever going to get it running again and I looked online for a seca 550 near me for sale. Really I think I needed all electrics since I gutted everything out of the engine to make the bike as light as it could be. I aslo needed the street stuff like lights and horn. Since the racebike sat for so long, I'm hoping to get it running again instead of the stock bike. I pulled the spark plugs and put some pb blaster down the spark plug hole to, at the very least lubricate it while I spin it by hand. I pulled the valve cover and no rust. The engine turns so now I am onto the next item. So now I have a battery on order and will hopefully transfer all of the electronics over to the racebike. It looks like I will need to purchase tires, brakes and a master cylinder rebuild kit and several other things. In the meantime I will have to hide the purchases of new tires, brakes and a few other things from the wife, how do you do that? Ohh I am guessing that Red is the favorite color for the Seca, The racebike was white and the street one is red hmm which one do I do. The white one has all of the bodywork while the red one is missing the side cover. Ohh one more thing. In California, the last time I registered the bike there it was 57 dollars in 1993. In Tennessee, it was 36 bucks. Sure do love it down in the south, sure no Latigo canyon or Mulholland Highway but there is the Tail of the Dragon which I look forward to riding just as soon as I can get the tires delivered without the wife finding out.. Just kidding about the wife, She is all for me going riding. Any ideas on what to look out for when a bike has been sitting for so long? Besides tires and brakes and changing out the oil, what is there to look out for?

    Thanks
    Sean
     
  2. faffi

    faffi Active Member

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    Good to hear you plan on getting back on two wheels!

    I would at least strip the brake caliper(s) and check piston, seals and seal grooves as water drops to the bottom of the system. Good plan on rebuilding the master, check bor for pitting. New brake hose will not hurt.

    Other than that, I would just do a major service according to the manual, replace tires and tire valves plus any other suspect items that may pop up during the service.
     
  3. Franz

    Franz Well-Known Member

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    If you have a drum brake on the back replace the shoes. Some brake shoes can delaminate on the XJ's.
     
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  4. faffi

    faffi Active Member

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    Good point about brake shoes. On Viragos also, I have heard. And likely other models and brands too. Can cause a locked wheel that can easily lead to a crash.
     
  5. Franz

    Franz Well-Known Member

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    Yes I heard it is more likely to happen when the bike has been out of use for a long time. Not worth the risk using old ones even if they look good.
     
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  6. Carl LaFong

    Carl LaFong Member

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    I bought a spare engine trany unit with 9000 km on it, or so he said. That was last fall. Hadn't been run in years. Pulled plugs soaked piston with bt blaster took side case off and nudged engine maybe 5 degrees and let it sIt all winter. This spring oiled pistons again turned it over with it's starter did compression test, all good 150 to 160.
    good luck with your resurrection!
    mine is a 650 seca
     
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