yet another xj virgin...

Howdy xjers,

I just brought my "new" 1981 Seca XJ550 home today. I bought it from a guy who has a repair shop and is a 70's and 80's jap bike nut. He has about a dozen beautiful vintage bikes, some restored to the nth degree and others like mine were given a good once over. (He also hasa bout 25 other bikes in various states of condition! wild place!) He put almost 1000 bucks in parts in mine and had close to 20 hours on it but I got it for much less than that! It is a classic white with red stripes bike complete with cafe fairing. He repainted the tank so I do not have tank stripes on it (yet!). I found them online but I thought I would ask if anyone has any here for sale before I order them. I also need the right side horn.

In addition to refurbing the tank he re-upholstered (sp?) the seat, new tires, battery, brakes and more its about as new as a 1981 bike can be.

It is a fun little bike. It is little though! I recently sold my BMW R1150R (I needed some $ to pay Uncle Sam) and this is a bit of culture shock, although it does remind me of my old RD350. (One thing I do appreciate is the self-cancelling turn signals. Don't understand why the Germans don't use them, but anyway I digress.)

So anyway I look forward to hangin out here a bit. I already bought my calendar and hat! found an old seca 550 t-shirt on line too! and bought the motorcycle magazine review articles on the bike for some historical perspective.

These XJs seem like pretty cool bikes. I had Yamahas before, a 1975 RD350 (in the 80's) and a 1985 Virago 700 (in the 90's). I might like to look around for an 85 maxim 700. They look pretty cool and would be a bit larger than the 550. A Seca 750 would be pretty cool too. But for now I will have lots o fun buzzing around on my Seca.

ken k
1981 XJ550 Seca

 

welcome man! Your bike sounds like it was well taken care of, or at least nicely repaired. Not like mine - I'm having to rebuild all my carbs, they were completely gummed up, nothing was getting through the valves at all. I guess the gal I bought it from let the gas sit in it, unused, for at least 10 years.

Good luck and safe riding!

 

You will have a lot of fun with your bike. They are light and easy to ride around town but big enough to handle the highways too. I put on most of my miles out on the highways without any problems at all.
Have you got a link to where you bought the t-shirt?

 

Hey RangerG,

here is the link for the shirt:

http://shirtznthingz.stores.yahoo.net/xj550seca.html


The picture of the bike does not have a fairing and it looks like it has a white front fender rather than chrome, but that could just be a bad picture too. Maybe I will put a separate post on the forum for the site in case there are any other seca 550 owners who may want to buy one.

So far I like the bike, although it is really small. My previous bike was much larger. I would like a seating position with a little more forward lean. I may look into getting flatter bars. (any suggestions?) Right now when I brake my butt slides up onto the gas tank. The seat is newly re-upoholstered and a bit slippery! With a little more forward lean I could hold myself back better. But I am sure once I put more miles on her I will learn how to ride her better. Looking forward to getting to know her. She sure is pretty.

Is there any kind of luggage rack and or back rst for these bikes?

thanks for the reply,

ken k