TAA-DAA!!! Finally back together and on the road

Bought from next to the road back at the end of April, in pretty sad shape. Thanks to Chacal, RickCoMatic, Wizard, MiCarl and everyone else who has offered advice and INFO for the last couple of months. Lotsa eBay, sweat and tears and more sweat and more $$$ but here it finally is:



Seat was redone by Sargent Cycle products in Florida, bars are "european" (emgo or Rocky or ...) rear shocks Progressive Suspension, tires are Dunlop D404's. Stock otherwise.




Lots more to do (still haven't got the forks apart yet) but it's all in one piece and it runs and I can ride it. Again, BIG THANKS to you all!

 

Nice looking bike.

I especially like the red piping on the seat.

 

Seat looks great. Warms my hart to see a bike like that!!!

 

good job. that thing looks expensive.

im almost there. got the carbs rejetted and cleaned properly. now i just need to sit down and sync them for a while to get my idle straight. just got it out on the road for the first time and up to fifth gear today.

i sort of feel empty now that its running. but that will be over with as soon as i start working on my transmission, and then some im sure. .

 

Piping is cool. All you need now is a front fairing...............

Which version of the Progressive shocks are those, and what are your opinions of their performance? They look just like the oem shocks.......

 

Big's front fairing arrived in Wilton NH yesterday

Can't wait to get it on.

Big, bike looks awesome!!!! I really like the handlebars. Was thinking about getting some like that for my 550

 

very nice! again someone has inspired and motivated keep the pics comming :!:

 

Turtlejoint; Seat wasn't expensive, believe it or not. Less than $120, return shipping incl. Would been under $100 but the piping added $20. It took the better part of five weeks (they warned me it is their busy season) but it was definitely worth it. Compared to the cost of a new cover+ shipping the difference was WELL WORTH having them do it professionally. I plan to use them again for the seat on my other Seca.
Chacal; Those are Progressive 12-series, http://www.bikebandit.com/product/A3215480 but I went with the chrome springs (ordered separately) and pitched the stupid plastic caps. The stock KYB's sucked from day 1, I immediately chucked 'em and put S & W's on both my SRs, but that was back in the 80's and S & W is long gone. The Progressives are impeccable, highly recommend. I'll be putting a similar set on the '83 almost immediately as well. They're a TAD "fatter" than the originals, have offset clevis' on the bottom to allow clearance. Good thing, I have only an RCH worth (that's not much) between the RH shock and the muffler, but only on the centerstand. Plenty o'room once the suspension compresses. They have a "vintage profile" series (I forget the number) and I plan to get a set of those for the Norton.
Thanks again to everyone who contributed to my resurrection project, I'll post up some better quality pics when I can...

 

looking good

 

Great looking bike, congrats!

 

Looks great, Bigfitz... I just drug my white '81 Seca from the back of the shop and am starting the rejuvification process. I am the original owner and therfore the prime neglector, so my guilt will consume me until it's on the road again.
One issue that I'm facing is that the original handlebars have quite a bit of surface rust so they will either need to be replaced or rechromed. From pricing, it looks like replacing is about the same cost as rechroming. Do you remember the exact mfg of your replacement bars and did you have any issues re-routing cables? I'd like a shorter bar that's dropped a bit and your look really nice.

 

I don't remember the exact manufacturer BUT I plan to pick up another bar tomorrow (I have another Seca 550) and I will let you know. They're perfect; the only "routing" issue is the clutch cable, everything else tucks in or loops ok. You will need to go to a shorter clutch cable, Chacal already spec'd out a bunch based on my measurements but his emails are on my home PC and I'm at work. The one I settled on works OK, but he found one that might work even better which is what I'm going to try on the second bike. I'll share all the specifics later this eve or tomorrow. If you want to stick to completely stock (weird angle for my wrists) I have a quite clean stock bar off my '81 you can HAVE for shipping cost.

 

I'll take you up on your generous offer for the stock bars and will also look forward to the additional info on the drop set. PM me to let me know how to get some shipping bucks to you. And many thanks!!

 

I've lost count to how many Bikes have been brought-back from the dead.

That's a fine looking example of putting-in the money, time and effort to MAKE yourself a great looking Bike.

Now that all the hard work is behind you ... the Forks shouldn't be much trouble to overhaul ... at all.

If you are going to remove both Forks at the same time; you might as well keep going and do the Headset Bearings (if you haven't done them yet).

 

BigFitz...

since im only a little bit south of Cows'n'Pigs'n'Chickens, (i live in the Fort), well have to get together some time, after i rehab some, of course...

if youre familiar with the comstock curves (burtch rd, east of yale) youll know where i had my mishap...

i 'kinda sorta' redid my maxim. it consisted mostly of cosmetics though...



this is what me seca now needs



your seca is very nice

 

OH, man--I LOVE the "Comstock curves" one of my fav runs is to go east out of Yale, romp thru those corners, then jump down State Rd. to M-136 and run back west thru those corners, then down thru Ruby on Abbotsford and back to old 21 to run back to Capac...

Rick; Overhauling the forks WILL be easy once I get the !#$%^& spring seat "plugs" to come out. I had to smite them to get them to go down far enough to remove the split rings now they won't pop out. Put the circlips back in, keep slathering PB blast in there and utting the rubber caps back, and riding it. Hoping the pounding from hitting bumps at road speed will dislodge them before I have to do something medieval...

 

i had never been that way in my life. bike or cager. dont think i even knew the road existed back when i w as HS (79-83)...

i rode out (west) and loved it! filled the tank in yale and had to share my lane on the way home (east) with a suzuki sidekick coming at me. i wasnt going fast at all. maybe 30 because it was only my first time (2nd if you figure it was a round trip) on the road. i straightened up from my lean but couldnt get back into the turn and ended up off road...

almost held it but must have got a rut because the bike stopped and i went over the bars. i got a torn ACL and a tear on the medial meniscus. 5 days later (waiting for mri appt) the knee gave out and i broke my right arm in the fall...

2 surgeries in 6 days got me athroscopy and two steel pins...

while i wasnt perfect on the road (a bit of panic looking at the cage!) i shouldnt have had to move out of their way...

such fun................................................

youre 1.0 miles from the house at state and '136

 

Looks good, glad it is back in game!

 

Great bike!

I love the look with the piping and the stripes. I need to get the stripes put n mnie. i bought the decals, but am going to wait until the off season to get the tank done with a clear coat over the stripes.

I like your bars too. The one thing i would like to change on my bike is the bars, they come back too far. I like a bit of a forward lean and those bars look perfect. another off season prject.

I was just out this evening with it and it is just a kick in the pants to ride.

ken k

 

That's the message I'd like to get across to the whole of our XJ-Community.
Your Bike should be fun!
It should be a joy to own and ride. Every single time you hit the "Go" button!

The key to the Zen of XJ Ownership and Enjoyment is getting the Bike tuned to start the instant you hit the switch, accelerate from Idle to the Red Line without hesitation and brake confidently with complete control.

By now, you should all be on the way toward bringing that feeling home.
I can't think of any issue we haven't discussed that isn't held somewhere within our archives to help you get there.

Summer has arrived.
Those of you, who labored during the off-season, to mold a Bike in your image and find that you have your dues paid-up in full, are now getting the payback for doing all we have read about in your Posts getting your Bike's ready for fun-time.

I hope to read many more Posts from those of you who have put it all together and managed to bring your Bike to the edge of fine-tuning and all you need to do now is unlock the gas cap every now and then, fill it up and keep on rolling!

Here's to everybody that pulled it off!
Bravo to you!

 

EGZACHARY!!! It is also very rewarding and a great feeling of accomplishment and a job "well done" when I pull it out of the garage, pull on my helmet and gloves and hit the button. Although I might have done something wrong, it doesn't require full choke to start and it runs perfect...