Bought another xj....

well the 650 Seca has just been paid for, and the courier likewise. Now this causes me a bit of a dilemma, since the Seca is almost a complete bike, but needing a fair bit of work (and a tank). The maxim could inherit the seca bars, exhaust, controls etc. thereby becoming a cheap fix.
This could lead the seca to become a cafe racer - low bars, rearsets, single seat etc. The only downside to that is having two cut down framed xj's, doesn't feel right. But then I don't particularly like the maxim look...
Pictures will follow when it arrives.

 

I think it feels just right What year is that seca?

She's a project for sure - I'm following this one just for the 1990's batman color scheme!

 

1981, with 55k miles on the clock, so its been around. Never mind, cheap source of parts at worst. Odd co-incidence now you mention the colour, it's the same as the colour of my trike when I bought it....

 

Removed some bits - handlebars, carbs, controls etc. Pulled the plugs, they were tight but came out ok. The bike had been on its side for a long time - no1 cylinder was full of engine oil, which looks like it had run through the carb into the airbox.
Turned the engine over - it sounded "dry", so gave the other 3 cylinders some oil to lubricate. The tacho drive had been removed and left out in the rain, so I pulled this to check the water hasn't got into the cam housing. It was fine - but should I remove the gear to check further?
OnceI've got it running I'll check valve clearances, compression. How can I check the camchain guides/tensioners are ok?
Forgot to say, bought a tank for it, so now it better be saveable....

 

looks like it's taking a little nap

 

The hitachis have come apart, and aren't in bad condition, a little wiggling back and forth on one carb, some shaft oiling, and a total submergence in hot tfr had them a little cleaner. Still not totally stripped, one top hat screw not playing ball.
Hopefully before the weekend I can get them back on. Not quite church of clean, but will do for now to get it running.

 

Hot tfr ?
BTW you know about the JIS screw used on these blighters right? It means that a Phillips driver won't sit right in the screw head - grind the pointy end of a Phillips though and it works much better, or shell out for the correct JIS drivers if you can find any.

 

Yeah, not had an issue with modified phillips, will look for the jis set when I can. TFR - traffic film remover, used in pressure washers for washing cars, contains detergent and caustic soda - good for cleaning aluminium, not good on your nails.

 

Dropped the "new" seca tank on the seca, along with the drag (lowering) bars - I must say it looks good, except that the angle used to prevent the controls hitting the tank drops them too low - this would need fixing.
Despite looking good as a cafe racer type thing, My feeling is I want to keep it std - up to now no-one has cut anything off it, and a double seat would mean I can take a passenger occasionally.
Contrast this with my 650 maxim, which has had the tail amputated, side panels and footrests pinched, as well as a load of other stuff. So, finishing this job off as a cafe racer might make more sense. Can the seca tank be fitted - i dropped it on tonight, the fork tube sleeves both hit the front just before full lock. It looks like the seca trees are biased slightly forward - is this correct? There is also the added bulk of the the midnight maxim tubes, which I could remove I guess.
I would need a custom seat, but that applies anyway for the maxim tank. The seca sidepanels need some mountings made, but this is doable.
As for the seca with the maxim tank, this would need the seat moving forward to close the gap, looks do-able as well.
Suggestions anyone?
PS, I have read that the turbo frame is similar to the maxim, it happens that I have one of these which could donate its tail to the maxim, but that would mean looking for a maxim back end....

 

Ok, I will try to be more specific, rather than hope my ramblings are clear to anyone other than me.
Question 1. Does the 650 seca tank fit on a 650 midnight maxim, without changing triple trees or limiting lock?
2. Are the maxim and seca triple trees different in offset?

 

Go to my tank interchange forum and read.

https://xjbikes.com/forums/threads/fuel-tank-interchange-information.109290/

 

Thanks hogfiddles. I actually try fitted it, the fork tubes hit the tank on full lock, not by much though. I also worked out the seca trees are offset forward slightly. So to fit the seca tank I would need to fit the seca trees, or limit the lock slightly, or concave the the tank front (not happening).
All moot for now, decided to get the maxim running asap with the minimum of fuss, and since someone chopped the back of the frame off this will probably be a custom seat and rear fender and light, job. I will likely collect it all in a build thread, everything has been clouded by buying the second xj, and some mixed up posts asking questions.

 

No problem! Ask the questions… That's what we're here for