Warmer weather, Seca RJ Odds & Ends and a case of “All Twos”

A few of things I thought I’d share since we’re all hanging out here in the lounge.

I think we’re (or at lease the few in my locale) out of the woods with the coldest of weather here in “Downstate NY.” The rides have been less chilly now and the last one didn’t even include the heated gloves. While Old Man Winter still reminds us that he’s not completely gone, the birds are back so it won’t be long now.


A wildlife refuge on the east end of Long Island. Nice ride out for the day… During the colder months, the birds will fly out of the trees and literally eat out of your hands!

Now to the motorcycle talk, I just want to say how much I continue to be so impressed by these machines. They are just made so well. I've found that after overthinking a problem, a better approach would be to consider the simplest solution.

My recently "Schitzo" RJ speedometer not only became extremely needle-crazy, it was quite embarrassing how loud it was. Even after re lubing the cable, the problem persisted. At low speed, you could totally hear it wine (scream?) over the sound of the engine. After liberating it from its mount, I quickly realized that these things are quite complex and honestly not easy to open up without damaging the bezel and plastic. I decided not to attempt the operation and had hopes of finding a replacement...

However, just before I put it back, I decided to squirt JUST A TOUCH of silicone spray up the threaded nipple where the cable attaches. The square hole for the cable looks to be a "dead end, but the goal was to get some lubricant between the square insert and the outer shaft. Not too much... I didn't want to over do it and fog up the inside of the glass. BINGO! No more screams... no more bouncy needle. An easy fix.

Similarly, my hi-beam was not operating. After start, the light (low beam) would come on but switching to hi-beam would kill the light. Must be the switch I thought! Lets start to dismantle! Then, before I even started dissecting the switch, I decided to pull the headlight and inspect the bulb. Sure enough, the Hi-Beam filament was broken… easy solution. While I had the headlight out (waiting for the new H4 replacement) I gently poked around in there to inspect things and just learn. All the connectors were so clean. It's clear that she has been kept inside for the past 37 years and definitely not abused and she's not restored either.

With the headlight out, I found two connectors that were loose and not plugged into anything…

“To the Bat Poles (service manual) Robin!”

It appears that the blue and black wires are there for the other-than-US models of this bike. They have a secondary lamp inside the assembly that the US models don’t have. Same wiring harness… Cool! The search for the European headlight assembly begins…

For those considering new tires for their 650 Seca RJ, I decided on the Continental Conti-Go’s.

Front: 100/90-19 (57H)
Rear: 120/90-18 (65H)

She was wearing some dry rotted Dunlop 404 s when I got her last year but I wanted something that was a bit more modern looking. I took a ride last Sunday along our north shore. Absolutely fantastic day for a ride.

That’s Connecticut (across the Long Island Sound) through the break in the trees. Hi Connecticut!



This picture was after the first 100 miles… I’m pretty happy with them so far… A bunch of unnecessary low speed leaning took the shiny patina off of the important part of the tires.

Finally I wanted to share this picture with you. On the last ride, she came down with a case of "All Twos!"

Here’s to the next 88888.8!

I'm happy to have found this place. My XJ's give me a fair amount of Joy. I appreciate everyone who continue to come back here and share this enthusiasm.

 

I used the Conti-Go tires. The front was still at 40% with almost 12,000 miles, but the rear was gone after less than 4,000 miles (or so). Keep in mind that most of those miles was with a week's worth of stuff in a tailbag over the course of several weeks riding mostly on chipsealed secondary roads.
They do grip very well for the price, and are good in the rain, but a rear tire should last longer IMO.

 

Holy cow... That's a dramatic difference front to back...

I'm assuming there were no burnouts in there? Heh...

 

No sir.
I am not a hooligan!
I am a proper motorcyclist.
Wheelies only (with the occasional foray into triple digits under closely unsupervised conditions).

 

Is it ok to admit I've never done one?

 

Careful where you source the "European" headlight. The ones for the countries that ride on the left side of the road have a different beam pattern.

That was you waving the other day....?
Tony

 

I went out for a ride too.....

 

Yes. It's not exactly a law-enforcement endorsed activity around here.

 

Hey now... careful, you don't want to squash those apple trees. Especially when you're drifting that Allis though the snow...