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Information: When looking for my 3rd bike (this one above) I wanted something reliable, powerful, able to take 2 up and touring. My mechanic told me to find one of these bikes. He recommended this bike to me because out of the 100īs of bikes he gets a year to fix up in his shop, he gets in very few of these if any at all and they only come in for routine maintenance rather than more major repairs or rebuilds. _____ My last 2 bikes a 80ī Honda CB400T Hawk and a 78ī Suzuki GS550 helped me get here by understanding what I wanted in a bike. The standard naked bike suits me best and thatīs what I went looking for.
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Luckly, I did find a very nice condition and well taken care of 1982 Yamaha XJ650RJ Seca. So far I have put on 3,000+ kmīs and look forward to many 1,000īs more. I do about 50/50 touring and city travel and in both situations is has enough power to get out of trouble and to be able to handle 2 up riding. With over 73 hp on tap and a generous amount of torque I can wiz up long hills 2up and keep accelerating without much trouble.
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Handling is super with very neutral steering and its ability to both corner hard and remain highly stable at speed is a boon. Fuel mileage is favourable and my average (both city and hwy) is 5.869 L/100Km - 47.934 MPG.
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On the highway, the bike shows its power in this area. 5th gear at 100km/h is 4,400rpm and is virbration free and smooth. 120km/h is 5,200 and just a touch of virabration is creeping into the bars but is no where near uncomfortable. Seating position is upright and is very comfortable, infact after 200km I donīt need a rest stop and only after 5 hours on the bike do I need to stretch my legs (6ī4" tall). Passing is good with a nice pickup a 6,000+rpm from 120km/h and you have the quick ability to pass anything in the way and picking up an additional 40km/h only takes 2-3 seconds.
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So far after 3,000km on the bike Iīve had no major repair work done on anything. Infact the only repair job was to replace a fault 20A fuse! Other than gas and 2 oil and filter jobs on the bike (every 1,500km) the bike so far is proving its reliability in the field.
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The biggest concern for riders of the Seca was its brakes. I find the 2 piston double front disc brakes good and with 2 up it is satisfactory. This winter I will try to improve the braking by adding stainless steel brake hoses, softer pads and a front fork spring job.
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Since the bike has not drained any cash in maintenance this year I will be getting the valves and carbs done, replacing the cup-and-cone steering-head bearings with tapered-roller bearings and maybe add a fork brace as well.
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The bike is a blast of fun to ride and to live with. I can only highly recommend this Yamaha Seca XJ650R to anyone looking for a fun bike to own.
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Enjoy,
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Mike_
Calgary, Alberta, Canada__
http://konica3.virtualave.net
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