GGJaguar's Guitarium and Ampeteria Yamaha 650 Seca Page

GGJaguar's Yamaha 650 Seca Page

The Euro-style sport-touring bikes of the early '80s will always hold a soft spot in my heart. I love the styling of the Honda CB-F-series, the Suzuki GS-series, the Kawasaki GPz-series, and of course, the Yamaha XJ-series. Of these, the Yamaha XJ650RJ "Seca" was the one that I knew that I had to have someday. I loved how sleek the engine looked and how narrow it was with the alternator tucked behind the cylinders instead of on the end of the crankshaft. In 1985, after years of riding a '76 Honda CB550K, I found a leftover, but brand new, 1982 Yamaha XJ650RJ "Seca". Needless to say, I was one very happy boy!!!!

The Seca was already obsolete at the time that I bought it. The Honda 500 Interceptor, Yamaha FJ600, and Kawasaki 600 Ninja were cutting-edge middleweight bikes. In fact, the Honda 650 Nighthawk pretty much shut the door on the Yamaha in 1983. The Yamaha's engine has roots in the XS-series of the late 1970s. In fact, the front brakes on the 650 Seca are the exact same units as found on the XS-750 and XS-850 triples of the late '70s. Regardless, the 650 Seca is still a fine sport-touring motorcyle and can outperform just about any automobile on the road.

I began to modify my Seca with in the first year of owning it. The first mods were simple ones: oil cooler, Ferodo brake pads, Russell stainless steel brake lines, and an OEM-style K&N air filter (removed the airbox snorkle). I never understood why Canadian and European 650 Secas were fitted with an oil cooler, but the US model was not. A year later I installed Progressive Suspension fork springs with 10-weight Kal Gard fork oil, Telefix fork brace, a Corbin Gunfighter saddle, and a Keim sport-touring fairing. The fairing mounted directly to fairing mounts already on the Seca's frame. This made the installation neat and the fairing enhanced the "touring" part of sport-touring. The following year I had the brake rotors drilled by Spec II. Ironically, all of the mods that I performed between 1986 and 1988 were later described in an Cycle World article in 1991... maybe they saw my Seca!!!

After I put about 9000 miles/14,500 km on the bike I switched to synthetic motor oils (Red Line, Klotz) mainly because I noticed that the cam lobes were galling a bit. I believe this was also a problem on the cams of the XS-series Yamahas, especially the XS-1100. Switching to synthetic oil stopped the galling. I also switched to synthetic hypoid gear oil at the same time.

I wore out the original battery, shocks, and tires after 12,000 miles/19,300 km. I replaced the shocks with adjustable Koni triple-rate spring units, and the tires with stock size Metzlers (ME33 front, ME99A rear). At this time I also installed a VDO oil temperature gauge. The main oil gallery end caps are the same exact size as the valve adjuster covers on the old Honda CB-500/550. So I ordered a Honda cover, drilled and tapped it for the temperature sensor and installed it in place of the right side main oil gallery cap. The highest the oil temperature has gone during highway riding on a hot summer day is 235 degrees F/113 degrees C. Sitting in traffic, the temperature goes higher, but as long as the bike is moving it does fine. In the rain, the bike gets very cool.

Beginning in 1989, I rode the Seca less because I was also riding a newly purchased '88 BMW R100RS. At this time I removed the fairing on the Yamaha since the Beemer had an excellent fairing and I was using das boxer for long distance trips. The Yamaha became my short-distance and around-the-town bike (rides of less than 100 miles or 160 km). That's not to say that the Yamaha can't go long distances. My longest trip on my 650 Seca was 3300 miles (5300 km). The Seca took me from New Jersey to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, through Ontaria and Quebec and back down to New Jersey. It ran flawlessly the entire trip including during some heavy rain storms.

Though I owned the Seca longer than any other motorcycles (nearly 15 years) and it was still running strong, I sold this bike in favor of a decidedly modern, more powerful motorcycle.