Got the switch off of eBay. I doubt Yamaha has new parts for such an old motorcycle. (The nearest dealer is in the next county.)
See if there is a code on the switch. (Been so long, I don’t remember) I got a butt-load of keys lurking around, willing to give you. I don’t know why, but I always pocketed the ones orphaned.
At worst, I might have have an entire assembly from an RZ with a key. Yamaha was pretty lazy with changing plug/wiring harnesses. Might fit. Maybe a matching gas cap, but I don’t remember what the Seca cap is like.
Got lots of that vintage Yamaha stuff lurking in the bowels of the garage. I’m an RZ collector.
Not ‘new’, but old stock. I guarantee there is one floatin’ around out there. I’ve been out of the biz for a long, long time, but even back then, before the internet and shit, I could track down shit for TZ’s and JT’s and old decrepit crap.
I have a new cap & key coming from China. The original ignition switch can have a new key made for it. And the seat lock wasn’t stolen so the key I have works. It would be nice if I could get everything on one key. Here’s the lock. It says YM-8.
You can nick-name the bike ‘Sammy’. Three locks. Reddish-Blond. Can’t drive 55.
That’s a beautiful R1. How many miles? It’s not often that a Sportbike is kept for so long.
The battery is completely dead and will not hold a charge, so I couldn’t tell you. I bought it Summer of 2003, and I was laid off in October. By December I moved to northern Washington. When I got here I discovered there’s this thing called a ‘riding season’ and it rained six months out of the year. So I’m guessing… about 9,000 miles?
Many years ago I thought about putting the yellow body parts on the blue frame.
From a practical standpoint, yellow will make it stand out more to other drivers on the road…
I buy dark cars, because I live in snow country, and it helps melt the snow off of them. So, yeah, I’m kinda practical about this kind of thing.
One of the most dangerous things about bikes is that they get hit by drivers that don’t see them. So that’s my 2 cents.
With over 100,000 miles riding in L.A. traffic, I’ve learned to look out for Left Seat Zombies. I’d play a game: Who’s Going To Try To Kill Me?
The Seca has an aftermarket 4-into-1 Vance & Hines exhaust and muffler. It’s relatively loud. But I’m going to go back to the stock mufflers.
Several people on Nextdoor recommended a guy for painting. I called him and he said he doesn’t really do motorcycles. (This, in spite of rave reviews for a Yamaha RD350 he painted.) He recommended someone else. I called him, and he said it would cost $5,000 to $8,000 to paint my bike – if he can get the paint. I think the optimistic Blue Book value of my Seca II might be as high as $1,000.
Coincidentally, I was scrolling down the Yahoo webpage and saw my horoscope off to the side: ‘You have to let go of a major idea today. Just because it’s worked for you for a long time doesn’t mean it’s set in stone. Shake things up and you can start to really shine!’
So… Buy 11-oz. rattle cans of Reddish Yellow Cocktail 1 Tri-coat, shake them up, and paint the bike myself? 
In other news: The XJ600 had an old plate on it that was expired. I just found the plate that’s supposed to be on it, so I don’t need a new plate. AND…
That article is from six years ago. Nevertheless, it’s good do know. I’ve been wondering when I’d have to get new plates on the cages.
Internet stars can name their price, even if just local stars. Everybody wants to the next OC Choppers or whatever.
You can probably get a decent paintjob from a competent shop for a sensible price. No it still won’t make economic sense for an old bike with $1000 showing in the Blue Book. But you knew that before you started collecting parts.
Yep. I’m willing to pay a bit for the sentimental value; but I’m certainly not made of money and the expense of just repairing the damage is already more than I can afford. At 79,200 miles, the engine might need rebuilding eventually. Maybe I can have the bike stripped whenever I can get the engine rebuilt, and have the frame sandblasted and I can spray it myself. I’m fairly confident I can do the plastic with rattle cans. (The valve MGB valve cover turned out fairly well.)
Until then, I guess it can have black plastic, blue and black frame, and a yellow tank and be a ‘rat bike’.
Best of luck. It’ll be a labor of love, but what matters is how you feel looking over the handlebars, not what it looks like to others.
Keep up posted.
It’s been a long time since I’ve been on a bike, but, speaking as a person who just lost his licence for 3 months, for traffic offenses, I’d put up with being seen by the cops too much – in return for being seen by other motorists more often.
(I stopped riding when my neck got too stiff for obsessive watchfulness).
I like seeing rats on the road. I’d rather hear a rat bike story then some guy telling me about how he spent half the weekend polishing chrome.
I talked to the county prosecutor’s restitution person today. She said she sent the restitution packet out yesterday. Not that I’ll get anything out of a 28-year-old heroin addict, but I don’t want to just suck it up without some sort of fight. This ‘moneymotivated dedicated husla’ [sic] (as he calls himself on his Facebook page) goes to trial on December 7th.
I received an email notification that the non-dented fuel tank arrived today.