Welcome to the Magazine Reviews section of the site. Here you will find loads of information about the bikes were have here on the site.
In order to read these .pdf (Adobe Acrobat) files you may need to have Adobe Acrobat installed on your computer (you probably do already).
Review Index:
– Yamaha Seca Magazine Reviews
– XJ Manuals
– XJ Brochures
– GS550 Magazine Reviews
– CB400T Magazine Reviews
– Personal review of my own 1982 XJ650RJ Seca
Yamaha XJ650 SECA Magazine Reviews
** If you have an article on the XJ650 Seca, GS550 or CB400T
and can scan it in please let me know by emailing me
and I will put it up for all to read **
* NEW *
Classic and Motorcycle Mechanics – XJ650 the best of it’s Breed – From: Classic and Motorcycle Mechanics – Issue Date: 2/1999 – Volume No. 136
Pages: Cover, One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six
Special Thanks to Brad Beck
Cycle Guide November 1980 XJ650 Eurobike (Seca) – The XJ650 the best GT ride on both sides of the Pond. – From: Cycle Guide – Issue Date: 10/1980
Cycle Magazine November 1981 YAMAHA XJ650H – From: Cycle – Issue Date: 10/1/1981
Cycle Guide September 1982 – Minitest: Yamaha XJ650R Seca – the European draft choice – From: Cycle Guide – Issue Date: 9/1/1982
Motorcyclist March 1982 -A super middleweight comes home – From: Motorcyclist – Issue Date: 3/1/1982
Yamaha Seca 650 Specs and Info
Yamaha XJ Manuals
Yamaha 1982 XJ650 Seca Parts Manual * NEW *
Yamaha XJ Brochures
Beautiful scanned brochures for the XJ and XS series of bikes – In Polish
Suzuki GS550 Magazine Reviews * NEW *
Suzuki GS550EN / LN Tests – Right in the middle of the middle of the road – Cycle – Issue: July 1979 Volume XXX No. 7
Pages: One, Two, Three, Four, Five, Six, Seven, Eight, Nine.
Honda CB400T Magazine Reviews * NEW *
Honda CB400T: The U.S. Version of the Sporting Hawk is a 400cc We Rode for Fun, not Duty. – Cycle World – Issue: January 1980. (Thank to Andrew Durling)
Pages: One, Two, Three, Four, Five.
Test Ride the Honda CB400T (Don’t Know Articles Name..anyone?). – Cycle – Issue: February 1980. Pages: One & Two, Three & Four, Five & Six, Seven.
Articles I’m looking for to scan here: (If you own these, email me)
Yamaha XJ550RK Seca – From: Cycle – Issue Date: 2/1/1983
Road Tests – Yamaha XJ900RK Seca – This could be 1983’s best-kept secret., – From: Cycle – Issue Date: 9/1/1983
Tests – Yamaha XJ900 Seca – A nice-but pricey-in-between machine – From: Motorcyclist – Issue Date: 8/1/1983
Scouping The 650 Seca – How To Make a Used Yamaha 650 As Fast (and as Expensive) as a 750 – From: Cycle World – Issue Date: 3/1/1983
650 Road Agents: Suzuki GS650GZ Vs. Yamaha XJ650RJ A 4000-mile side-by-side comparison. – From: Cycle – Issue Date: 1/1/1982
King-of-the-hill status in the middleweight category Yamaha XJ650RJ Seca – From: Rider – Issue Date: 4/1/1982
Road Tests – Yamaha XJ650RJ Seca – Looks like Europe rides like America runs like a jet – From: Cycle – Issue Date: 11/1/1981
Suzuki GS650G – Big-bike comfort mid- size handling, Yamaha XJ550R/ XJ650/ XS650 – From: Motorcyclist – Issue Date: 6/1/1981 – Issue #: N1008
Technical – Road Test: Yamaha Maxim XJ650H – From: Touring Bike – Issue Date: 3/1/1981
Guide Lines – Coming Soon XJ650 Euro-Yamaha – From: Cycle Guide – Issue Date: 5/1/1980
Tasting Forbidden Fruit – Yamaha XJ650 Eurobike – laying hands on the untouchable and uncatchable European Yamaha, You Can’t Buy Greatness – not yet anyway – From: Cycle Guide – Issue Date: 11/1/1980
Cycle World Tests – Yamaha XJ650G/ A High-Style High Performance Motorcycle Born in Surveys and Focus Groups – From: Cycle World – Issue Date: 7/1/1980
Tests – Yamaha XJ650 Maxim – An engineer’s motor in a market-research chassis. – From: Motorcyclist – Issue Date: 7/1/1980
Have an article on a Seca that I missed? Scan it in and email it to me, I’ll put it up with a credit to you. 🙂
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Personal review of my own 1982 XJ650RJ Seca
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 100’s 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 80′ Honda CB400T Hawk and a 78′ Suzuki GS550 helped me get here by understanding what I wanted in a bike. The standard naked bike suits me best and that’s what I went looking for.
Luckily, I did find a very nice condition and well taken care of 1982 Yamaha XJ650RJ Seca. So far I have put on 3,000+ km’s and look forward to many 1,000’s 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.
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.
On the highway, the bike shows its power in this area. 5th gear at 100km/h is 4,400rpm and is vibration free and smooth. 120km/h is 5,200 and just a touch of vibration is creeping into the bars but is no where near uncomfortable. Seating position is upright and is very comfortable, in fact after 200km I don’t need a rest stop and only after 5 hours on the bike do I need to stretch my legs (6’4″ 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.
So far after 3,000km on the bike I’ve had no major repair work done on anything. In fact 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.
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.
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.
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.
Enjoy,
Mike
Calgary, Alberta, Canada
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