Yamaha Seca 650 Turbo thread!

[Michelangelo]

I did a search and didn't find anything so I thought I'd start one for the Turbo Yamaha's only. Please no Kawis, CX's or Suzis. Let's keep this for the Yamaha Turbo guys-current or past ownership.

Pics, write-ups, experiences.
I'm not a current owner but with 6 bikes in the garage, I've found that none of them are suited for longer touring. With that, I'm considering a 650 Turbo for some 2-up with my wife.

[welder]

No offense, but I always thought the Yamaha's were the ugliest of the turbos. That fairing looks like something from battlestar galactica.

[RedDogAlberta]

Once again, I miss the days when the sportiest of machines had center stands, not to mention reasonable passenger accommodations as compared to the whore perches of today.

[garrett the nerd]

I'll admit to being ill-informed about these bikes; I'll throw out a few questions and try to avoid sounding too dumb.

Air cooled? Turbo looks to be under the chin fairing? low enough pressure to avoid a blow off valve and an intercooler?

[Yamadavidson]

There are lots of other bike I would consider before any of the 80s turbo bikes, none of them were very good. I think the GN85 Suzuki was about the best but they all suffered from turbo lag and excessive weight for their engine size. As far as two up unless you are both kind of small you will be crowded on any of them. If your after an older bike to tour on go find a Kawi concours, goldwing or Guzzi and you will be much happier.

[bisbonian]

Originally Posted by garrett the nerd

I'll admit to being ill-informed about these bikes; I'll throw out a few questions and try to avoid sounding too dumb.

Air cooled? Turbo looks to be under the chin fairing? low enough pressure to avoid a blow off valve and an intercooler?

Air/Oil cooled.

Turbo is behind the engine about under the swingarm pivot, the right side "exhaust" pipe comes right off of it.

No intercooler but the right pipe is the relief valve for the turbo.

I had one of these for close to 15 years.

[Michelangelo]

Originally Posted by Yamadavidson

There are lots of other bike I would consider before any of the 80s turbo bikes, none of them were very good. I think the GN85 Suzuki was about the best but they all suffered from turbo lag and excessive weight for their engine size. As far as two up unless you are both kind of small you will be crowded on any of them. If your after an older bike to tour on go find a Kawi concours, goldwing or Guzzi and you will be much happier.

Again, if you do not own or have something positive to contribute about these bikes. Please do not post. I would like to keep this thread related to fans and enthusiasts of the Seca Turbo who are wanting to contribute.

[Mike Butt]

Make sure if your buy one that it has the "Power-Up" kit already installed. Otherwise a CX500T will spank your ass.

[MODNROD]

A mate had one in the 80's, one of 2 bikes in town that could do in my rattley, leaky, smashed-up-cases Honda K on te ragged edge.

He popped the motor within 5000km (he was a complete loony tho), so he dropped a XJ900 motor in there and mucked around with that set-up with the turbo bits.........and voila! HOLY CRAP BATMAN!!!!!

Spinning up on boost in most gears, no suspension, shite brakes, flexy frame, all over the highway under power, bloody good fun! From memory when they were new, they were strong little buggers, bit like the XS1100's, but cooler.

Bit like the '87 Vmax I have now. Guess I missed the "good-old-days".

[Josephvman]

Originally Posted by welder

No offense, but I always thought the Yamaha's were the ugliest of the turbos. That fairing looks like something from battlestar galactica.

Styled by Hans Muth, who also did the original Suzuki Katana, and BMW R100RS and R65LS, among others. You can see similarities in all of those bikes.

[JimVonBaden]

I still have one, for sale.

They are very fun and reliable bikes. Mine only has 9600 miles on it.

I would not, however, consider it a very good distance touring bike. Lots of fun for day trips though.





5'8" and 230 pounds for reference.

Jim

[andoulli]

Kawasaki ZX750 turbo is the only one that made real power, right at 110 hp. Virtually the same top speed as a GPZ1100.

[XT_Driftwood]

Originally Posted by andoulli

Kawasaki ZX750 turbo is the only one that made real power, right at 110 hp. Virtually the same top speed as a GPZ1100.

+1

I bought my GPZ Turbo new in '86. Still got it, little over 8k on it now. I'd post a pic but the only one's I have are on film from the 80's and 90's.

It's fast but handles like crap. The Yam Turbo's handled better but weren't anywhere near as fast. The only bike in my little one-horse town that could spank me back in a drag race back then was a V-max.

All the turbo's look dated now.

[andoulli]

The engine side covers on my bike said GPZ, but the cover of the owners manual said ZX750 Turbo. Times were a changin. The battery had a probe in one of the cells that would activate a light on the dash when battery fluid would get low. Loved the digital turbo boost gauge. The bottom end and cylinders came from a GPZ 750, the head from a KZ 650. The compression ratio off boost was 8 to 1, very low, to prevent pre-detonation on boost.

[ColinDoyle]

A friend of mine picked up a turbo Seca a couple of years ago and we toyed around with it a bit. Almost as soon as he procured it, the seals in the turbo started leaking. He had it rebuilt, we reinstalled it (and built a sweet screamer pipe ) and it ran fine for another couple hundred miles before the oil burning began again. I don't think Yamaha did their research when they designed the oil drain line on the turbo:




On a positive note, we did not experience any final drive failures.