As you may know, Joe Gresh started a Facebook group he called COMA. That’s an acronym for Crappy Old Motorcycle Association, and the intent is for folks to post photos of old and crappy motorcycles. That’s all fine and dandy, but it presents me with a dilemma: What do you do with photos of a motorcycle that’s old but most definitely not crappy?
That surely is how anyone would describe Steve Seidner’s 1982 Yamaha Seca. When Steve bought it almost a year ago, it had a scant 1700 miles and change on the clock. I tried to buy it from Steve when he bought it, but it was no dice. Steve knows what he has: A motorcycle manufactured when Ronald Reagan resided at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, a nearly-40-year-old motorcycle in absolutely pristine condition. This is what I would call a New Old Stock motorcycle. It’s not been restored, and it’s essentially in as new condition.
Okay, I can take no for an answer. Steve didn’t want to sell, and sometimes you have to just suck it up and move on. But Steve wasn’t riding the thing, and a slippery 4-cylinder, fire engine red, 550cc motorcycle is a machine that cries out for abuse in the San Gabriel Mountains. I explained all of this to Steve, I threatened to expose some of his darkest secrets on the ExNotes blog, and a couple of days go, Steve gave me the keys to the kingdom. The kingdom being, of course, one 1982 Yamaha Seca with just over 1700 miles on the odometer.
Well, the odo now reads over 1800 miles. Who done that? Me? Guilty as charged. It was a blast. I grabbed a few photos and I’ll share them with you here. I’m doing a more in depth road report on the Seca that will be in print somewhere down the road, and you’ll have to read that to get the full story. For now, enjoy these teasers.
So what was it like riding this blast from the past? Truth be told, it could have been a modern motorcycle. It handled flawlessly, it made good power, and it has good brakes. I loved it. I had the San Gabriels all to myself when I was up there on Steve’s Seca. It was a glorious day.
There are some things on the Seca that were cutting edge in ’82, and others that we might regard as quaint today. But it all worked. A single disk up front and a drum (gasp!) in the rear (nobody told that drum brake it wasn’t supposed to work as well as it did). And what was the state of the art in 82…a four-cylinder engine with four carbs and a fancy cross induction system that was supposed to increase combustion chamber swirl for more power. I guess it worked, because the bike felt fantastic. It matched its looks, which are, well, fantastic.
The view from the saddle was glorious, the Seca had a marvelous ExhaustNote (I love that word), and I was in my element up in the San Gabriels. I enjoyed the ride tremendously.
It’s not often you see low-mileage, 4-decade-old-bike in as new condition. Steve’s Seca takes that description up a notch. How about a bike that has the original owner’s manual and tool kit?
When I returned to the CSC plant, Steve wanted to know all about the ride and how the bike felt. “It started missing a bit at around 110 mph,” I said, and Steve just smiled. He knew. I never took the Seca above 55 mph, partly because all my riding was in the San Gabriel’s tight twisties, and partly out of respect (both for the bike and for the man who allowed me to experience it). Good times.
You know, it really is amazing how much technology has changed in the last 40 years. To be perfectly honest, the Seca’s performance below 55 mph (which is the only region I rode it in) was good, but it was not too much different than my trusty 250cc RX3, and at low speeds, I think the RX3 actually has a bit more grunt. That’s understandable, I suppose, as the RX3 is a single and the Seca is a four. I imagine the Seca has more top end and probably a bit more of a rush accelerating at freeway speeds, but the time-capsule Seca ride reminded me just how good a motorcycle the RX3 is. If you want to buy a Seca like the one featured in this blog from Steve, you’re out of luck (believe me, I tried). If you want to buy a new RX3, though, I hear Steve can help you make that dream come true!
Steve has some cool toys. Some time ago he let me swing a leg over his Norton Commando for a similar ride. You can read that story here. Steve has a pretty cool mid-60’s Mopar, too. I’m still working on getting the keys to that one.
That’s it for now, folks. I’ve got some more photos to process for another blog in a day or two on yet another toy, one that is a cool 101 years old. Stay tuned!
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Great story !!!
Wow, what a time capsule! It’s like the 80’s again, and I might add not a bad era. Big hair, bad music and very good economic times, for most of us. In 1982 I was riding a Green 750 Suzuki GS after a fairly long layoff from riding do to kids, family business and etc.. I look forward t reading the whole story on this bike. Ride’em don’t hide’em is good advice. Thanks for sharing with the class!
Nice red old 👍 bike
I had an 83 Seca with a factory touring package that consisted of hard saddle bags, a rear box/backrest, a full fairing and twin from disc brakes. It also had a shaft drive. It made a really good touring bike. I looked at it a number of times as it sat in a local shop. It had very few miles, and I eventually traded a Suzuki GS400N in on it. At that time in the mid-80’s I hadn’t really done any long trips, so when my wife and I took a 100-mile ride to visit college friends it felt like a long trip. On the way back, about 75 miles from home, I started feeling liquid on my left leg. I knew the bike wasn’t liquid cooled, so I was puzzled by the liquid. I eventually stopped and discovered a tiny pinhole leak near the bottom of the fuel tank. I ended up riding home with my finger over the hole, shifting without the clutch. If I had to stop, my wife would reach around me and plug the hole until I could get back up to speed. Unfortunately, that’s my only memorable ride on the bike. I traded it for a Bertone X 1/9 and someone at that dealership crashed and totaled the bike before I could buy it back.
Awesome! I remember them well.