|
"A Rare Bird"
1982
A friend of mine went out and bought a 1982 Yamaha 750 Maxim. I had bikes on and off
while I was growing up - mini bikes, moto-cross, trail, but I never had a full road bike. I
decided to buy a 1982 Yamaha Seca Turbo from the same dealer as he did (Central Ontario
Cycle).
This bike was awesome. After taking the bike in a few times for servicing where they had
an opportunity to road test, (about the time the '83's came out, they had commented that my
bike (without the boost kit) was one of those few that were faster than the other 1982
models. They said the power was close to that of an '83 which already had the increased
boost pressure due to the "Power-Up" kit that came stock on the 1983 models.
My bike was stolen once and when it was found, the insurance company graciously had it
re-painted, put on new pipes and stripped the engine down to make sure it was OK, etc.
The dealership put in the power-up kit too, and it was faaast, almost scary at times! The
transition from a 650 to full boost was unreal! My friend told me about some of the things he
saw the bike do when I snapped the throttle hard. Just after I had the bike back from being
fixed (after it was stolen), we were on the expressway and I dropped down a gear to pass
somebody, (I was at about 80KPH - 50MPH). I thought the clutch was slipping when I hit the
throttle, but he said no, the bike jumped a bit and the swears the back tire spun. Another
time I was taking off from a stop and let it go, when I hit second gear and snapped the
throttle he said the whole bike actually hopped completely in the air (the shaft drive bikes, I
was told by the dealer, transferred the power a little differently than chain drive bikes, and
that this could happen).
The sensations of owning and driving this bike were unique compared to other bikes I've
owned and it is something I will never forget. The "Jekyle and Hyde"
transition of power when the turbo-charger kicks in, the peculiar engine whine of the Seca
models along with the turbine whine. The feeling of someone pulling you off the back of
the bike, hooking your feet hard on the pegs and feeling the pegs lift as your body weight
was lightened. Feeling your passengers feet catching your armpits just in time before they
were pitched off the back while you were passing. The stares from onlookers viewing a
bike with styling beyond it's time, are all things I've never forgotten. It turned a lot of heads
(especially girls!). A real chick magnet! (the bike, not the driver).
I eventually traded in the Turbo and got an '84 Venture Royale. There wasn't a better bike
for sport touring back then.
2001
I was talking to a designer who works for our Company and told him about the bikes I've
owned in the past. When I told him about the Seca Turbo, he said he was looking at one a
few years back. He really liked the bike. He also mentioned that they were pretty hard to
find and that there was almost a "cult" following for the people who still owned them. This
comment and reliving the past (as well as advancing middle age), piqued my interest again
in owning a bike (Heinz, it's all your fault!).
2003
In a fashion sort of like a Herpes outbreak while you are under stress, the "bug" started
to
resurface - bad. I had this real passion about getting a bike - another Turbo like I used to
own. I talked to my wife about getting a bike and she was was very understanding about it
(hmmm...), althought I'm not sure if she knew I was that serious, but I started looking
around. I looked on the net and finally came across some bikes for sale on Ebay. I bidded
but missed on one by $10. Now I really had the itch to get one!
In an act of desperation (and to the surprise of my family) I put an ad in the local paper
"Wanted - 1982-83 Seca Turbo...". I had a couple of calls saying they had some parts but not
a whole bike. I never heard anything for a couple of days and then I received a call from a
man in a town about 20 minutes from where I live. A friend of his saw the ad and let this
person know about it. He gave me a call and he said he had a Turbo which had been in
storage for about 15 years. He had planned to work on it, but he had bought a cottage up
North and didn't have the time anymore so he was thinking on selling it. I was almost
becoming obsessed about getting it at this point.
I went to take a look at it. I checked it out, started it up and sat on it.
Boy, did it bring back some memories. It was in pretty good shape, only 29,000 KM (18,000
miles). The paint was old, some oxidation on the pipes, but mostly superficial stuff. It ran
very well. It also came with a ton of spare parts that the guy had collected in preperation
for fully restoring and having backup parts. I had no idea what the bike was worth in this
kind of condition and with all the spare parts so I told the guy to give me a couple of days
to look into it and talk with a dealer before any offers took place.
I called the dealer up and said I wanted to talk about costs of safetying and about the value
of an older bike. He asked what kind of bike it was and I told him a Yamaha Seca Turbo.
There was a slight pause. With a tone in his voice that you could almost envision him
grinning, he said, "Oooh, that's a Rare Bird, that one". It really hit me at that point that this
was a rare bike. Sure, maybe other manufacturers had smaller production runs of their
bikes like the Honda CX650 Turbo, but I think what made the Yamaha stand apart from the
other manufacturers (my opinion) was some of the unique features, advanced styling and
innovative ideas like pressurized carbs instead of fuel injection and employing a reed valve
system to help eliminate most of the turbo lag, etc. Although the dealer quoted mainly book
prices, he did say that if someone is going to buy one to restore, it would obviously be
worth more to them. He also predicted the value really jumping up on these bikes in about
5 or 6 years, especially if they are fully restored.
I went back to the person with the bike, made an offer, and after some time and a bit of
haggling, it was mine! I showed some pictures from the Yamaha website of the Turbo to
another of our Designers at work and he was stunned that the bike was 22 years old. He
said the styling was really advanced and probably close to more modern designs.
Comments from neighbours and friends who didn't know the history of the bike thought the
bike was between 5 to 10 years old and were surprised to hear it was actually now a
classic. I had it out around the block a few times and I even had some serious head turning
happening when I pulled around a corner near some guys in their 20's. Although...they may
have been staring at the dumb ass riding a motorcycle with a (pedal) bike helmet
(haven't bought a new motorcycle helmet yet since I am not putting it on the road until it is
restored).
That's my story, hope you enjoyed it. Please visit the rest of my site. I've got some great
stuff!
Here
is a link to a Cycle Canada article from February 2008 in the Showcase Section.
Compliments of Cycle Canada.
| 
