This motorcycle completely fell in my lap. At about 260kg with fluids, that's not necessarily a comfortable event, however I'm not complaining.
Mate.
I love retro bikes. My favourite is Guzzi's V7 Racer, closely followed by Kawasaki's W800, but they're both a touch expensive for what they are. The Guzzi especially. So when this friend gave me an option to liberate his XJR from his shed for the right amount, having replaced it but neglecting to either trade the XJR in or sell it, I literally jumped at the chance. Given that he is a workmate, jumping into his lap and kissing him was probably career limiting, but sometimes you have to go with what feels right.
It had issues. The fork seals were more rust than seal. The seat was torn in a couple of places and the seat foam was utterly soaked. It had a giant Givi screen that made it look like Nadzeya Ostapchuk, including the face of Jake from Two and a Half Men. Despite everything in the suspension department being wound up to full it would slow weave on the brakes, wander up to the apex and then aim for the Kermadecs on the exit, while the ape on the back sweated and grunted and wrestled and kicked and swore and tried to guess where the next bounce would land.
The engine though, made up for everything. It's roots stretch back more than 30 years to the XS11 and its character is so utterly unlike modern fours as to be literally incomparable. Peak torque is at 65% of max revs, as is peak power. That's a substantial overrun capability. More importantly, the torque curve is long and almost flat. It tracks true with the rear tyre spinning when some jackass tries to launch like he's riding a 750.
I bought a new seat cover from the UK, that got sent to my old address so Deano (I still owe him beer) rescued it for me. I then got the cover professionally stapled on by a chap who very careful dried the foam out so that it didn't crumble. He also used stainless steel staples - a bit more expensive by do it right I reckon.
Going through the manual revealed 536mls of 10W oil per fork leg. Going through a number of forums revealed 15W to be a better bet, but 536mls. Come Orrrrrrrrrrn. That means two 1 litre bottles of oil. That's just mean. 501mls would have been some engineer obvioulsy taking the piss. 536mls is subtle, but still a piss take, you bastard.
Oil and dust seals turned up fairly quickly, but the circlips still haven't. The old ones turned out to be almost adequate, so next time. Last weekend I rode the long way to Paul-in-NZ's place and "we" did the fork seals. By "we" I mean he did all the gnarly stuff, including providing another mate with a lucky streak who happened to be on hand the exact instant a weird solution to a tricky problem that had occupied a couple of hours was applied. He took all the credit of course. The broken fishing pole used as a damper rod retaining tool had nothing to do with it.
The uncertain front end was simply stiction. Dead oil and dust seals binding unevenly causing the front end to walk a little made the XJR feel like a CBX400 with worn steering head bearings. As evidenced by the extreme swearing demonstration whilst ascending the Paekakariki Hill road and having to steer away from the cliff faces at the apex of every left-hander as the suddenly very direct steering and smooth fork action conspired to make the XJR lunge harder and quicker at the apex than a Marion St transsexual prostitute at a very drunk punter.
No longer dancing at the apex and wallowing away from it, the XJR now sweeps majestically in a controlled arc, and the the boot touching down provokes a grin instead of screaming panic.
I spent this weekend tidying a few things up. I've attached before (before seat cover replacement and fork seals and screen removal) and after pictures. I think it looks better without the screen. Just need to get a #15 Ventura grab rail and it will look less truck-like and lot more retro, but I'll still have a luggage system, when needed.. Yay me.
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Originally Posted by Katman
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but agreed looks better without. Those pipes look like they'd sound great
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