Yamaha XJR1300

[old slider]

Went to the local market today and the ulysses club (sp) were having a charity toy run, looked at a few bikes, one I really liked was a 1999 Yamaha, pretty sure a XJR 1300. there were some nice machines assembled, pitty the weather was shite for them, the photo is close to what I was looking at. Any members own or had any experience with these machines.

.

[tamarillo]

Been a great bike for ever, evolved over the years constantly but generally bullet proof and good. Bit heavy, not huge power compared with more modern stuff, but a treat jap standard.


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk

[pritch]

i've no personal experience but should think any of the big Japanese retro bikes would be fine. The CB1300 I rode cartainly was.

Don't get too excited about the Ohlins shocks on that Yamaha in the picture. They date from the time that Yamaha owned Ohlins, so they are likely made in Japan. Not quite like 'made in Sweden'. They look good though.

I guess if you own the company you can do anything you like?

[Maha]

Love em'...thought I would have owned one by now but it hasn't happened. I once had the CB1300 (fantastic bike) and now own a GSX1400 which I picked up for $4.5K

[babysteps]

You can get them to look like this with a little work. This bike belongs to a friend in Christchurch.

[James Deuce]

You can get them to look like this with a little work. This bike belongs to a friend in Christchurch.

That's the ugliest "custom" XJR I've ever seen.

I owned an unblemished one for a couple of years. Handle like a proper bike, not all bouncy like some UJMs, drags a lot of undercarriage in the tight stuff, but I think I may have been operating outside of standard brief.

By "not a lot of power" people mean it won't keep accelerating hard over 220. Will track straight and true with smoke peeling off the back wheel. Front forks are cheap and fork seal replacement is an ongoing battle. Brakes are late '90s R1 blue spots and do a more than adequate job with lots feel. Not a lot of initial bite, but I'm not a fan of brakes that are all power, no feel. Really good low speed handling, feet up u-turns are no problem and trickling along at low speed is really easy for such a big, heavy bike. Speaking of which, the centre stand is a doddle to operate and means you can park it very neatly in a cramped garage.

Very, very thirsty. Not particularly hard on tyres. Oil filter is an arse, paper element, remove gear linkage and engine cover to change and very sensitive to being correctly torqued. Half a nM over and you've stripped the thread. Seat looks comfy, but packs down over the course of a long day until you are sitting on the seat frame. Can be easily fixed with a gel pad and a seat recover.

The single best thing about it is top gear overtakes. No thought involved, just twist and go. It's a shame to see them discontinued.

[mulletman]

You can get them to look like this with a little work. This bike belongs to a friend in Christchurch.

Its got the better Ohlins

[AllanB]

Pretty sure there are a bunch of modded ones on the Yamaha 'yard build' website from memory.

Solid machines.

[old slider]

Thanks for the replies guys, Gives me food for thought, lol.

Not many bikes get me going back for a 2nd or in this case a 3rd look, but something about the one I saw in Wanganui stirred an ache.