Project turbo, XN85

[T.W.R]

Farkin ugly and sounds like a poofs bike in the flesh

nah looks a shitload better than it did last year when the rightful owner was couriering it up to D's

freshly painted exhausts smell the shizz

brave young lad riding 40ks out of town with fuel light blinking though :slap:

and whining about how heavy it is to wheel around on shingle geeez ninny

[humphrt]

thats awesome. good to see people finishing projects, gives hope to the rest of us... good on ya

[dangerous]

brave young lad riding 40ks out of town with fuel light blinking though :slap:

ummm, actually theres a wee story there

[ajturbo]

how will it stack up to my turbo?... NO NOT the paint job.. but the way it runs?

looks like i will have to find a garage (Close) to park mine up and get it looking as good as yours matey!!..

well done....

whats next????

[flyingbrick]

What an awesome project :-D always sweet to see something finished properly.

got a boost gauge on there to see what its blowing? I'm sure a few extra PSI wouldnt do any harm :-D

[T.W.R]

ummm, actually theres a wee story there

do tell

[scumdog]

What an awesome project :-D always sweet to see something finished properly.

got a boost gauge on there to see what its blowing? I'm sure a few extra PSI wouldnt do any harm :-D

Uh, it has a green LCD bar-graph thingy to indicate boost, however if ya tinker with boost TOO much the 'puter over-rides and shuts things down.

There are ways to safely up the boost a tad but I think I'll leave it pretty much as is, same with the rest of the mechanics of the bike.

Now when it comes to fitting tassles, hmm where do I start.....

[scumdog]

ummm, actually theres a wee story there

Sounds interesting, do tell

[dangerous]

got a boost gauge on there to see what its blowing? I'm sure a few extra PSI wouldnt do any harm :-D

yeah the std issue (see pic on page 1) As the bikes no race bike there is no reason to wind the boost up, in fact its running lower, stops at 7g not 8-9g... its about preserving the thing as a weekend ride.

how will it stack up to my turbo?... NO NOT the paint job.. but the way it runs?

I cant remember what yours was like to ride, but they would be kinda similer but different (yours being carbed and a tourer)

do tell

Sounds interesting, do tell

Well... ok, Ill give the long version.

Test Ride review
Decided on a wee ride the other day, out to see T.W.R in the sticks then headed for the hills, but didnt kinda make it as altho the fuel guage had stoped flashing (all lights up to full, so one would expect that means full tank even tho I knew it was low ;-) and two bars remained... I ran out but luckly I was close to MVnuts so on glided in to see him and quitly mention 'hey ya got any gas'

well, the XN is similer to in a lot of ways but varst in others if I compare it to my CX500 Turbo http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/showthread.php?t=2854
As ya sit you arse on the XN and lift it off the side stand it reminds you very quickly that the bike is a early 80's beast, solid heavy and hard to push around. The seats very low and the riding position is like the Katana of that year. The bike fires up straight away with a rough idle but the ECU soon picks the revs up, unlike any of the other turbo bikes the XN has no warning lights, in fact the only extra on the dash is a small boost meter.

Out on the road and suprisingly with its long and heavy frame the XN feels rather nimble, the 16" front wheel helping with slow cornering. On the sweepers the bikes well at home soaking up the bumps better than any other bike I have ridden of that vintage (1st suzuki to have a mono shock) down the straights the small fairing works incredibly well I'd say due to the long stretch to the bars and the blade being even further away. At 4400rpm the bikes happily doing 100kph.
Once in the tight n curleys you are reminded of the bikes weight and length, but having said that I found moving body weight off the bike it handled very well... the brakes are even suprisingly good with a great feel, for once the early 80's anti dive seems to work, how ever the bike stands up rather badly if lent over while braking.

Riding a turbo has a different feel to it, like the CX the XN is a little slugish up till 4000rpm but not as bad as the CX, You can feel something starting to happen, vibrations increase from what was a smooth ride and you can feel the tension building, 5000rpm and the clutch starts to feel like its slipping... but it is not this is the feeling you get from a charged bike, more increased vibes and the bike starts surging forward till 6000rpm when all vibes vanish and the ride is once again very smooth the speedo now climbs rapidly to 7000 and 8000 were at that point slip it up a gear and you get the surge all over again and so on up the gears.
However if in the hills and you let the engine drop below 4000 you have to start all over again as you loose a lot of power, kept above 6000 and its like riding a 750-1100 Katana of 1982.

Turbos are a funny thing, they like work best under load so accelerating down hill is blandish, however up hills a whole new ball game. where the average engine of 85hp will slow and loose power the turbo accelerates faster gaining power.

[scumdog]

Have ya got a WOF on it yet??

Or do you like living 'dangerously'

[dangerous]

Have ya got a WOF on it yet??

Or do you like living 'dangerously'

of course thers a WOF "on it"... look theres even a REG aswell, Im not silly ya know

[scumdog]

of course thers a WOF "on it"... look theres even a REG aswell, Im not silly ya know

Haha!...sheesh your'e a twat!'

[dangerous]

Haha!...sheesh your'e a twat!'

yeahhhhhhhhhhhh... but Im good twat

Now a current WOF wont be able to happen till the stearing head bearings are replaced (something I did not mention in the wee write up) it is that bad it makes it almost impossible to ride at times. Funny thing is in a std WOF check this would not get picked up, even it being a serious issue... so, just aswell I did bit of a test ride before it becomes all cosher.
other than that, all good for return (there is a oil leak but Im buggered if I can see were its comming from)

[scumdog]

A good twat eh?

Yeah, I'll give ya that!

Once again I'll leave the XN in your capable hands to get sorted.

PS: Love that old rego sticker - just leave it and the old WOF intact eh!

[Armitage Shanks]

A good twat eh?

Yeah, I'll give ya that!

Once again I'll leave the XN in your capable hands to get sorted.

PS: Love that old rego sticker - just leave it and the old WOF intact eh!

I recall taking an XN85 through to Akaroa from Ch Ch in the late '80s , was working for a bike shop then and a prospective buyer was begging to have another look at it but could'nt make it to town as his car had broken down. I was expecting all hell to break loose when I opened the throttle but, with a low pressure turbo it did wind up nicely but a little more leisurely than I expected . Still it was a fun ride and fast'ish maybe 180 was all I achieved that day . The guy at Akaroa as it turned out was AWOL so , no sale. Can't recall what happened to the Bike, it only had about 4000 k's on it but from memory they were asking around 6 to 7 k ......