Before even starting I must say Im unashamedly biased. I love these old beasts.
If you're looking for a bike at the cheaper end of the market the xj900 from 1984-1989 is a pretty safe and bulletproof bet.
They have a simple 8 valve motor with almost maintainence free bucket and shim adjusters. Shaft drive means no chain to worry about.
Theyre running skinny 120/90/19 rear and a 100/90/18 front but you can stiill get crazy dangle angles before it all turns pear shaped.
the brakes are twin disk fronts with dual piston calipers -preferably equiped with sbs pads and a single disk twin piston caliper rear.
price wise you can pick them up from $800 for a real roughy to $3500 for a mint origonal example (dont be suprised if the owner cries as ya ride off on it )
Handling in modern terms is below average -with a skinny setof forks and a light tubular frame but they get round corners at a good pace -as long as they have decent aftermarket shocks and tyres.
Engine wise theyre bullet proof with one glaring exception --the starter clutch in the pre 85 models ussed to loosen off the 3 mounting bolts causing the starter not to engage. -if the starter clutch is slipping budget $600 to fix it -$50 parts and the rest labour. The early 850cc version had electrical issues because they frame mounted the fairing but diddnt beef up the wiring
the early models had air suspension and anti dive forks -neither really worked well and youre better forgetting both and setting the front end up without them working.What does work well is the mirrors with car sized
The Xj900 was to the 80's what the VFR750/800 is in the 90's and 2000s
it will do everything competently-never the best at anything but totally capable of doing it all. As a second bike for a sports bike rider its fantastic.Your back and your pillion will thank you for it.
Ya know what though -Its a bike comfortable trolling along at 100km/h or giving it shit and hitting top speed at 220km/h -itll commute in comfort thanks to the comfortable riding position. And there is NOTHING on gods green earth like the fokker freindship scream of an XJ on the cam
Buy in assurance you will get thousands of miles of fun riding.
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