Yamaha XJ900-an oldie but a goodie

**FROSTY:Me** · 27th January 2005, 18:10

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.

**ajturbo** · 27th January 2005, 18:28

220??? i had mine off the speedo more than once... 2 up in the south island.. on a closed road.....
i told my mate, he didn't beleave me...... so i told him to take it out and try and do it also... he came back and said that he had done it also!...

speedo went up to 240k......

**Motu** · 27th January 2005, 19:31

It's a simple motor alright - it's hard to believe that the company that made mechanical gems like the XS650 and TT500 could turn out such a mechanicaly boring motor - an 80s motor in the same vein as bland 80s music.The piggyback alt was an inspired touch,but I had a 750 lying around for years that had the alt chain guide break of and lodge in the shift drum,locking the bike in first...I fitted another motor for the customer rather than strip it down just for a chain guide.The motor ended up with the box chopped off and is in a TQ.

Not rubbishing your favorite bike - with mechanical simplicity comes reliabilty....it's just that I'm prepard to put up with the problems of more inspired design.

**FROSTY:Me** · 27th January 2005, 21:27

Motu --how can ya call em boring.In their day they was pretty fantastic.
bucket and shim valve adjusters. Piggy back alternator and starter motor to decease engine width. Ohlins piggy back rear shocks. Anti dive front forks.
twin piston calipers.A fairing that actually worked,-holey cow mate thenm was a teckminalogical miricle

**Motu** · 27th January 2005, 22:20

Yeah,you're right - I was just kinda shocked when I opened one up and saw nothing inside.Prior to the 80s motors were designed with some huge safety margins built in because they just didn't know what could be trimmed down without losing reliability.With the XS650 and TT500 they were trying to do it better than the poms...not hard,but they didn't really know where the pom's got it wrong and just went totaly overboard...the TT motor had needle rollers in the rocker spindles fi krist sake,only a very few Formula 1 motors went that far! Nah,the XJ series motors were brilliant in their simplicity - and the final Yamaha touch...they looked good too.Something Yamaha always did that the other Japanese makers never did,put some effort into making the engine visualy pleasing.

**Warr** · 27th January 2005, 22:22

XJ900, You have my vote Frosty.

You could add a bit about the turbine whine from the shaft but having owned plenty of chain drive bikes the shaft noise is pure music compared to the endless oil trail from a chain.

The following for the American/Continental models is amazing with their own news group forum. Plenty of help world wide when delving into setting carb mixture and anything.

I havent seen the sort of numbers AJ & XJ are talking about but I'm sure it has it in her somewhere!
Plenty of 2 up & gear touring for my XJ.

**White trash** · 28th January 2005, 08:44

I'm not proud of this but I also have a soft spot for these old wallowy, hunks of shit.

My Dad had one with a full Givi luggage set on it, man could I wheelie that thing for miles with a few bricks onboard....

**XTC** · 28th January 2005, 11:18

I had the XJ600... loved it but thought i needed more power.... realise i don't now. My 600 only had an 18" rear wheel tho....

**jrandom** · 28th January 2005, 12:45

Oooh, look, a Frosty bike review!

When you selling it, Tony?

**Dr Bob** · 28th January 2005, 12:49

You should have asked me for a ride on the 750 Mr Random, then you might not have been so keen to buy the zeal.

**pete376403** · 28th January 2005, 12:54

Originally Posted by Motu

Yeah,you're right - I was just kinda shocked when I opened one up and saw nothing inside.Prior to the 80s motors were designed with some huge safety margins built in because they just didn't know what could be trimmed down without losing reliability.With the XS650 and TT500 they were trying to do it better than the poms...not hard,but they didn't really know where the pom's got it wrong and just went totaly overboard...the TT motor had needle rollers in the rocker spindles fi krist sake,only a very few Formula 1 motors went that far! Nah,the XJ series motors were brilliant in their simplicity - and the final Yamaha touch...they looked good too.Something Yamaha always did that the other Japanese makers never did,put some effort into making the engine visualy pleasing.

JAP speedway motors had needle bearing valve gear in the '20s and it was fiddly shit to keep intact compared to the plain bushes that Jawa rocker shafts used. Technology for its own sake isn't always a good thing.
Most UJMs with the exception of the CB750 (single cam) borrowed pretty heavily from the Kawasaki Z1 design. There's bugger all between the Z1, the Suzuki GS and the XJ. (and no doubt Kawasaki copied an earlier italian job)
And Yamaha got some wrong, too. Who can forget such "gems" as the TX500, or the XS750, or the 750/850 triples

**jrandom** · 28th January 2005, 12:57

Originally Posted by Dr Bob

You should have asked me for a ride on the 750 Mr Random, then you might not have been so keen to buy the zeal.

Are you implying that I would have wanted the XV?

I'm still doing my time on 6R, you know. I couldn't have insured it.

Anyway, I've decided that when I *do* sort out the full licence and find some cash, I want a beat-up old Bindit 12, so that I can tune it, give it a new rear Ohlins, and hone some truly righteous stunting skills.

**Dr Bob** · 28th January 2005, 13:08

Originally Posted by jrandom

Are you implying that I would have wanted the XV?

No not the XV, the XJ.... but it's too late because someone else bought it.

**Fryin Finn** · 28th January 2005, 13:58

I had an XJ650 from 81 to 89. It lived outside and didn't like it. The tank rusted out and the electricals were bad enough to hardly ever get a WOF. Didn't stop me riding it. Once you get used to the shaft drive it handled pretty well, as I recall it won the 750 class at the Castrol 6 hour (not my bike)
It felt good 2 up to.
It never left me on the side of the road either.