first ride on the bike...couple questions...

just got back after taking my bike out for it's first ride, about 38 miles. fastest I went was only 50mph just to get accustomed to the bike a little bit. I had a few things I wanted to throw out there and get some feedback on, they may sound really silly, or noobish but I appreciate your replies...

First thing I noticed is that it seems to rev really high for the speed it's going. i mean 40mph and it sounds like it's working harder than my old 90cc dirt bike did going 60. Do these bikes just rev high? I don't trust my tach for now, because I notice that it's rather slow in responding to the throttle. anything I do check/adjust to help with that?

2nd, boy she runs hot, maybe I just haven't been around bikes in a long time but seems too hot, I dunno. anything I can do?

3rd thing, and this is probably kinda funny, but man I have a headache from riding....I was focusing so much on the road, cars, intersections, etc... I think I was working mentally too hard, and kind of forgot what I was out there for, lol...first timer jitters I guess Did have one truck 'almost' pull out in front of me on a round-about, but he stopped, only after I did, heh.....amazing, the emergency stop happened w/o even thinking!

I don't think I'd want to take this bike on the main highway (65pmh) w/o a windscreen of some sort tho, and some new exhaust

 

I had a few of the same impressions after taking my first extended ride a few months ago.
Yes they rev high. Redline is 9500, cruising is about 4000 - 4800, depending on tire size.
Running hot may be a carb issue, have they been cleaned, and balanced?
Aircooled bikes tend to run hotter than liquid cooled bikes. You may be feeling the difference.
Depending on your pipes, these bikes can be pretty loud. Ear plugs can greatly reduce fatigue and headaches.
What I did was load up my mp3 player with Metallica, and AC/DC and got some noise reducing earphones. Now I speed most of the time. (mabye that was a bad idea, oh well)

Nachoman

 

thanks nachoman

not sure what kind of pipes they are but here's what's on the bike:
. it sounds much like a crotch rocket when I get on it.

It was purchased from a dealership, but I don't know what kind of tune up work they did on it before selling it. I think most of my headeache just came from 1st ride jitters, and not relaxing into the bike. :lol:

 

Bartman, that looks like the same system I have. It is a MAC unit, 4 into 1 obviously. The baffle is a standard issue sportbike type with no packing. I removed the stock baffle, and installed a straight through baffle from an aftermarket VW bug exhaust. The baffle kinda looks like this...
It has a deep throaty sportbike sound, I have never heard before.

Thats a great looking bike, enjoy it!

Nachoman

 

Bartman i have similiar but opposite , i have a headache 24hrs a day but dissapears on a bike?

As you mentioned twas probably a stress headache due to all the extra input you had , once you settle enjoy the ride BUT no complaceny , there is a balance i gather as i sure would not bike the bike years ago...then again its easy for me as i forget the last hour!

the heat from the motor , have a friend ride with you and compare or get someone that should know feel the motor after a ride to see if its ok.

 

Hey bartman,

I just picked up an XJ 750 and also realized these XJ"s seem to run at higher RPMs (at least they sound like they are higher strung) than my last bike which was a Yamaha XS1100. The XS1100 seemed to be lower geared. I took the 750 for a ride out to the ocean on a hot day when I bought it and also felt it was hot, but got really comfortable with it, though I had to mentally adjust for the higher revving. I think these are maybe a little more performance oriented and you have to do a lot more shifting to really work them. I live in the SF Bay area and going over the coastal range to the ocean from Silicon Valley I can ride the mountainous roads up in the hills, so I kinda came to the above conclusions.

I suggest a good 50 miles out of the traffic to get comfortable with the bike.

Cheers

 

Ahhh, the days of summer on Skyline. Thanks for bringing back some good old memories Flash.

 

My 86 700 runs 5000rpms at 65mph. roll on the throttle from there and I'm gone.