No love for 750's?

It seems to me that conversation here leans more towards 550's and 650's than towards the larger bikes. I also notice more auctions of 400, 550, 650 parts than 750's on eBay.

What's the deal with that? Were the 750's not as popular when they were in production? Do people today not like them as much? Do they perform better in some respects? Are they easier/cheaper to maintain?

 

Sushi,
As a 750 Maxim owner, i've also noticed this phenomena and am very interested in the forum's answer.
You almost NEVER hear anything about the 1100 Maxim either.
Porque?

 

As a fellow 750 Maxim owner, I have to agree. I love mine though.

I think the reason you hear even less about the 1100's is that I don't think they were made for long.

mikeg

 

Actually there was a poll not too long ago, only 43 of the 4300+ members replied by the 750's were well represented. But the reply rate was pretty pitiful, 1%.

Here's where the poll is.
http://xjbikes.com/Forums/viewtopic/t=1 ... +size.html

mikeg

 

Hmm...yeah the poll isn't very enlightening. I think some folks didn't vote because their engine size wasn't included.

I was surprised to see the 750's lead in the poll considering what I said in my opening post. Judging from the comments some people made, some seem to prefer chain drive because of the power losses inherent in shaft driven bikes.

My 750 is my first bike, and I chose it because a co-worker offered it to me on the cheap. I figured it would be a great bike to learn on. I had no understanding of power/weight ratio, or whether or not the bike would be powerful enough for my liking. I figured it was a good size that would have plenty of zip, yet not crazy stupid fast. When I observed that it was shaft driven, I was intrigued because I'd never seen that type of drive train before in a bike and I was told that it's extremely reliable although there is some small power translation loss.

I was also impressed with the computer monitor, which for the time was considered advanced, even if it's considered kind of hokey now.

 

I wonder how many 750s and 1100s are around compared to the smaller bikes? I don't see many of them listed for sale when compared to 550s and 650s I see. Could be just a simple numbers thing.

An effect of the 80's tariff on bikes over 700cc?

 

XJ1100 was made for ONE year.

XS1100 was made for three years (or 4).

The bigger bikes were the most expensive so obviously there would be fewer of them sold compared to the bikes at half of the displacement.

 

Not to mention that most of the xj1100 owners are on xs11.com forums instead of xj bikes. I think that is because the xj1100 is basically just an xs11 with different bodywork. It doesnt share many parts with the 550 or 650/750.

 

Thats right, the XJ1100 is almost the same as the XS1100. I have each one, most engine and chassi parts can interchange. I have more fun on this board, meet more people. I think there aren't as many 750's or 1100's out there, thats why you hear of the others more often.

 

Speaking only from personal experience, I picked up my two 650s from the same guy. One is a parts bike, so I'm not sure it counts. I picked up the 750 the NEXT DAY from the local bike shop. They had taken it in trade and didn't want to bother fixing it, so I gave them what they had in it ($325) and have been slowly working on it since.

The only other similar bike I have personally laid eyes on is an XS850 (triple!) that one of my employees has.

I have observed that I *hear* more about the 650. Is the 750 more reliable? Or LESS reliable (due to the Atari on the front) and more have been scrapped? Are they simply sold/traded less often, for whatever reason? Some other fatal flaw compared to the 650 that would "kill" a 750 first?

I haven't seen much significant difference between my 650 and my 750 EXCEPT for the Atari (a big minus), the dual front discs (big plus), and the displacement. Other that that, they're pretty much the same bike.

I know that Kawasaki doesn't make a bike between the ZX-6R and the ZX-10R because there's only $1000 difference between them. There's no market for anything in between because the differences would be too subtle. They're compete with themselves. Did Yamaha do this with the 650 and the 750 in the 80s and the 650 won out as the cheaper option?

 

Well, that sounds about right.
Saludos desde Reynosa, Tamaulipas, Mexico!
macnifico

 

Actually, it was offered up in the Great White North (Canada) until 1984, and they even got a "Midnight Maxim" version.......... But XJ1100's are rare. By that time period, size still mattered, but not in a good way (there was another "gas crisis" in the late 70's/early 80's that put the kabosh on large-displacement bikes).

That didn't apply (basically) until the 1984 model year, by which time the XJ750 Maxim and Seca models had been discontinued. But it did kill off the XJ900 models here in North America, too, even though they lasted for another 11 years in the rest of the world.

They made a lot of XJ750's, including the Seca models. The numbers are skewed towards the 650's because they were:

a) in production longer (started in 1980)
b) had more models earlier in the production years (Maxim, Midnight Maxim, Seca, Turbo)
c) were less expensive. Remember, interest rate on loans were up around 18% in the early 80's!
d) the 750 Maxim and Midnight Maxim suffered two ways: 1982 was the first year for the 750 Maxim, so it was "slow" in sales due to it being a new model, and then from the "glut" of over-production that occured during the 1980-82 era, therefore 1983 models of all kinds are very rare. This hurt the XJ750's especially, since the 1983 XJ750 Maxim and the Midnight Maxim were produced in very low numbers as the factory and dealers tried to sell off the excess 1982 models. XJ750 Maxim and Seca models survived until 1984 in Canada.


The MODEL ID's and HISTORY OF YAMAHA articles have some very detailed information about these subjects.........

http://www.xjbikes.com/Forums/viewforum/f=23.html

 

Very interesting. Thanks Chacal!

 

I can add some viewpoint to this in regard to the 750 Seca. It simply wasn't taken seriously.
At the time, "serious" sportbikes were not shaft-driven. The 750 Seca was advertised as having "racing heritage" but it was shaft-driven, it had those geeky padded handlebars, the unnecessarily complex front brakes with the PIA remote master cylinder and questionable anit-dive. All the motorcycle magazines made fun of it. Shaft drive bikes were often criticized for the "jacking" effect the shaft has on the rear suspension; the magazines were all based in California and would wring out the test bikes in the canyons. And they all panned the 750 Seca for its shaft-drive handling compared to its competition at the time.
Back then, for a time the 750 class were considered the "true" sportbikes, the liter-bikes were still too ponderous to be canyon carvers like they are today, and the 600 hadn't come of age yet. Plus, I believe the 750 Seca was only around for three years, like the 550 Seca---at least in the States anyway. By '84, Yamaha sportbikes were either 600s or 1100s. The 750 sportbike made a resurgence in the late 80's and then was gone for good.

 

Wouldn't the obvious reason you don't see many 750 Seca's for sale is that, like most things worth keeping, you just don't sell it.

 

Agreed!
I love my 7fiddy man!
Calculator on the dash, shaft drive, giant turn signals, padded bars, Royal PIA master cylinder and all.
And yes...I could afford something newer (not much though)

 

Do we know the production numbers for the 750 models? They had more competition than the 550/650 models including from Yamaha itself (Virago). Also to put the $4k MSRP of an 82 Seca into perspective you can pick up a 2009 Suzuki 1250 Bandit for just over double that amount.

 

Yeah, but a bike that's *more than double* the cost of the 750 isn't really a lot of competition. It would need to be within, say, 500 1982 dollars to overcome a buyer's need for a good deal.

And the 2009 Suzuki Bandit wasn't available in the 80s.

 

Having spent most of the early 80's killing as many brain cells as possible I think the point I was trying to make was that $4k seems like alot of money back in 1982 but then again $40 seemed like alot to a kid in HS.

 

I agree with cturek. seeing that the survey says 750's are more owned by the seasoned xj biker at this site. and you see 650's for sale all the time. i think most people, once they get there hands on one, just don't let it go.

 

Hey Big,

What you say about the journo's may be true but I did read the '81 issue of Cycle World's review on the bike. They didn't by any means say it was as great as beer in a can, but they didn't dump all over it either. I'd say the article was fairly even-handed. Dang it all if I can't find the link now.

But, that's only one article and other magazines may have been more harsh on it.

 

Heck I own 3 of them(750's) and an 1100 and a 650. My personal opinion is that way back when these were new. The dealers here in MN really pushed the 550's 650's and 750's due to the fact that the price was in reach of most riders at the time. I remember when I bought my 650 I wanted the shaft drive. I had owned chain drive bikes and once i had a chain break on me out in the middle of nowhere land. I pushed that bike for 5 miles to a place where I felt safe to leave it ovenight so We could get back there the next day to pick it up. Looked at the Seca's and the 1100 but they were more money than I could come up with.

 

http://www.motorcyclespecs.co.za/model/ ... a%2081.htm

Sushi

I think the above link is the one you were talking about. i found it last year when i got my 81 Seca 750. Which i have no plans to sale ever.

DM

 

Here is a long term test of the 750

http://208.58.35.78:82/Dave/xj/d1/Artic ... 20Seca.htm

 

The XJ CD set has just about every article, ad and brochure on all the XJ's, plus lots more. I still browse and find something new in there once in awhile, best 10 bucks I ever spent.
http://www.xjcd.org/

 

Yeah, that first article is the one I referred to. Both articles seem to judge the bike as sturdy, advanced, well built. Not "perfect" or "incredible" but still, very good. I especially liked the endurance article.

 

I wasn't trying to say I agree or anything; the 750 Seca was a bit ahead of its time, really. That was just the attitude back in the day, that it wasn't a "serious" sportbike, especially for how expensive it was at the time.

 

Interesting that after reading this thread earlier this morning I had a conversation with a guy at a local gas station about Maxims.

Weather here in SW Washington is bright sun, temps in the 50's and windy. Great time for a spin on the old Maxim.

The guy at the next pump commented on my bike and mentioned he has an xj1100. I invited him to this forum but he said he had no internet access. Shame, as he would have added a little Maxim diversity to the site. Sorry 750/1100 guys. I gave it my best shot.

WAMAXIM

 

There is plenty of love for the 750s!

Those who have them, love them.
Those who don't... Who cares? more for us