What kind of folks belong to this site?

I was thinking, what types of folks do we have on here?

What brought this up? I was looking in the classifieds and saw wombats x on there. It's a nice bike, and not a bad price. Do I want it? Not really. Why? Because I want to rescue one.

So, I think we have mostly the 'fix it type' vs the 'buy n ride type' which is where our database of knowledge comes from...first hand!

 

+1. I think you are right. There is a third category I can think of (But not on this site):
" Classic restorer".
I have a work mate who fits into this category. He has a Triumph T150 trident, 1972. It has not run for 4 years. He wastes days worrying about the fact that the mudguards are not quite the right ones, or the fact that it has got ray gun silencers on it instead of megaphones.

He retires next year and I don't think the bike will ever run again. A shame really.

 

I my sell am a "fix it and ride them type". Once i fix them I don't really want to sell them (Theres not much money in doing that anyway). But I do look for the least expensive bike I can find. I got both of the XJ's for $450 and $550 and the NightHawk for $100.

I paid $800 for the Suzuki (paid the most for the smallist bike go figure) didn't do anything to it and I want to sell it.

 

Well, I guess me and my friends are hybrid classsic restorers. I love to see them as they left the factory, but part of that is hearing them as well. If a show is local, I get my son and his wife to ride a couple over and I ride a third. I think the longest distance we have riden to a show is about 120 miles. I use mine to run errands, cruise around, and about twice a year I will ride one to the mountains. I don't care if anyone sees them, it's about me enjoying them. I am not going to put all the work into a restoration and then not ride it. That is just crazy. Bottom line, it was restored once and can be restored again!

 

Fix it and ride it. There's something more to be said about someone who knows their bike inside and out (which most of us already do or will soon learn) vs. someone who buys it fresh. Not that all people who buy already fixed up bikes don't know how to work on them or know them. I just feel a bit more pride riding the bike I nursed back from nothing. Neither of the bikes I had were running when I got them, now they both run great and I can say I got them to that point. With a little help from the XJBikes community of course. :wink: :mrgreen:

 

I'm a modify and customize the piss out of it kinda guy. Everything can be made better or more user friendly, otherwise there would only be one car and one bike ever made.

 

I myself, go through a lot of bikes. I'll buy something someone has no clue how to fix, fix it, ride it to ensure I would buy it, then sell it. Take this bike I'm picking up next week...it's got the luggage rack on it and perfect pipes...I'll swap out what I need for my bike, then fix this one and sell it.

My max x was an absolute basket case when I got her. She's bone stock minus the air filter, and has had every nut, bolt, and tin redone...I love a stock bike...

 

I'm a stumble onto a good deal, get it running, make it safe to ride, and then ride it until something else comes along. Then I have to determine which bike(s) have to go to make room for the new one. I'm currently down to 4 bikes. My 650 Maxim (runs, needs new replacement carbs rebuilt, valve lash checked, etc), a 650 Special (in parts and pieces but will get to it), a Honda GL 500 (8.5 of 10 condition, my son in law is currently riding it) and my BMW K1200 LT which is a 9+ of 10.

18,000 mile service coming up soon. Oil change, rear drive fluid change, valve lash check, brake and hydraulic clutch fluid flush, weep hole drilled in case rear engine oil seal leaks to protect dry clutch components, HID high beam install, and radiators need to be flushed. Will take 20+ hours to do this work. This is the type of stuff I like to do. And ride ride ride!

Must get work done this month as Oregon 250 ride is in early April and the Oregon 500 is in mid May!

 

yamasarus Dammit, man I have the SAME PHOTO as your 750 ("highest elevation..motor road, etc..") in front of that very sign, only it's me, 30 years ago, standing beside my Norton and I had to ride over 800 miles to get there.

It's a split between us old fart restorers and the young whipper-snappers that can't stand it until they cut it up and paint it purple.

We all like old-school fast bikes or we wouldn't be here...

 

what's a young whipper snapper? Is 36 in that group? I got my stock attitude from my father over the years restoring his 57 nomad as well as others...

 

as long as you're not "bobbing" it and painting it purple... or flat black...

 

This guy was pushing a Turbo 650 down the street with a flat tire, and I bought it on the spot (cheap). That set in motion the idea that I could have a Seca 900 again, as I had one for 5 years, back in the day.

I think I'm a "build it cheap (but safe) and ride it" kind of guy.

 

Don't misunderstand. I love my FJR1300, but these old bikes just keep following me home. Speaking of Turbos, someone asked which bike I had owned the longest. I was surprised to realize that it's my XJ Turbo. My interest in the XJ900 was peaked when I heard one run on Youtube. It sounded like my Turbo at idle. So, like any guy with OBS I started hunting and doing research. I found one and now I'm finishing up a few others so I can get started on it. It will be a frame up---back to original.I REALLY can't wait to ride it.

 

Yes, no offense to anyone, but I don't get the bobber/flat black/purple thing.

I like to put them back the way they were at the factory, and next weekend cannot come fast enough for me to get this bike in NJ.

3 other max x's await me in southern VA soon there after...

 

doesn't rick have a purple bike?

 

I don't dislike bobbers, but I don't think I'd build one myself. I have one bike, and I fix it as needed and ride it every chance I get. I may get another one someday if I can find a sweet enough deal. But I've always been better at buying than I am at selling.

 

Got a deal I couldn't pass up, so that's when I started searching the net for knowledge on the bike ('82 750 Seca) I'm not one for restoring anything. I don't like anything stock for the most part and always looking to change things to suit my tastes and comfort.
I always like chopping/bobbing my bikes or at least making them to fit me for riding comfort and different looks. SO tearing them down and starting from the ground up is usually how I do it and this forum has helped immensly.

 

Maybe it's a language thing, but I don't have a clue what the words bobber, sissy bar or chop mean.
I even had to look up "Streetfighter" : I have crashed my crotch rocket and $$$$$d up all the expensive plastic bits!

 

I must say I think the folks on this sight are all "good people" willing to help out a stranger or offer kind words of encouragement to a new bike builder or owner. (it's funny how an owner or rider of one of these xjs becomes a builder of bikes if they wanted to or not) That's the fun of having one for me. As far as the stock or custom argument goes I think that everyone should do exactly what they want /don't be swayed from your vision of your perfect bike.

 

It all started one slow winter... Then it seemed like I started rescuing all the deals intown(and out of town). I've since rebuilt/restored 5 XJ's, a bunch of other Yamaha's, a few Zuks and Hondas. With the initial intention of selling them, I did keep most for a year or so and ride them. One XS750 Triple I've had over 2years now, I'm geting ready to sell . Moved up a bit to the XS11's for leg room and the long haul. Right now I'm thinning the heard and hopefully end up with just the 3 XS11's to ride.

I truly enjoy the comradery on the forum, no matter what someone has instore for an XJ. I personally like to see them back as close to stock as possible, but thats not always feasible or as fun for some. So after 5 years and some 35 moto's later, I'm starting to slow down a bit :lol: .

 

A bobber is a motorcycle that usually has had the front fender removed and the rear fender "bobbed" or made smaller. This style of custom motorcycle took shape in the 1950s and continues to be built today. Bobbers are related to choppers in that they both represent a minimalistic approach where everything is stripped from a bike that is not readily needed. This includes the characteristics of a stock frame and shortened rear fender.

A sissy bar, also called a "sister bar" or "passenger backrest" is an addition to the rear of a motorcycle that allows the rider or passenger to recline against it while riding. Alternately it can serve as an anchor point or support for cycling supplies that are not part of the bike, including spare helmets, backpacks, or sleeping bags.

Sissy bars for cruiser-style motorcycles are usually affixed to the rear fender struts, and are typically made of chrome-plated steel with a foam padded seatback for comfort. Some elaborate custom examples can extend three feet or more and often serve as mounts for novelty flags. A backrest for a touring motorcycle is often shorter and less elaborate and may be built into a top box.

Inspired by its motorcycle counterpart, a smaller version of the sissy bar was a common modification added to a 1960s- and 70s-era by Schwinn Sting-Ray bicycle. This extended backrest, which attached to the rear of the bike's banana seat, gave a passenger something to lean back on and hold onto besides the rider doing the pedaling.

The Raleigh Chopper series of bicycles in the 1970s came with a sissy bar as standard.

 

Sorry, mate, I was having a bit of a laugh.

A schoolfriend had a Raleigh chopper - one of the original orange ones with the long seat you could fit two people on and a "T" shaped gearshift designed to cause maximum damage when you fell off!!!

 

A bobber is a motorcycle that usually has had the front fender removed and the rear fender "bobbed" or made smaller. This style of custom motorcycle took shape in the 1950s and continues to be built today. Bobbers are related to choppers in that they both represent a minimalistic approach where everything is stripped from a bike that is not readily needed. This includes the characteristics of a stock frame and shortened rear fender.

A sissy bar, also called a "sister bar" or "passenger backrest" is an addition to the rear of a motorcycle that allows the rider or passenger to recline against it while riding. Alternately it can serve as an anchor point or support for cycling supplies that are not part of the bike, including spare helmets, backpacks, or sleeping bags.

Sissy bars for cruiser-style motorcycles are usually affixed to the rear fender struts, and are typically made of chrome-plated steel with a foam padded seatback for comfort. Some elaborate custom examples can extend three feet or more and often serve as mounts for novelty flags. A backrest for a touring motorcycle is often shorter and less elaborate and may be built into a top box.

Inspired by its motorcycle counterpart, a smaller version of the sissy bar was a common modification added to a 1960s- and 70s-era by Schwinn Sting-Ray bicycle. This extended backrest, which attached to the rear of the bike's banana seat, gave a passenger something to lean back on and hold onto besides the rider doing the pedaling.

The Raleigh Chopper series of bicycles in the 1970s came with a sissy bar as standard.

 

I bought my XJ650 because I wanted a street bike and it was cheap. $300. Found this site looking for how to work on the carbs. Now it's getting modified because I can't help myself in doing that to mechancial things I own.

I can appreciate the work it takes to put something back to stock but also appreciate the work it takes to make something different. I prefer different.

 

The people on this formare great people... I'm not sure where i'd be without this site.

Anyways, i first started when I saw my friends maxim 700, asked if he wanted to sell it, gave me a price, and i said ok. Eventhough I paid Waaaaaaaay too much, i still am happy he and the maxim got me into biking.

as far as my views go, I like quality bobbers, not soemthing where they gave helen keller a can of flat black paint and let her do the work.

I appreciate the tiem and effort that goes into restoraions and modification projects, each to his own, You will see my maxim 700 is mostly stock, my cb750 is highly modified, and my seca, well, I'm calling that "updated"