Fellow heavyweights riding xj550's

Hello all and thanks to all who comment. First post here. I'm a 48 year old first time rider/bike owner. I picked up an '81 550 maxim with 4,700 actual miles. Being a mechanic by trade, bringing this low mileage but neglected bike back to shape as my "learning " bike seems like a good idea. I won't go into all the details , but let's just say it needs everything you would think it would need after sitting for 10 years. On to my question. I weigh +or - 300 lbs on any given day. Any recommendations for upgrades/ mods for bigger guys to make it handle or ride better? Specifically front fork springs and oil? I don't mind spending the money to do it right, just don't want to have to try a bunch of different things that may or may not work. I did search these forums an did find lots of good info, just nothing specifically for big guys. Thanks

 

Im 200 lbs on a 250 Rebel. I feel your pain. At some point the best thing is just a bigger bike!

 

I do agree with you there! I also acquired a 2003 vstar 1100 that I'm probably better suited for weight-wise, but due to my inexperience I don't feel really confident handling. Also picked up a 1982 spectre 750. I guess my thinking was to get some handling experience on a smaller bike. Getting the basics down.

 

Take a rider training course!
That should be a must. Would you fly a plane without training? NOT

 

Adjustable damping rear shocks would be high on my list. You could use different weight oil in the front forks, I've never stripped the xj forks but all the ones I have are very basic inside - no valving as such, just a fixed piston with holes in it

 

take training course it is offered by the dmv . you could go up in weight on the fork oil set the preload to full . springs in forks are stock progressive style springs.

 

http://www.msf-usa.org/

 

first, i've never seen a 550 up close and personal. maybe 750 fork springs will fit?they might be stiffer. oil weight won't help, it just changes the damping, preload spacers won't help much, they just change the first part of the travel. air preload might help but that's tricky, one or two psi makes a big difference. it's hard to measure 8 or 9 psi, twice, accurately. but that might be your best bet.
shocks or shock springs from a bigger bike might help the back

 

I am not riding at this time. A course is definitely in the future. I may be wrong , but I don't believe a safety course is going to spend time on setting a bike to the rider other than setting the mirrors and bars. The safety course in my area all use smaller cc bikes than my own. I guess if with a course under my belt, I'll still have to pedal something down the road. Minimutly, thanks for the input. I just believe a properly set up bike is more enjoyable and safer to ride than one that isn't. My 2 cents.

 

I am curious if any bigger guys switched to the progressive fork springs rather than the stock dual rate? I don't mind buying them, just don't want to spend money on something that might not yield results. The 550 is equipped with adjustable rear shocks. I'll probably just reseal the forks with proper weight oil and play withe the rear adjustment.

 

you may want to look into reshaping the seat so you can sit back a few inches I have a 32 inch inseam and find it less than Ideal for long rides.
I am 250# and find the shocks and forks wore fine with my weight. i guess you have the time and reason to drop a few pounds if you wanted too