Why did you buy an XJ?

^^^^^ the 800 included registration, taxes and licensing.... Hehe (not insurance of course )

 

I would buy one too. Great engineering from Yamaha.

 

I could envision myself on a new seca touring edition bike. Though I don’t believe it’d be in that 6-8k range.
For my personal tastes it’d be very similar to the super tenere yet have a much better front fairing and not so off road capable
For now tho, I’ll stick with my xj750rj touring

 

I've been trying to get my carbs synched , I can't leave well enough alone . Rode it on my 3 miles circuit cranked it up to 6k before I knew it I was at 60 ...may not be in superbike territory BUT was cheap to buy ,and cheap to insure and is all mine , maybe one day I might sell it on and buy something else , but for now I work to do subtle improvements and enjoy riding .

 

The sound man, that sound way cool...

 

There are not many XJ range motorcycles on the road where I live, in fact I have only seen one for sale a few miles from me and they are for sale at times on E Bay. But the reason I like the XJ 900f is the look of the bike, shaft drive, maintenance especially the eight valve head. Yamaha made a brilliant engine which is so reliable and so well engineered and when I look at a motorcycle I like to see the engine rather than have it hidden behind fairings like some of the machines on the road. A friend of mine was talking the other day about poor quality Chinese motorcycles and I told him they called Japanese machines Jap Crap when I was young. How wrong they were, Yamaha and the other Japanese manufacturers have proved that. Anyway back to the XJ range a friend had an XJ 550 which I liked, but I prefered the 650 because of the shaft drive. The reason I got my XJ is because I always wanted one. I went to get a tyre for the car and the XJ was parked at a motorcycle dealer nearby. Actually my brother bought it for me, I am very lucky. It is the best bike I have ever owned and I will keep it until I am too old to use it. Then it will go to my nephew.

 

I grew up in a small town with only one motorcycle dealer (Yamaha), so that's what the majority of the bikes in the area were. I raced motocross for a few years, and then in 1984 when I was ready to move to a street bike, I stopped in to see they had. I had intended to find a used bike, but they had a brand new leftover 1982 Seca 750 in the showroom. The deal was good, and I couldn't resist. It was a great bike with all the power I could handle, good on the highway and a sharp looking bike.



I only kept it a couple of years because I went away to become a ski bum and couldn't take it with me. I always missed it and I've kept an eye on Craigslist in case something popped up. Well, about a month ago one surfaced, and the time was right. A member here had one he had partially disassembled and wanted to move since he had two. Short version, it's back together and on the road. I blew it back apart last weekend and will be painting it in a few days. I should probably start a build thread since it's almost done .

 

@twerth your garage is so clean! Did you just move in? Nice looking bike. I need one.

 

Ha! That's not my garage. It's the PO's.

 

This^^^

I bought my dad's '82 XJ750 finally last week. He bought it new and would always take me for rides when I was younger. You could always hear him as he pulled up to the house because of the one of a kind sound these bikes have. He put 13k miles on it between new and '90 and only 3k miles since then. I finally talked him into selling it to me.

The bike has plenty of power, is incredibly nimble, and I'm finding out not too horrible to work on. I plan on this bike being the last I'll ever buy.

 

Some of the bikes I owned , only one that I regret getting rid of was an 84 Kawasaki 550 LTDF1 shaft drive . My 750 Seca is so similar but the seca has more power , the 550 had 55hp , vs if I recall 86hp for the 750 . I enjoy reading the reasons folks bought their XJ it shows a love for these bikes even today .

 

Old post but since I added another Seca , I really do love these bikes! My yellow seca runs so good , upgraded many things along the way. If I keep the Johnny Cash bike will upgrade brake lines, and the spin on oil filter . Why buy an XJ , yes many sports bike can hit 100mph in 3 or 4 seconds ...but I'm old I don't need that or riding wheelies. My Seca can bury the wimpy 85mph speedo if I really want to ...but rarely do so . I like working on these bikes ...new bikes most are fuel injection ...they lack the aura of carb synch and Trouble shooting. I bought the Johnny Cash bike for 100$ , worked on it over the winter ...once I get it plated it is rideable ( legally that is) .

 

I had a drive shaft some one needed and he had aj xj to trade

 

First XJ: Didn't know much better. It was an affordable bike for sale that ran well. I figured Yamaha was a safe bet.

Subsequent XJs: I now know that there are several great things about the XJs.
1. Plenty of them out there
2. Parts are available, both new and used (thanks @chacal)
3. Once you are familiar with them, there are enough similarities that if you can work on one, you can work on most of them.
4. I can now change valve shims in my sleep.
5. Many of the "problems" that make people not want to spend the time and/or money to fix their XJs are usually quite common and easy to deal with. This makes it a buyer's market since people are selling a bike with "problems". Most common examples are anything carb related or a bad valve cover gasket that is puking out oil onto the exhaust system - easy fix, plus valve lash probably needs to be checked anyway.
6. There are a ton of a great resources out there (not the least of which is this group) so as long as you are willing to learn and try things, there is knowledge and help available.
7. If you really bork up the carbs, you can send them to @hogfiddles.
8. New enough so that manufacturing was getting really good.
9. Old enough so that it can still be worked on and fixed without software.

That's my $.02.