Collected another one

I was doing good and reducing my fleet of Yamahas, but I really couldn't pass this one up. But seriously, who would? Just those sidecovers alone! Little bit of road rash on the right side cover and exhaust. Otherwise almost impeccable. Those are the original tires (yes, I've got some new ones on the way).

 

Wow. That is a nice specimen. Congratulations!

 

Must have been stored in a heremetically-sealed environment.......nice header pipe chrome!

 

And less than 6k miles. It always amazes me at folks buying a new bike and it gets no use. At least this one was stored nicely. I would not have been able to pass it up either. Good for you! Saving another worthy bike.

 

I wonder what the story was - owner low-sided and lost interest?

 

Don't know ownership entirely. What I gathered from the PO, he had it only a brief time and had started to fix some of the issues from sitting unused, but never rode it. He did fork seals and carbs with a no-name jet kit. Thankfully he had kept all the original jets and needles so I could swap those back in, and in spite of visually looking the same, it absolutely did not run the same on the China parts. Prior to that, the bike had sat for 20 years in storage, last registered in '05. That owner apparently put almost no miles on it and perhaps had bought it from the original owner (guessing here).

Whatever the history, it definitely was stored well in a heated garage or similar. The plastic parts all look new. No hazing on the tail light lens. Even the paint on the frame looks fresh. There's a few chips and rust spots if you search the frame, and very minor rust pits on the chrome headlight bracket. A couple small scratches in the tank paint. Photos usually cover up the blemishes and put a shine where it don't...but this one truly looks better in person than the pictures.

 

Smashing bike.

 

Just a few more glamor shots, then I'll shutup about this ABSOLUTELY BEAUTIFUL BIKE!

 

Incredible. My bike was in similar condition when it came to me last year, though with a little more degradation on the clear coat on all the aluminum parts. 3900 on the clock, similar to yours too. I’m amazed that there are more XJ’s out there like this.

I think what happened to mine was that the original owner bought it, got injured or disabled in some way that made it hard for him to ride, then left the bike in his garage for 40 years. You’ll probably find dry rotted rubber in places you don’t expect, and the contacts on the fuse box might still be suspect. But the cosmetic parts will stay shiny for a very long while.

 

The plastic and rubber have been the most shocking part of this bike. Amazing condition everywhere. I got my new tires, only swapped the front so far, but even the old, factory original tire felt almost new. I've often had to Sawzall off old, dried tires, but this one was pliable with almost zero cracks. The fuse box will get the blade fuse upgrade. I'd like to preserve it, but it did give me a some fits already.

 

@Simmy repaired his fusebox if you want to do that?

 

Might be a good option. Glass fuses worked in their day. I've tried cleaning corrosion from the clips on other bikes and snapped the delicate metal, but maybe if I was a bit less ham-fisted about it.....