Im thinking about getting this bike as my second step... My first (and current) bike is a 1982 Honda FT500 single cylinder thumper... unlike some morons, im taking steps and saving the gixxer 1000's for when i really know how to ride, not when i THINK i know how to ride... anyway... anyone know anything about the XJ600? It seems like an, atleast sort of quick bike. Anyone have any experience with it? Thanks!
-Nick-

 

anyone?

 

XJ 600.....good as a hack/tourer but not much else IMO. Crap shaft drive and the old oil cooled FZ style bulletproof engine. Simple to work on, cheap to run and can do massive mileages as long as the oil/valves are looked after. Early ones can suffer from generator failures and beware of the Yamaha sliding pin calipers which seize given any chance at all. Clutch is the standard grabby Yamaha affair and if any sort of traffic light heroics has been attempted the plates will be warped. Front Forks are from an era before engineers had CAD and as a result are massively underdamped. Front discs can be sourced easily enough which is good because they can warp so check for hairline cracks etc. Rear shock looses the plot past 20K so bear that in mind as a bargaining tool. Check the rear subfame for damage as they get a beating if the bike has been dropped and are not cheap to replace. Sluggish and heavy . Look also at the GPZ500/GPZ600 and even the GPZ305 if you dont mind dying of boredom. In your position i would go for the GPZ500 as they are dirt cheap to buy/look after and being a twin easy to handle. The Yam is a better tourer but if you want to learn towards a modern sprtsbike then probably a step backwards. Hope that helps. Good luck


[Modified by luke, 1:02 PM 2/3/2002]

 

haha wow, that certainly is what i was looking for! thanks for the info luke... you just saved me an expensive mistake!!