Motorcycles On-Line
Yamaha
XJ900
From new
to extinction
Take one perfectly formed Yamaha XJ900, circa 1989, and one hard
bitten rider, circa 1950, point in the general direction of the
open road and see what happens. That was the plan, anyway, buy
a big bike and go see the world. No sooner had the deed been done
than I was stung by the girlfriend declaring herself three months
pregnant. I didn't know whether I should strangle or kiss her.
I did the decent thing, my reward being allowed to keep the big
Yamaha, but world tours were obviously out of the question for
the next decade, or more. The XJ was new, needed running in, but
this still allowed 60-70mph; wasn't that difficult. A slow blast
up to Edinburgh and a faster one back got rid of most of that
chore whilst allowing me to come to grips with the bike's characteristics.
One reason I bought the XJ was its shaft drive. No more hassle
from dirty chains. The mag's reckoned that the Yam's shaft was
one of the better designs on the market, not intruding too harshly
into the ride. Well, that was sort of right. I found it very direct,
needing very careful throttle control and matching revs to gears
during changes. Minor kangaroo hops abounded until it became second
nature, didn't notice it any more - took about a month.
By the way, it took about 2500 miles for the gearchange to bed
in and another 40,000 miles for the selectors to wear out! The
change was quite heavy, needed a slow, deliberate foot and a very
fast clutch hand - an odd combination!
My ideal cruising speed's about 90mph, but once the Yam was run
in this coincided with some heavy secondary vibes. The ton was
an order of magnitude smoother, as was 80mph. I usually opted
for the former as the latter had cagers creeping up my backside.
The only downside, as the fairing gave good protection and the
general feel of the bike was very relaxing, that the ton on the
motorway equalled the cops going berserk, whereas 90mph there
was half a chance they would ignore you or let you off if you
grovelled.
Top speed was around 140mph. At that kind of velocity I didn't
have the time to pay much attention to the clocks. Other than
on long, straight, deserted roads, everything happened far too
fast for me. I was bought up on an era of bikes that didn't want
to go much beyond 120mph, and that was fine by me.
What was useful, was the heavy acceleration available in top gear
between 90 and 125mph. Could pull the bike out of difficult situations
without any need for cog-swapping or any thought other than a
willingness to let loose on the throttle. Beyond 125mph the bike
began to slow but the motor's power was quite tenacious and would
hold on to any speeds gained.
Early XJ's had a bad reputation for handling but, initially, I
didn't find any big problems on mine. Mind, it needed plenty of
muscle but I was used to these kind of across the frame fours,
with their excessive mass spread high and wide. They weren't exactly
inherently stable, needed some clever design work to stop them
going terminal.
What let the XJ down was tyre wear. The rear tyre, perhaps helped
along by the directness of the shaft drive, was in trouble by
as little as 4000 miles. It was still legal, in a sort of theoretical
and remote manner, but as soon as the tread went below 3mm the
stability disappeared. Back end weaves and wobbles went straight
through the frame to the headstock, resulting in a good old fighting
match with the handlebars.
Worse yet, replacing the tyre with a brand new Michelin resulted
in a total mismatch with the front OE rubber, the bike basically
unable to make up its mind which way it wanted to go once speeds
above 80mph were indulged. Turned out that every time I replaced
a rear tyre I had to get a matching front even when the makes
were the same and there were many thousands of miles left in the
front.
You can tell a lot about the inherent stability of a motorcycle
by the way it runs on worn rubber and it was easy to conclude
that the XJ900 was totally lacking in any depth of chassis design.
Come 21000 miles this was further emphasized by the steering head
bearings going down, producing some really vivid speed wobbles
that are firmly wired into my brain.
No sooner had the head bearings been done than the wheel bearings
went, another fine handling mess. Replacement bearings, even though
they came from the nearest Yamaha dealer, didn't last for more
than 15000 miles.
The brakes were another element that constantly annoyed. Fine
when they were new, or at least after a couple of hundred miles
of bedding in, once the guarantee expired and winter riding set
in, the calipers began to seize on and I was never quite sure
how the pads would react to wet weather. A very spongy feel at
the lever soon developed. Before 20,000 miles was up, a complete
brake refurbishment was necessary. An hassle thereafter repeated
every 9000 miles, or so.
Actual pad life varied greatly depending on the kind of riding
I did. The most I ever got from a set of front pads, 11000 miles;
the least 4500 miles. EBC's suited the bike best but lasted less
well than other makes. By 37000 miles a complete set of front
brakes was bought from a breaker, from a nearly new XJ900. These
were a bit fiercer in the stopping department and not so susceptible
to winter riding; Japanese brakes have improved over the years,
recent stuff much less likely to give serious hassle. The rear
brake wasn't used much as it seemed to react against the shaft
drive on the overrun, did nothing for the stability in corners
(neither did the front brake but that was expected). Sometimes,
I didn't notice it was all seized up for a couple of weeks.
Comfort was another facet of the bike that went off with age,
basically down to a combination of the seat going all soggy and
the suspension losing most of its springing and damping. The seat
was easily fixed with a rather tasty K & Q item that gave
a very plush perch and had the wife singing the bike's praises.
Even new, the stock saddle produced some backside pains after
as little as 70 miles in the saddle, although my backside did
toughen up a little and soon wasn't complaining until at least
100 miles. In long distance cruising terms this is just a joke
but easy to fix.
The suspension started out as a good compromise between firmness
and suppleness but even before the guarantee expired the back
end had turned a little soggy. Once the suspension starts to go,
the weaves set in and it's an urgent trip down to the nearest
store or breaker. A set of adjustable R & R shocks found in
the latter, for forty notes. These were the right length but took
about 10,000 miles before they lost the ultra hard feel; must've
been designed for some really heavy monster.
By the time I'd bedded in the shocks the forks had gone all mushy.
Never the firmest items in the history of motorcycle manufacturing,
they now dived with a vengeance when the discs were used in anger
and went all deranged when accelerating out of a bumpy corner.
I'd already added a hefty fork brace, which hindered as much as
it helped. A friend had blown up his FJ1200, had a much modded
front end for sale...
Unfortunately, this didn't include the front wheel or brakes,
which might've solved another problem. After some hassle with
the yokes and brake lugs, the new forks were fitted. The bike
feeling totally transformed, though it needed even more muscle
to shove through the bends. The XJ was almost up to modern cut
and thrust standards, though you had to watch out for all the
mass catching the chassis out and biting back in a big way.
Writing this makes the bike seem a lot of hassle but the problems
turned up over years of riding, were spread out rather than concentrated
in a short period of time. Most of my experiences with the Yamaha
were a lot more pleasure than pain - honest!
The XJ was heavy and slow turning, sometimes susceptible to road
imperfections, but it was also very versatile. Once used to its
machinations, I was able to muscle my way through town, cruise
down motorways and play around on my favourite curvy back roads.
Use of the gearchange was optional. Often I just stuck her in
top gear, did the throttle blues and enjoyed. The gearchange wasn't
exactly slick but it didn't really hold any terrors until the
selectors wore out. Then it just became a bundle of false neutrals
which by 45000 miles was almost impossible to use. Used selectors
off a nearly new XJ were fitted, but these needed a bit of file
work, so Yamaha had evidently 'improved' the box over the years.
The gearchange never regained its former smoothness but at least
it now clunked into the required ratio without threatening the
dreaded, and embarrassing, false neutral. Nothing makes you look
more of a plonker than screaming an engine at unlikely revs in
the middle of town.
This was the first serious engine problem, but presaged some other
hassle. The bike had the valves and carbs done every 5000 miles,
plus very regular oil/filter changes and was always given a good
burn out every time it was ridden. Big bikes, like large dogs,
always need regular exercise. Lack of attention to the carbs and
valves meant an increase in secondary vibration and a distinct
lack of urge at the upper end of the rev range.
The first item to go on the engine was the camchain, at 51000
miles. Presaged by an excess of rattling that no amount of tweaking
with the tensioner could remove. Once the rattles arrive, change
the camchain pronto. I didn't, resulted in the damn thing breaking!
I was lucky that the valves and pistons didn't mesh and unlucky
in that I had to push the bastard three miles home. Could've been
a whole lot worse.
Again, used but nearly new components were fitted (including the
camchain tensioner which had been flayed down by the chain whipping
about). Some quite heavy wear on the camshaft lobes noted at this
point but nothing done about it as the kid had financial priority.
Plenty of crashed and bashed XJ900's in breakers, they can catch
out inexperienced riders who aren't up to coping with their mass
and power.
The finish was well gone, little chrome or alloy left unblemished,
with large patches of paint bubbling with the rust. The exhaust
had actually survived but not without some internal rusting and
ruined downpipes (at least externally). The whole bike was quietly
drifting towards rat status but I decided to fight back.
Breakers were visited, nearly new cycle parts bought. I was, anyway,
worried about the petrol tank, which had gone very thin on its
sides and needed the fuel filter cleaned out every other week.
That just left the wheels, engine finish and frame paint to sort
out. Only the latter was done as the alloy corrosion on the other
parts proved impossible to shift. Still, the bike looked quite
respectable and the replacement parts were very cheap as the breakers
had excess stocks. Always worth making a silly offer.
The exhaust system lasted a few more miles until the rotted baffling
and holes in the silencers conspired to upset the carburation,
not to mention a large amount of banging on the overrun. Fun in
a nervous capital. Plenty of 4-1's on offer, new and used, but
the neighbours already had me on their death-list so I opted for
a used stocker from the breakers for a reasonable seventy notes.
Given that there wasn't a spot of rust on it, made a major difference
to the appearance, as well as getting the engine's juices flowing.
The mileage crept up and up, passing the 70,000 mark without any
major incident - plenty of minor stuff but that has already been
covered. At this point it became apparent that the insulation
began to fall off the wiring, starting became a hit and miss affair,
and the lights would blow when I least expected or wanted it to
happen.
I had loads of fun with a secondhand wiring loom as it seemed
off a whole different bike, but I got there in the end. Later
switches were also fitted. Both the alternator and black boxes
all survived the demise of the wiring, major expense and inconvenience
avoided.
I wasn't sure if all the effort involved was worth it as at 72000
miles the engine began to lose power and produce heavy smoke.
Rebore time. The aforementioned camshaft lobes had also lost a
lot of their hardening... in fact, the whole top end looked pretty
shagged. So more begging sessions with a breaker. I should've
gone for the replacement engine option, which at 450 notes wasn't
anywhere near as expensive as I'd expected, but as I had the old
one apart I decided fitting a newer top end was the easy way out.
130 notes was all it cost, though I had to source the bits from
three different breakers.
XJ motors are quite fiddly to work on but a weekend's hustle had
the bike ready for the road. Performance improved and the smoke
was just a memory but it wasn't up to the standards of a new bike,
didn't really want to know about more than 125mph. Still a very
useful tool but not one in which I had much faith.
The economic side of the XJ wasn't very convincing. When it was
new, fuel averaged out at 37mpg, in its current state that was
closer to 30mpg. Tyres were very short-lived, brake pads variable.
There were some savings made from the absence of a chain, but
with modern O-ring chains that didn't add up to a huge amount.
Long distance touring could do serious damage to the bank balance.
Even bigger damage was done when the engine finally expired. It
was one of those really sultry summer days when you can really
exult in motorcycling and I was giving the XJ some serious stick
in third gear. Not enough to break into the red but more than
sufficient to have the secondary vibes singing through the chassis.
Then the motor stuttered, the next thing I knew it had locked
up solid with the back wheel going into a massive skid. It was
an easy way to lose one's dinner out of both ends. Quick as a
flash, I pulled in the clutch lever but that had no effect. Next,
maximum muscle on the brakes, pulling the bike up whilst the back
end skipped from side to side. It was all so violent that there
was hardly any rubber left on the back tyre. I must say, though,
that the XJ was more stable than I would've expected.
The expense arose not so much in the motor destroying itself as
in the fact that the following cager had totally lost control
of his Audi, something to do with the wild Yamaha's antics giving
him an heart attack. The momentary relief that came from making
it to the side of the road in one piece was dissipated when I
glanced over my shoulder to see several cages piled into each
other! The plod had a fine old time, especially when they realised
my insurance had expired!
The XJ was eventually carted home in the back of a mate's van,
the engine dismembered. The cause of the seizure had something
to do with the gearbox breaking up but there was such an excess
of damage that no really clear point of failure could be established.
There was very little left that could be salvaged.
By the time I did the rounds of the breakers there weren't any
decent engines left. I took a chance on a 55000 miler for 250
quid but not a very good unit, smoking and rattling. Okay for
hopping around town but after the last experience I didn't trust
it at speed.
The bike cracked the 80,000 mile barrier but bits from the original
chassis were showing signs of dying from fatigue. Stuff like hairline
cracks in the rear wheel's hub and rust seemingly breaking out
from inside the frame tubes, added up to an accident about to
happen. The breaker gave me two hundred quid for it. A sad end.
George Irving