One of the major advantages of Suzuki insisting on selling their 600 Bandit for around four grand in 1995 and 1996 was that it stopped dead the silliness of inevitable and ridiculous price rises for some of the other tackle on offer. In 1996 it was possible to buy a brand new XJ600N for £3700 on the road (courtesy of those small display ad's in MCN). I didn't do that, instead bought a demonstrator, a yellow 1995 model with 12 months guarantee and 4000 miles for the sum of £3200 - cash, and only after a lot of swearing and sweating from the local dealer.
The XJ600N is basically a Diversion without its half fairing, its naked shape looking all the better and much more attractive, to my eyes, than the Bandit. The big difference between the two bikes is the matter of 20 horses, though the XJ does weigh some 30lbs less and, thanks to the slanted forward top end, carries that mass somewhat lower. Basically, it's a much more modern design, crippled by the perceived need to make it more civilised than the racier models. Unfortunately, there's no easy way to up the power from the quoted 60 horses.
The 80hp Bandit having the option of boring out to 900cc and over a 100 horses! Until the manufacturer comes up with some new tricks, riders are going to have to live within the XJ600N's limitations. Though power never makes it into the arm wrenching, I'm gonna die, league it's at least very easy to ride with none of the edginess of more sporting bikes, which need precise matching of gear ratio and throttle to get anywhere fast. In fact, the XJ could've got away with three or four gears, not because it was over-endowed with torque but because it had such a smooth, clean running mill (despite being run in by a desperate bunch of lunatics who used test rides to see if they could break the machine). Part of this comes from the straightness of its inlet and exhaust ports, though the use of four carbs, and the need to keep them in balance, has to be questioned on a machine with such a modest power output.
The chassis was built down to a price, but largely saved from any real nastiness by good weight distribution and a well braced tubular steel frame. As more and more miles were clocked up the suspension at each end went weaker and weaker, until, come about 14000 miles, the back end sag, under two-up riding, was unacceptable. New shock and stiffened up forks cost £250 to sort out, but transformed the handling characteristics from a wobbly jelly to a taut racer that could take late braking or radical changes of direction halfway through a corner. Feedback from the tyres was also good, so good that I but rarely felt any compunction to back off in the wet - also helped by the lack of any heinous laying down of excessive power from the motor.
Having sorted the handling, I found myself swearing more and more at the limitations of the single front disc. This had never come close to stoppie country, but was also lacking in that essential element of feedback so crucial to survival in difficult conditions. Time and winter weather weren't too kind to it, either, with the calipers seizing up momentarily and the poor old disc itself ringing out a squeak of imminent breakage.
Not wanting to die young, I fitted new pads (at 13,400 miles the old ones were down to the metal), Goodridge hose and fresh fluid. These alone were sufficient to effect a startling transformation in feel and feedback, though power remained marginal. Fine for reasonable solo work, but fully loaded up with pillion, luggage and kitchen sink, brought in the kind of fade that I'd thought was only experienced, these days, when going back to nature on some terrible old British relic.
These suspension and brake limitations are pretty much what you'd expect for the money - it costs the same as some sporty 125 replica yet has three more cylinders and all that expensive valve business. The 600 Bandit has similar suspension problems but better brakes, the top notch stuff only turning up on the £7000 600 replicas. I know which offers the better value, though perhaps Yamaha would do well to offer the option of an upgrade path to twin discs.
With the suspension sorted, I found I could live quite happily with the improved braking, and it gave me the only excuse I needed to do serious travel solo, or at least only in the company of Kate Moss sized frails (instant erection at the unlikely reality of that!). I found the seat, bars and pegs well suited to my 5'9'' lithe body, though I would have preferred the tank to be a few inches narrower where my knees were supposed to sit. The naked machine conjured up some hefty aerodynamic forces above the ton, all but killing off the acceleration.
Only when a strong wind was behind us, did the speedo venture beyond 105mph. 122mph being the most I saw, something I wouldn't have attempted on the old suspension but the tauter stuff held her firmly and neutrally on line, giving off a general impression of absolute safety. I didn't take writing an UMG contribution so far as taking my hands off the bars or deliberately riding through a pothole at 120mph, but feel sure the bike would actually survive such madness.
The nearest I came to such a calamity was riding over a small dog at 60mph. The decapitation did no harm to the Yamaha other than shaking the bars for a few yards afterwards! It all happened so fast that I didn't even have time to panic, which steadiness probably helped keep everything in line.
I was somewhat peeved, come 21000 miles, to have both wheel bearings start knocking, the steering like riding on ice. It proved difficult to hammer them out of the cast wheels but at least replacements were available cheaply from a bearing factor. The swinging arm bearings were also a touch loose, so I had to replace them at the same time. I then thought I'd better check the steering head; sure enough...they have to save money somewhere on such a bargain priced motorcycle.
Not that the general finish really suffered. Paint and chrome still shone nicely. The engine itself proved amenable to 5000 mile overhauls and oil changes, hasn't provoked any worries in the 20,000 miles I've got out of it in about a year's riding. It's taken me to all kinds of weird places, done everything from 100mph, 100 mile blasts to back lane scratching and heavy-duty commuting in London.
Fuel has averaged out at close to 60mpg, which seems pretty good to me, though no doubt the Editor will go into a rant about his 1967 CB450 doing 70mpg at 90mph. A little more urge's definitely what the bike could most do with (which would make twin discs mandatory) but I like the relentless, bullet-proof nature of the motor and its utterly safe handling in some of the atrocious weather we get in the UK.
The heavy and expensive 900 Diversion doesn't appeal at all but if they bored out the 600, added twin discs and kept the price, mass, and handling the same, I'd be mightily tempted to trade in.
Dave Lincoln