I travelled 100 miles on BR to view the XJ600. The owner met me at the station. Took me for a blast out into the countryside, where he reluctantly let me have a short ride. Exhilarating! I checked the logbook against engine and frame numbers. Everything matched. After some haggling the 1991 machine was mine for £2200 in used fifties.
No sooner had I taken over ownership than the clouds opened. Never experienced so much rain. I was thankful that newish Avons were fitted. Didn’t have any waterproofs, was soaked through within five miles. Only another 95 miles to go! The XJ growled forward at 70mph without any trouble. The front discs were a bit vague, going from nothing to a howling tyre.
20 miles from home I left the rain behind me. I dropped down two gears, went mad on the throttle. 130mph. Wow! Stability wasn’t bad, just a slight flutter from the front wheel. The half fairing lacked width and height. In the rain it'd helped soak me through. In the 130mph gale the wind whipped around my head. After a few minutes I felt like someone had head-butted me. 90 to 100mph was much more sensible, also removed most of the high frequency vibes. The air screaming through my jeans soon dried them out.
Once home I noticed a big puddle of oil under the engine. The level was under the minimum mark. The sump plug was hanging on by a thread. There was no washer under it, but I found a suitable copper washer, did it up and was forced to do an oil change. Good practice. A few other bolts were loose. I gave the bike a good going over.
The XJ engine series has been around for yonks. The somewhat finicky XJ550 started it all off. In ’84 the engine was enlarged and toughened up. The '91 version developed 66hp at 10000rpm and 36lbft at 9000rpm. That would suggest the motor needed to be revved relentlessly. In reality, there was plenty of torque below 7000rpm and the mill was smooth running. The real power came in between 7 and 10000 revs, with the engine going dead by the time 11000rpm was reached.
The engine's almost square bore and stroke dimensions (58.5 x 55.7mm) must've helped in the development of torque. The DOHC four cylinder engine was well able to withstand constant abuse. My bike had only 8000 miles on the clock, so I was pretty sure that it'd run for at least 20000 miles. Regular maintenance consisted of oil and filter changes. The carbs and valves don’t need much attention.
The XJ weighs about 415lbs but feels a bit lighter than that. It's dead easy to chuck through traffic. Once I'd become used to the violence of the front brake, my commuting times became drastically reduced. I felt quickly at home as the riding position was perfectly suited to the human body. None of the contorted horrors of the race replica bikes. The XJ is one of those machines that can be ridden in a mild way or on full throttle insanity.
It was furious fun going to work. I came close to clipping cars a couple of times. They moved so slug-like that I had to re-educate my mind to the velocities attainable on the XJ. I was thankful for the ferocity of the fierce front brake. Given half a chance it'd smoulder the tyre. The horn was just about up to scaring the wits out of erring drivers.
After two weeks the engine started Cutting out. I noticed that when I switched on the lights the cutting out became much more intense. A day or two later, the XJ wouldn't start. A flat battery. I put it on the charger for a couple of hours. It still wouldn't turn the starter over. One new battery later I was back in business. Two weeks later the same thing happened, along with blowing bulbs. The rectifier was churning out AC. The breaker turned up a new one for £20. He reckoned it was very rare, said I should check the wiring over. There was a loose wire in one of the connectors. I soldered it in. No more electrical problems.
No sooner had the XJ begun to run well than the front discs began to make ringing noises. The pads were down to the metal, seemed a bit harsh with less than 9000 miles done. I didn't have time to replace them immediately. Rode on the back disc and engine braking for two weeks. When some cage appeared from nowhere I had no option but to use the front brake lever in anger. The forks bounced down on their stops for a moment, then BANG!
There was just time to throw the XJ around the back of the car. Despite the 18 inch wheels it could be a fast steering bike when necessary. The front end was leaping all over the place. Making some loud noises like metal was tearing itself apart. The disc had cracked up, ruptured its carrier. I took the front wheel out to remove what was left of the disc.
When I pulled the front wheel free, the forks bounced down on the grookayund and the bike fell over. It was going to be one of those days. After picking the bike up, putting the wheel back in, I was ready to ride home without a front brake. The breaker was amazed to see me so soon but was happy enough to hand over a good disc and a couple of sets of pads. He hinted that the bike might've been involved in an accident, so unusual was a disc breaking up. I couldn’t see that, not with the way the XJ handled. There were no obvious signs of crash damage, such as grazed levers or cracked indicators. One caliper was found to be partially seized but fixed with new seals and a bit of polishing.
There followed a period of calmness. 6000 miles of trouble free running. I really enjoyed the bike, it was just fast enough to be interesting but not so powerful that it tore through the consumables at a crazy rate. The tyres hardly seemed to wear at all and the O-ring chain needed an adjustment every 1000 miles.
I was disconsolate when, with only 15000 miles on the clock, the camchain started rattling. It was this more than anything that convinced me that the bike had been clocked. Camchains usually lasted at least 30000 miles. The new camchain was fitted in an afternoon, the tensioner was OK. I was a bit dubious about keeping the bike for any longer but it ran so well that I decided I'd give it one more chance.
The weekend after the camchain job I was hustling around Kent with the frail on the back. I though the rear end was waggling around a lot. The XJ has the usual mono-track suspension. Two-up, the shock often seemed marginal. It was obviously beginning to show its age as I heeled over into the bends. Even mild bumps were knocking the tyre around and the girlfriend was digging me in the ribs with a vindictive fury.
After the weekend, stability returned in solo use. The bike was like a second skin, responding easily to my every whim. I should've paid more attention to the state of the rear suspension a month later the back end was allowing wobbles even at mediocre town speeds. It was a combination of a shock with no damping, shot swinging arm bearings and worn out shafts in the linkage. I bought some new bearings, the rest from the breakers. It was a tedious way of spending a weekend, battering out corroded in spindles and cursing the lack of grease nipples - there wasn’t any grease on any of the shafts.
The silencers were speckled with rust, the frame paint was bubbling and some of the alloy refused to clean up. The plastic and tank still looked like new The further away from the bike that you got the better it looked. Top speed was still 130mph! Acceleration could still blitz every car on the road and most bikes. 90 to 100mph cruising was as easy as opening up the throttle. There wasn't really any need to kick up the box like a lunatic. But I used to do it for the rush. During one such excursion I was pulled over. Whilst one cop gave me the usual sanctimonious lecture the other checked the bike on his radio. He came back with a nasty grin. My bike didn't exist according to Swansea! I was obviously a nasty little thief who should be banged up right away.
After a couple of hours of interrogation, with the usual nasty and nice cop, they phoned my father who turned up with the logbook, which was a complete fake. Of course I had no idea where the guy was living and no memory of the phone number, although from the date on the receipt they could've traced it back through the paper. They reluctantly let me go, saying they would have to keep the Yamaha. Fucking great!
D.T.