Launching my ’87 Yamaha XT350 off the top of a minor hill I had time to reflect that it was an impressive machine as long as you didn't land it on the front wheel, which my inept trail riding had just managed to do. The resulting cartwheeling proved only that the XT was much tougher and resistant to abuse than my frail body.
Bruised and battered I eventually managed to pull the machine out of the ditch - the bars were slightly bent and my previously pristine machine had gathered to itself a total coating of mud, that was only matched by my own.
I had been inspired to search out the off road scene by one of the glossies whose resident lunatic had described in glowing prose the abilities of the XT350; I later learnt that he spent as much time as possible actually competing in off road events and would probably have more success with a Gold Wing off road than I managed with the XT. Once was enough for me and the XT was never, but never, to see mud again.
I had owned the bike for two years and found its tarmac abilities a real ball. Weighing about 275lbs with a full load of fuel, it was an absolute delight to hurl through the traffic jam that London has been reduced to. Whether it was rambling along just off tickover in first gear, picking its way through absurdly small gaps in the traffic, or roaring out all its 30hp; in second or third, there was little that could hold a candle to the XT in the malaise of a modern city.
Perched high above the cars, even suicidal pedestrians were aware of my presence but rarely demanded maximum use of the front disc which could be fierce enough to put the long travel front forks right down on their stops. Admittedly, faster speeds out of town produced a degree of brake fade that turned hair white, but I usually found a combination of engine braking and yanking on the wide bars avoided an early meeting with the Grim Reaper. Besides, in 17500 miles I did not have to touch either front disc or rear drum,which was a revelation after a GS550.
Even when caned mercilessly through town the bike gave better than 75mpg, which was another revelation after various Japanese tours that usually only did 45mpg. After about a month of ownership I suddenly realised I had the best of both worlds - a machine that was immense fun to ride but was ridiculously cheap to run... at least until the chain began to give trouble. The Yamaha dealer had a wide and deadly grin when I enquired as to the cost of new sprockets and chain, the XT managing to have a unique size.
I started chanting - XT550 sprockets will fit - to myself and managed to track down a pattern set for said machine The altered gearing took the edge off acceleration at low speeds but I could live with that as the chain needed adjustment only every 750 miles, lasting just over 9000 miles before requiring replacement; the sprockets still look good to this day.
Which is more than can be said for the double overhead cam which started rattling with 22300 miles on the clock. The camshaft lobe surfaces were well pitted, much to my disgust, but a breaker was happy enough to exchange them for a nearly new set for £60 and since then the top end has been dead quiet - the valve clearances, once bedded in, seem to need no attention. Similarly, the double choke carb is another set and forget item. Changing the oil every 1500 miles is the most arduous task.
Trials tyres are cheap and last over 12000 miles a set. It doesn't handle that badly on knobblies, not so bad that I’d change them for quick wear proper road tyres, anyway. Wet weather is the most frightening, when the back end can lurch sideways a few inches when heeled over, but a quick flick of the ultra light Yamaha soon has the machine back on line.
Top speed is an indicated 95mph, when the single cylinder engine starts to buzz a little despite a gear driven balance shaft. It's not so fierce that it makes you back off - the way the chassis feels like it’s about to spit you off is more likely to do that, the bike gives the impression it’s sitting on about a millimetre of rubber once the XT gets above 85mph.-
Cruising at 70-80mph is no problem. though, the Yamaha feeling more secure than any lightweight bike with trail tyres should. It could be hurled through fast-ish corners in a way that tended to disconcert more conventional bikes, it was so damn light that it was easy to keep it under control however much the waltzing rear ended begged to differ.
I did some long tours on the bike, although the most I did in a day was 320 miles. The riding position becomes very tiring if you try to sustain 75mph plus speeds for more than ten minutes, although the seat was comfortable despite its narrowness (which made reaching the floor relatively easy for a trail bike).
Comfort was helped by the long travel suspension that Ranked up both minor road irregularities and the massive potholes so beloved of local councils. Featuring a typical Yamaha monoshock rear suspension setup, the XT became rather violent and vicious at 13750 miles when the shock was shot. It was replaced with a newish XT item from a breaker, and again at 19000 miles when the swinging arm bearings were reduced to rubble. The monoshock linkages have remained untouched, much everyone's shock and surprise, although of late a rather large weave has begun to intrude at 75mph in a straight line, so perhaps they are due for attention.
As evidenced by the number of trail bikes taking part in race track events, off road orientated machines can be surprisingly rapid through the curves - that I have not felt the need to switch to tyres should tell you thing about how satisfied I am with the 350's performance.
Midrange punch, say between 40 and 75mph in fifth is very satisfying but not so violent that you have worry about the back wheel stepping out of line when exiting corners.
The XT is an amazingly easy motorcycle to ride. You can let out the clutch with a dead throttle in first gear and it will move off ever so slowly; it's so light that even if you make a mistake at high speed it can be pulled back into line even if you are an eight stone weakling, or if you want to impress gullible women you can do a perfectly balanced wheelie for a few hundred yards down the local High Street. If ever a machine was idiot proof, the XT is it (as long as you don't harbour any notions of going off road, of course!).
About a month ago the electronic ignition failed, about 5 miles from home in a record breaking downpour. It says a lot about how I feel for the Yam that rather than abandon it, I pushed the bike home. Although a light machine, for most of the way I had to push it into a near horizontal rain storm. My mood defied description when I finally reached home to find that half the roof was splattered over the road!
A breaker came up with an ignition module much quicker than the insurance company agreed to repair the roof! A week later the back wheel began to break up and I started wondering if it was time to trade in for a new machine; depreciation on a brand new XT550 seems to be particularly rapid for some reason. The wheel was rebuilt, with new bearings thrown in for good measure.
Overall, it’s an excellent machine, if Yamaha altered it slightly to make it 100% road orientated I'm sure it would be a real winner. I still haven't decided on the fate of my XT - I don’t have enough money to buy a new one (the trade in offer from the local rip-off merchant was a laughable £750) yet feel that my four year old machine is coming to the end of its life. That I want another despite this rapid demise surely says a lot about the riding experience!
Pete Hayes